45-year-old Sydney local Adam Berger just completed an 8-week challenge that saw him loose 8 kilos of body fat, and gain 2kg of muscle. His visceral fat also went down 3 levels.
Here, he shares how he did it.
I am always on the go. I work full time running my own business and have a family with 2 school aged kids who are active and seem to have endless energy. Prior to joining the Body Fit Training program I was up making breakfast and school lunches, getting kids off to school and working a full day. After work is chauffeuring kids to activities, cooking dinner and squeezing in a social basketball game once a week. (Probably too many uber eats deliveries late at night if I’m honest!). I also coach my sons Basketball team, which had been hard trying to keep up with them training.
I have always been a positive and carefree person. I have exercised and played team sport all my life. We go on very active holidays (snow sports, hiking, camping etc). During 2020 and 2021 my exercise patterns changed due to all the restrictions.
After contracting Covid in Dec 2021, I suffered from long Covid. This had serious effects on the nerves controlling my heart rate and blood pressure. I had endless diagnostic tests and wore a heart monitor 24/7 which was connected to my cardiologist. I was fearful of intense exercise and was required to strictly monitor my heart rate at all times. I was unable to play sport with my kids or live my life in the same way.
This had an enormous impact on my mental and physical health, and I hit a low point.
After getting the green light to recommence exercise after almost 6 months, I was determined to return to peak health. We had just moved to Maroubra and I felt BFT was my key to getting back to my real self.
I have always been a happy go lucky person, but for the first time before I joined BFT I felt depression kicking in. I was out of shape and truly down. It is funny how you can go from one extreme to the next so dramatically, but it felt almost instant I walked into the studio.
I decided to join the challenge as I am very competitive by nature. I never give up when I have a target in my sights and I am very disciplined. I thought this 8-week challenge could be a fun way to set goals and challenge myself.
After the challenge, my weight dropped from 92.3kg to 83.3kg, and my total body fat % was down from 24.2 to 16.4.
I have always been a healthy eater, but during the challenge I feel I took it to the next level. I have also started cycling (initially my transport to the gym).
I was surprised how natural it felt to reach my target. The challenge made the journey uncomplicated. I didn’t need to introduce radical nutrition changes or excessive effort to get there. My body was not painful, fatigued or starving!
Life still contains the same commitments, however I make an earlier start for a 5am gym session, and often try to fit in a second session in the afternoon a few times per week, or an extra basketball game. Going forward I will be continuing to train at the same intensity now that I have my mojo back.
My motivation comes from within. Ultimately, I feel good when I exercise and when I can see myself growing stronger. (I get the typical runner’s high of endorphins that energises me for the day and helps me deal with my busy life). The transformation of my mental health and sleep patterns was a huge drive to keep going.
