KICKBOXING

I started martial arts in the summer of 2013 as I was completing my university degree in the States. I began with MMA. In the fall I was back in Estonia. After only a couple months worth of training I had my first amateur fights, this was enabled due to an extensive athletic background. I found that I enjoy stand-up fighting the most and it also fit my fighting style. Kickboxing is the most explosive and visually attractive discipline.

As time rolled on, I added skill in addition to overall athleticism. To quote one of my coaches Kevin, a lot can be done with "tuhh" (grit)... raw power, you have to want and push. My career really took off in 2016 as I landed some bigger fights against bigger names and performed excellent.

From here on, I got to fight international athletes and at an increasingly higher level.

The characteristics of my fighting are pressure - only forward, power - punching power and conditioning - capacity to work resulting from willpower and athleticism.

 

TRACK & FIELD

Sports has been my pride and joy as long as I can remember. I started track at 10. I enjoyed combined events the most - two days full of success, failure and fighting. Combined events put your speed, endurance, coordination, strenght and willpower to a test. My go to events became long jump, javelin throw and pole vault, where my most outstanding personal best is 4.85m / 15ft 11''.

I've earned a combined 18 podium finishes from the Estonian National Championships, 8 of them golden. Most of them from pole vault and youth age groups. A successful career in the youth age groups enabled me to get a scholarship to study and compete at an US university. In the years 2008-2013 our team won the conference championships numerous times. Individually my proudest achievement was the A-Sun Conference decathlon champion 13´.

Track gave me priceless experiences and pleasure, but as I graduated university, it did not make sense practically nor emotionally to try and make a living with the event.

 

STRENGTH

Weight training is the foundation of all training. Punching power benefits, as well as the ability to absorb punches, stay injury free and have better speed endurance. The main elements of my weight training are Olympic lifts - power snatch and power cleans, as well as bench press. I always put the excercises into a superset together with something fast and explosive such as jumps or throws. The goal is to increase maximum strength and quickness not to grow muscle. Most sets are 5 by 5.

When two evenly skilled fighters meet, who has the advantage? - the stronger one.

Personal Bests:

Squat 155kg - 2022

Bench press 145kg - 2023

Hang clean 130kg - 2023

Power snatch 95kg - 2014

Deadlift 165kg - 2023

NUTRITION

A healthy diet is one that you can sustain as a lifestyle. You have to eat how and what you like. Only manage the amounts when needed. An athlete has to eat enough to support their training, otherwise health and performance suffer - I've learned this the hard way. Ideally your menu should contain a lot of whole and less of processed foods.

I like to eat... a lot. Over the years I have found that Intermittent Fasting suits my lifestyle and diet the best. I've been following this way of eating since 2015. I don't have a certain number of meals, I just eat when hungry. This way of eating has numerous benefits such as an increased focus, weight management, better absorption of nutrients from food, reduced aging process, lighter feeling at workouts, more effective time management throughout the day. Personally I like it because it suits my busy schedule.

Supplements are like the name suggests - supplements. They are not essential. There is no one supplement that everyone would benefit from, it's individual. Every now and then I get blood work done to identify deficiencies and supplement or switch up my menu accordingly.