Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Meatheads on vegetarianism?

I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw this article show up on T-nation. A meat-eating body builder going mostly vegan for two months? That's unheard of. Props to John Berardi for trying to gain muscle mass on a plant based diet.

I'll say that I think it's entirely possible to be strong and vegetarian. Heck, I'm even living proof of that. There's no meat in my diet, and I can still strap on 70 lbs and bang out some weighted pull ups and dips. On the flip side, I'll never have a body builder look since I'll never consume enough protein to put on that much muscle mass. But I'm ok with that. I'd rather focus on being able to hold an iron cross than looking like Arnold.

3 comments:

ashe higgs said...

i missed this article.

it shouldn't be that surprising. both mike mahler and robert dos remedios are vegans as well, and both have contributed to t-nation.

you should check out the strength coach podcast. coach dos contributes regularly. he's also done a few interviews on the fitcast.

i don't know how mahler does it. he's about my size but considerably harder.

dos is probably a bit bigger than me, but has a similar BMI. i know that he frequently supplements with a pea based protein drink. i remember he said in one interview he get's about 3-400g of protein daily, so gaining/maintaining mass is a lot more about total protein and calorie intake and less about animal sources.

i've been flirting with the idea of going more to a vegetarian based diet, but i like my meat too much.

jkuo said...

I never knew about Mike Mahler and Robert Dos Remedios. I'll need to keep those names in mind.

I'll definitely check out the strength coach podcast.

Avitable said...

This here blog is way too healthy for my carnivorous, gluttonous ways.



Hi Johnny. Long time!