This ‘5 Habits to Build Muscle on a Plant-Based Diet’ is sponsored by Naked Nutrition.  As always, all opinions are my own.

5 Habits To Build Muscle On A Plant-Based Diet

Some people will tell you that you can’t build muscle effectively if you’re on a vegetarian or vegan diet. But the truth is, anyone can build muscle, regardless of dietary restrictions, as long as you’re still able to follow the key principles of muscle building. If this interests you, keep reading as we’ll guide you through how to build muscle while sticking to a plant-based diet, with five core habits that apply to everyone, no matter your dietary preferences, but are particularly important if you don’t want any meat or animal products in your diet.

Eat a Variety of Different Protein Sources

In terms of nutrition, protein is the most important thing when it comes to building muscle.  Everybody needs protein, but it’s especially important for muscle growth. Protein acts as the building blocks for muscle, and without these building blocks, your body won’t have the resources it needs to grow muscle.

Experts recommend 1.2 to 2 grams of protein per KG of body weight for physically active people. But it’s not just the amount of protein – it’s the type of protein.

Though it’s not true that you can’t build muscle on a plant-based diet, it’s certainly easier if you have no dietary restrictions, as most complete protein sources are animal-based. Protein molecules are made up of a number of smaller compounds, known as amino acids. A “complete” protein source has a diverse range of different amino acids, which serve different purposes to the body.

You can get protein from a lot of plant-based sources, but most lack certain amino acids, so may not work as effectively as protein from eggs or chicken breasts, for example. That’s why it’s important to get your protein from a wide range of different sources, to ultimately make up a diet of complete proteins and amino acids.

Plant based sources include:

• Peas
• Beans
• Lentils
• Quinoa
• Tofu
• Soy
• Oats
• Rice
• Nuts
• Many seeds and grains

Instead of getting all your protein from tofu, for example, vary it up and include as many protein sources in your diet as possible to negate any imbalances.  

A plant-based protein powder like the blueberry protein powder from Naked Nutrition is a great option too, giving you a pure, diverse and easily-digestible plant-based alternative to whey protein.

Use Supplements

Along with eating a varied diet with diverse protein sources, you’ll probably need to add supplements to support your diet and training regimen. These supplements can help make up for certain amino acids, vitamins or nutrients that you’re less likely to get from a plant-based diet.

For example, plant-based protein sources are often lower in leucine, one of the most important amino acids for building muscle. You can make up for this by taking a BCAA supplement. BCAAs (branched-chain amino acids) are a group of three amino acids, leucine, isoleucine, and valine, seen among the most important for muscle growth, energy production and recovery. 

A plant-based protein supplement can help too, as mentioned earlier. You might also want to take supplements such as creatine, zinc, vitamin B12, calcium and vitamin D to support the body’s natural functions and help you stay in the shape you need to build muscle.

Consistent Strength Training

Our last three habits are universal principles everyone needs to follow in order to build muscle, whether you’re restricted to a plant-based diet or not.

In particular, you need to do regular strength training. Consistently putting the muscles under stress is essential if you want to get bigger and/or stronger. It’s this training that brings adaptations in the muscles, and kick-starts the process of muscle protein synthesis, where the body uses protein to rebuild and grow damaged muscle fibers.

Just like you can’t cut corners by ignoring your nutrition, it’s impossible to grow muscle if you don’t train consistently.

Get Sufficient Recovery

Recovery is another core principle for muscle growth.

It’s not just enough to train – the part of the process where your muscles actually grow is during recovery.

When you train, you tear and break down your muscle fibers. In recovery, the body puts the muscles back together, bigger than they were before (assuming you get enough protein). You need to pay almost as much attention to recovery as you do to training itself. Make sure you give each muscle group enough time to recover between workouts, and if necessary, support the recovery process with active recovery methods like massage, sauna and ice baths.

Get Enough Sleep

Finally, make sure you get enough sleep.

When someone’s eating right, training hard, taking enough rest days and getting active recovery in between workouts, but still isn’t seeing results, it’s usually because of poor sleep.

Sleep is when the body’s recovery process goes into overdrive. With fewer other functions to take care of, our body can dedicate more energy to rebuilding and repairing the muscles. You need to get enough sleep (6+ hours minimum, but ideally between 7-9 hours), along with ensuring you get high-quality sleep (meaning enough deep sleep and REM sleep). If you’re not, you won’t see the kind of results you want when it comes to muscle growth.

Be as disciplined with your sleep as you are with your training and diet. Set a consistent sleep and wake schedule, and follow good sleep hygiene practices, such as avoiding screens before bed, no caffeine later in the day, and sleeping in a cool, dark, quiet environment.

Plant-based athletes (or simply people who want to build muscle while maintaining a plant- based diet) are at a slight disadvantage to begin with. That’s why it’s more important than ever that you get enough sleep, dedicate time to recovery, and train consistently, along with following a high-quality, varied diet.

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Miranda

I’m a city girl turned country by my awesome husband and we have three busy boys and two darling daughters. I love spending time with my family, reading Karen Kingsbury novels, and catching up with friends while our kiddos have play dates. I’m blessed beyond measure and can’t wait to see what God has in store.
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