An Interview with Vegetarian Bodybuilder and Strongman Ben France
So Ben, when did you start making serious efforts at bodybuilding?
I started playing around with weights from a young age, around eleven years old, and dabbled a bit through my teen years. I started going to the gym whilst at university but didn’t really get serious about it until I was twenty nine and decided that I would like to try something that relied on me and me alone rather than the team sports I had always participated in.
I found out about natural bodybuilding competitions, went and took a look and decided to give it a go. From that point forward I really dedicated myself to getting bigger and then dialling in my condition to display a transformed physique. I had been making painfully slow gains over the years following routines from bodybuilding and fitness magazines, I looked okay but I didn’t really carry much size, I was usually mistaken for a cyclist or at best a swimmer!
Having decided I needed some more size to compete I adopted an abbreviated training programme that steered me away from the mainstream volume based workouts. Finally I started to pack on some mass and my strength started to increase more dramatically. I changed things up as I dieted down and looking back can see how this periodized approach helped me along. Over around 18 months I transformed my physique from endurance athlete look-a-like to ripped bodybuilder and won the British Natural Bodybuilding Federation Novice Championship.
In the following years I had my head turned by a wide variety of routines and diets, I tried many but my progress really stalled for a few years. It wasn’t until I put more faith in what I had learned through thousands of hours of training and experimenting with my diet that I really started making leaps and bounds forward again.
On stage 2004 BNBF U80kg
In 2008 when I really started putting all my principles into practice, my strength sky rocketed and the size gains followed. This was really the first time people started accusing me of taking anabolic steroids so I knew I was definitely doing something right! People had always been a bit surprised I was a vegetarian but now they were really shocked! I really didn’t fit in with their pre-conceived notions of a vegetarian at all.
I haven't competed for a while as I have been in a long bulking up period and have got involved in strongman and powerlifting competitions. (See the you tube clips above).
I am now training for England’s Strongest Man U105kg and Britain’s Strongest Natural Man and will then be competing at the World Drug Free Powerlifting Federation’s World Single Lift Championship where I will be attempting to break the U100kg World Record! Not too bad for weakling vegetarian?
So as a professional trainer and when you are working out, what are some of the dumb, but flattering things that people ask you?
There is an assumption that to get big and strong you need to eat meat, this myth is perpetuated even by top strength and conditioning coaches who really should know better. Some TV programmes have further perpetuated the myth with unscientific studies that had the subjects on a vegetarian diet eating far less protein than usual and far less than I would recommend for someone doing any training.
As I mentioned, for a long time I was never big or strong enough to really be troubled by accusations of steroid use until I started really putting all my principles into practice. All of a sudden the accusations started coming in thick and fast. When I explain how they can start getting similar gains IF they are prepared to dramatically change their training, some will jump on board and some will continue to spin their wheels and think the only reason anyone else is doing better is from drugs.
What were the key problems you had to overcome as a vegetarian bodybuilder?
I would consider the main problem to be my mental state! What I mean by that is that after years of hearing how a vegetarian is never going to gain any appreciable muscle mass you start to believe it! Sometimes it is easier to blame something than really accept what is going on. When I was following routines from the bodybuilding magazines and not recovering from training and not growing I thought it must be my veggie diet. It wasn’t though – it was the routines! Many people think getting enough protein form a veggie diet is difficult but it really isn’t if you have the right guidance.
What are some of the public misconceptions about veggie bodybuilders?
The main misconception is that they cannot get big. Part of this reasoning is that when they think of bodybuilders they mentally picture bodybuilders who use anabolic steroids and are the extreme end of the scale. Say “bodybuilder” and most people think of Arnold Swarzenegger. There is no reason a veggie bodybuilder cannot reach that type of size if they are prepared to use anabolic steroids. Take a look at Bill Pearl who dominated a whole era of bodybuilding on a vegetarian diet.
In my experience most veggie bodybuilders prefer to stay drug-free and natural. As such they are unlikely to build a physique the size of the guys whose pictures litter the bodybuilding magazines. However, this is because they choose not to take drugs rather than choosing not to eat meat.
What were the myths about veggie bb you had to confront?
Myth number one is that you need meat to grow new muscle tissue. This is nonsense. You need protein and amino acids to build new muscle tissue. Your body does not care if this protein comes from a vegetarian source as long as all 8 essential amino acids are present.
Myth number two is that you cannot get big and strong on a meat-free diet. Again, this is nonsense. There are world class weightlifters, powerlifters and bodybuilders who choose not to eat meat.
What is people's reaction when you tell them you are veggie?
Usually shock! Then an interest in what I actually do eat.
And finally, what’s the number one tip you would have for the aspirant vegetarian bodybuilder?
There is no magic pill. There is no overnight sensation. There is only hard work, determination and focus. You cannot change your body without changing your habits and your mind-set. If you have stalled in your progress or never been able to make any progress you must accept that you need to do things differently.
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein
Mental focus is hard to maintain yet success is built upon its foundations. You must be mentally prepared for the task ahead. You must be able to brush off disparaging and discouraging comments from others. Ultimately it is you who will succeed while those not prepared to make change will remain the same. There may be bitterness and resentment because you are able to do what they choose not to. Mental fortitude to make the right choices will carry you to your goals.
Sort out your diet, your training and your mind- and success will be yours!
Ben France
Copyright - Ben France 2009
D.O.B 01/08/1973
Status: Lifetime Natural Strongman, Powerlifter & Bodybuilding Competitor, Contest Judge, Personal Trainer, Fitness Suite Manager
Height: 5’11.5”
Current Weight: 104kg (228lb)
Natural Bodybuilding Competition History
2003 BNBF Northern Championship Novice Class 1st
2003 BNBF British Championships Novice Class 1st
2004 BNBF Northern Championship U80kg Class 2nd
2004 BNBF British Championship U80kg Class 6th
2006 BNBF Northern Championship U80kg Class 3rd
2006 NPA Welsh Championship U80kg Class 2nd
Natural Powerlifting History
2007 BDFPA North West Championship U90kg 1st
2007 BDFPA British Single Lift Championship U100kg Deadlift 1st
2009 BDFPA North West Championship U100kg 1st
2009 BDFPA British Single Lift Championship U100kg Deadlift 1st
209 WDFPA World Single Lift Championship U100kg eadlift ??? (Sept)
Natural Strongman Competition History
2007 BDFPA South Downs Strongman 7th
2007 BDFPA UK Drug Free Strongman Challenge U105kg 1st, Overall 2nd
2008 IAWA South Downs Strongman U105kg 1st, Overall 2nd
2009 IAWA Stone Lifting Champioship 3rd
Strongman Competition History (against non-tested athletes)
2007 Dumfries Strongest Man 11th
2008 Fitlike International Novice Strongman 1st
2009 Midlands Strongest Man U105kg 3rd
2009 England's Strongest Man U105kg ???
Now training for England’s Strongest Man U105kg and Britain’s Strongest Natural Man. Then be competing at the World Drug Free Powerlifting Federation’s ‘World Single Lift’ Championship- where I will be attempting to break the U100kg World Record! Not too bad for a weakling vegetarian!!