This week, World’s Strongest Man competitor Robert Oberst guested on Joe Rogan’s podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, and while the conversation hit a wide range of topics including deadlifting and (of course) psychedelics, it also covered veganism. Rogan regularly interviews proponents of both vegan and carnivore diets, so when Oberst said there are no vegans in strongman, Rogan knew there were exceptions.
About one hour and 57 minutes into the video, Rogan brings up the strongman diet. He asked Oberst, “What kind of diet are you guys on?” Oberst responded, “We all basically eat the exact same thing, a ton of meat and rice, and we do a lot of peppers.” Hit play below and the video will start right there.
[Another great clip from this podcast was Oberst telling Rogan that most people shouldn’t deadlift.]
Rogan: “So no one’s vegan?”
Oberst: “No, no, no.”
Rogan: “Isn’t there that one guy, that Patrik what-the-f*ck’s-his-name…”
Oberst: “There’s a vegan strongman I’ve heard of, I don’t remember his name. But he’s never been the World’s Strongest Man.”
They chat about Baboumian for about four minutes, but here are some choice quotes from Oberst.
He’s not one of the strongest men in the world, he’s a strongman and he’s strong, and no disrespect and I’m not saying anything bad about him (…) from what I recall he’s never even been invited to Worlds Strongest Man (…)
Say he broke a record in like some powerlifting competition that was in a guy’s backyard, and they call that world record and then all of a sudden he’s a world record strength athlete because his buddy in his backyard said so. A lot of that happens, I don’t know specifically about him, I have no clue where he’s getting his credentials from. (… )
He probably has some kind of world record (…) but if the biggest pull he’s ever pulled is 627, that would get last place at an amateur heavyweight show in America.
The German strongman heard all of this and in response, Baboumian made this YouTube video to legitimize his place in the sport.
[Baboumian is one of our picks for the 5 strongest vegans on earth!]
A lot of Rogan’s discussion centers on the new documentary produced by James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger about the benefits of veganism on health and performance. Baboumian is heavily promoted for his feats on the film’s website, stating “Patrik Baboumian is a professional strongman and former Germany’s Strongest Man with multiple world records including the front-hold, keg lift, log lift, and super yoke.”
In his response video, Baboumian lined up all of his accomplishments and talked through his Wikipedia page: “Okay, Robert. Let’s take a look at some of these world records that I set in my backyard!”
He then went on to show a few world records from different events, including his 2012 Guinness World Record Front Hold of 20kg for 1 minute 26 seconds, and then his 2013 and 2015 Guinness World Record Yoke Walks: 550.2kg for 10 meters and 560kg for 28 seconds. It’s fair to say Guinness has pretty high standards for their records.
It’s clear Baboumian was far from amused by his mention, but he seems happy to have the opportunity promote veganism as a viable diet for athletes.
Featured image from Patrik Baboumian’s YouTube channel.