UrbanUpdate

Lifting heavy weights—and doing it well—requires a lot of sometimes-unconventional fuels. Brent Fikowski, who boasts a 300-pound barbell snatch and is by at least one metric the second-fittest man on Earth, eats pig heart and 330 grams of sweet potato for lunch at least twice a week. He also has a thing for beef tongue, which has a consistency sort of like pulled pork—"if you make it right,” he adds ominously.

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Fikowski is one of many elite CrossFit athletes regularly hammering through box jumps and muscle-ups who pays absurdly close attention to what he puts into his body. People have been watching him closely of late, too. The 26-year-old came in fourth at his rookie appearance in the 2016 CrossFit Games, and he podiumed second last year. We recently sat down with Fikowski while he was promoting Reebok’s new Nano 8 shoe to learn more about the finer points of pig heart preparation, and his belief that when it comes to “naughty” foods, self-control is a myth.

GQ: How do you start most of your days?

Brent Fikowski: Typically, I wake up around 5:30 and eat something quick—maybe half a piece of fruit. Then I go to the gym.

Wait, quick pause. Would you say that what you’re about to outline is drastically different now than from before you were an athlete of this caliber?

Honestly, I’ve always eaten pretty similarly. Even when I was a teenager, I usually trained in the morning. I’d swim a lot. My parents were pretty health-conscious, and oftentimes I would learn something from another athlete or coach about nutrition, and ask my parents if I could try that. They were usually game, too. I’d say something like “I don’t think I’m going to eat dairy,” because I loved The Who, and I heard that lead singer Roger Daltre didn’t eat dairy because it made him really congested. So for a while, I only drank soy milk or almond milk. I’ve introduced a little bit of dairy back into my diet since then. But I just don’t really drink regular milk anymore.

What kind of fruit, and why only half? You’re a big guy.

Usually a banana, but if there’s something else in season, we’ll just buy that. And only half, because I prefer to train on a mostly-empty stomach in the morning, and I don’t wake up very hungry. If it’s a conditioning session that will last more than 2 hours, maybe I’ll bring some dried fruit and eat it mid-session to replenish my glycogen levels.

You leave the gym. What happens?

A post-workout protein. Usually it’s grass-fed whey. I’ve tried some other types, like pea and hemp and beet isolate protein, but don’t care for the taste as much.

What's your go-to flavor?

I mean, chocolate. Isn’t that obvious? What, are you not going to have chocolate when you could have… uh, what other options are there? I’ll have creatine, beta-alanine, and vitamin D—especially in the winter, because of the lack of sun. I also take a joint supplement. I haven’t had many injuries, but most of the ones I have had relate to tendons and joints.

Were you always this particular about the supplements you were taking?

Over time, I’m constantly refining them. Every couple of months I’ll take a look at what I’m doing and analyze my budget and improve where I shop. A couple of years ago, I made the decision to switch to better variations of the food I was eating, so that meant getting more grass-fed meats and organic vegetables.

The first thing I switched was eggs. It’s really easy to find people who sell eggs straight from the chicken in Kelowna, so I started there. I went with someone to a farmer's market who was very into this, and they pointed out the vendors who sold organic, spray-free eggs. I started buying a few things there, and then found a butcher that sold grass-fed organic meats. Now, about 80 percent of the meat I eat is grass-fed and organic.

And you really notice a difference?

Yeah, the taste is noticeably better. Since I’m always changing things, it’s hard for me to directly link something I change with my performance. But what I’ve realized about a lot of food questions is that it’s about trust. At the end of the day, do I feel noticeably better eating organic spinach over non-organic spinach? Not really. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be trying to improve what you’re putting in your body.

What does breakfast look like in your house?

It’s my favorite meal of the day! We have a big cast-iron pan and throw on a solid cup and a half of vegetables. It's completely dependent on the season, but ideally, eggplant, shredded sweet potato, red onion, maybe some zucchini. Cabbage has been really good lately. Mushroom, too. Then we crack some eggs—I have three, and my wife has two. The water from the vegetables helps steam everything, and then we have sunny side-up eggs with all this goodness. I’ll pair that with some oats with yogurt and blueberries or strawberries.

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Talk to us more about your meat selection.

When I transitioned into buying higher-quality meat, I realized how expensive it was. I was looking up at this board at the butcher, and I saw a section with a bunch of items that were drastically cheaper per pound. So I’m thinking, “Okay, what’s the deal?” They were the offal bits—tongue, liver, kidney, heart. I bought some of those, and talked to my nutritionist, who told me that some of those things are actually better for you because they have very high macronutrient values. The heart is inherently going to have a lot of iron, since it’s a bloodier piece of meat. The kidney is another one—it’s really high in vitamin D.

So how does that feel? Eating pork heart?

I just get over it. At the end of the day, I’d rather the whole animal be eaten than see parts thrown out. It’s respectful to the animal to use all of it for something. And someone’s got to eat it, so why not me?

Do you have a preferred method of preparing these not-at-all-normal meats?

If you cook tongue right, it’s really good. It’s like pulled pork! The strands in the heart are very good, too. You grill it like a steak. It’ll knock your socks off.

What about dinner?

Dinner looks similar, but I go more off of feel. So if I’m hungry, I’ll eat more, and if I’m not, I’ll eat less—like a salad with a bit of meat. I make sure I’m still getting about 30 grams of protein at that meal.

Aside from dairy, what else don’t you eat?

I don’t have a lot of grains or gluten, mostly by choice. I’ve never had a negative reaction, and if I’m in a social situation where there’s bread, I’ll have it. But I get a higher amount of macronutrients from sweet potato, and I prefer that to bread or a wrap.

Guilty pleasure foods?

It’s usually chocolate or ice cream. But I don’t bring them into the house. Everything in the house has to be good for you. I don’t really believe that self-control exists, so I’m not going to buy a four-liter carton of ice cream and say, “Oh, I’m only going to have a little bit twice a week,” because it’s going to be gone. Anything I buy has to be gone in 24 hours.

How much water do you drink?

I’m not currently tracking it, but I’m drinking more than I used to. I’m trying to drink more filtered water, and am working on what that looks like. That’s the next thing! First it was the best meats, and now it’s the best water.

A guy wants to eat like you because he wants to train better. What’s the one piece of advice you give him?

You’ve got to find substitutes that you still enjoy. Don’t try and go straight into just rice, chicken, and broccoli. Find a few things you eat that need replacing. It’s all about building good habits. Instead of getting breaded chicken fingers, I buy chicken breast, and find a way that I like to cook them that makes me feel just as good. It shouldn’t feel like a sacrifice. It needs to become a habit, a lifestyle.

The same is true with exercise. I love CrossFit. But if you love the water and you love swimming, then find a routine and a group of people and swim. If exercise becomes a chore, it won’t be a part of your lifestyle, and you see find lasting results. You want to be happy. I love being happy! The reason I eat this way is because it makes me feel good, and when I feel good, I train good, and when I train good, I’m happier. People ask, "Don’t you miss ice cream and beer?” Well, yeah! But then I would feel awful.