{"id":29736,"date":"2021-05-12T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/?p=29736"},"modified":"2023-11-08T09:43:41","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T14:43:41","slug":"build-muscle-plant-based","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/build-muscle-plant-based\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Build Muscle on a Plant-Based Diet: Staple Foods, Meal Plans, and Philosophy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Let\u2019s face it, building muscle is hard, no matter what \u201cdiet\u201d you follow. And supporting your athletic endeavors with a plant-based diet<\/a> can be challenging too, especially if you’ve only recently gone vegan<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been there\u2014desperately hoping to gain muscle on a plant-based diet<\/a>. After decades of learning from personal failures and successes, I have officially cracked the code on how to truly build and sustain muscle. I\u2019m sharing those keys to success with you today so that you too can achieve your bodybuilding and fitness goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I first started my plant-based, muscle-building journey many years ago, there wasn\u2019t much publicly available on the subject. So little, in fact, that I had to rely almost entirely on trial and error. Thankfully, over time I started to figure it out, and I grew from weighing 120 pounds in 1995 when I went vegan, to a 210-pound champion bodybuilder at my peak, built entirely by plants (and hard work in the gym).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if you\u2019ve struggled with building muscle in the past (while plant-based or not), I\u2019m confident you can bulk up when you apply the strategies, habits, foods, and exercises necessary to achieve your goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it all starts with nutrition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Understanding Your Caloric Needs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your quest to build muscle on a plant-based diet<\/a> relies on understanding your true macronutrient and calorie needs<\/a>. Not guessing, or estimating, or assuming characteristics about your current habits, but real, raw data based on who you are and what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Believe it or not, it\u2019s much easier to figure out than you might think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start with finding your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) using the Harris-Benedict equation<\/a>. BMR is the amount of calories you expend simply by existing, based on your gender, age, height, and weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combine that number with your actual activity level\u2014any additional movements beyond just existing, like walking the dog, running errands, hitting the gym, or walking up a flight of stairs. This gives you the approximate number of total calories you expend daily… your calorie needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you expend 2,500 calories per day, you need to consume 2,500 calories per day just to maintain<\/i> weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to gain<\/i> muscle, you would need to consume more than 2,500 calories, ideally from mostly real plant foods. Combine that with resistance weight training, and you\u2019re on your way to muscle-town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re interested in learning more, Matt Frazier and I do a full breakdown of macronutrients in our new book, The Plant-Based Athlete<\/em><\/a>, and not that long ago I shared the technique above, along with my own caloric needs, in an interview for the No Meat Athlete Academy<\/a>. Check out this clip:<\/p>\n\n\n\n