Here’s how two elite vegan athletes, kettlebell expert Mike Mahler and UFC star Mac Danzig, prosper without any animal products at all.
The salad days of bodybuilding can’t exactly be called the “salad days” because everybody was eating steak and eggs every two hours. Animal protein was the dietary cornerstone of the Golden Era greats. Steak, eggs, milk and chicken were synonymous with the nutritional DNA that later became the muscles of Mr. Olympia, Mr. World and Mr. Universe. None of us ever dared to question an alternate path. That would be sacrilegious, unthinkable and disrespectful to the greats. Even the massive tins of protein powder for which we plunked down our hard-earned money had some kind of animal component in them.
Many of us are still reliant on a huge proportion of animal flesh and by-products for our diet. But what if there were an alternative? What if there were another way to get high-quality, low-carb protein that was not based in animal product? Would you try it? Would you risk your hard-earned muscle on it?
“Dream on,” sayeth the old-time loyalists still living in the past. “Pry the steaks and whey-based protein powder from our cold, dead fingers.” But others — and there are increasing numbers of them — reread the stories of the past and get a different moral of the story from the forefathers: Go ahead and be fearless. Go where no man has gone before. Don’t give a damn what other people think.
The age of steak and eggs has given way to an herbivore’s buffet. Today’s athlete and bodybuilder have a smorgasbord of knowledge about nutrition that allows us to maximize what the greats taught us more than ever before. In fact, with the array of healthy foods now available at many mainstream supermarkets, you can even be completely vegan, eschewing all animal products period, and be strong, big and ripped.
The Kettlebell King
Despite advances in meat-free nutrition, vegan athletes can still be hard to find. Consider the Congressional hearings earlier this year starring baseball pitcher and alleged growth-hormone user Roger Clemens. In one of the hearings’ many strange diversions, one congressman asked the baseball star and Texas native if he were a vegan. Clemens appeared a bit confused and replied, “I’m not even sure what that is.”
Mr. Clemens, meet Mike Mahler. Mahler is one of the foremost kettlebell experts and instructors in the world. As anybody who has tried maneuvering these cannonball-type weights could tell you, kettlebell training is one of the most physically demanding, hard-core weight-training disciplines ever invented. Originated in Russia, it was favored by that country’s athletes for strength, mobility and endurance. There is no doubt that Mahler is a hard-core elite athlete of exceptional strength, agility and stamina. What you may not know is that he is also an uncompromising vegan.
Based in Las Vegas, Nev., Mahler is an intense and imposing physical presence. He’s not the lean, string-bean vegetarian type you’d expect to see meandering down the aisles of your local Whole Foods with a vacant stare. He’s also had to field the question of how to build muscle on a vegan diet many times.
“Nutrition is nutrition,” he says. “As long as you get the right amount of protein, fat and carbs, the actual source is secondary. Protein is broken down into amino acids whether it is from a steak or a plate of lentils. As more people show that you can be strong and vital on a vegetarian diet, more people are willing to give it a shot. Basically, people need permission from others to try anything new or controversial. When a few people show what is possible, the masses follow.”
It’s not as difficult as you’d think, he stresses. Some people give the impression that being a vegan strength athlete requires a degree in math, but Mahler makes it sound easy. “I am not too anal about percentages and never count calories,” he says. “With that said, I find that I do best on a good amount of healthy fat in my diet, moderate protein and moderate carbohydrates from low-glycemic sources, such as most veggies and some fruits. I have protein, fat and carbs at each meal. Rather than focus on percentages, I focus on eating the right foods, such as low-glycemic fruits and veggies, nuts, seeds and legumes. When I make protein shakes, I use a cup of frozen fruit, coconut milk or some oil such as hempseed or olive oil, and protein powder for a nice mix.”
Healthy fats are essential to the vegan diet, much like they would be in any nonvegetarian low-carb diet. “Fat is very important for hormone production, such as testosterone in men and progesterone in women,” Mahler says. “Fat is also very important for long-sustained energy, as it burns slower than carbohydrates. Fat is important for healthy skin and joint health as well. Good sources of fat are nuts, seeds, hempseed oil, olive oil and avocados. Fat makes up 30% of my diet.”
Mahler does use some vegan protein shakes. “Vega is great and stacks up against any protein powder on the market,” he says. “It is more of a meal-replacement drink than just a protein shake. I also like rice protein and pea protein.”
Whether those products work for you or not, Mahler insists that you find your own nutritional way, not just to build your body, but to build character.
“Just as in any area of life, the development of physical strength requires critical thinking and a strong mind,” Mahler states on his website. “It is not enough to blindly follow others hoping that they have the answers that you are not willing to ascertain on your own. The great Buddha said that each of us must find our own paths in life, and the path to strength is no exception.”
Mac Danzig: Meat-Free MMA
Any dedicated fan of Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter” is certainly acquainted with UFC rising star Mac Danzig. During the six-year run of the reality show, few fighters have made as memorable an impression as Danzig, a no-nonsense, cerebral athlete who sometimes clashed with roommates. One of the contentious issues between him and his fellow fighters centered on food. Danzig is a vegan, a lifestyle choice that was inexplicable to most of the other “TUF 6” fighters who gorged on animal flesh daily. But Danzig got the last laugh: He won the show decisively, earning a UFC contract and a shot at Octagon glory.
To Danzig, being a vegan gives him an advantage over his flesh-eating foes. “I feel that I recover better from workouts now that I no longer eat any animal products,” he says. “I also find that I don’t get sick as much as I used to, either. Training for MMA at this level is hard enough on the body without overloading it with all the toxins that so many animal products have.”
The 5-foot-9 welterweight took a measured approach in adopting a vegan lifestyle, moving gradually from the usual meat-heavy nutritional philosophies attached to boxing and martial arts. “I believe it was early 2004 when I finally decided to go vegan for good,” recalls Danzig, who is now based in Las Vegas. “I had always wanted to do it for personal ethical reasons, but I believed what most people told me and I thought I had to consume some kind of animal protein if I was going to be an athlete. I just figured I’d quit eating meat one day when my days as a professional athlete were over.
“By 2004, I had been slowly reducing my animal-food intake over the years and I was only eating poultry and fish. I remember about a month before a boxing match, I decided to experiment with eliminating the chicken and fish from my diet to see how I would feel. I was surprised to find that I actually felt better and my strength didn’t diminish like everyone said it would. From then on, there was no reason to turn back, and certainly no reason to wait until my career was over. What everyone always told me was going to hurt me, actually helped me.”
Like many athletes who plow their own individualist path, Danzig didn’t have a ready-made road map for how to adopt his chosen eating preferences to his life. “I pretty much do things my own way,” he says. “I’ve done a lot of studying over the years, taken a look at many books on nutrition, and combined that with my own trial and error to come up with what works best for me. Recently, I’ve taken a good look at Brendan Brazier’s The Thrive Diet (De Capo Lifelong Books, 2007) and implemented some of the guidelines from that into my own diet with great results. It’s basically an advanced, precise version of what I’ve already been doing.”
Over time, he’s dialed-in the eating habits that have worked well in the lead up to bouts. According to Danzig: “Before a fight, the concentration is on getting the purest whole foods into my body. The closer I get to a competition, I reduce the amount of processed foods and refined sugars I consume. In addition, I cut back on sodium so that I’m not retaining any subcutaneous water. This makes my weight cut to 155 lb that much easier. I don’t look for anything specific post-fight to aid in healing other than just keeping my steady intake of whole foods like fruits and vegetables up. I definitely feel my diet lets my body recover much faster than it did before I went vegan.”
Like Mahler, Danzig doesn’t overthink his nutritional input by breaking out calculators and slide rules over nutrient percentages. “I’ve never tried to break it down into a ratio. I’d say the majority of my diet is complex carbs. I just try to eat clean and keep my protein intake over 100 g per day when I’m in training and that’s all I really think about.” (For more of his views on eating, especially protein, see sidebar “Mac’s Macronutrients.”)
One of Danzig’s good friends, Elite XC Welterweight World Champion Jake Shields, is a strict vegetarian. Other fighters are finding similar success with meat-free eating, leading Danzig to conclude that vegan fighters are growing in number. “I know there are some up-and-coming MMA fighters who are vegan,” he says. “I think you’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the years to come.”
No Meat, Lots Of Guts
The type of iconoclastic individualism represented by Danzig and Mahler is similar to the approach of past bodybuilding greats like Dave Draper, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Pearl, Jack La Lanne and Vince Gironda, who didn’t give a damn what the masses thought about the way they were eating. These trailblazers enlightened millions of people about physical fitness. They changed the course — and shape, literally — of humankind, rep by rep, workout by workout, superset by superset.
If they’d had all the options we have now, and a chance to do things differently, more of the Golden Era greats may have opted for less meat in their diets in the service of living a long, comfortable and healthy life. It’s a sentiment echoed by Danzig. “As far as veganism is concerned, my philosophy is to lead by example, rather than telling people what I think they should do,” says the UFC fighter. “Each person can decide for himself what the right path to take is. All I want people to know is that if they think a vegan diet is right for them — whether it be for moral reasons, health reasons or both — go for it! It might be one of the best decisions you ever make. It has been for me.”
Mike’s Menu
Some of kettlebell expert Mike Mahler’s favorite fruits are blueberries, mangoes, strawberries, apples and oranges. Mahler also follows Ori Hofmekler’s “Anti-Estrogenic Diet,” eating light throughout the day, with dinner as a main meal. A typical day’s menu looks like this:
›› First thing in the morning: 12 oz of water and an orange.
›› Mid-afternoon snack: 1 cup of almonds and 1⁄4 cup of goji berries. Lunch: Mixed green salad, with an avocado and 1 tomato,
1⁄4 cups of walnuts, and 1 tbsp of olive oil.
›› Late afternoon: Protein shake with two scoops of rice protein or a meal-replacement powder called Vega, 1 can of coconut milk, 2 cups of frozen fruit such as mangoes or berries and 12 oz of water. (He has this two hours before each workout.)
›› Post-workout: Another protein shake similar to the above but with no fat, just protein powder and fruit.
›› Dinner: Salad similar to lunch and then 1 can of lentils or black beans mixed with 2 or 3 cups of mixed veggies, 1⁄4 cup of pecans, 2 tbsp of hemp seeds; 1 cup of fruit for dessert.
›› Late-night snack: Almond-butter sandwich or pistachios and goji berries.
Mahler also uses rice and pea protein products, as well as an herbal testosterone booster, flaxseed oil with DHA, vitamin B, vitamin C and ZMA, among other supplements.
For more on Mike Mahler, visit www.mikemahler.com.
Mac’s Macronutrients
UFC superstar Mac Danzig concedes that his protein requirements and other macronutrient needs are different than for those who are simply interested in adding pounds of muscle mass.
Here’s how Danzig sees it: “I truly feel the protein-requirement advice given by many so-called ‘professionals’ is blown way out of proportion. It seems like everyone is still following the bodybuilding guidelines, even though not everybody is a bodybuilder. In my early days as an athlete, I was constantly told that my body needed 1.5–2 g of protein per pound of body weight every day if I was in hard training. Looking back at that notion today, I laugh. There’s no way I could ever absorb all that protein. You’re taxing your liver big time when you eat like that, and it has nothing to do with being vegan.
“These days, I find that my normal diet supplies adequate protein during the off-season, which is about 80 g a day for my 165-lb frame. When I am in rigorous training for a fight, I supplement with rice, hemp and pea protein in addition to my normal diet, which usually leaves me with about 120 g of protein per day. As long as I stay over 100 g, I feel great.
“As far as fat goes, I make sure I’m getting enough omega-3, 6 and 9 by taking some flax- and hemp-seed oil every day. At the same time, my diet is clean and I’m already completely avoiding foods high in saturated fat.
“For energy, I eat small portions of complex carbs throughout the day from brown rice, quinoa and oatmeal. I like to get the majority of my simple carbs and sugars from whole fruits.
“I use Vega’s whole-food meal replacement, which sources its protein from brown rice, pea and hemp. It also has plenty of vitamins and minerals, so I don’t need to bother with a multivitamin. Recently, I’ve been taking supplemental chlorella, a detoxifying chlorophyll-rich green plant, and maca root, which aids in hormonal balance, and I’ve found really helps in recovery.”
For more on Mac Danzig, visit www.macdanzig.net.
