Muscle building should be an important focus for everyone, vegans included.
Our muscle fibers are in a constant flux of building and breaking down.
As we age, the rate of muscle breakdown slowly starts to overtake muscle building. Taking active steps to help your body build muscle will help delay or even counteract age-related muscle loss.
There are several benefits to building and holding on to muscle.
For starters, muscle burns more calories than fat. So having more muscle can help speed up your metabolism. In turn, a faster metabolism can make it easier for you to maintain a body fat percentage that’s beneficial to your health.
Stronger muscles can also reduce your risk of injuries as you age. The strength training required to build strong muscles has the added benefit of also strengthening your bones. In turn, stronger bones can reduce your risk of fractures.
Finally, having a strong muscle mass can make it easier for you to perform your daily activities. For example, lifting heavy grocery bags, doing home renovations, or carrying your kids.
In sum: Muscles help speed up your metabolism and reduce age-related muscle loss. They help keep you strong and healthy, and make it easier for you to perform your daily activities.
Three rules of vegan muscle building
These following three rules apply to anyone wishing to build muscle – whether vegan or not.
You’ll need to fulfill all three of these conditions to build muscle. If you miss either of the three, it’ll be more difficult – sometimes even impossible – for you to build muscle.
1. Eat enough protein
Protein, and the amino acids that form it, are the building blocks of muscles.
In order to build muscle, you’ll need to eat enough protein.
Generally speaking, you’ll need to eat around 1.6-1.8 grams of protein per kg of body mass (0.5-0.6 g/lb) each day to build muscle most efficiently (1, 2).
It’s worth noting that plant protein tends to be more difficult for your body to absorb when compared to animal protein. It also tends to contain lower amounts of essential amino acids per portion.
This is especially relevant for leucine, an essential amino acid that is especially crucial for building muscle (2).
This is why most experts recommend that vegetarians and vegans aim for the higher end of the daily protein recommendations above (2).
Some argue that the current research suggests that the difference in protein absorption between meat- and plant-based diets is likely too small to warrant these higher protein recommendations (3).
The way I see it, there’s practically no downside to getting that little bit of extra protein, just in case.
You can make it easier for your body to absorb protein from plant foods by soaking, dehulling, germinating, fermenting, and cooking them (4).
Also keep in mind that plant foods tend to contain lower amounts of protein per serving when compared to meat, eggs, or dairy. This means that you’ll need to eat a larger amount of them to meet your daily protein needs.
For now, calculate how many grams of plant protein you’ll need to aim for each day. You can do this by multiplying your weight in kilograms by 1.8, or your weight in pounds by 0.6. We’ll discuss which protein-rich plant foods you can eat to meet your needs in a section further down below.
2. Eat enough calories
You can eat all the protein in the world. However, if you’re not eating enough calories, you’ll unlikely see any significant muscle gains.
Your body requires extra calories to build muscle.
As a general rule, you’ll need to eat an extra 250-500 calories each day to build 0.25-0.5 kg (0.5-1 lb) of muscle per week.
Assuming that you’re meeting your daily protein needs and following a good resistance training program, these extra calories will be used to build muscle.
Lacking either the protein or proper training program will likely lead these calories to be stored as fat rather than used to build muscle.
During my sport nutrition studies, I was taught that we generally cannot gain more than 0.25-0.5 kg (0.5-1 lb) of muscle mass per week. So overly increasing your calories may cause you to gain both muscle and fat rather than just muscle.
However, in practice, some people may be able to gain muscle more quickly. This may be particularly true if you have a low muscle mass to begin with (5, 6, 7).
Plus, if you’re starting with a low muscle mass and low body weight, it may not bother you to gain a little fat alongside the muscle. In fact, the additional gain in body fat that typically accompanies a “quicker bulking” may even be beneficial for you.
As mentioned above, plant foods tend to contain a lower amount of protein per serving. This is also true of calories. So you’ll need to eat a larger volume of foods to meet your increased energy needs.
Tips to help you eat more if you find it difficult to eat large volumes of plant foods
For some, the volume of plant foods needed to get an additional 250-500 calories can feel overwhelming. If this is the case for you, you can try:
Cooking your foods: this reduces their volume, making it easier to consume their calories.
Add more fats: fat is rich in calories, but low in volume. Try adding more fat-rich foods such as avocados, olives, nuts, and seeds to your meals. Sauces and other fat-rich condiments can also help.
Eat slightly less vegetables: aim to fill about ⅓ of your plate with veggies instead of the standard ½ a plate. This amount will still contribute to meeting your nutrient needs, but make your food volume more manageable.
Eat slightly less fiber: fiber is great for your digestion, but adds bulk to your meals. Slightly reduce the amount of fiber in your diet by peeling some of your fruit and vegetables, and alternating whole with more processed grains.
3. Choose the right resistance training routine
This may go without saying, but in order to build muscle, you’ll need to follow a well-designed strength-training routine.
Such a routine should include both single- and multi-joint exercise and work your muscles in various angles and planes (7, 8).
A seated leg extension or arm curl is an example of a single joint exercise. A squat or bench press is an example of a multi-joint exercise.
You’d ideally also focus on exercises that require a full range of motion. These train your muscles at long lengths (7, 8).
For example, a full squat is an exercise that requires a full range of motion. A half squat would be the same exercise, using a partial range of motion.
So now that you know what type of exercises to do, let’s talk about how often you’ll need to do them to see results.
Experts suggest that you need to perform at least 10 sets of exercises per muscle per week to grow muscles effectively (7).
Whether you choose to do these 10 sets in one training session, or do 2 sets 5 times per week doesn’t seem to matter much. So just pick what works best for you (7).
Rest periods of 60-90 seconds between sets should be enough for single-joint and certain machine-based exercises. Rest periods should be at least 2 minutes when performing multi-joint exercises.
Keep in mind that any type of strength training, regardless of the amount or frequency, increases muscle mass more than no strength training at all (6).
So try not to get hung up on these numbers too much. Just make sure you do some form of strength training exercise each week.
In sum: In order to build muscle, you’ll need to eat around 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram body weight (0.6 g/lb) per day and an additional 250-500 calories. You’ll also need to follow a proper strength training routine.
What are the plant foods highest in protein?
Here’s an outline of the plant foods that are richest in protein. These are the ones that will make the highest impact on the total amount of protein in your diet.
You don’t have to eat all of them. However, including a large variety of them will help you more easily meet your daily protein needs.
Protein is made up of amino acids. These building blocks can be split up into three categories (9):
Essential amino acids: these are 9 amino acids that your body cannot make. You’ll need to get them from your diet.
Non-essential amino acids: your body can get these 11 amino acids directly from the foods you eat, or make them from the other 9 essential amino acids above.
Conditionally essential amino acids: these amino acids are generally considered non-essential. They only become essential in times of quick growth, illness, or to recover from physical trauma.
All foods contain all 9 essential amino acids. However, when compared to animal foods, plant foods tend to contain lower levels of at least 1 or 2 of these essential amino acids.
For instance, legumes and vegetables tend to be low in cysteine and methionine. On the other hand, grains, nuts, and seeds tend to be lower in lysine.
So if you were to completely avoid grains, nuts, and seeds in your diet, you could risk getting too little of the amino acid lysine. And if you tend to eat too little beans, lentils or peas, then you’re likely to be lacking cysteine or methionine.
Some people take this to mean that plant foods are “incomplete” sources of protein. Or that you need to diligently combine the right foods at each meal in order to meet your protein needs. However, that’s stretching the truth.
As long as your diet contains plant foods from all categories, the fact that some are lower in certain amino acids doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day, a varied plant-based diet will result in you meeting all of your essential amino acid needs.
How can I get enough protein on a vegan diet?
Meeting your protein needs on a vegan diet can be quite simple. All it requires is that you consciously choose to add a few protein-rich foods to each of your meals and snacks.
As a reminder, make sure to vary your protein sources throughout the day. As long as you do this, you don’t need to focus on any particular protein combining.
You may find that planning meals according to the vegan plate method can make it easier to ensure that you get that variety needed to meet your daily amino acid needs.
To reflect a higher protein diet, you’ll need to adjust the plate ratios to ⅓ legumes, nuts, and seeds, ⅓ whole grains & starchy vegetables, and ⅓ fruit and vegetables.
In sum: You can get enough protein from your vegan diet by incorporating protein-rich plant foods to every meal and snack. Include foods from all groups to help you meet your essential amino acid needs.
Extra benefits of a vegan diet when building muscle
Choosing to eat a vegan diet while building muscle offers an array of additional advantages. These include:
A lower risk of disease: plant-based diets are strongly linked to a lower risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer (10, 11, 12).
Protection against dementia: the same factors linked to heart disease are also linked to dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, a plant-based diet may indirectly help protect you from age-related dementia (13, 14, 15).
Healthier joints: a plant-based diet, when combined with physical activity and low stress seems effective at lowering symptoms of osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis (16, 17, 18).
A healthier environment: a vegan diet produces 47-60% lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to a meat containing-one (10).
Improved physical performance: plant protein sources may help reduce inflammation, oxidative stress, and improve exercise capacity (2, 19).
A healthier gut: plant-based diets can improve the health of your gut. In turn, this may help reduce gut inflammation, improving your digestion and overall health (20, 21).
Improved fertility: a plant-based diet may prevent or reduce symptoms of endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) (22, 23, 24).
It’s worth noting that all of these benefits are linked to plant-based diet that are minimally processed. So try keeping those vegan McDonnald’s burgers and oreos to a minimum whenever possible!
In sum: A protein-rich vegan diet can offer an array of additional benefits while also helping you build muscle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are a few answers to the most commonly asked questions I’ve come across regarding to how to build muscle as a vegan.
How can a vegan bulk up?
Bulking up as a vegan requires the same basic conditions as building muscle as a non-vegan.
As long as you’re eating enough protein, enough calories, and following the right resistance-training program, you’ll be able to build muscles successfully.
Is it hard to build muscle as a vegan?
This depends. Most vegans can build muscle easily, as long as they are eating enough protein, calories, and training adequately.
That said, a vegan diet is not calorically dense. This means that you’ll need to eat a larger amount of food to get the same amount of calories (or protein) that you’d get from much smaller volumes of animal products.
Some people may find it difficult to eat the larger volume of food necessary to meet their increased protein and calorie needs. If this is the case for you, these tips may make this easier for you.
There isn’t one miracle source of plant protein that will help you achieve speedier muscle building. If there was, we’d all be eating it!
Instead, try including a few of the protein-rich plant foods I’ve outlined above into each of your meals and snacks.
Making sure that your diet includes a good variety of plant foods will ensure that you’re getting enough of all of the amino acids your body needs to build muscle efficiently.
How to get 160 grams of protein per day as a vegan?
For some reason, this is one of the most googled questions related to building muscle as a vegan. So let’s break this down.
First, if you need 160 grams of protein per day, I’ll assume you’re currently weighing around 89 kg (196 lbs). If that’s not the case, then you’ll need to recalculate your protein requirements using 1.8 grams of protein per kg (0.6g/lb) per day.
Now, let’s break down 160 grams of protein over 3 meals + 3 snacks each day. That should be around 30-35 grams of protein per meal + 20-25 grams of protein per snack.
Here’s an example of foods you can eat to meet these requirements. For this example, I’ve calculated a diet providing around 3300 calories per day with 160 grams of protein, spread more or less equally over 3 meals and 3 snacks.
Foods
Protein
Breakfast
Oatmeal topped with flaxseeds, banana and peanut butter
32 grams
Snack
Raspberry banana smoothie
22 grams
Lunch
Scrambled tofu wrap topped with raw spinach, red pepper and hemp seeds
34 grams
Snack
Black bean dip with tortilla chips and raw carrot sticks
20 grams
Dinner
Chilli sin carne on rice, a side salad, vegan sour cream, salsa and avocado
36 grams
Snack
Plant yogurt topped with flaxseeds, nut butter, fresh blueberries and cacao nibs
25 grams
TOTAL
3328 kcal, 164 grams protein
You can download my full Cronometer journal entry to check out this day’s nutrient breakdown, as well as the specific food quantities used. Feel free to adjust it or use it as an inspiration to build a meal plan reflecting your own personal nutrition needs.
Do I need to worry about meal timing to build muscle?
Your body can only use a certain amount of protein per meal for muscle building purposes (25).
That’s why it’s highly beneficial to spread your total protein intake more or less equally throughout the day. To do this, simply take the total amount of protein you need and divide it by the amount of meals and snacks you’re planning on eating.
I’d recommend you aim to have a minimum of 4 eating moments each day, making sure it includes a bedtime snack. You should aim to have this bedtime snack 30-60 minutes before going to bed (2).
It’s also beneficial to eat 20-30 grams of protein within 30-60 minutes following your training. This can be a meal, or a snack; whichever works best for you.
Do I need extra vitamins to grow muscle as a vegan?
Vegans benefit from taking a few supplements. The vegan supplements I recommend most vegans add to their diet include vitamin B12, vitamin D, iodine, and long-chain omega-3s.
You can get these from individual supplements or from a vegan multivitamin.
These supplements are beneficial to all vegans, whether you’re trying to build muscle or not.
Do I need a protein supplement to grow muscle as a vegan?
Getting your protein directly from whole foods rather than supplements is always more beneficial. That’s because whole foods contain an array of other nutrients and beneficial plant compounds that protein powders do not.
A varied diet that includes enough protein-rich plant foods will allow you to meet your daily protein and essential amino acid requirements without needing a protein supplement (2).
That said, a protein powder can be helpful when your access to whole foods is limited or impractical.
In sum: You may have loads of questions regarding how to best build muscle as a vegan. I hope this FAQ section helps answer a few of them. If you have any additional questions, feel free to drop them in the comment section below.
To sum it all up
There are many benefits to building and maintaining a good muscle mass, even if you’re not an athlete.
It’s absolutely possible to build muscle as a vegan. In order to do so successfully, you’ll need to eat enough protein, enough calories, and train your muscles appropriately.
There are plenty of protein-rich plant foods you can choose from. Use these foods to build protein-rich meals and snacks and spread these more or less equally throughout the day for best results.
It can be beneficial for you to add vitamin B12, vitamin D, iodine, and long-chain omega-3 supplements to your diet. Protein supplements can be helpful, but are definitely not a necessity.
Leave a Reply