Today we invite you to meet our rebranded bitB Spins beast: Super-Isak!
CHAPTER III: SUPER-ISAK
Isak: The story of my body transformation is a long road full of ups and downs…
Yes, it took a lot of work. Basically, I planned my whole day around the workout: when to eat & what to eat. If you want to build muscles, you have to start eating. Not like you normally eat when you feel hungry, you need to eat a lot, correct and consistent. It is very important for you to know what Macronutrients your body needs (how many grams of Proteins/Carbs & Fat you need) and then you can start from there.
Isak: So the new year’s fitness challenge…
It´s a little bit cliché, but sometimes it´s necessary. When your body is unhappy, how can your mind be happy? Your mind is an important part of your body and sooner than later it will start to suffer as well. That´s exactly how I felt when I arrived down to Thailand. I had been on the road for over 6 weeks, drinking alcohol and eating dirty food when I decided that it was time to get back to the real grind: to become the best version of me.
How do you become a beast? Well, you have to eat! Have in mind the fact that no matter how hard you train at the gym, if you are not eating correctly you are just running in a circle.
Isak: What did I exactly eat during my challenge?
I drank a lot of smoothies, it´s a great way to get down a lot of calories easily. My smoothies don´t taste that good but they get the job done. 1st smoothie of the day is when I wake up. I mix together 120gr oats, 170gr yogurt, 1 x scoop of protein powder & a big tablespoon of chunky peanut butter. Topped up with almond milk. Each one of those is roughly 1000calories. I always try to wait at least an hour after a meal before I go to workout. If you eat right before workout it will be tough, your body is still focusing on breaking down your meal and you will probably feel bloated and won´t be able to perform optimally. After a hard workout my body is craving for nutrients. Right after each workout I eat like 20-30gr of gummies, just clean gummies like Haribo.
Isak: Do you wonder why I do that?
Fast digesting Carbs like gummie bears are like a glycogen bomb. It reaches your bloodstream fast and the sugar-rush will release more insulin within the body. When that happens, the peptide hormones attaches itself to specific receptors on muscle cells, creating a freeway for other nutrients like amino acids, Creatine and Protein to enter directly into the bloodstream. Long story short: 10 gummie bears instantly after workout will help your body get nutrients that you eat as post workout meal faster. So yeah, if you do it right, you can eat candy every day, but still make progress at the gym. I trained for about 2.5 hours, 6 days per week, probably around 15 minutes of stretching each day. During the challenge I didn´t do a lot of Cardio since I was mainly focusing on gaining weight. If I’m trying to gain weight a lot of Cardio becomes counterproductive.
In the evening I have another smoothie right before I go to bed just to make sure that I have enough calories in me throughout the night.
Isak: How did my days look during the challenge?
They didn´t really look that exciting, I definitely could have improved that. Productivity was great, but that was just about it. I woke up at 12 PM, I opened some poker games and I drank my smoothie. Traffic was always terrible at that time, but sometimes I got some fishes. Meanwhile, I was just looking at hands from the day before. Usually, I was at the gym around 2-3 PM and I was finishing between 5-6 PM. Most of the days we brought our reusable takeaway boxes with us to the gym and get post workout meal on the way home. We enjoy watching some Netflix and chill a little bit when we have our post-workout meal. Between 6-7 PM I would usually start my grind and play with breaks until around 4 AM, then I would make myself a smoothie and go to sleep.
After I arrived in Bali the days got a bit more exciting. I wake up early and I grind until 10-12 PM (depending on the games). Then I go for exercise. I meet my friend at the Fitness Club and I go for competitive ping pong. He is a poker player as well (HU hypers and Spin&Go’s) so yeah, it´s a very competitive match every time. After like best of 3 to 21 points we go to the gym and workout for around 2 hours, after that we go to a great local restaurant where they serve perfect chicken breast. We try to go to some steam & swimming pool after lunch, but it depends if we have time for this. During the late afternoon I try to open some games and see if I get some action and play for around 2 hours before we head out for dinner.
Isak: Now the challenge is officially over, but my challenge is not.
I changed my eating habits and I have been working on shredding off all unwanted water & Fat. My plan is to get as close to 8% BF as I can. I made pretty big adjustments to my diet. Now I eat low Carbs & high Protein. In the morning I don’t have these massive 1000 kcal shakes. My breakfast is just one smoothie with 130 grams of oats with some lime juice. I am out of Protein powder so I need to cook all my Protein. I don’t eat any dairy, no bread, no gluten, no bad spices that make you retain water and I eat a minimum amount of Carbs (usually around 180 grams for me). I try to eat no Carbs at all after 5 PM.
Every other morning I go to the local meat store and buy 2.5kg of chicken breast, cut it down into bits and cook it for the next two days. I eat a couple of bowls of chicken over the day, around 150gr each time thing which will give me enough protein throughout the day so I will keep most of my muscles while going through a cutting phase.
I honestly believe it is easier to keep your body and nutrition healthy as a poker player than in a normal 9-5 job. You can plan your day exactly how it fits you. You just have to know what your workout goals are, build muscle or cut fat? Build muscles & cut fat at the same time? Be prepared, be consistent, think about what you eat and stick out to your schedule!
1st pic was taken in 2013, 2nd summer during summer of 2018.
I was 54kg when I started.
Isak’s story is a life-changing lesson. Don’t let it go so fast!
Try to find out what kind of schedule fits you the best in order to become the best version of you!
Don’t worry: bitB Spins team is here to watch your back 24/7!
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