Tuesday 21 March, 2017
Veganism: Bodybuilding ladies take the fitness world by storm By Elise Christian A 45-year-old vegan bodybuilder is attempting to change the world one person at a time. Mother of two, Clare Bennett of Beckhole Close, Hull, is one of many fitness role models who have built muscle mass while consuming a vegan diet. Mrs Bennett confesses that in the bodybuilding world it’s not easy to avoid meat and dairy products when her competitors are living off whey protein, chicken and broccoli. She keeps an Instagram food blog @gorillagrubcafe which shows she eats a variety of beans, pulses and tofu to get her protein fix, accompanied by an abundance of fruit and veg. Mrs Bennet said: “I honestly believed people when they said I couldn't build muscle with out eating dairy and eggs and would eat eggs and cottage cheese every day and take a whey protein.” Mrs Bennett also holds seminars where she invites people to come and listen to her message and try her food. The fitness fanatic has an intense training regime. She does a combination of cardio and resistance training 5 days a week, yoga once a week and trains in pole dancing and Aerial arts for 2-3 hours a week. As well as keeping fit herself, she is also the founder of Pole 4 Fitness, in Spring Bank West, Hull where she teaches clients pole dancing and aerial art for 10-16 hours a week. Mrs Bennett said: “I am a vegan because I want to live to be 100. I want to be the granny playing on the climbing frame playing with my grandchildren, I want to be in the gym and pole dancing.
Tuesday 21 March, 2017
“I feel fitter, stronger, healthier than I have ever done! I have the body of someone 20 years younger and I don't feel like I am ageing. I'm 45 now and I'm looking forward to being 46. How many people can say that?” Mrs Bennett is not the only vegan powerhouse to storm the bodybuilding world. Shanette Ellington, 30, of Euston Road, West London, is a vegan bodybuilder inspired by the likes of Olympic weightlifter Kendrick Yahcob Farris and athlete Carl Lewis. Ms Ellington embraced a vegan lifestyle in 2010 after meat and dairy products caused her digestive trouble and contributed to eczema flair-ups. She has since done a lot of research about how she can assist her muscle gain by supplementing meat and dairy. Ms Ellington said: “I take six different supplements daily due to my diet and have to meal prep bearing in mind that I have to keep to a specific calorie count and get enough protein on top. “Combining things like black eye peas, black beans, black lentils and quinoa to make a complete protein meal does make it challenging but that’s only because I’m preparing for a competition.” The bodybuilder is also a fitness instructor at Fitness First, on Tottenham Court Road, West London. She has had many members show interest in her vegan lifestyle, but she is also aware of the reality of it. She said: “It is a diet that does mean you have to really take time and respond to your body accordingly, which most people aren’t bothered to do due to many lifestyle choices.” This may be set to change though as there are now over half a million vegans in Great Britain – more than three and a half times as many as in 2006, said The Vegan Society. The women are certainly keen to spread their message about the possibility of veganism in the fitness world. Mrs Bennett said: “Someone asked me the other day what my purpose in life was and I said, ‘to change the world’. Everyone laughed, I just smiled and said to myself ‘watch this space, as I’m doing it now, one person at a time.”