Jurriaan fights back against middle age with 10kg (22lbs) lockdown transformation

Jurriaan was 43 and felt middle age quickly creeping up on him.

Every time he looked in the mirror, he saw his old dad.

Not willing to give in to the middle-aged spread, he signed up with Ultimate Performance in April just before lockdown interrupted his transformation programme.

“Towards the end, I was starting to see results, and it was awesome. Sometimes before I went to bed, I would brush my teeth in front of the mirror and go wow! Is that my body? damn, it’s never been this good.”

Jurriaan joined U.P. with a little bit of belly and zero stamina. And while he was only able to squeeze in three sessions in the gym before lockdown measures shut down the gym, he completed his transformation goals – losing 10kg (22lbs) and 12% body fat in six months.

“I felt like I needed to do something about my body. I have been busy and have not really been taking care of myself. I wasn’t really concerned about losing weight; I actually wanted to gain some muscle.”

“Before the lockdown, we did three sessions – one of which was the intake. So, when the lockdown came into effect, it became clear that I could continue at home.

“At first, I bought some dumbbells and kettlebells and set up a training programme. And then a week later, U.P.’s lockdown programme came into effect, and we were invited to join.”

Jurriaan, like many others, wasn’t sure if he would be able to manage a rigorous transformation programme on his own without specialized equipment and the gym discipline.

However, the one-on-one virtual sessions kept him motivated and on track throughout the lockdown and beyond.

“I wasn’t really sure how I would be comfortable doing all this at home in front of a camera. But we made it work at home with all those weights.

“So, it was actually quite inspiring that we made it possible. When the virtual sessions came along it was almost like a reset; like OK, I can get into this again.”

“The sessions were great for problem-solving as well. Like diet, for example; I had a lot of questions about what I should be eating, proteins, etc.

“During the sessions, we also discussed the form and I was really comfortable with the exercises as I could ask when I wasn’t sure if I was doing something right.”

Jurriaan was doing a lot of measuring and tracking himself and when the results started showing he knew all that hard work to eat right and sticking to his workouts had finally paid off.

“I was marking my weight every day; what I was eating. And I was trying to meet those goals within those limits – eat right and sleep right and do all those things. It became a sort of like a game.

“My favourite part are my shoulders. Earlier, they reminded me of my old father. I had this belly, flat chest, flabby shoulders and now all that is gone.

“I have actually bounced back to a point where I wasn’t even sure I could go because I had never been there. That felt really good.

“I have a few friends who at first were like ‘this is crazy!’ and now they are asking me the name of the gym I am going to. I recommend U.P. to everyone!”