How to exercise ethically
The vegan fitness revolution to help the planet #win
You may never even have considered vegan fitness to be a thing, but from the food you eat to fuel your cardio session, to the trainers you wear, keeping to a plant-based lifestyle used to be near impossible. But that’s all changing. Sportswear giants such as Nike and Adidas are adding vegan products to their ranges, and top athletes such as Venus Williams and football star Alex Morgan are proving that you can get to the top of your game on a plant-based diet, too.
So, what are the pitfalls? Obviously, a great place to start is making sure that your activewear is made from sustainable sources – and great leaps have been made in the last few years to ensure that eco-friendly sports gear performs well, looks great and ticks the comfort box, too. You also need to make sure that your shoes don’t use glue sourced from animal bones or aren’t dyed using animal products. And then there is the whole question of nutrition. Most protein supplements use animal-based ingredients, so you need to look for a vegan alternative.
People used to believe that a plant-based diet wouldn’t give you the correct nutrition or energy to perform at your best, but as Venus Williams has testified, her vegan diet has helped her combat symptoms of debilitating joint pain and fatigue. In fact, there’s even a growing army of vegan fitness influencers such as Brits Grace Beverley and former MIC star Lucy Watson. But the best bit is that plant-based can be just as pretty too. We’ve rounded up our favourite fitness products that get the vegan seal of approval. n