Getting Fit and Strong on a Vegan Diet

Everyday we hear more and more about the potential negative effects meat can have on our body and our environment.

Despite this, it can be very challenging to get the right balance of nutrition, and yet more challenging for individuals looking to get a strong body and endure in high performance sports. So is it possible?

How can you be vegan and get strong?

You might have noticed the increasing popularity of the hashtag “#vegan” usage on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. According to statistics, online searches for veganism have increased enormously over the last couple of years. If you search for the keyword “vegan” you will get around 400 million results on Google.

Conspicuously, the vegan trend does not seem to stop at the bodybuilder scene. The German strength athlete Patrik Baboumian is a good example. In 2011 he won the title of “Strongest Man in Germany” and is now advertising as a vegan apostle for the animal welfare organization PETA (Wallrodt, 2015). Among vegan men on social media are often found pictures of strength athletes, runners and yoga practitioners. You might wonder, how is it possible to become fit and strong on a diet based exclusively on plants?

The US-american, vegan fitness supporter Frank Medrano explains in an interview how he came to veganism through two bodybuilder friends and learned about the benefits: “I thought I was healthy and strong before, but I started to feel energetic and I what having quicker recovery after training» (Just, 2012).

Patrik Baboumain and Frank Medrano are living proof that a plant-based diet is a great supporter of getting into shape and even becoming greatly strong and muscular.

One Key factor is to work on your strength training, and to get plenty of rest and sleep, combined with a good stress management practice, to keep your cortisol low and help your body recover fast. Besides this, it is good to aim for food choices that contain a good profile of amino acids, such as popped amaranth, quinoa, millet,  nutritional yeast, and yellow peas. Also combined with a good amount of extra calories for your body to have spare energy to grow muscle tissue, for example add in your smoothie wheat germ oil and flaxseed oil, which will provide as well high amount of vitamin E to repair tissue and a good amount of omega 3, besides the calorie surplus.

Just, A. (2012, August 15). Frank Medrano: Powered by Plants [Blog-Post]. Abgerufen von https://www.forksoverknives.com/frank-medrano-powered-by-plants/

Wallrodt, L. (2015, März 28). Patrik Baboumian: Hier brüllt der stärkste Veganer der Welt. DIE WELT. Abgerufen von https://www.welt.de/sport/fitness/article138788688/Hier-bruellt-der-staerkste-Veganer-der-Welt.html