Vegetarian Bodybuilding: Is It Possible?

The word vegetarian is one that has become somewhat vague among the general population because too many people have inappropriately adopted it as a label for their lifestyle. For instance, I have personally known 3 types of "vegetarians" in my life: those who don't eat chicken, beef or pork (but will eat fish), those who don't eat meat of any kind, and people who won't eat anything that contains or is derived from animal sources.

Of these three definitions, the only one describing a true and sincere vegetarian is the last. This article is written for these people, so I am operating under the assumption that you are extremely sincere about not ingesting any and all animal products.

Adhering to a strict vegetarian diet takes work and conscious attention and building muscles takes work and conscious attention, so putting them together certainly doesn't make either one easier.

The first challenge goes back to the way muscles build in our bodies. To increase the amount of muscle mass and improve the tone of muscles, the body needs protein. Our body uses protein for repairing and building new muscles. The challenge is because the most common source of protein is meat and other animal products.

According to one system for measuring the protein in food, the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score, soy is equal to whey and superior to beef in protein content. Realistically, soy provides all 8 essential amino acids required for growing and repairing muscles. For the strict vegetarian, soy is an excellent option for getting the protein so desperately needed for building muscles.

In addition to protein, soy is also a fantastic source of glutamine which many bodybuilders already take in supplemental form, so soy is sort of a double-whammy for the bodybuilder.

Soy is available in many different forms and types, so you have many options. Low-fat tofu, tempeh, seitan, miso, textured soy protein, soy powder and soy milk. The soy milk is especially helpful because it can be utilized as a replacement for cow's milk in any recipe you come across.

Aside from protein, the vegetarian bodybuilder needs to work at ensuring they get enough quality fat. Almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and pistachio nuts are all excellent sources of both protein and fat. You can also add a tablespoon or so of flaxseed oil, as flax seed is one of the very best sources for the essential fatty acid alpha linolenic acid.

With the protein and fat questions taken care of, we need to find suitable sources of vitamins. The meal-replacement shakes which are incredibly popular with bodybuilders tend to be bursting at the seams with many vitamins and minerals. You may have to hunt specifically for one containing B12, or find an additional B12 supplement, because vitamin B12 is only found in animal products.

With these three areas covered, you will have enough of the natural building blocks for creating and improving muscle mass and tone. Being a vegetarian bodybuilder isn't nearly as unlikely as it may sound at first.