I have been a plant-based eater for decades and bodybuilder for the last 4 years (I did compete as an amateur bodybuilder when I was young, about 35 years ago and at that time I was an omnivore).

What I have learned from my recent efforts is that it is perfectly reasonable to anticipate making gains in fitness and muscle size as a vegan bodybuilder. Keeping in mind that I am now 56 years old, I have been able to lose about 60 lbs and gain considerable lean mass over the past 4 years while working out 5 days a week and enjoying a 100% plant-based diet.

Some things I have found important to keep in mind:

• Nutritional discipline is an imperative. I have used a variety of tools to record and track my daily nutrition. Most recently I am using My Fitness Pal to help assure I make choices that meet my desired Macro goals.
• Protein is important, but is relatively easy to optimize a plant-based intake. I enjoy a high-protein smoothie as my first meal each day. It consists of Almond milk, Aloha Vegan Protein Powder, 2 tablespoons of Flax Seeds, 3/4 cup frozen blueberries, 1/2 frozen banana. Other than that supplementation I rely on real foods for completing a 130 - 150 grams of protein intake each day. Legumes, tofu, nuts and some vegan meat substitutes makes it easy.
• Getting plenty of active recovery is valuable. I mix in two days of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) each week to give my muscles recovery time while enhancing my over-all fitness
• Testing different supplement regimes is important. I currently enjoy utilizing vitamin B12, vitamin D supplements and a high vitamin C workout drink as the basis of my supplement regime. I also make sure that I enjoy 2 tbls. of flax seed each day (generally as part of my day’s first meal of a high-protein smoothie).
• Alternate heavy, low rep work with high volume exercises days.
• Cycling workout periods with scheduled time off is important. It may be due to my age, but I find that after 10-12 weeks of consistent training I begin to feel "nicked up". My joints are achy, injuries start to pop-up and lower back gets sore. At that time I find a week of off-time puts everything back in order and I am ready to go with intensity again. I track my body weight, body fat percentage and lean mass percentage consistently and find that I see the most gains in lean body mass during the week off.

Your muscle gains may be slower than your meat eating friends, but the fact that you are improving your over-all health profile by eating only nutritionally rich, fiber dense foods should be more than reward enough for needing to be patience in reaching your peak.

Is there a comparison between my meat-eating, competitive bodybuilding days and my current experience? I am not as big or as strong as I was in the day, but I do feel that I am in better physical condition and have a high degree of fitness than I did in the "old days".