I didn’t come to this from the outside. I started at 187 pounds and wanted to get healthier and stronger, so I did what most people do and hired a coach to guide me through it. The approach I was given was extreme: a very restrictive diet and an intense training routine, and within a few months I was down to 120 pounds.

The weight came off fast, and that’s exactly the problem. What it taught me is that quick results and healthy results aren’t the same thing, and that an approach you can’t sustain won’t survive contact with an ordinary week.

It also showed me how much the education matters. I wanted to understand the science behind training and nutrition properly, well enough to help people reach their goals without going through the extremes I did. That’s a large part of why I coach the way I do. I’m not asking anyone to do something I haven’t done myself, and I’m not going to hand you a plan I wouldn’t have been able to keep.