We all knew that this day was coming.
Well at least I knew…and those of you who follow me on social media.
This series is all about vegan athletes and he talks about vegan athletes....A lot.
If you’re on YouTube and have a pulse, then you know his name.
Or at least his channel’s name. You may not know his real name.
It’s Richard.
It’s time.
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To interview.
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Vegan Gains!!!!
Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. The most trending,
fastest-growing and most polarizing vegan channel is that of Vegan Gains. He came on
the scene Dec 14, 2014, literally almost exactly six months ago, and exploded to where he’s
now at almost 55,000 subscribers, which he has most likely blown past by the time I post this.
And on the first day of 2015 he launched what is now his flagship series,
the Worse of the Fitness Industry.
So when I interviewed Richard we of course had to address this viral and incredibly controversial series.
Well, Richard, I just want to thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule
to talk to my viewers and to give us your own experience.
Alright, no problem.
Alright, so first, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself, like when
you went vegan and why? And then a little bit...ah, just start with when you went vegan and why?
Okay, well I went vegan about 4 years ago. It was back in April, so a little over
4 years now. And um, I watched a Gary Yourofsky video, somebody linked it on facebook. And
I was like ‘hmm, well I’m not into veganism’, but I was interested in it. I’ve never heard
any great arguments about going vegan until then. All the vegans I knew, they were like
‘oh, you have to end animal suffering and everything’. I was a little disconnected
back then. I didn’t really get it, the whole animal suffering thing and I thought you needed
to eat meat for health, so I thought that kind of justified it. And then I watched Gary’s
video and it just totally flipped things around. He made me get more of an emotional connection
than I’ve ever had before and I also never knew animal products caused heart disease,
diabetes, cancer, and then I ended up learning about doctors, Colin Campbell, and Caldwell
Esselstyn, and stuff like that. And then just, right that day, went vegan.
Awesome, so you’ve been vegan for about 4 years. How long have you been an athlete?
I’ve been training since I was a little kid, like doing hockey, so just my
entire life basically, but weight training specifically, it’s been about 8 years.
So, for those people on Youtube who most likely, if they watch my videos, they
know you. You’re known as Vegan Gains who does these incredible, incredibly like caustic,
to a certain extent, callouts of people in the fitness industry. So, I just wanted to
talk about that, I mean, you call it ‘the worse of the fitness industries; the series’.
Why do you think that the industry and individuals within it need to be criticized?
Um, they’re just...like it’s weird. The whole bodybuilding thing, that’s
what it really is, the fitness industry who focus on bodybuilders, physique competitors,
bikini models. It is just such a negative thing for people, not only help wise, but
just mentally. And if you look at the comments it’s a lot of younger kids in their teens
and early 20’s who are saying, ‘your arms are so skinny’. It’s like, my arms are
literally bigger than my head and they’re calling me skinny. They’re causing like,
mental illness and they really need to be called out for this. It’s not just a health
thing, it’s a mental health issue. And it’s just, in every freakin way, it’s the most
unhealthy thing you can possibly think of. They’re kids like...I get messages a lot
kids saying, ‘wow, you really opened my eyes. I didn’t realize I had an eating disorder
until now’. They actually don’t know that they have eating disorders and these people
are driving these crazy, retarded, starvation diets, and they’re taking steroids, not
telling people. They have these massive fuckin arms, huge shoulders and they’re injecting
Synthol, and it’s all fake. Everything is fake and people think it’s real, and they’re
just going after this stupid ideal body image, and just really ruining their entire freakin lives up.
They really need to be fuckin called out. People say I’m harsh but they’re
literally ruining lives. They’re shortening their lives just from all the meat and crap
they’re eating but just from a mental health, and just general all around quality of life, it's just terrible.
I think it’s good to have, especially more of a focus, and I know
you hit both sides, but this side of male body dysmorphic disorders, and the hidden
world of male eating disorders. Because it’s not seen as that, it’s seen as ‘getting
pumped’ or ‘getting tough’. But just as for, and I know you have pointing this
out, just as for females who can never get small enough, males feel like they can never get
big enough, and it’s the other side of the same spectrum. So, this may seem a bit of
a stupid question, but you utilize a lot of peer reviewed studies in your videos that
you link up in your description. Why should people go by these empirical studies that
have been done rather than the apparent results that people seem to have? I think there can
be this idea that, well isn’t someone’s muscle growth or their weight loss more concrete
than some numbers some scientists, you know, dreamed up?
Right, well...you can have the worst diet imaginable and still lose weight. There
are people who have lost weight on twinkie diets. Literally, there are studies done on
twinkie diets and people have lost weight, lowered their cholesterol, and all that. Obviously
twinkies are unhealthy, and especially when you factor in, these people are insanely genetically
gifted. They’re just in the top top genetically, forget steroids, they’re still...even if
you take all the drugs in the world, you’ll never get like them. Plus, they have an insane
amount of steroid use and an insane amount of hard work, and they’re just so mentally
driven to do this. You factor in all those things together, these anecdotes just really
don’t make any sense. So, it’s really best to rely on the scientific data because
they’re just so far out of anyone’s reach, their genetics, their steroid use, their hard
work. It’s just not going to apply to you so...yeah, focus on the research, something
empirical that you can actually measure rather than just these crazy people who just don’t...
...you know, come anywhere close to you at all. You should just focus on the research.
So, you did, I can’t remember, have you done...
...you actually done competitive bodybuilding at one point?
Yeah.
So, what is it that, I know we’ve talked a little bit before about the horrors
of that industry to an extent. What is it that you personally….what happened where
you personally decided, okay I’m going to stop this and I’m not going to do this anymore?
Well, it was more of a gradually thing. The last show, I really tried my absolute
hardest to do my best for that show. And you know, it’s such a mental drain on you, like
dieting...anyone can throw weights around in the gym, that’s easy, but dieting for
a show. I don’t think anyone who’s ever competed before just understands how insanely
difficult it is. You just have to take it to the absolute limit and those days leading
up before the show, you literally think, you’re not gonna make it, and you feel like you’re
gonna die. I can normally curl 60lbs. and I’m pretty strong, but a few days before
the show I can only lift 20lbs., and I looked strong but you are that...just dead from dieting.
And I just didn’t want to go through that again, and my eyes were opening up to what
the industry really is. And after that I just, you know, I thought I was going to compete
but then I learned about the high carb vegan thing. You don’t have to restrict calories
and I basically got rid of my body image issues too. So, yeah that just made me kind of quit
bodybuilding and give that up.
If you could accomplish one thing with your ‘worst of the fitness industry’ videos,
what is it that you’re hoping to accomplish with them?
Well, I just want people to realize that just because these people look good and
they seem nice, they’re not really trying to help you out. They want to sell supplements.
They want to sell their lifestyle. They want to get money from sponsors. And all of this
is just completely unrealistic. I think people should just focus on health and if you want
to be athletic, and go after some real athletic goals, then you shouldn’t really be focusing
on these bodybuilders because they’re not really athletic. They’re really out of shape,
really. If you take a look, especially leading up to the show. To diet down that much you
can’t maintain any level of athleticism, you need some body fat. So, just be healthy,
eat well, don’t eat a ton of freakin meat. Hopefully that at least stops people from
eating so much meat. Yeah, that’s basically it.
Is there anything else you would like to say regarding that series of yours?
A lot of people say it’s about jealousy that I’m doing it or it’s about
hating on people, and it’s not jealousy. I’m not jealous or...I don’t really even
necessarily hate any of these people. Some of them, I think they really do believe what
they’re saying, and people just need some perspective. Just look at the videos objectively.
Just get some new perspective on things. It’s not about hating. It’s not about jealousy.
I just want people to open their eyes and just see the other side of things, and see
what’s really going on behind the scenes.
Alright, well thank you so much for your time and thank you for what you do with
trying to let people know the dangers that are out there within the fitness industry.
Alright, no problem.
I hope you enjoyed hearing from Richard on his flagship series. If you don’t like the
way he approaches his activism or feel that he’s too harsh, I’ll reiterate my thoughts from
my controversy video: go do your own form of activism with all that you’ve got.
To paraphrase Gary Yourofsky’s paraphrasing of what Martin Luther King said when asked
to stop Malcom X’s violent rhetoric, Vegan Gains will stop being so insane when the fitness
industry stops being so insane. You want to shut him up? Help end the cruelty and misinformation
that he’s reacting to. Be proactive. Be active, period.
Now I’d love to hear what you thought of the interview and Richard’s approach to
activism in the comments below.
If you enjoyed hearing from Richard, give this video a big thumbs up and share it around
to help bring light to the insanity of the fitness industry. If you’re new here, do
hit that big red subscribe button down there for more awesome vegan content every Monday,
Wednesday, and some Fridays and to not miss out the on the rest of the Vegan Athlete series.
If you want to help support Bite Size Vegan, check out either of the support links in the
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Now go live vegan, make some vegan gains...I'm not gonna do the thing
'cause it would just be ...depressing in comparison
and I’ll see you soon.
I'm just like...I’m still amazed by your arms, like...what is, how is…yeah...
...I measured them like a year ago and they were over 19 inches, and I think they're 20 now.
That’s crazy. That’s like...like an infant in there….[laughs]
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