Company boss Andy had yo-yoed in weight his whole life.
The 28-year-old managing director would lose weight, but could never keep it off.
When he came to Ultimate Performance, he was 107kg – the heaviest he had ever been.
But working consistently and methodically with his trainer helped him radically transform his body and his health – losing 27kg.
The effects on his everyday life have been transformative – he’s stronger, fitter and more productive as a leader and has the knowledge now on training and nutrition to stay that way for life.
Experiencing such profound benefits, he has even paid for seven of his team to train with Ultimate Performance – something he says has benefitted his business with a happier and higher-achieving team.
“The impact it has had on my life is profound. I’m healthier, I’m 5 stone lighter (32kg), and I know what I need to do to eat well and how to train properly.
“I can now pass that on to friends and family members. The impact can’t be overstated. It’s not just losing weight; it really does impact every aspect of your life in a positive way.”
Here Andy talks about how his diet and training changed and what the ‘secrets’ behind his impressive transformation are:
What was your motivation for joining Ultimate Performance?
Fundamentally, I was unhappy with my weight for my age, and it was starting to impact me in ways that weren’t visible to most people. In a sense that, when I was wearing clothes, when I was going out with mates, or when I was playing football or sport – I was getting out of breath quicker.
What was the trigger for you to start your transformation journey?
Being overweight had quite a big bearing on my life, in general. My weight has yo-yoed throughout my life, but at the time I joined U.P., I was at the heaviest I’d ever been.
I was just not feeling confident in pretty much any facet of my life. I was wearing baggy clothes, avoiding nights out, eating for the sake of eating to compensate for the fact that I felt fat.
It was sort of a spiral effect, and it culminated when I went on holiday to Dubai. I looked at some of the photos when I got back, and then that was the trigger point for me.
What was your diet like before you started at Ultimate Performance?
Historically, I’ve gone for extreme approaches, like most people tend to do; very low-calorie, high exercise, then the traditional rebound. I’ve probably done that 5-6 times in my life.
I’ve gone through swings of three to four stone a couple of times, and, obviously, I was never able to keep it off because I wasn’t addressing the fundamentals.
What changed when you joined Ultimate Performance?
When I started U.P., the main change was the accountability and the consistency of the approach from my trainer, and just the general ethos of U.P. as a business and a brand.
I was quite surprised at how simple it was – a clean, consistent diet, and execution of good quality training with high intensity.
What was your training like in the past?
I’ve always trained in some capacity, but when I came to U.P., I quickly realised I was doing pretty much everything wrong in terms of execution and intensity, which led to picking up injuries.
There were lots of things that I’ve done, historically, that were just wrong. When I came to U.P. and started the one-to-one training, we basically tidied up all my techniques and improved my training intensity. There is a drastic overall difference from this training to any of the other gyms I’ve ever trained at, or any other personal trainer that I’ve ever used.
How much have you changed since you first started?
Physically, there is an incomprehensible difference. I am now 4 stone (23kg) or 5 stone (32kg) lighter. I’ve got some muscle tone, and I know how to train and eat properly now.
Mentally, it rolls on from that. When you are feeling good in yourself and training well and eating well, your ability at work, your relationship, your relationships with friends, and your patience and tolerance, very much improve.
You can’t really explain the impact it has, going from 18 stone (114kg) to 13 stone (83kg). It impacts pretty much every aspect of your life, in a positive way.
What have been the biggest lessons you learned working with your trainer?
The most powerful lesson that I’ve learned about nutrition is simplicity and consistency. These are the two real driving forces of a healthy, balanced lifestyle from which I can maintain my weight and improve muscle mass and the aesthetics of my build.
Online, you see a lot of complex, stupid diets, where ‘if it fits your macros’ then people are eating all sorts of stuff. It doesn’t make sense when you look from an outsider’s perspective but coming to U.P. and listening to what you’ve told me about the basics – I’ve learnt about proteins, fats, carb sources, the right times to have the carbs, the right time to have your fats and the actual reason why you’re doing something.
What have you learned about training?
The biggest takeaway regarding training is ‘execution over mass or weight lifted’.
In the past, when I’ve been in the gym with mates, I could do 44kg, but the execution was all over the place. The injuries that I used to get in my shoulders and my back have gone. Good execution and high-intensity training are all you really need to achieve what you need to achieve in the gym. And it can be done within 45 minutes to an hour.
How important was your trainer in helping you achieve the results that you did?
My trainer went above and beyond in aiding my transformation in several ways. He was always on the end of the phone, so I could message him any time of the day with trivial questions and even questions outside of the gym.
There has never been a training session where I’ve sat there and thought, “oh, my trainer can’t be bothered today”. Everything is consistent and disciplined.
But what’s important for me is that my trainer practices what he preaches, in the sense that his diet is clean, he’s always in shape, he’s always training, and he’s never demotivated. This reflects onto me, because if I come into the gym and I’m tired or can’t be bothered today, I know for a fact I’m not going to be able to get away with the session.
I’m not going to have a light session, so every single day is consistent, and that reflects in what he tells me I need to do to keep my weight and build muscle.
What is it like seeing your ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos?
Looking back at the original pictures, firstly, I’m proud that I’m no longer looking like that. Also, I’m quite shocked that I let myself get into that position. The reality of it is, the approach we’ve taken is simple, disciplined and based on fundamental principles. There was no fad dieting. It is sustainable, and I’ll be able to do this for the rest of my life, and I’ll be able to maintain this healthy weight for the rest of my life. The impact of that is worth any amount of money in the world. It is the most important thing.
Do you feel like you got a return on your investment working with Ultimate Performance?
In terms of return on investment, the cost of U.P. is substantial – that’s just the way it is. But the return on investment – you can’t put a price on your health or mental well-being.
You’re essentially learning. I’ve learned skills that people spend years and years learning. You go to a normal gym now, and you see 85% of the people training wrong.
You see the diets and what people are eating on Instagram, for example, and you realise that the Instagram influencers and the industry is based upon a lot of falsehoods.
In terms of return on investment here, I feel like I know as much as 80% of the fitness models on Instagram. You can’t really put a price on that.
You paid for several of your employees to undergo a transformation at Ultimate Performance too. What made you decide this would be beneficial?
Over the past three years, I’ve paid for six or seven of my employees to come and do a 12-week transformation at U.P.
There are various reasons for this. The number one reason being that over time, these people have expressed to me unhappiness about their weight, and their inability to train or eat well.
I can see that this unhappiness will have had a negative impact on their work-lives. For me, that investment in those employees is not just an investment in them to lose weight; it’s an investment in them to lose weight, to improve their mental health, to improve their working capacity and, in turn, garner a greater return on investment for myself. So, it’s a win-win situation. The results of that have paid off. Everyone who has come to U.P. has had a great transformation and is 15-20 times better at work in terms of productivity and confidence levels. They’re eternally grateful for it.
- We show you the best, we don't show you the worst.
- We show you people who follow the plans, not those who are all talk.
- We show you those who inspire even us with their commitment to their results.
- You cannot get results exactly like these. You are unique and that means you can only get your own best possible results.
- Your results are a function of time spent following the plan; your genetic response to the right exercise and diet program; how hard you train; how consistently you come to the gym; how disciplined you are with your diet; & your starting point.
- Oftentimes the lower your starting point (poor fitness, terrible body composition) the better your results.
- We cannot do the work for you and the results you see here are a testament to the work ethic of our clients.
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Our reputation is that we are the best trainers in the world for helping you to unlock your potential, & we can lead you to the door, give you the key, even turn the handle and push the door open, but we cannot walk through it for you.
In the end the result is down to you.
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