veganunderground.com recently played host to competetive vegan natural bodybuilder  Robert Cheeke during his latest visit to Vancouver from his homebase of Portland, Oregon.  The visit was one more stop on Cheeke's never ending multi-nation community-building journey.  Cheeke makes frequent trips north of the capital of the vegan world to attend meetings at the headquarters of his employer, Sequel Naturals, Inc., maker of Vega meal replacements, but this was his first stopover at veganunderground.com.  He's been familar with veganunderground.com owners Trev and Suz through their participation in his online community at Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness for almost a year. 

 

The visit was an informal gathering over a bounty of homemade vegan sushi.  In attendance were Mr. Cheeke, his travelling companion, Liz, herself a fitness competitor/muay thai practitioner and member of his online community visiting from Sweden, vegan pro bike trials rider Gee and his wife, vegan trials rider and downhill mountain bike racer, Lisa, and, of course, the two of us, semi-retired vegan trials riders and mixed martial artists.  What do six vegan athletes talk about when their mouths aren't stuffed with vegan sushi?  Working out!  Though from different sporting disciplines, the principles and challenges are shared. 

Robert Cheeke is a fountain of knowledge in this aspect.  He's been a vegan for twelve years and a bodybuilder for seven.  He's one of a growing number of vegan bodybuilders proving to the world that vegans are not scrawny and that you don't need to consume animal products to achieve your athletic goals.  In fact, vegan bodybuilders avoid the bevy of severe health problems that are associated with competetive bodybuilding (early onset of heart disease being the big one due to the excessive consumption of meat, dairy and eggs by people looking to bulk up).  Robert has been one of the most visible role models for vegan athletes of all types.  Besides his website, his well-attended online forum, and his nationwide motivational speaking, he's been featured in industry publications like 'Flex', 'Beyond Fitness' and 'Natural Body Building and Fitness', on many fitness websites, in books on fitness and community building, and in the documentary film 'Vegan Fitness Built Naturally' that profiled 3 barrier-breaking vegan athletes.  He never seems to tire of discussing his passion for eating right and lifting weights. 

 

 

 

Being an accomplished speaker has enabled Robert to build the online community associated with his website to impressive numbers.  There are over 4,000 members from all over North America, Europe and Australia.  The most members are concentrated in Portland, where Robert is a local celebrity of sorts and is frequently recognized on the street, in his favourite eateries or at the gym.  The second highest concentration is in Germany.  This year, Robert will host 'Vegan Vacation' in Portland, a week-long gathering of vegan athletes from the States, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Australia and England.  This is Robert's greatest legacy.  He has worked tirelessly to assemble and manage a forum for diverse athletes and anyone hoping to be an athlete under the umbrella of vegan athleticism.  He welcomes everyone with an open mind and invites them to join the community for their own benefit, as do other members.  The result is a massive collective of experience, diversity and positive energy.  As the forum continues to grow like bamboo, its established members are meeting in person in their regions more and more.  The forum has created a network of vegan safehouses around the world, as members travel far and wide, building on relationships started online.  While this is possible in any online community, the group at veganbodybuilding.com seems especially conducive to it.  Perhaps it is that everyone there has stripped their lives bare, erased all that they were ever taught, and started down a new path with new eyes.  They've all shared similar pain and growth. The forum is welcoming of non-vegans, but a word of warning to them:  they will be gently goaded, chided, persuaded and probably convinced to go vegan.  There's a whole lot of living examples of physically (and mentally) fit vegans out there to inspire and show the way.