I am Blake Karst. My last name used to be Storbakken but I recently changed it in honor of my dad who stepped into my life when I was a toddler and raised me as if I were his own. I am a 20-year-old sophomore in college from Elk River. I attend the University of Northwestern St. Paul during the school year. I am studying accounting full-time here at Northwestern and I work part-time at my dad’s music store, Main Street Music, on the weekends.
The fall of 2022 was a difficult time for me. My life had essentially been flipped upside down and I found myself in a dark place. I have always enjoyed being active and would have considered myself a mediocre athlete. I never took my overall health seriously. To be honest, I was never truly in the physical shape I wanted to be in.
In December, I was offered a spot on a team for the Winter Incinerator Challenge of 2023. At first, I didn’t want to join. I didn’t feel like it was something for me but right before the deadline to join the challenge I was heavily persuaded into joining. (Thanks, Mom.)
In all honesty, entering this challenge was probably the best thing for me. It forced me to take exercising seriously, now I’ve found a love and passion for the gym. My confidence grew astronomically. Not only did my physical health improve, but my mental health, my religion, my friendships, and my mindset all improved. Everything happened because of that first step of taking care of my body physically. The rest just naturally followed.
When I joined FitClub it felt very impulsive and almost as if I didn’t know why I was joining. Looking back on that time compared to where I am at today, I can see God’s influence in presenting me with this opportunity. It’s led to many positive changes in all aspects of my life.
My first workout at FitClub was what they called a Max 5, Push Day. I had no idea what to expect going into the workout, I did not expect to get pushed as hard as I did. To those that understand how the MyZone ranges work, I was at 100% effort in the red with a heart rate of 229 for 5 minutes straight. If you don’t know what that means, I basically was working so hard that my heart was maxed out in its capabilities. All the MyZone heart rates are presented on screens in the gym. I’m certain the coaches running the class were worried I was going to collapse from a heart attack because they saw how high mine was.
When that first hour of FitClub was over, I was proud of myself because I pushed myself to the extreme, powered through and was still alive at the end.
My coach through this challenge was Luke. After my first meeting with him, I felt very pumped and encouraged to keep working hard. He told me I was right on track and had some “crushing” results. He gave me some tips to follow to help me achieve my goals even faster and ended the meeting with, “If you follow these tips, keep taking it seriously, and add a banana after your workouts, you will get shredded.” I didn’t really believe him in all honesty, but I did follow his advice. My results have been drastically improving and I am exceeding my original goals faster than anticipated.
The biggest reason why I stayed at FitClub and plan to do future challenges is 100% because of the family-like environment. Every member in this gym wants to see everyone succeed and meet their goals, whether it is your coach, other coaches, or other members. It’s a very inviting and encouraging atmosphere, which is something every gym needs to have.
Now on to the progress I have made so far. For all these numbers, the first number was from a test taken on January 8th, 2023. For my overall weight, I was 215.6 (lb) and now I am sitting around 211 (lb) with a lot of fluctuation up and down in between both weigh-ins. My skeletal muscle mass was 97.2 (lb) and is now 103.6 (lb). My body fat mass was 44.8 (lb) and is now 31.1 (lb). My percentage of body fat was 20.8% and is now 14.7%. What did I do to get there? For about half of the competition, I worked out 5 days a week with a split of upper push, upper pull, legs, chest/back, and arms. After a meeting with my coach, he advised me to change my split. Since then, I have been working out 6 days a week with a split of legs, upper push, upper pull, legs, chest/back, and arms with my rest day usually being Sunday. As far as dieting I didn’t really do anything special for that. I reduced my snacking throughout the day and became conscious of the amount of food I was eating and just tried not to overeat. Along with that, I would have protein shakes after my workouts and sometimes throughout the day and would try to have protein-focused meals.
My muscles are becoming more defined and more visible. I’m also consistently getting stronger in the gym compared to where I was when I started. I feel great now and I am still striving for bigger goals. As mentioned earlier my confidence is up, my overall health is better, I have more energy, and I am happier, as well as many other things.
For those who are on the fence about stepping into the journey to wellness, go for it. Some advice I would have for those looking to get into it is to take it in bite-size pieces. Start with small goals, be patient, and trust the process. Something I would tell the old me before stepping into this journey would be not to compare yourself to others. Whether it is how you look or how much weight you’re lifting compared to others. It is a battle against only one person and that person is yourself. If you want to compare anything, do it against yourself and not others and you will see the progress you have made and will eventually see the potential of what you can become.
The fall of 2022 was a difficult time for me. My life had essentially been flipped upside down and I found myself in a dark place. I have always enjoyed being active and would have considered myself a mediocre athlete. I never took my overall health seriously. To be honest, I was never truly in the physical shape I wanted to be in.
In December, I was offered a spot on a team for the Winter Incinerator Challenge of 2023. At first, I didn’t want to join. I didn’t feel like it was something for me but right before the deadline to join the challenge I was heavily persuaded into joining. (Thanks, Mom.)
In all honesty, entering this challenge was probably the best thing for me. It forced me to take exercising seriously, now I’ve found a love and passion for the gym. My confidence grew astronomically. Not only did my physical health improve, but my mental health, my religion, my friendships, and my mindset all improved. Everything happened because of that first step of taking care of my body physically. The rest just naturally followed.
When I joined FitClub it felt very impulsive and almost as if I didn’t know why I was joining. Looking back on that time compared to where I am at today, I can see God’s influence in presenting me with this opportunity. It’s led to many positive changes in all aspects of my life.
My first workout at FitClub was what they called a Max 5, Push Day. I had no idea what to expect going into the workout, I did not expect to get pushed as hard as I did. To those that understand how the MyZone ranges work, I was at 100% effort in the red with a heart rate of 229 for 5 minutes straight. If you don’t know what that means, I basically was working so hard that my heart was maxed out in its capabilities. All the MyZone heart rates are presented on screens in the gym. I’m certain the coaches running the class were worried I was going to collapse from a heart attack because they saw how high mine was.
When that first hour of FitClub was over, I was proud of myself because I pushed myself to the extreme, powered through and was still alive at the end.
My coach through this challenge was Luke. After my first meeting with him, I felt very pumped and encouraged to keep working hard. He told me I was right on track and had some “crushing” results. He gave me some tips to follow to help me achieve my goals even faster and ended the meeting with, “If you follow these tips, keep taking it seriously, and add a banana after your workouts, you will get shredded.” I didn’t really believe him in all honesty, but I did follow his advice. My results have been drastically improving and I am exceeding my original goals faster than anticipated.
The biggest reason why I stayed at FitClub and plan to do future challenges is 100% because of the family-like environment. Every member in this gym wants to see everyone succeed and meet their goals, whether it is your coach, other coaches, or other members. It’s a very inviting and encouraging atmosphere, which is something every gym needs to have.
Now on to the progress I have made so far. For all these numbers, the first number was from a test taken on January 8th, 2023. For my overall weight, I was 215.6 (lb) and now I am sitting around 211 (lb) with a lot of fluctuation up and down in between both weigh-ins. My skeletal muscle mass was 97.2 (lb) and is now 103.6 (lb). My body fat mass was 44.8 (lb) and is now 31.1 (lb). My percentage of body fat was 20.8% and is now 14.7%. What did I do to get there? For about half of the competition, I worked out 5 days a week with a split of upper push, upper pull, legs, chest/back, and arms. After a meeting with my coach, he advised me to change my split. Since then, I have been working out 6 days a week with a split of legs, upper push, upper pull, legs, chest/back, and arms with my rest day usually being Sunday. As far as dieting I didn’t really do anything special for that. I reduced my snacking throughout the day and became conscious of the amount of food I was eating and just tried not to overeat. Along with that, I would have protein shakes after my workouts and sometimes throughout the day and would try to have protein-focused meals.
My muscles are becoming more defined and more visible. I’m also consistently getting stronger in the gym compared to where I was when I started. I feel great now and I am still striving for bigger goals. As mentioned earlier my confidence is up, my overall health is better, I have more energy, and I am happier, as well as many other things.
For those who are on the fence about stepping into the journey to wellness, go for it. Some advice I would have for those looking to get into it is to take it in bite-size pieces. Start with small goals, be patient, and trust the process. Something I would tell the old me before stepping into this journey would be not to compare yourself to others. Whether it is how you look or how much weight you’re lifting compared to others. It is a battle against only one person and that person is yourself. If you want to compare anything, do it against yourself and not others and you will see the progress you have made and will eventually see the potential of what you can become.
