You probably know that you can build some muscle on a vegetarian diet. But is serious muscle and massive strength really possible?
For vegetarians, the single biggest obstacle to gaining muscle is overcoming the social conditioning that says
'you need meat to grow muscle'.
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 (i.e. your diet) than accept what is really 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.
But when I studied my diet scientifically, I realized I was easily eating enough protein. So I woke up to a simple but hard to take fact: My training wasn’t working!
Most training programs you will see, read and hear about won’t serve you as a vegetarian, natural bodybuilder.
I’d always known that the Bodybuilding Magazines (and some gyms for that matter) are full of guys on steroids. But hadn’t realised quite how much my training (and most other people’s) had been influenced by reading those steroid mags’ years ago.
So just over a year ago I radically changed my training regime and my diet plan.
And that’s when I noticed some serious body transformation going on. I’d started following a training program that flies in the face of commonly used thinking.
So what happens when you start training INTENSIVELY, using old school (pre-Arnold, pre-drugs era) techniques?
Here’s What I achieved in 18 months:
Maximum single deadlift (raw) has gone from
232kg (510 lbs) to 290kg (638 lbs)
A 25% increase!
It's pretty cool when the bar you're lifting starts to bend!
(See my YouTube page for the actual 290 lift)
Maximum 140kg (308 lbs) deadlift reps: Was 15 reps- now 30 reps!!
A 100% increase
See video above & count them yourself. My filming friend forgot to count the first lift!
My maximum squat was 180kg (418 lb). Now 9 reps of the same weight!
An 800% increase!!
Watch 8 of them on the sidebar.
(I really must get a better cameraman!)
So how does this translate into Size gains I hear you ask?
In just over a year, from an already well developed physique, I have gained:
Chest +3”
Biceps +1.75” (15% gain)
Upper thighs +2 inches
Calves +1.5 inches
Lean Mass Gained: 13kg (29 lbs) on a 6ft frame
So if you want to get serious about vegetarian bodybuilding you need to focus just as much on your training programme as you do your diet.
If you want a good, vegetarian bodybuilding diet plan and training programme, in line with the principles that I now use in my own training, then hire the services of a good personal trainer for a few sessions to get you on the right track or try an online programme like Vince DelMonte's No Nonsense Muscle Building
Click here to go to get the programme
(remember to 'upgrade' for the vegetarian bodybuilding diet plans).
Vegetarian Bodybuilding Diet Plan is included in the Upgrade Pack.