Jack Steven is always a commanding presence. No matter what room you enter, people will stop what they are doing to marvel at the six foot eight inch frame.
“Imagine a life in which you despise almost everyone, literally. I have unobstructed views in a crowded concert, and I reach the items on the high shelf with great ease,” said Jack, adding that most people consider him good at basketball.
When she’s in the spotlight, her skinny body shatters her confidence. For a long time, he couldn’t gain weight, even if he tried. He had given up on the idea of ​​a ripped physique until his friend challenged him to try the gym.
when BDLlife so to interview people at the Workhouse Gym in Nairobi, the chest muscles are “pumped” and look well-formed, almost like a bodybuilder at the peak of his career.
The 38-year-old IT specialist’s arms displayed impressive vascularity thanks to brutal barbell biceps curls. When he warms up his core at the end of the day’s workout, his abs show up.
Steven’s bulking up is a reward for his rigorous training regime.
“Would you believe me if I told you that I had never exercised in my life until a year and a half ago? I found a gym when I was 36 years old,” said Jack BDLlife.
In a year and a half, Jack’s transformation has been incredible.
“Because of my current physique, some people believe me when I say that I’m only working out for a while. Building muscle takes years if done right. So many people don’t believe that my journey is just a moment. But then again, they’ve never met me skinny,” he said.
By his 36th birthday, Jack had become aware of his emaciated physique. He thought he was born to live and die skinny. He was happy and happy until a friend said something that made him think more about what he wanted.
“I would eat a lot of food—well, at least that’s what I thought at the time—and always wonder why I wasn’t getting bigger or seeing any changes. That’s why I had a hard time believing my friends when they said out loud, I could it’s easy to expand and achieve a comfortable posture and physique,” ​​says Jack.
His friend advised him to increase his food intake (calories) and train with him for two months to see how it went.
“With weight training, I find I increase my meal intake from three because I’m super active and my body needs more fuel to function,” explained Jack.
In the third month of training, he enrolled in nutrition studies.
“I’m curious to know my body and food intake and why it’s so difficult to get bigger. Did I realize that I have a higher metabolic rate, which means I can’t get bigger because I’m operating in a caloric deficit from the intake my body needs,” he said.
At the moment, Jack eats between six and eight meals a day depending on the day’s activities.
“Usually I wake up at 5:30 in the morning, then I take three eggs. I then ate another, a mixture of ashwagandha (an herb used to improve physical performance), banana, and milk. I use this as a pre-workout because ashwagandha is good for boosting the testosterone hormone, thus ensuring strength,” he said.
Before going to the gym, he takes a creatine supplement with Himalayan salt.
His third meal of the day was around 9am, after a two-hour training session.
“Then I will have two eggs and about 100 grams of sweet potatoes. Between 11.30 and noon, I have another meal, which can be chopped meat and / or chicken with rice,” added Jack, saying that the meal is for fueling the body for hours 3 p.m., when he sat down for his fifth meal.
“Rice is my main source of carbohydrates. In some cases, I will make rice again with fish or beef. I am very careful with the grammage of my meals to make sure I am doing the right amount. For every meal I have rice, it should be 200 grams. And the protein between 200 and 250 grams per meal,” he said.
From 3:00 p.m., Jack eats nuts, Greek yogurt, and fruit until 7:00 p.m.
“Some people consider snacking. Maybe it’s that, I don’t know. The last meal of the day is usually potatoes, and maybe with beef, fish, or chicken. It’s rare to find me eating ugali. I know it’s for skinny people and I try to eat a lot of it it will be good because it is high in carbohydrates, but it tends to make one feel tired because the body spends a lot of energy and processing it. It also lacks basic nutritional value in my opinion. Try to eat ugali for dinner and you will wake up if you do not have the energy to push you today,” said Jack.
At his thinnest, he weighed 71 kilos. Last week, he stepped on the scale again and the needle tipped to 84 kilos.
“My goal is to get 89 kilos of lean muscle, then I can think about starting to incorporate cardio into my training plan. Now, as a hard (muscle) gainer, cardio is not suitable for me,” he said.
