Vegan Gains Worst of the Fitness Industry Interview

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
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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

video description below or click on the Nugget
Army icon, or the link in the sidebar.

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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