Name: Avi R.

Lehyani
Year of Birth: 1960
Height: 6'
Weight: 200 Lbs (91Kg) .Compete weight: 193 (88Kg)
Birthplace: France
Current Residence: Israel
Sports: Bicycling, WeightLifting
Why did you become vegan?
Reasons were ethical, health and responsibility towards the
environment in that order. I Tried to become vegetarian
already at age 13 but pressure from family and even family
doctor did their thing and I reverted to meat eating shortly
thereafter. At age 20, my then girlfriend, herself a semivegetarian, convinced me to do the right thing. I
kept consuming eggs and dairy until a few years later (I then
lived in VA), when after conversing with one of the PETA
founders, I understood that was no need for dairy to keep
strong bones, as I thought at the time, a victim of the dairy
industry propaganda. I never turned back.
I have since "given up" all processed foods including cane
sugar and I bake my own bread so at least I know what is in
it for sure. I have to add that my family background drove
me to behave ethically from early age. In fact my father,
himself an ordained rabbi and ritual slaughterer always did
his best to educate his children about "God" and of
course the creation, so we always appreciated the living
things around us.
A couple of things I like to remember are that when I asked
him once why he just "did" chicken, his response was that
slaughtering cows was too painful for him. Also when on a
visit to the processing plant where he mostly worked,
I witnessed a very harrowing event; the processing line

always being kept as fast as possible for obvious reasons, my

father had to work hard to keep up. I then, saw him run to the
plant manager and ask him to stop the line , he was
frantic and had a hard time explaining the reason for his
request. He had missed one of the chicken and the poor thing
was now going to be scalded and de-feathered alive. He was
told that there was no way the process was to be interrupted
for one lousy chicken, and that they just had to add the
unlucky one to the non-kosher pile. He was so distraught, he
broke down in tears, he couldn't stand the thought of such a
painful death "even" for a chicken.
I believe that even though, my parents, at start, did not
approve, they actually were the catalysts for those decisions.
Today, they realize the validity of my choices and they
themselves try to reduce their intake of animal products to a
minimum.

When and why did you become interested in fitness?

This is interesting because originally, as a kid, I was very
disconnected from any kind of sports. I was a short, chubby

bookworm that was more interested in the etymology of

words than the number of pushups I could perform. That
changed the day, when at the age of 13, during a physical
education session, I was to jump up in the air, swivel my
body around and fall back softly on my feet and then roll
forward on a mattress. I was so scared of screwing up that on
the landing part I forgot to straighten my feet and so I fell on
my knees. Everybody laughed, including the coach. From
that point on, I decided that NOONE would ever laugh at me
for lack of fitness. I took up bicycling and judo and slowly
improved my fitness and self confidence to where I also
found the need to increase overall strength and physical size.
In France, at that time (1975) lifting weights was still an
obscure, misunderstood activity, as it was said to stunt
growth, to be dangerous and nowhere near any little jewish
boy should be found. I eventually located a small (very small
indeed) gym where I learned the basics . Eventually at the
age of 17, I started olympic weightlifting and that was when
I finally fell in love with iron and the amazing feeling of
being stronger than the average Joe. At age 19, I moved to
Israel where I found it much harder to keep lifting for lack
of infrastructure but I always tried to keep fit. I had to give
up olympic weightlifting but I always managed to improvise
and used everything from furniture to concrete blocks in
order to keep up. Eventually (in1984) I moved to the US,
and finding a proper training facility was no longer an issue.
I am now back in Israel, doing the thing I dreamed about for
a long time. I own a small gym where health and strength are
the prime movers, muscle size come as a side effect of that.
Of course being a vegan and still remaining the strongest guy
around makes people incredulous, so I don't usually go
around trumpeting those facts. I have managed to slowly
induce doubts into my members' mind concerning their
unrelenting belief in "meat for muscle" dogma. I hope to
make my mark eventually as I participate in national
powerlifting meets. I am the masters contender for Bench
press and Dead lift for the 90k category. I am planning to
improve my performance enough to beat the above 90Kg
current champion . We shall see.....

Current #'s. ("Raw")

Bench Press:
180Kg Note: I lifted as much as
430Lbs before a shoulder injury in 1998.
Squat:
Dead lift:

192Kg
250Kg

Rack lift:(below knee) 380Kg

Rack lift:(above knee) 465Kg
How would you describe your nutrition program?
I am not a person inclined to culinary quests, I keep my diet
to the most simple ingredients. My staple foods are whole
wheat bread, brown rice, oats, and beans. I consume very
little soy as I find it very hard to cook and the whole
phytosterol controversy makes it suspect for the moment.
I do not consume oils per se but I will always include fat
containing foods like tahini, olives, avocado, nuts etc. I don't
concern myself with calories except making sure I eat
enough for the day. Vegetables are a must and always in
quantity but I don't really look for the much more expensive

organic kind.
So in other words:
Carbs

65%

Protein

20%

Fats

15%

Atkins is probably turning in his grave right now :-)

How would you describe your training program?

I am not a bodybuilder so I concentrate on strength. I
consider proper training, a workout that is going to utilize
the body as a unit and not as unconnected muscles. So there
is almost never the so-called isolation exercises like
preacher curl. Yet a few times a year I will perform extreme
cheat speed curls partially using legs and trapezius with as
much as 100kg. So in other words, Squat, Dead lift, Bench
press, Standing military press and pullups (or pulldowns)
are the "founding fathers". Of course I will add other
significant exercises like barbell bent-over row, cable row,
pull over, flies, upright dumbbell rows, heavy shrugs etc.. so
I don't develop a lack of balance within the different
muscles.One thing I am sure will get a lot of eyebrows
raised is my being adamant about not doing any direct
abdominal work. For most practical purposes, I consider it
completely useless ; after all I am not trying to be an acrobat
or beat the world record for sit-ups. Still squats and deadlifts
will get the abdominal region in line with the rest .To those
still unconvinced about my contentions I tell them to do
some heavier pull-over work, that will stretch and exert their
six pack way beyond anything they can achieve on a
mattress or other abs contraption.
A usual weekly workout schedule will be as follows:
Day 1

Squats or Deadlift

Day 2

Rest

Day 3

Bench Press(Incline or flat) + Heavy flies

Day 4

Back (cables and free weight)

Day 5

Rest

Day 6
Shoulders (Military press + Standing -dumbbells
or barbell- rows)
Day 7
Rest
I will sometimes add short workout sessions on "rest" days
for Shrugs stiff legged or high-rep bench press sets, the type
of things I can't include on regular workout days
because of the high intensity workload.

What kind of supplements do you use if any, and why?

I tried creatine a few times and I can say it helped. Also, I
tried a NOx formulation with no true effect except the
permanent sensation of blood pumping through. I am not a
supplement fan as I consider that if its not naturally in your
food, then it's not meant to be ingested but of course I won't
negate any possible aid that might help the athlete get to the
next stage as long as the research proves its efficacy as well
as its safety.
When asked by members what kind of supplement they
should take, I just tell them to eat more. I think that for most
people, especially newbies, the addition of protein powders
of any kind is unnecessary. This said I realize that some will
have difficulty to manage additional meals in an otherwise
busy schedule and the easily prepared protein drinks can be
effective.
What are some common misconceptions about veganism?
We all suffered the ignorant stares, comments or even
taunting from the "real people" (from the "Beef ,real food for
real people" campaign) and I am not going to expand on that.
I will say though that, generally the most common question
would be " But where in the hell do you get your protein
from ??" To which I retort politely that protein although
important is way overrated, especially by newcomers. I do
say to them, also, that the energy that makes the muscle

contract and push the weight comes mainly from carbs or

fats not protein. I finally add that lentils have 26% protein,
beans have 22% even the lowly bread is up to 12% protein,
so how much do you really need?
I believe that vegans use proteins and other nutrients more
effectively than meat eaters and that daily requirements for
those should be elucidated in a scientific study using vegans
and non-vegans as 2 distinct groups .

What do you think the most important aspect of fitness

is?
Self confidence, increased strength, healthier life.
What do you like best about being vegan?
Having become a vegan in a fairly early stage in my life has
given me more of an impetus to educate first myself of the
positive consequences of such a decision but also become an
effective advocate so others might realize the full
ramifications of their daily food choices.
What do you like best about being fit?
Always forgetting that I am approaching fifty.
What are your strengths as an athlete?

Challenging myself, always.

What advice do you have for vegan athletes who are just
starting out?
Ignore the skeptics comments.
Eat more .
Find a workout partner
Always strive for improved performance (Rep and weight).
What advice do you have for people who are thinking of
becoming vegan?
Learn proper nutrition- your local supermarket is geared
toward meat-eaters and it can be daunting task to figure out a
vegan balanced diet.
Learn the effect of animal products/foods on your body, on
your soul and on the environment as these three aspects of
your choice' repercussions will mutually reinforce each other
so you will have a better chance of staying the course.

What motivates you to continue to be a successful vegan

athlete?
Results in health, performance and peace of mind.
How has the website www.veganbodybuilding.com
helped or inspired you?
I once though that I was the only vegan weight lifter. It
helped me learn that others went through the same
difficulties, uncertainties but eventually also the same
satisfactions as I did.