The Rise of the Plant-Based Athletes: Matt Frazier and Robert Cheeke

Matt Frazier is a vegan ultramarathoner, author, and entrepreneur, best known as the founder of the No Meat Athlete movement and host of the No Meat Athlete Radio podcast. Matt found he could run longer and faster with the help of a plant-based diet, and shortly after adopting a plant-based diet, Matt qualified for the Boston Marathon after taking over 100 minutes off his first marathon time. He has run several 50-milers and a 100-mile ultramarathon on a vegan diet.

Matt’s books have sold over 125,000 copies in five languages, and his work have been featured in books including Rich Roll’s Finding Ultra, Brendan Brazier’s Thrive Foods, and Seth Godin’s What to Do When It’s Your Turn. Matt was named by Greatist as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Health and Fitness, and Sports Illustrated has called The No Meat Athlete Cookbook one of the best Health & Wellness books.

Matt has a brand new book out called the Plant Based Athlete and I couldn’t leave out his equally amazing co-author Robert Cheeke.

Robert began a vegan lifestyle for ethical reasons at age 15, weighing just 120 pounds. Today he is the author of the best-selling books, Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness, Shred It!, Plant-Based Muscle. He is often referred to as the “Godfather of Vegan Bodybuilding,” growing the industry from infancy in 2002, to where it is today.

As a two-time natural bodybuilding champion, Robert is considered one of VegNews magazine’s Most Influential Vegan Athletes. He tours around the world sharing his story of transformation from a skinny farm kid to champion vegan bodybuilder. Robert is the founder and president of Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness and maintains the popular website, VeganBodybuilding.com. He is a regular contributor to No Meat Athlete, Forks Over Knives, and Vegan Strong.

In my conversation with Robert and Matt, we talk about common nutrition myths about plant-based and vegan diets (here’s a hint–they are not always the same) and how more and more top athletes around the world are discovering that plant-based nutrition is not simply some fad diet, but a powerful performance and recovery enhancer.

We talk about protein, calories, macros, and whether or not you need to be all in to reap the benefits of plants.

As you can probably guess, this was a delightful conversation for me because not only did I get a chance to interact with two people whose work I think so highly of, but I also get to talk about my two most favorite subjects: running and food.