Well first off, a vegetarian does not "strictly eat vegetables".

Meat isn't the only high quality source of protein. Obviously the more you narrow your food choices, the harder it can be and the more you might need to depend on various protein supplements. Plenty of people have gotten big, lean and strong as vegetarians and vegans.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/the-protein-book

Buy and read that book if you're more interested in learning about protein in a dietary and sports sense.

Daniel Bryan seemed to be doing well for himself when he was a vegan.

Daniel Bryan is/was a vegan and CM Punk is a pescetarian (basically vegetarian+fish).

Granted ^'s with some airbrushing, and they're certainly not giant, but it can be done.

Lots of nuts and beans.

Protein is in a lot of stuff besides meat.

If you happen to be looking for that convergence of vegetarian and buff, yes, there is a certain well-balanced point where those two paths cross. Intelligent choices in your diet can benefit you as long as you know what you're doing and what your goal is. Animal protein is simply an easier (and tastier) path to go down in terms of how it benefits muscle growth.

Lots of vegan foods contain high amounts of protein. Seeds, nuts, beans, lentils, peas, non-gmo soy, quinoa... those kinds of things are all pretty full of the stuff, to name just a few.

Eggs son. Eggs.

Who knew the number one alternative for searching on Google was posting a thread on Giantbomb?

Well I don't mind hearing different perspectives.

Also, there are protein bars and shakes with soy milk, their main purpose is to repair muscle tissue; peanut butter it's also very high in protein and fat, which helps you to buff up better.

Can a cow? Can a horse? This is not even a valid question.

Yes but they will likely take longer to do it and will likely never reach their genetic peak. They will most likely end up lean muscular, but never really have a lot of mass.

They totally can and they totally do with supplements and nuts and peanut butter and shit.

Of course they can.

Vegetarians can build muscle because certain plants (broccoli) and legumes contain protein, plus a vegetarian can consume dairy and eggs (two of the best sources of protein). The issue comes with the fact that no vegetable / grain / legume has a full spectrum of amino acids (the building blocks of protein), so vegetarians have to strictly monitor their nutrient intake to prevent nutrient deficiency. Plus, vegetarians have to supplement their diet more than people who eat meat do. Vegetarians have no source of creatine available to them, they are almost all lacking in vitamin B12, they are almost all deficient in cholesterol (yes, cholesterol is actually important for your health), and they are almost all running an imbalance of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids.

So it is possible to build muscle on a vegetarian diet, but it is a hell of a lot more complicated to do so. Unless you are a cheater who thinks that there is a difference between eating chicken and fish. Vegans are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to building muscle though.

Those who consume dairy and eggs are called Lacto-ovo-vegetarians. Then are those semi-vegetarians who consume dairy, eggs, fish, chicken/turkey meat (I am semi-vegetarian); mushrooms contain vitamin B12 and they are called "vegetarian meat", but they have a low level of protein. There are other several types of vegetarians, only these two are the most common among people. Vegetable contain at least one amino acid, but having a variety in your daily diet will complete the spectrum; eggs, soya and fish are rich in amino acids. Whatever has more proteins, will have also amino acids. Creatine is not necessary, besides that many supplements can intoxicate the liver and do damage to the kidney. Cholesterol, we have two types of cholesterol (HDL) and the bad one (LDL). The cholesterol is released by the liver, in different amounts, because it depends on the organism. That's why some people are not allowed to eat more than 2-3 eggs a week. You can find it also in dairy (especially in cheese) eggs, the yolk contains high cholesterol and the list can go longer. Semi-vegetarians/pescetarians will have all the omega and fatty acids they want in this world.

I don't think it's really a matter of different perspectives. I mean, vegetarians can still build muscle. That's just scientific reality. I can understand your curiosity, but it's kind of like asking whether the liver can convert glucose into fatty acids. There aren't really different perspectives on it, just differing levels of education on it. Vegetarians can still build muscle.

A differing perspectives question might be something more along the lines of "Do you prefer building up muscle with or without meats in your diet?" Asking if building muscle is still possible for vegetarians, though, has an absolute answer.

...and the answer is yes by the way, i just find this scene funny.

Dangit, am I the only person here who still likes a nice juicy hamburger? Also, fuck vegetables.

@missacre: Well, I can't say no to this.

Of course, don't be silly. Calories are calories.

Arian Foster was a vegan for a while.

Also, god damn, you're like the new Hizang of posting a bunch of shitty random threads every day.

Falserelic looking for bodybuilding advice on giantbomb? Must be a weekday!

Do vegetarians typically eat eggs? I don't know much about vegans and vegetarians, but that seems like a very fine line.

@ll_exile_ll: Eggs aren't meat. People don't normally eat fertilized eggs, so it's no more of a fine line than eating dairy.

Most likely the buffest and most well built man I know is a vegetarian... He doesn't even go to the gym, he just has a really good training regiment and eats well.

They are not people. So, no.

@truthtellah Since you've put it that way I understand now, thanks. Next time when I make a new thread I'll keep that in mind.

@clonedzero I already get advice from youtubers and people that are trainers. If I do make a thread about workouts its just for fun and to kill time for me. Alot of times when I make a thread its just for entertainment.

@ajamafalous I notice you love to talk shit, but if you feel that way its fine. Like I told you before and this goes to other GB users. If someone doesn't like my threads they can skip or flagged them and just move along. Some people can take my threads too seriously, and afew times I had people send me private death threats. To be honest even if I made one of the best threads on GB one day. I guarantee there's going to be people that thinks its shitty, I can't please everybody. Doesn't really matter because I'm not going to stop for other people.

@tobbrobb It could be just good genetics that plays a role too.

@missacre Yeah I love burgers too. I can't see myself being a vegetarian. I'm like a wild animal I crave meat I got to have it in my system.

@monetarydread@ Thanks for giving better insight and explaining how it works.

@falserelic: Genetics definitely matter, but you can't get that level of muscle without working for it.

True, building muscle or losing weight will take work regardless.

Not without supplements, but yes they can.

OP uses Vegans in the post and vegetarians in title suggesting they may not know the difference

@falserelic said:

I'd love to know where you got the idea that I "love to talk shit" from. I just went back through the last 5 pages of my forum posts just to be sure I wasn't doing anything I wasn't aware of, and the only time I 'talked shit' was in your ecstasy thread, which I feel is completely justified because that thread got locked and why would you make that thread.

For shits and giggles to be honest just having some fun. Sometimes I'll make a thread just to experiment with it to see a reaction. Besides its not like I really take things seriously on this site. My life is already fucked up as it is, so usually I just come on this site make a thread to take my mind off of things. Whether its negative or positive doesn't bother me not one bit I'm just having fun, and sometimes I might learn something new from other GB users.

Anyway I got no hard feeling towards you at all. All I was saying if you was having a issue with my threads just ignore them, because at the end of the day I'm just having fun on the site. I'm usually not taking things seriously, I know other GB users do but I don't.

Check out the faq from the Engine 2 diet site.

http://engine2diet.com/question/can-i-get-enough-protein-eating-a-plant-based-diet/

The answer is of course yes, vegetarians can build muscle. The strongest animals on the planet are vegetarians after all.

@jaycrockett: I think the 'animals are herbivores and they're strong' is a kind of weasel argument to make. They have different biology than us, axiomatically. Some animals can respirate oxygen underwater.

Your link is better because it gets to the heart; can I get _enough_ protein with this diet to effectively build muscle? Which is a perfectly legitimate question.

This is kind of a silly question. Yes, of course they can.

Being a vegetarian means leading a diet-conscious lifestyle, something anyone looking to make noticeable changes in their body should consider. There are a lot of good options for protein if you can't consume meat, not least of which is supplementing it with veg-friendly protein isolate shakes which is the most calorie-efficient way of introducing protein into your diet. Even if you don't go the shake route, eggs, cheese, soy, avocados, quinoa, and basically any seed, nut or bean contain high amounts of protein not to mention a bunch of other nutrients your body needs.

That being said, is it more difficult for a vegetarian to gain muscle than it would be for someone who eats meat? Yes. Carnivores simply have many more protein options available to them but to be quite honest vegetarians and vegans are more careful with their diets out of necessity and eating right is half the battle when trying to get in shape.

Are you asking about vegans or vegetarians? Your thread title says vegetarians thing but then your first sentence is about vegans. Vegetarians eat eggs and dairy. Hulk Hogan's routine involves eating dozens of egg whites each day. I'm a fan of fage yogurt which has 20 g of protein per serving. That's just a bit shy of a quarter pound of ground beef.

Also, check the below link.

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/

I don't why things like this are treated as opinions and framed with questinos like, "Do you think....?" when they involve information and hard evidence that's right there and easy to find.

Err I'm not sure what your point is (I'm a bit slow) but vegans don't strictly eat vegetables either.

EDIT: Oh I see he's strictly talking about vegans in the post. My point still stands. Vegans and vegetarians alike adhere to a plant-based diet but that does not relegate their diet to "strictly vegetables". Far from it.