Patrik Baboumian

Patrik Baboumian is a record-breaking Iranian-born German-Armenian former strongman and bodybuilder. He set a number of German records and won Germany’s Strongest Man in 2011.

He now spends his time promoting veganism and appeared in the 2018 documentary The Game Changers about the benefits of a plant-based diet for athletes.

Why Patrik Baboumian is vegan

Patrik Baboumian is vegan for the animals and for health.

In 2022, he told The Simply Vegan Podcast, “I really started to reflect on my meat consumption. I realised that on the one hand, I love animals and when I would see them in distress, I would have the immediate response to try to help and try to do something about it. And then, on the other hand, I would go and buy meat and eat it and I knew an animal had to die for that.”¹Johnson, H. 2022. Vegan bodybuilder Patrik Baboumian reveals why he gave up meat. Vegan Food & Living. Available: https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/vegan-lifestyle/interviews/the-game-changers-star-patrik-baboumian/ [Accessed 18 September 2026].

Although Baboumian was concerned that giving up meat would affect his physicality career negatively, he actually found the opposite was true. In fact, it was the improvements he made after going vegetarian that motivated him to start competing in strongman competitions. But despite the initial improvements in his performance, Baboumian was still experiencing some health concerns so, after some experimentation, realised that he needed to ditch the dairy and become vegan.

“Strength must build up, not destroy. It should outdo itself, not others who are weaker. Used without responsibility, it causes nothing but harm and death. I can lift the heaviest weights, but I cannot take the responsibility off my shoulders. Because the way we use our strength defines our fate. What traces will I leave on my path into the future? Do we really have to kill in order to live? My true strength lies in not seeing weakness as weakness. My strength needs no victims. My strength is my compassion.”²Baboumian, P. 2015. Rich Roll Podcast. Available: https://www.richroll.com/podcast/patrik-baboumian/ [Accessed 6 May 2021].