Weight Lifting Equipment > Articles > How to Build Muscle on a Vegetarian Diet

How to Build Muscle on a Vegetarian Diet

Just because you're a vegetarian doesn't mean building muscle has to be any more difficult for you than it is for others. There are plenty of things you can do to keep pace and build towards your ideal body type.

For starters, you should definitely maintain careful attention to your diet. One of the main components in building muscle mass faster is protein intake. A common myth is that vegetarians can't get enough protein in their diets to competitively build muscle. This is simply not true!

There are plenty of vegetarian protein sources such as soy, rice and pea proteins. These are extremely potent proteins with comprehensive profiles, offering stellar amino acids for healthy muscles.

Another great vegetarian source of protein is eggs. From hardboiled eggs to egg salad, there are countless fun and tasty meals you can make from eggs. A word of caution though as eggs are high in fat, so if you plan on getting a majority of your protein from eggs, you'll want to make sure you are definitely working out and exercising enough to keep up with that fat intake so you're not just building a bigger stomach!

And this may surprise you, but our muscles are actually made of about 70 to 75 percent water, so consuming at least 10 cups of water on a daily basis will significantly help your muscle growth efforts.

Nuts are another great element to include in your diet. Nuts have plenty of health benefiting factors and are definitely great for building healthy muscles. Two of the best nuts to include in your daily diet are walnuts and almonds. These are incredible sources for protein and healthy fat (yes, you do need some fat in your diet). And to boot, they are low in carbs! Plus, from eating them straight out of your hand to crushing them up and putting them in your cereal, there are countless tasty ways to consume nuts.

Aside from diet, you'll also want to make sure you practice proper technique when you weight train and exercise in order to build the best muscles possible. This includes learning the proper technique for each and every exercise before you go with the full, intended weight; not all exercises are the same. As part of this, make sure you work out and exercise both sides of your body. This sounds a little obvious, but many of us are preprogrammed to favor one side, so it deserves reminding.