Human performance on meat-free diets Not only do vegetarians and vegans easily build muscle, they often excel as athletes too, winning Olympic gold medals and world championships. In fact, some of the most famous bodybuilders in history were vegetarian. Heres a list of vegan and vegetarian athletes. Examples of successful vegetarian and vegan athletes (Note: As of July 2012, Ive stopped adding to this list, because Ive made my point that there are numerous vegans who among the top athletes in their sports. The number of vegetarian and vegan athletes is growing rapidly now and theres no way Ill be able to keep up with all the new ones. By the way, not all these athletes were/are exclusively veg*n for their entire athletic careers, the point is that they were/are successful as athletes even when veg*n.) Vegan Bodybuilders Dusan Dudas. Numerous 1st place finishes Jim Sitko. NY Times says his apartment is filled with medals and trophies from bodybuilding competitions Jim Morris. Mr. Olympia Masters champion Robert Hazely. 2nd place Mr. England, 6th place three times Mr. Great Britain Kenneth G. Williams. 3rd place at 2004 Natural Olympia Robert Cheeke Some sites for vegan bodybuilders: A New York Times article on vegan bodybuilders Vegan Bodybuilding Melbourne Vegan Strength Vegan Strength Germany Vegan Bodybuilding.org Vegan bodybuilders shatter the myth that vegans are skinny and malnourished. (Pictured: Avi Lehyani, anonymous, Ryan Wilson, Robert Cheeke) Vegan Powerlifters Noah Hannibal. Gold medal, heavyweight division of the Australian National Bench Press Championships Pat Reeves. 12-time British Masters Powerlifting champion Bill Mannetti. 1st place in division, Connecticut State Powerlifting Championship Joy Bush. 1st place in division, Connecticut State Powerlifting Championship Andrew Clark. 1st place in division, Global One IPF Joel Kirkilis. 1st place in division, Global One IPF and ANB Victorian Championships Patrick Virtue. 2nd place in division, Global One IPF Other Vegan Athletes Timothy Bradley (boxer) Undefeated, WBO Welterweight Champion, WBO Lightweight Champion, two-time WBC Light Welterweight Champion Rob Bigwood (armwrestler) World Champion (left-handed) 2006, #1 in 40 state tournaments Michael Paul Crockett (armwrestler) Mac Danzig (martial arts) MMA record 19-7-1 (as of 4-2010) Tony Gonzalez (Atlanta Falcons tight end) Dean Howell (soccer) Georges Laraque (hockey) Salim Stoudamire (basketball). Atlanta Hawks Christine Vardaros (cycling) Carl Lewis (track) 2 Olympic gold medals as a vegan Scott Jurek (ultramarathoner) 7 consecutive wins at Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, numerous other first place finishes and records Matt Frazier (ultramarathoner), runs NoMeatAthlete Scott Spitz (runner) Numerous 1st place finishes Tim VanOrden (runner) Numerous 1st place finishes Fiona Oakes (runner) 1st place woman and 2nd overall in a 2011 marathon Brendan Brazier (Ironman triathlete). Won the National 50km Ultra Marathon Championships Ruth Heidrich, (triathlete and marathoner) More than 900 first-place trophies and set several performance records. Named One of the 10 Fittest Women in North America. Dave Scott (Ironman triathlete) Six-time Ironman champion Vegetarian Athletes Billy Simmonds (bodybuilder) Natural Universe champion Bill Pearl (bodybuilder) Mr. Universe (3 times), Worlds Best Built Man, Mr. America, Mr. California, numerous Halls of Fame Roy Hilligenn (bodybuilder) Mr. South Africa (4x), Mr. America, Olympic lifter Ricky Williams (football) Miami Dolphins Amateur Vegan Athletes of note (except vegetarian where noted) Vegan Bodybuilders: Ryan Wilson, Ivan, Mike Mahler, Marvin Whittred, Jon Hinds, Charlie Abel, Mike Mahler: Becoming a vegan had a profound effect on my training. … [M]y bench press excelled past 315 pounds...and I put on 10 pounds of lean muscle in a few months. Dan Attanasio (extreme calisthenics) Mike Eves (IKFF certified kettlebell trainer) Jeanie & Chelsea Ward-Waller, Stephanie Palmer. Bicycled coast-to-coast across the U.S. in 2012 to support safe bicycle routes in cities. They mentioned that theyre vegetarian in a presentation I attended in March 2012. Jane Ward, M.D. Described herself as mostly vegan at a presentation I attended in March 2012. At age 60 in 2012, in the last four years she completed over 10 triathlons including a Half-Ironman, and is also a veteran of over 8 marathons and the 24 hour/50 mile Caledonian Challenge in Scotland. Michael Bluejay. Im listing myself not because Im an elite athlete (Im not), but just to show that I put my money where my mouth is. As a vegan, I used to run marathons, and before a knee injury ruined my running career, my half-marathon time put me in the top 22% of male runners my age. After my injury, I started doing handcycle marathons. I won the handcycle division of the 2012 Austin Marathon, but there were no other entrants in my division. I hope to win next years race against actual competition. In this video, McDougall notes that Roman gladiators were vegan. The research on veg vs. non-veg athletes is fairly sparse, but what does exist has failed to show any clear performance benefit for meat-eaters. (See my separate article, Protein and Strength.)
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 14:49:56 +0000
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