Julien built strength and muscle to feel fitter aged 48 than he did at 20 years old
Approaching 50, City professional Julien realised he wasn’t just getting older – he was getting weaker.
The 48-year-old financial services executive had always seen himself as active. He coached an American football team at weekends. But behind the scenes, his shirts no longer fitted properly, and he’d find himself holding in his stomach to hide the fat.
He calls it his “middle-aged crisis.” And when his wife gently pointed out that physically he wasn’t as fit as he used to be, it became the wake-up call he couldn’t ignore.
Eighteen weeks after joining U.P., Julien is 12kg (26lbs) down, 2kg up in lean body mass, and says he feels fitter than he did at 20.
Here’s how he turned back the clock – and redefined what turning 50 really means.
What was the turning point that made you realise you needed to change?
“So just before I started, I was at the stage of my life where I realised that I've reached my ‘middle-aged crisis’.
Realising that I was probably not as fit as I wanted. Realising that I was not 20 years old, where it was easy to basically eat and recover everything quickly. That I needed some additional physical activity because all of this altogether had an impact on my life. I was totally not feeling as strong as I was in the past, but probably not eating the good things that I had used in the past as well.
So I reached the point where my wife made me aware that physically, I was not as fit as I used to be. And it was almost like a wakeup call for me and the good timing in my life at this moment to really start again.”
How were you feeling day-to-day before you joined?
“So day to day, I was realising that I was feeling a bit more weak. I was also losing confidence when I was looking at myself in the mirror. Going into shop for clothes, realising suddenly that the shirts I was wearing were not very fit anymore.
And also in the office, trying to hide the fact that I was probably a bit more fat than I used to be. My tummy was trying to compensate by having a position that was not very natural.
So, I was losing confidence, essentially. And also realising that it had an impact in the way I interacted with people and feeling less and less natural.”
Since starting, what progress have you made?
“So since I've started at U.P., I've lost 12kg approximately in a few months. I've also increased 2kg in terms of lean body mass and 16% decrease in body fat. So it's massive. That's also something I didn't realise.
The effect on my body on a day-to-day basis is feeling lighter and feeling more confident. When I was looking at myself after starting, seeing the big progress and feeling much, much more confident with people.”
You coach an American football team. How has your transformation impacted that?
“Yes. When I started the process, I was reaching the end of the pre-season and starting the season with all the competition and the games, and it was a moment of my coaching with my players where it was important to really engage them into a process of discipline in terms of athleticism and discipline with their ability.
It was the perfect timing for me to tell them, look at that. Your coaching staff can also make progress with you. I'm going to show you that physically, if you maintain discipline in the way you work with your body and your engagement with the team, you're going to see big changes.
So I was sharing with them what I was doing at U.P., and they could see with the pictures that there were big changes, and I was feeling more capable in the way I was teaching them how to be efficient in their runs and the effort for themselves to be prepared for the season.”
How did your wife react as you started to change?
“So it's very interesting because just before I started, she was the one who tried slightly and very, very nicely trying to make me aware that I needed to make a change.
After that, I started the process and progressively she saw the change.
She was also the first one to make me realise that the shirts I was struggling to wear are now a bit too big for me because you could see the change. She saw in me the change as well in terms of the position in the way that I'm standing in front of people, and the fact that I don't need to hold my breath and pretend that I'm naturally lean.
She realised quickly that it was working, and she was the first one to really encourage me to move on.
She's also very supportive because, of course, it has been a change in the way we eat, the way we organise our dinners when we are together in the evening. She was really the one to make sure that I was eating in a healthy way.
How did people at work react to your transformation?
“It was very interesting because after a couple of months at U.P., some people in my office started realizing that I had lost weight and I was different physically, and it made me realize. So I shared with them what I was doing, and they were quite impressed. They could see as well that there was a change in my confidence.
And also I started tucking my shirt in my trousers. Whereas in the past I would leave my shirt and sort of feel a bit more lean, so I didn't need to do that. So I started wearing my clothes differently. And so some people at work have immediately realized that my body had changed and they wanted to know more as well.
They wanted to know how did you manage to do that? And when I shared with them the results and numbers they were impressed. When I told them that I averaged more than 10kg now, they were like, first of all, they said, well, I didn't really need to lose weight, but then, wow, that's impressive.
The number for them was a shock because beyond the appearance of my body and how I looked, it was more the numbers that were impressive. And also sharing with them that it was not only about losing weight, but also in terms of proportion of fat and muscles and tracking it. All of this was really impressive for them.”
Could you have achieved this on your own?
“I clearly have some experience with other personal trainers in the past. U.P. offers something that I've never seen before in terms of professionalism, in terms of being interested not only in the progress I made in the gym, but also my life, my sleep, what I eat, and tracking everything that I'm doing.
I had experience with other personal trainers. This was not the same level of professionalism. It has made for me a big difference because I felt supported in a very holistic way of my way of living as well, which was very important for me.
Realising that it was not only about spending one or two hours per week in the gym was very important for me. And also realising that the gym is one part, but being healthy and what I'm eating as well was probably even more important at this stage of my life.”
Do you feel fitter now than you ever have before?
“This is definitely the first time I've felt so fit in my life. Even when I was 20 years old, I was probably not like this. I feel stronger. I feel more confident. I understand now at this level of knowledge and experience that I can identify the traps.
But I’ve realised that it's not about stopping everything.
It's about doing things better. And that's probably something that I’ve learned the most at U.P.”
What does this transformation mean to you long term?
“The most important thing for me, now that I've started the process at U.P., is making sure that I keep all the good things.
Making sure I maintain this discipline. I enjoy it so much that now I want to make sure that I'm not losing any benefit of it.
It's quite interesting to see that I didn't know that I could have reached this level at this stage of my life. Because obviously I’ve seen my parents, and I was thinking I would go the same way. But it's not because you're reaching 50 years old that you should be inactive, or you should be just enjoying food.
I've realised since I've started at U.P. that I can be 50 years old and feel and look probably fitter than most of the young generation.
I've realised that it's sustainable. It's not something saying I need to be fit for the summer because I need to look good for the pictures on the beach. I've realised that this is something that can be for the rest of my life.”
