“I think skateboarding is finally getting to that point where people take it seriously. I feel like five or 10 years ago a lot of parents and everyone would be worried about their kid wanting to be a pro skater because they would think you just want to ride your board all day like a little toy or hobby.”
So says Nyjah Huston, who is well-equipped to talk about the professional side of skateboarding despite the fact that on Monday he turned 21 (happy birthday, Nyjah!), which means that 10 years ago he himself was barely 11. But he isn't your average skater kid: At the age of 10 he had already won his first competition. Out of 36 major competitions since 2010, he’s placed first in 25, including five X Games, racking up four Street League Skateboarding championships and, as of two years ago, more prize money than any other skater. Ever.
Huston brings a level of discipline to skateboarding that would surprise people only passingly familiar with it as a sport. He grew up in a family of skateboarders, and they had a lot of time to practice together, living on an isolated farm in Puerto Rico, where his rigorously Rastafarian father moved them in 2006.
“I grew up very strict vegan,” he says. “My dad didn’t allow me or any of my siblings to eat any meat, no cheese, no candy even. He was super strict about that sort of stuff. I think that’s one of the reasons I manage to be so healthy and take all these gnarly slams without breaking any bones: I think the main thing is being raised without drinking any soda. Every one of my friends who skates has broken a ton of bones before.”
But veganism doesn’t have to be ascetic. A cheese-less life can be just as satisfying and savory. “Anything you think of that isn’t vegan, my mom would make vegan.” He continues: “When a lot of people think about eating vegan, they think of it as not being healthy because it’s hard to get protein. I think I managed to be even healthier than someone with a non-vegan diet. It’s helped me out too now that I’m on my own and living by myself—I’m careful about what I eat and I want to eat healthy.”
Today Huston is a reformed vegan, but he believes that his diet (growing up and now) give him a competitive edge.
“Once I had the freedom to be able to eat whatever I wanted it took about a year or two before I tried meat. To this day I don’t eat red meat—it’s something that was so foreign and weird to me that I couldn’t get used to it. I stick with turkey and chicken and fish. I don’t like eggs because I couldn’t get used to it after not growing up with them. I still drink soy milk instead of regular milk, and that’s about it. I’m used to everything else now.”
While more people recognize skateboarding as a sport, fewer give it credit for its athleticism. To be fair, most of the blame for that lies with skateboarders themselves. “The majority of skateboarders out there are kind of lazy, and everyone thinks that working out doesn’t help much. But I have a gym set up at my house, and I normally try to do a quick, harsh workout for a half hour at least four times a week. Most of it is upper body because with skating you don’t get much of an upper body workout. I actually think having that extra strength helps out a lot, especially with any 360 tricks, and it helps with falling the right way and preventing injury.”
While fitness may not be a giant concern for most skateboarders, they do share a common priority: not getting fat. Extra weight doesn’t just slow you down, it also makes balancing harder. Luckily for Huston, for now, that doesn’t seem to be an issue. “Honestly, I have the quickest metabolism ever, I can eat as much as I want and barely gain any weight. So I just try to eat as much as I can every day.”
Breakfast, pre-workout
Protein shake with coffee-flavored protein powder, banana, and soy milk
Post-workout
Fruit shake with banana, mango, pineapple, papaya, and berries
Lunch
Turkey sandwich with avocado
Dinner
Chow mein with chicken and vegetables
See more Nyjah from the GQ archives: