Philosophers of Fitness: Omar Isuf 1

Philosophers of Fitness: Omar Isuf and his manifesto on Aesthetic Bodies and Athletic Minds

Written by: Jackie Irvine

Ah Summer… Cutting season. With 18 weeks left until balmy weather and beaches, many men will be blowing off bulking and trading it in for cutting—how will a man be able to show off his abs if he’s been ‘bulking up’ all winter long? By cutting and looking good when it counts, right?

Wrong. There is a great danger in this cyclical approach to fitness and aesthetics. After the pool parties, the beach, or that father-in-law’s summer BBQ, many men find themselves slowly spiraling downward—binge after binge, beer after chicken wing, moving farther and farther away from the sexy physique they worked so hard to get.

Why? Philosopher of Fitness and international Youtube sensation, Omar Isuf explains that it’s because people only ever picture looking good in the short term; they don’t picture themselves in a lean, muscular physique over a long period of time.

The Typical Approach to Aestheticism:The typical school of thought on achieving an aesthetic body is that one must go through a “bulking” phase (usually winter) in order to put on muscle mass, and then “cut;” losing fat so that their muscles can be shown off better in the summer seasons. However, this approach often leads to failure, binging, and being a little pudgier year round. But why is this the case?

Omar explains that there are two major problems with bulking and cutting 1. People get fat when they bulk—using it as an excuse to binge 2. People cut too aggressively—losing metabolically active muscle tissue and they also

won’t be able to maintain their diets

So what’s a man to do? Start by nixing the problem at the root: don’t get fat while bulking. How? Use a ‘lean mass phase’ instead. Isuf explains that the goal of a lean mass phase

“is not to get fat, [and] to add quality size… So you’re only gaining a pound to maybe two pounds a month, so in a year, you gain about 20lbs.”

This means (sorry gents,) that you will have to monitor your calories and food consumption so that you don’t end up gaining more than these 1-2 pounds/month. To stay accountable for what you eat, Isuf favours Alan Argon’s flexible dieting approach, formally known as IIFYM.

This approach is the same one that Omar recommends for cutting. During the interview, Isuf explained that IIFYM is:

“where you can eat burgers and still get lean. Where at the end of the day, it’s about your caloric amount, it’s about your macronutrients, then your micronutrients, your fiber, etc.… [It works because] the laws of thermodynamics hold up; if you’re in a caloric deficit, you’re going to lose weight.”

But clean eating does still have some value, as the “clean” foods will provide you with a large portion of your micronutrients, ultimately keeping your body in optimal condition while cutting. Isuf explains that there is a balance and that

“you’re going to get your micronutrients from over 80%, 85%, you know I hate saying the word “clean,” but you eat 80-90% of what would be called “clean food,” you know, like whole unprocessed food, and then you can enjoy your Pop Tarts, […] ice-cream, burgers, pizza, within moderate amounts, within your calories.”

So what are some of the challenges of flexible dieting? Well, for the day-to-day working man, IIFYM is great because you can eat out and track your macros on a dieting app or journal. However, as Isuf points out that

“if you’re eating out 5 days a week, twice a day, it’s a variable of how many calories you’re getting in. If you’re serious about this, you should probably limit the total amount of times that you eat out.”

The average Tom may then have to do a little bit of grunt work if he wants to maintain his caloric deficit throughout the week. Isuf explains that when going out,

“trying to assess the actual quantities of carbs, protein and fats can be hard, which is where prepping your own food can be real handy.”

To many, this may sound like diving head first into becoming a physique competitor; but the process can be made very easy, as Omar explains in his two top tips for success at meal prep.

1. “Come up with food you love to eat, […] so that you look forward to the food you make”

2. “Set up a time to make food for the week, probably twice a week, usually for most people it’s on a Sunday and maybe some time during the week. Systemize what you’re doing.”

So, you know how to meal prep, you know how you can diet or gain mass while staying aesthetic; but even when you have all the knowledge, many find that there still is a low period after reaching their aesthetic goals. This eventually leads to the loss of the body you worked so hard to get.

This is where Omar really proves himself a father of fitness philosophy—by flushing out the nuances of fitness psychology. The reason, he explains, is because of the finite timeline on which many people envision their aestheticism. Somewhat paradoxically, there is a danger in achieving your aesthetic goals;

“guys drop out of lifting because essentially they lose that meaning, they lose that passion, they lose that purpose because there is nothing behind that. They achieve you know, what they want; they get a great body, it increases their confidence, they talk to more women and then what? And then they drop it off…”

His solution is then to “anchor the why;” and achieve an athletic mind. This is what he calls the “Athletic Aesthetic.” He explains that, “you need new goals to have” after achieving the aesthetic body,

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“its that idea of proving to yourself continuously through challenges; through becoming stronger, more athletic, fitter… what is possible for you to achieve, you always think “I can do this,” you achieve it; and it develops more self confidence.”

The ‘Athletic Aesthetic’ body is therefore made by training and eating “not just to look good on the beach, […but also] for yourself.” Utilizing athletic training goals to maintain your aesthetic physique.

So men, push for your next one rep max; run an extra mile; jump higher, push longer—the aesthetic will always remain with you if you train through the athletic. Omar Isuf is then the prophet of good news… with an Athletic Aesthetic; never again will you sweat over beach body blues.