If you are having a hard time getting toned up and putting on a little bit of muscle mass on a vegan diet you’re actually in luck. In this post, we’re giving you the step by step guide you need to follow if you want to develop your muscles and still enjoy the vegan lifestyle.
It’s a well-known fact that your muscles will start to develop when you are in a caloric surplus and you are following a high protein diet. It’s just how our bodies are programmed to work. Proteins, or amino acids to be more specific, are the building blocks of muscle fibres. They repair the fibres after an intense workout causing the muscles to adapt and grow stronger and bigger.
That’s how you can get toned up. Regardless if you are a vegan or not.
#1 How much protein do you actually need
Everybody in the fitness industry is talking about how much protein you need to eat in order to get the best results. But the truth is that our need for protein though is severely overstated. And you don’t need to take my word for that. You have scientific studies which demonstrated just that.
There are magazines, diet plans, and websites that recommend consuming as much as 2 grams per pound of bodyweight. Which is a tremendous amount if you think about it. For somebody that is 150 pounds that will be 300 grams of protein each day!
The truth is, as per the studies available out there, that you will most likely not see any additional benefit from consuming more than 0.8 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. For most gals and even guys, that’s around 100, maybe 150 grams for bigger people.
#2 Where to get your protein from if you’re vegan
This is probably one of the top questions that pops up when it comes to developing your muscle on a vegan diet. Everybody thinks of chicken, beef, fish, cheese, eggs, and milk when it comes down to a high protein diet. But there are plenty of other choices.
Foods like nuts, almonds, peanut butter, grains such as rice, quinoa and all kinds of beans are pretty rich in protein and you can get plenty of benefits from those if you are a vegan. Nowadays there are plenty of meal alternatives such as tofu or vegan burgers which have just the same amount of protein content (and sometimes even the same taste) as regular burgers for examples.
On top of that, there are also vegan protein powders which you can use to supplement when you can’t get enough calories or protein. So there are plenty of options to help you stay on top of your diet if you are a vegan looking to build a great physique.
#3 How can I get enough calories
The second main challenge with a vegan diet is how can I get in enough calories to gain mass. Clearly, you will need to gain a little bit of weight if you want to build muscle effectively. The truth is that getting calories from a vegan diet is so much easier than you would think.
For example, a meal consisting of 2 cups of rice some beans and one potato cooked in olive oil is roughly around 1,000 kcal, which is plenty even for people with really high caloric needs. Oats are also great if you want to up your caloric intake.
So calories aren’t really a problem either if you actually take the time to do a little bit of research and plan your meals ahead. Be careful not to overdo it though. You only need to be in a 10-15% caloric surplus to build muscle effectively. Eating more than that will just make you fatter.
Besides the calories, you want to keep an eye out on the macro and micronutrients as well. Even if you are probably eating a lot of fruits and veggies as a vegan, you can also supplement with more vitamins and minerals.
Ideally, you want to avoid eating too many foods that are high in fats so that you have more room for your carbs and protein obviously. Carbs are great for giving you that energy boost in the gym. And a good workout will lead to more muscle gains, which leads us to the next and final point of this post.
#4 Progressive overload
Lastly but not least, you want your workouts to be in check. In terms of training, you got to follow the principle of progressive overload. I see so many people (regardless if they are vegan or not) having trouble gaining weight and the main reason for that is because they are doing the same thing over and over again the gym.
So whether your diet is on point or not, if you are not training optimally you will not develop your body. Progressive overload is the gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during exercise training. As you move forward, over time you want to increase the intensity of your workouts.
You can do this really ways in two ways.
You can increase the number of repetitions on an exercise while maintaining the difficulty of that exercise. For example, you can go from doing 10 bodyweight squats to 15-20 bodyweight squats.
Or you can do the same number of reps, but instead, increase the difficulty by adding extra weight.
Your body will have to adapt to that new level of stress, and it’s going to do that by becoming stronger and getting toned up.
Over to you
At the end of the day, building muscle on a vegan is pretty much the same as building muscle on a regular diet. The number one thing you should focus on is hitting your caloric goal consistently and eating the right amount of calories for you based on your goals.
Try to get it plenty of protein, but also lots of carbs. Lastly but not least follow a resistance training routine which forces your muscles to adapt to new levels of stress and difficulty on a constant basis.
Author Bio:
Cristian is co-editor at Kick-Ass Home Gym, a website providing helpful articles that inspire you to stay fit and healthy at home – on your own time, in your own space.
