Vegetarian versus omnivore.?!

Vegetarian versus omnivore.?

I have several vegetarian friends. All of them are in great physical conditioning. None of them can keep up with me for more than a few hours at a time while working or working out. They are also not as strong as I am. I believe this is due to lack of some essential nutrients from red meat. I also can't seem to recall any professional athletes or bodybuilders that are vegetarian. Is it common that vegetarians are weaker and have less endurance than meat eaters or is my experience rare?

I have to agree with you to an extent in that many vegetarians including myself tend to be weaker or lacking endurance - as the body tends to produce lean bodies with vegetarian diets. But I think this is more of the choice of the vegetarian rather than the diet itself.

Also, I would not classify them as weaker - I have many vegetarian friends who are in good shape, can run fast and hard, but tend to be sprinters and in the long run quicker but for a short time. Of course I am not a dr but this is my opinion.

found a list of veggie athletes... with the note or one or two though there's probably a reason there are no BIG athletes....

# Aaron, Hank ?? USA
# Badman, Natascha USA
# Bennett, Michael ?? USA
# Bird, Larry ?? USA
# Bomaly, Surya France
# Boyer, Jonathan USA
# Brazier, Brendan Canada
# Brock, Peter Australia
# Burfoot, Amby
# Burnquist, Bob
# Burwash, Peter USA
# Cahling, Andreas
# Chappell, Greg Australia
# Cope, Simon UK
# Coppi, Fausto Italy
# De Costella, Robert Australia
# Earle, Robbie UK
# Evert, Christine USA
# Goldberg, Bill
# Gray, Estelle
# Heidrich, Dr.Ruth USA
# Hellriegel, Thomas
# Hepburn, Doug
# Hilligenn, Roy
# Holmes, Keith
# Hopkins, Bernard USA
# Howard, Desmond USA
# Jurek, Scott
# Kaat, Jim USA
# Kalbermatten, Frederik
# King, Billie Jean USA
# Kowalski, Killer USA
# Kumble, Anil
# LaLonde, Donnie USA
# LaRussa, Tony USA
# Laumann, Silken
# Lee, Bruce UK
# Lewis, Carl USA
# Linares, Sixto
# Lynn, Jamie
# Males, Dan Australia
# Marek, Cheryl
# Mcmahon, Donna USA
# Mihelich, Taj
# Miles, Eustace UK
# Monbiot, Katherine
# Moore, Dr. Barbara UK
# Moses, Ed USA
# Müller, Jutta Germany
# Müller, Nicolas
# Nava, Ricardo Torres
# Navratilova, Martina USA
# Niewiek, Julie Ann USA
# Nurmi, Paavo Finland
# Oakes, Fiona UK
# Osborn, Tom USA
# Parish, Robert USA
# Pearl, Bill USA
# Peeler, Anthony USA
# Pickering, Ron UK
# Roa, Roa Argentina
# Rose, Murray Australia
# Rowley, Geoff
# Ryde, Dr David UK
# Sanderson, Danielle
# Scott, Dave ?? USA
# Spaeth-Herring, Debbie
# Sumners, Rosalyn USA
# Tendulkar, Sachin India
# Thomas, Jamie
# Vardaros, Christine "Peanut" USA
# Vaughn, Jacques USA
# Vialli, Gianluca Italy
# Vishwanathan Anand India
# Walton, Bill USA
# Watson, Emmil UK
# Williams, Serena ?? USA
# Zohn, Ethan ?? USA