The Plant-Based Athlete: A Game-Changing Approach to Peak Performance

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars | 1,402 ratings

Price: 19.68

Last update: 09-17-2024


About this item

The only research-based guide for connecting a plant-based diet with long-term strength, endurance, and peak athletic performance, featuring interviews with professional athletes who've made the switch from meat to plants.

The Plant-Based Athlete by Matt Frazier and Robert Cheeke offers a persuasive body of evidence for adopting a plant-based lifestyle to achieve endurance, flexibility, sport, training, or lifting goals. Featuring more than 60 recipes, insights from famous plant-based athletes, and explosive scientific research, it is the ultimate invitation for joining the growing community of athletes (from elites to weekend warriors) who use plants to power their workouts and their every day.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.


Top reviews from the United States

LZ
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2024
Although there are a lot of other plant-based books that pack in a lot more information ( for example, Dr Greger's How Not to Die), this book is a great read for anyone who's concerned about athleticism on a whole food plant based diet. I found the stories and information in it encouraging and also reinforcing of my own experience as a very fit 50-year-old woman who eats this way. Highly recommend. A good compliment to this book would be Proteinaholic.
Leanne
5.0 out of 5 stars Packed with useful info -- even if you're not an athlete!
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2021
Although I've been whole-foods, plant-based (WFPB)/vegan for over eight years and work out 5-6 days a week, I originally wasn't going to buy this book since I don't consider myself to be an athlete. After listening to an interview with Matt Frazier and Robert Cheeke on the Rich Roll Podcast, however, I decided to order it -- and am so glad I did!

As I said, I don't consider myself to be an athlete, but I do read a lot about nutrition and fitness, since both are major hobbies of mine. While I already know some of the information in this book, it was really inspirational to read the stories/profiles of the 100 plant-based athletes that they interviewed for the book.

My favorite chapters were the last two -- where we see a typical "day in the life" of what some athletes eat and where we get various recipes from the athletes. I've made a few of the recipes, and they have all been really good. Most of the recipes are very simple and easy to make, and they show how easy it is to eat plant-based.

Since the athletes interviewed for the book range from ultrarunners to powerlifters to Olympic iceskaters, you get a nice feel for the range of eating plans that each athlete follows, depending on their goals (i.e., to put on muscle, to have the endurance to bike or run long distances, etc.).

If you're new to WFPB eating and/or just want to incorporate more plants into your diet, you'll learn a lot from this book. If you already know the basics, this is a nice refresher course, and, as mentioned, very inspirational.
Bianca Phillips
5.0 out of 5 stars THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR VEGAN ATHLETES!!!
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2021
I should preface this by saying that this is Bianca Phillips (not Paul Dillard) as the profile indicates. I share an Amazon account with my partner! I'm a long-time vegan (17 years) who runs marathons and 50Ks, practices yoga daily, and spends a couple days a week strength training in the gym. I've learned a lot about vegan workout nutrition from No Meat Athlete (whose founder Matt Frazier is co-author of this book), but this book goes so much deeper.

The authors, the aforementioned Matt and vegan bodybuilder Robert Cheeke, take a deep dive into macronutrients (carbs, fat, protein) and supplementation, and then they provide meal plans for various athletic goals, such as fat-burning or muscle-building. I love that they not only tell you how to eat, but they offer guidance on what to eat for optional workout fueling. The section on recovery is fantastic with suggestions on the best plant-based foods to reduce inflammation, and they break down carb-to-protein ratios for snacks/meals eaten before, during, and after your workouts.

Matt and Robert interviewed more than 60 professional plant-based athletes to find what plant-based foods work best to ensure their peak performance. It was refreshing to see how many of those athletes were women! So often, the female perspective gets left out of these types of projects (my biggest complaint with the movie The Game Changers was the heavy focus on male athletes and the male experience).

There's even a "day in the life" section where some of those athletes detail everything they eat in a typical day (including their pre- and post-workout meals). It's so cool to see how much those individual meal plans vary from athlete to athlete! It really does prove that every body is different!

My very favorite section of the book is at the end — the recipes! There are more than 60 plant-based recipes, contributed by the athletes featured in the book. I was so excited to see recipes from ultrarunner Brendan Braizer, Olympic skier Julia Murray, triathlete Rip Esselstyn, cyclist Dotsie Bausch, bikini competitor Natalie Matthews, and so many more. I can't wait to try Natalie's Sloppy Vegan Chili and Rip's Sweet Potato Vegetable Lasagna!
Bethany D. Summers
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read- made me go more plant-based!
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2024
This book has some interesting research references and it made me more comfortable going more plant-based. There were a lot of testimonials and stories of individuals which I could do without, but there were a lot of good nutritional facts. The back has a variety of recipes which I am trying and so far so good!
David L Turner
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding book for learning how to excel on a plant based diet. Well written, good read
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2021
I have followed Robert and Matt for a few years now. I met Robert on the Holistic Holiday at Sea cruise where I attended his workout classes and Matt through his No Meat Athlete podcast, so I had high expectations, and these guys delivered!! They present the science underlying a plant-based diet in an understandable context and provide ample evidence from top plant-based athletes in a variety of sports.

I follow a plant based diet and exercise daily. I have experienced benefits from this lifestyle but I have to admit I have never pushed myself to any higher level. Reading this book and learning about the athletes and their lifestyles was really motivating. I have since incorporated the pre-and post-training meals and follow strategies I have learned about in this book. I have seen a transformation in just weeks, as I had plateaued for some time.

In addition I have several tri-athlete friends and they have enjoyed reading the book as well. They were skeptical about eating a plant based diet while being an athlete but the science provided in this book helped back up what I have been telling them.

Thanks guys for writing a book that needed to be written.
NCleidomastoid
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read even for omnivores
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2024
I have no plans on going plant based. I bought this book because I’m trying to incorporate more plant based foods into my diet. This book did such a good job on giving examples of foods to eat with very simple daily meal plans that you can tweak to fit your lifestyle.
Manzydriver
5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to understand and utilize
Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2024
We’re new to this lifestyle. Our family of 4 eat mainly vegan, and I’m hoping to get our athletic daughters to become vegan as well. Love the information in this book.

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