Protein - how do vegetarians become beefcakes?

Most vegetarians never achieve beefcake status. Most climbers don't, either, from what I've witnessed. What both may have in common is good strength-to-size ratio, which is necessary for climbers, and usually happens on its own in vegetarians that keep a healthy lifestyle.

Proteins are amino acids that are abundantly supplied by whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, nutritional yeast, protein powders and algae. A vegan or vegetarian making informed choices about one's food intake can obtain ample protein in a whole food diet. That means balancing your protein with a VARIETY of vegetables, seasonal fruits, good fluids, and, yes, fats. The key words here are VARIETY and BALANCE, whether or not you eat animal products. True for climbing as well.

re: supplementation: If the nutrients in a supplement can be provided by an actual food, that is better for your system since it is in its most absorbable state, the whole food. But, if not, a protein shake never killed anyone, I suppose...

I agree with everything wholefoodie said. I would like to add just a bit about vegetarian sources of protein. Let me preface this by saying that I am NOT a vegan or a vegetarian, however because I am trying to loose excess fat, I try to eat one high protein vegetarian meal each day. I have been studying about food and nutrition on my own ever since I embarked on this journey (January 7th, have lost 32 pounds so far :D )

Here's the scoop on grains and legumes. Eat them together for a complete vegetable protein. A complete protein has all 20 amino acids in it. If you mix brown and wild rice with red beans - viola, you have a whole protein. The only grain/legume combination that does NOT give you a complete protein is peas and corn. Though you could toss the corn into your rice and red beans (yummy!) or the peas in with your lentils and bulgar salad (also yummy).

Soy is also an excellent and versatile source of whole proteins and tofu is pretty easy to incorporate into your diet. It come in different consistencies that can allow you to do everything from make sauces with it to replace meat in some recipes.

Cheese is also a good source of protein - as long as you choose skim milk sources you can keep your fat intake reasonable. Cottage cheese is especially good as it packs 12 grams of protein per 1/2 cup serving.

As far as protein powders go - to loosely quote Tom Venuto, who wrote "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle", powdered protein mixes are just powdered food. There is nothing magical about them. It's not a good idea to get the majority of your calories in liquid form, but a protein shake or food bar can be convenient after a work out or when you are crunched for time.

These kinds of products have their place in a healthy diet. It's a small, suplimentary part, to be sure :) I have my favorite brand of protein powder and I like to occasionally make a chocolate milk shake with it - I put 2 tbs of the powder into one cup of skim milk in a bottle with a tight fitting lid, then I shake it till it's all frothy. It adds about 8 grams of protein with other vitamins and nutrients - much better than Nesquick :)

As far as anyone getting that ripped look - for all but a small percentage of us, it takes a lot of work and a very specific diet. You need to know what your body type is (endo, meso or ecto morph) and you need to make sure you are getting enough protein in each meal. For me on a fat loss nutritional program, it means 50% of my calories come from carbs, 30% from protein and 20% or less from fat. I don't always reach this ideal, but it's what I shoot for. I tend toward the mesomorphic body type with some endomorphic qualities. Someone who is an ectomorph would do much better with a 60/20/20 plan because their metabolism demands they have enough energy just for resting (they have a very high basal metabolic rate).

As for exercise - resistance and cardio have to go hand in hand. If you are climbing a lot, you have both bases covered :) I can't think of a better resistance training session than climbing something fairly strenuous. EVERY thing gets worked out and you are lifting and pulling your own body weight.

I recommend Tom's book - google BFFM and it will take you to his site. No, I don't get any kick backs from it - I was just very impressed by it. Of the shelf, you can pick up Body For Life and it has a very similar philosophy without going into a lot of the nutritional science that Tom does. I also recommend Dean Ornish's book "Eat More, Weigh Less". Dr. Ornish has been able to demonstrate reversal of actual heart disease (that is just HUGE) with a very strict, mostly vegan diet that is very, very low in saturated fat. His regular prevention diet isn't so strict, but it stresses whole foods, a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and the leanest sources of protein you can find.

I look forward to seeing more discussion here :)

God Bless,
mik

I had a discussion with a lady who had been a strict vegitarian, and during that time had plateaued at 11d. She climbed hard and often, and could not get into the 12s no matter what she did. One day on the way home climbing, she found herself craving a cheeseburger, something that she had not done in years. It ended up that she was protein deprived, started eating some meats to get more protein, and is now projecting 12c. Climbing is so hard on your body that you must have plenty of protein to rebuild muscles after they are torn down. I'm sure that can be done through non meat sources, but could be inconvenient to consume.

I don't know if eating meat is the key to his success, but I heard Tommy Caldwell loves Big Macs.
Eat meat, climb three letter grades harder. That's gotta be scientific.

There are two good podcasts on nutrition and climbing by Eric Horst over on podclimber: http://www.podclimber.com/index.php?m=1&c=11&p=530&page=1 (See podcast Nos.27 & 28) _____________________________________________________________________ Support the Red River Gorge Climbers' Coalition. Join the RRGCC's growing group of friends on MySpace.