“I had been lifting for most of my life, but I had been ‘fit by luck’.”
That’s how Patrick described his first 40-something years––in shape without really trying.
Then came a divorce that led Patrick to take three years off training, and social drinking circles became his default hangout.
“Before I knew it, I was up 50 pounds and about four pant sizes bigger. I was embarrassed to remove my shirt on the boat. I simply felt bad and couldn’t believe how far I had fallen,” Patrick said.
From his heaviest at 185 pounds, Patrick managed to get down to about 160 pounds on his own, but then plateaued, and wasn’t able to make progress no matter what he tried.
Patrick’s girlfriend pointed him to my newsletter, and after reading through some of my content and client case studies, he decided to apply for coaching.
“You were direct and didn’t complicate the process,” he said. “My brain could digest it at a time I was overwhelmed and honestly not sure where to begin.”
The goal: A six-pack by his 45th Birthday
When Patrick applied for coaching, he’d listed his main goal as “a six-pack by my 45th birthday”–giving us 5 months to make it happen.
Based on Patrick’s initial body composition, I estimated his body fat was around 25%. To achieve a visible six-pack, he’d need to diet down to around 10% body fat. That put his target weight in the low-130s; about 29–30 lbs to lose over five months, or roughly 1.3 pounds per week. I told Patrick this was very doable, and we got started.
I set Patrick’s initial calorie intake at ~1700 kcal/day, which would keep his weekly weight loss at around 1.3 lbs/week. This was combined with a target protein intake of 120-140 grams.
Patrick could train four times per week, so he was set up with an upper/lower split: the first two days focused on higher loads and lower reps, and the last two days on moderate-to-high reps with moderate loads.
Patrick’s results
By the time April rolled around, Patrick had lost 29.2 lbs and achieved a six-pack by his 45th birthday.
“My physique is back in full form,” he said. “And that physique mirrors my physique from my late 20’s to early 30’s.”
While the progress Patrick made is incredible, the real win for him was realising he could achieve results like this without doing anything drastic or extreme with his diet and training.
“You can eat a normal diet by tracking your macros and achieve goals that most would think are impossible without resorting to some special diet-of-the-month program,” he said. “And I don’t have to do hours of cardio.
“I got my swagger back. Shoulders back, chest forward, strut. My energy is great, and my mood is far better.”
Beyond the aesthetic win, Patrick noticed the functional carryover.
“A good physique makes you look younger, and the day-to-day activities become easier too—from moving a hay bale to grabbing groceries. Strength training is a game changer in my life, and my walking has gifted me meditation time and also helped with endurance, hiking and biking.”
What made it work
When I asked Patrick what the biggest lesson was, he quoted something I’d written years ago: “Time is passing either way—what are you going to do with it?”
“That phrase stuck with me,” he said. “You can’t speed up the process. If you’re doing it right, it’s a journey with no end. Trust the teacher, trust the process, and the rest will work.”
For Patrick, the most valuable part of coaching was simple: not having to think about the details. “Your mentorship, and knowing that I do not have to think about what I am doing because you are doing it for me,” he said. “Just follow the steps.”
When you’re overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, the last thing you need is more decisions to make. You need someone to tell you exactly what to do so you can focus your energy on actually doing it.
When I asked Patrick if he had any advice for others looking to achieve what he did, here’s what he said:
“If you’re new to this journey, understand that you’re hopefully changing a lifestyle. Your journey is your own. No one’s journey should be your journey and vice versa. This isn’t a competition. It’s your life and your goals.
This began with me telling Aadam my goal was to have a six-pack by 45, and now, a couple of years later, it’s about seeing what sorta lean muscle I can add. At 47, I’m feeling like age is actually just a number. You can get back much of your youth and better yourself. That is just up to your personal goals and what you’re willing to do to get there.
Aadam has said before that when you begin your journey, it seems like years of training are impossible. But when you take it a day at a time, you look back and are amazed at the progress.
So what do you want your future self to say when they look back?”
Interested in coaching?
You can learn more about how coaching works and apply here.