Professional Vegan Arm Wrestler Proves Plant-Based Diet Can Equal Strength

All over the globe, plant-based professional athletes are bucking any prior notions that training for strength means you have to eat up slabs of meat and gulp gallons of dairy.

One athlete, in the rather unconventional field of professional arm wrestling, is seeking to set even more people straight: in a sport where muscle strength is a core aspect of being a fierce competition, Rob Bigwood is showing everyone that people can get all the nutrients they need and more with a vegan diet.

Bigwood is featured on a new AMC series, “Game of Arms,” which premieres Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 10/9 pm.  The show features Bigwood’s NYC arm wrestling team up agains a Northern California group. Essentially, the series follows five regional arm wrestling teams on the road and offers insight to the challenges and person struggles faced as a result. If you didn’t know, arm wrestling already has its own World Armwrestling League , and there are tournaments across the country every month.

On “Game of Arms,” Bigwood was encouraged to share the fact that he is a vegan strength athlete. He has been a vegetarian for seven years and a vegan for four.

“I feel it’s extremely hypocritical calling oneself an animal lover while eating a cheese burger or drinking a glass of milk. All animals have the same feelings and emotions and should have equal rights. We are conditioned from birth to believe that animals are here for us to use, abuse and consume which couldn’t be further from the truth. We need to learn to live in harmony with one another,” he said.

In regard to his diet, you’ll see that he’s the real deal.

“I’ll eat oatmeal in the morning mixed with nuts and a banana. Spinach or kale salads with tofu, veggies and brown rice for lunch. I usually eat out for dinner. There are some amazing vegan options when dinning at Thai, Indian, and Japanese restaurants. If I feel like I’m not getting enough calories or protein I’ll mix up a protein shake. I also have a sweet tooth and crave dark chocolate (vegan) pretty much every day,” he states.

Before tournaments, Bigwood fuels up vegan-style: “I cut up a banana and mix it with organic almond butter, peanut butter and a variety of nuts. I also drink plenty of coconut water.”

And he’s not alone in his healthy-eating habits. Bigwood notes other many other athletes who have gone plant-based, and he only sees the trend growing.

“Russia’s Alexey Voevoda just won a gold medal at the winter Olympics,” he said. “Patrik Baboumian (Germany’s strongest man) just set a world record. Tony Gonzalez, Georges Laraque, the MMA fighter Mac Danzig are also all vegan. We have some powerful dudes on our side.”

For those strength athletes seeking to eat a more plant-based diet, Bigwood offers the following advice: “It might be discouraging and challenging to completely change everything you know about your diet so I’d say start slow. Replace regular milk with almond or hemp milk, try cooking up some seitan or tempeh instead of meat. There are also some great vegan protein supplements on the market.”

You can catch Bigwood’s first appearance on “Game of Arms” on AMC tonight, Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 10/9 pm!

Image source: David Moir_AMC