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Nutrition

Top 10 Tips For Vegetarian Bodybuilders

Myprotein
Writer and expert7 years ago
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By UK Personal Trainer

Jamie Bantleman

Bodybuilding is considered as being one of the hardest sports due to the difficulty of the general aim of the sport:

? Increase Muscle Mass? Decrease Body Fat

Often when we aim to gain muscle we are looking at muscular cell growth rather than aiming to decreasing body fat to get as lean as possible. However in bodybuilding you are looking to do both at the same time. Therefore, we are actually pushing scientific barriers to their limits and our bodies to places the vast majority of people will never go.

Lets start the article by presuming we are discussing a natural athlete (drug free). We are focusing on those vegetarians that genuinely want to either go into competitive bodybuilding or take part in trying to get into the shape of a bodybuilder by training and dieting in the way someone going into competition would do without the help of synthetic hormones.

10 Tips For a Vegetarian Bodybuilder

vegetarian bodybuilding

Tip #1 | Prepare The Protein

 

Vegetarians usually have a very low amino acid profile due to their protein intake being quite low. Firstly, I would recommend a protein source at every single meal. When preparing someone for a bodybuilding show I would usually have my athletes take 5-6 meals per day deepening on their calorie requirements and length of time they are awake for.

For example, if you are awake at 6am and going to bed at 10pm and you have a reasonably active job you are looking at keeping calories higher due to the output of calories also being high. Protein sources could be found in the following foods:

EggsTofuCottage CheeseGreek Yoghurt

#2 | Gut Health

When you are consuming high protein from dairy products such as cottage cheese, Greek yoghurt or foods hard to digest such as eggs and tofu, you are going to struggle with the processing of them in your gut.

If your gut does not utilise the fuel in which you are feeding it your body will not get the full effect of the diet in which you are working so hard to maintain.

Furthermore, you will begin to see little results and for the hard work in which bodybuilding entails, this will be mentally detrimental.

Tips | 

Eat a various amount of vegetables, particularly greens.Start the day with some lemon water - and again, throughout the day. Lots of water a lone will also help your digestion.If you're still having trouble, have a DigestiMax capsule prior to your meal as a digestive aid.

Tip #3 | Bump Up Your Amino Acids

Amino Acid deficiency will cause a lack of protein-synthesis. The building blocks of protein production are a vital source of gaining lean muscle tissue and maintaining a positive hormonal profile.

Therefore, it would be useful to consume amino acids throughout the day.

Post-workout and even throughout the day, try taking Myamino Energy - this is ideal for the body as an anytime aid to boost energy and fuel your workout.

Tip #4 | Hormone Check

Natural production of testosterone has been found to be lower in blood profiles of a vegetarian.

Firstly, I would always recommend to see a qualified doctor or endocrinologist for hormonal issues, however, it has been found that both Zinc and Vitamin D can improve testosterone readings in those that are deficient in the particular vitamins and minerals.

Read more on Vitamin D

Tip #5 | Omega 3 Fats
Chia seeds

Presuming you do not eat fish, (often I have coached vegetarians that have, and do eat fish) this is another source of both protein and healthy fats that is not being consumed.

Usually, I would recommend Omega 3 Fish Oil. I would recommend 6g per day split up over 3 different meals, therefore taking 2g at breakfast, lunch and tea would be ideal. Also, omega 6 is recommended for a vegetarian due to this usually coming from red meat, eggs etc therefore could be beneficial.

If you don't eat fish, find your Omega 3 in foods such as:

? Seeds - Chia, Flax, HempLeafy Greens? Beans

Tip #6 | Cardio for Cutting

In past articles I have discussed using ‘tools’ when it comes to a body transformation or bodybuilding. These tools are:

Weight trainingCardioSleepDiet

Whilst weight training, sleep and a well-balanced diet is a staple throughout. These are the things I would try to use to get as close to the goal as is possible for a vegetarian. This is due to recovery may not be ideal due to the lower levels of protein in the body and a possible decreased testosterone level.

When coming close to show date, possibly 6-8 weeks prior to stepping on stage, utilise cardio more often when your body has fully adapted to the stresses of bodybuilding you can add in an extra workload if needed to bring your final bits of body fat right down while keeping cortisol exposure low.

Tip #7 | Choose Your Powders

For a vegetarian, especially an athlete, protein powder might just be the best staple in your diet. With protein intake being low, I would advise a shake with your breakfast and lunch to bump up grams of protein.

For example: for the average 90kg bodybuilder looking to gain muscle mass and continue to lose body fat, he would be looking to consume just less than 300g protein per day (297g actual figure) if we worked it out by 1.5g of protein per lb of bodyweight. Therefore, if you break that into 6 meals that person would be looking at eating approx. 50g of protein per meal (49.5g actual figure).

In 1 normal size egg you are looking at approximately 6g protein therefore you would have to consume around 8 eggs to get close to that figure, which would both cost ineffective and incredibly hard to digest.

Likewise, 100g tofu provides around only 9.9g protein, again making it very difficult to consume enough to reach your protein target.

Tip #8 | SLEEP

Sleep is a vital component to bodybuilding due to a natural production of growth hormone being produced while the body is at complete rest. This will aid with muscle growth and recovery to train again at the same high intensity as you did that same day.

To help with sleep, using the magnesium and 5-HTP will be able to limit cortisol exposure and help with rest.

Read | How To Improve Your Sleep

Tip #9 | Use Macros Efficiently

 

High-Carb Diet?
Banana high carb smoothie

A regular issue with vegetarian diets is that they are predominantly based around a high carb and high fat diet. This isn’t advised when the goal is hypertrophy and/or fat loss. Usually it is one or the other.

If you are keeping carbohydrates reasonably high, I would advise you to use them effectively and efficiently. To do this, it is all about timings. Carbs used post-workout is found to have the most effect for those who are aiming towards to this particular goal. Therefore, post workout, adding dextrose or maltodextrin to your whey shake is ideal.

After this, low to moderate GI (glycaemic index) sources of carbs are advised to go alongside your protein sources, such as white or sweet potato. If you are incredibly lean and want to maintain a higher level of carbohydrate intake foods such as rice and oats can be beneficial.

High-Fat Diet?

On the flip side to this you may be on a high fat diet. Essential fatty acids are from the breakdown of fats in our diet. Fats such as healthy oil, nuts and avocado. One of the most popular way of consuming fatty acids is by supplementation of fish oil.

Fats should be used when on this diet throughout the day, however even if this is your preferred method I would always look to use carbohydrates post workout to aid recovery and replenishment.

Tip #10 | Vitamins & Minerals

Once you have achieved a high vitamin and mineral level in the body you should look to maintain these levels by including other good quality supplements.

Alongside a Multivitamin for overall immune health, Magnesium and 5-HTP to help reduce cortisol in the body (the stress hormone that in effect attacks the muscle cell and breaks it down, causing muscular atrophy).

Read more on Magnesium

Read more on 5-HTP

Take Home Message

Try adopting some of the above tips to maximise chances of reaching your goals!

Follow Jamie on Facebook | Jamie Bantleman - Body Transformation Specialist

Whey ProteinLean muscle

Foam RollerFlexibility

BCAA'sMuscle recovery

Our articles should be used for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to be taken as medical advice. If you're concerned, consult a health professional before taking dietary supplements or introducing any major changes to your diet.

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