Edvard Groundstroem

@Strimele

Hi Edvard! I know you have been working in the game industry for the last couple of years. Can you tell us a bit more about what do you do at the moment?

Sure. I work at Rovio as an executive producer for one of the latest Angry Birds projects called “Angry Birds Seasons: On Finn Ice”. Angry Birds Seasons has been about traveling the world’s festivities and this time around we’re taking you to Finland (where by the way Rovio’s HQ is located). Get ready to experience a true Finnish winter with its snow, ice hockey, reindeers, darkness and northern lights.

Sounds literally cool! Must be a fun place to work at.

My job is awesome but at the same time requires a lot of time and energy. I coordinate the work of different business units, and often have to work overtime to get everything ready on time. I also travel a lot for work because meetings are often held at various locations. Working with multiple business units and external partners can be quite complicated and requires a lot of planning in order to meet project deadlines. Busy times, in other words.

I know that you are also doing martial arts. Is it hard to combine your work and training?

I think being able to focus 100% on my work requires spare time activities that allow me to focus on something else completely, and martial arts does just that for me. I try to do martial arts at least 4 days a week, consisting of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kickboxing and the occasional mixed martial arts. In the past, I had tried many more traditional sports like ice hockey and football, but they were never really my thing. About 5 years my brother and I decided to try something new and enrolled in kickboxing. The other disciplines followed shortly after and I’ve been hooked ever since. Martial arts became more than just a sport for me. It is about learning new things about myself and what my body is capable of. Every time at the gym I am pushing myself to the next level, and I think it makes me stronger both physically and mentally.

That’s impressive! Would you mind telling us where do you get energy to carry on such a busy lifestyle?

Food is important. What I eat has a huge impact on how much energy I have to face the challenges ahead of me, whether it is exercise or work. My physical performance gets much better if I have time to eat properly before hitting the gym. Because of my work schedule I did not always have time to cook something proper in advance. I started to look for options that would be both nutritious and filling and at the same time easy to prepare. One day I saw a bag of Ambronite on my colleague’s desk. I did some reading up on this sort of food and decided to give it a try. It was great! My energy release was steady and the filling effect lasted longer. The solution was found.

Ambronite fits perfectly into my busy lifestyle. I no longer have problems finding the time to prepare a “proper meal“ before training since it only takes a couple of minutes to make an Ambronite meal. Seriously, I’ve been looking for something like this for years.

Would you like to give an advice for those who have difficulties in finding the time for sports activities after working hours?

Try a lot of different sports and find something that is so much fun to do that the "exercise" becomes more of a by-product. Talk a friend or two into joining in since skipping a scheduled workout becomes that much harder once you mix in a little good spirited "peer pressure".

Recipe

I normally mix Ambronite with a banana, since they are so easy to come by and carry around. Sometimes I also like to add blueberries, and almond or oat milk.

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