Steve shapes a six-pack at 60 after four decades of trying alone.
“I never thought I'd have this physique at 60. I'm blown away that we actually achieved it and achieved it in that time.”
Steve had been trying to build a strong, lean body for the past 44 years.
Attempts he described as “pathetic” in his 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s had led him nowhere.
To rub salt in the wounds, his spin instructor wife had been in fantastic shape for the last 20 years. Steve now believed he owed it to her to catch up.
With his milestone 60th birthday fast approaching, he was willing to give it one last shot. But this time, with an Ultimate Performance personal trainer in his corner.
His 27-week program has delivered the results he’s always wanted. Steve has the athletic, six-pack body he’d wanted ever since he was a teenager, and has never felt better in his body.
Read Steve’s incredible story for yourself here.
What motivated you to join Ultimate Performance?
I have a spin instructor wife who'd been in fantastic shape for the last 15 or 20 years, and I sort of felt I owed it to her a little bit to play catch up.
I'd been aspiring to a certain kind of physique for 44 years, basically since the age of 16. I'd had pathetic attempts at probably 20, 30, 40, and 50, sometimes achieving weight loss but never achieving any physical transformation.
It felt like the last opportunity to do it. So, that was a big motivation. Healthwise, I wasn't in poor health, but there were certain metrics that I could improve on – especially cholesterol.
Tell us a bit about your earlier attempts to get fit.
In the past, I've tried two diets.
One was 12 years ago. It was completely self-designed. It was low carb, low fat. I combined that with a lot of cardio. It was successful in losing weight. But as soon as I hit my target weight, I just gave up. It wasn't sustainable.
The rebound and the reversion to bad habits were fast, so the weight returned.
Then probably three years ago, I tried keto for four months. Again, lost considerable amounts of weight in both instances.
I went from just over 100kg to 84kg. With the keto, I did literally zero exercise, and you could tell in my body composition at the end, it reflected that I'd lost the weight, but I was thin, I had no definition, and I had no strength.
I was just thin.
How familiar were you with lifting weights before you partnered with U.P.?
I literally had never lifted a weight in my life until I walked into U.P.
Despite owning home gyms on three separate occasions, I didn't know where to start, didn't know how to put a routine together, and didn't know anything about reps.
I'd always defaulted to cardio because anybody can figure out how to get on a treadmill and set the speed or get on a spin bike and be told what to do.
So, it was all cardio whenever I did workout, which unfortunately wasn't that often, and I just didn't know where to start with weight training.
How do you contrast your earlier attempts with your experience at U.P.?
When I've lost weight, I've always shot for 84kg.
Now, I'm at 77kg, and I have a physique that, especially at my age, is beyond what I could have expected to achieve.
Visibly, I couldn't be happier, and I'm way stronger than I was.
Beyond the physical appearance and the strength, I would say health-wise; I've seen a big improvement in health markers that needed to be addressed.
Did you ever think that you would have this physique at 60?
Once I became aware of U.P., and I saw the results that other people had, even though those people might be 20 or 30 years younger than me, I could see all the success stories of other people, some of whom were even older than me, which is a little crazy.
From day one, I had full confidence that it could be done, but I'm blown away that we actually achieved it and achieved it in that time.
I hate having my photograph taken. But once I'd had the photoshoot at the end and I showed a select group of people some of those pictures, they were blown away.
I mean, literally jaw-dropping reactions to them. I felt good. I felt like I looked good. It felt like a celebration. It was the culmination of something I'd wanted to do for 40 years.
In your opinion, what is the magic ingredient to success here?
I think it's the U.P. process and the relationship with your trainer.
If you're going to embark on anything, you have to have commitment and trust in the process, but that applies wherever you are, whether at another gym or working out at home.
But for me, the whole U.P. ecosystem was a huge support.
Your trainer pushes you to places you could never get to on your own. They motivate you that what you're seeking is possible.
They educate you not just on how to work out but nutrition, sleep, and everything necessary to get that transformation.
And then, the support is 24/7 if you want it. The support level that I got in terms of designing workouts for me to do when I was away, checking in with me while I was away, and helping me adapt my diet to a temporary environment was just amazing.
It's seamless; the support you get and the way you're pushed, and just the attention to what you need to do to get your transformation is the key difference.
I don't think this transformation could have happened without U.P.
