Six days a week. Nothing to show for it.

Before Nathan, I was training six days a week — weights, bro splits, the lot. And I was going nowhere. Not losing weight, not building muscle. Just maintaining, week after week. I’d tried diets. I’d done eleven-week boot camps, and any weight that came off went straight back on. I trained with a mate, but looking back we had no real structure — we certainly weren’t progressively loading or training for actual adaptations.

I reached out to Nathan out of pure frustration. I’d tried it all and nothing worked. I’d come across him on social media — his videos, his articles, the way he talked about fitness, looking after your body, nutrition. It was obvious he knew his stuff.

85kg to 65kg — fully committed.

So that’s what we did. I went all in on the plan, and in that first year I went from about 85 kilos down to 65, around 11% body fat, with good muscle — and all of it through weights training. I wasn’t running a single step at that point. After years of spinning my wheels, doing exactly what Nathan said just… worked.

The accidental runner.

Then COVID hit and the gyms closed. I knew Nathan loved his ultra running, but I wanted no part of it — I liked being muscular and throwing heavy weight around, and I detested cardio. I didn’t want to “become a stick”. But with no gym and no intention of going backwards, Nathan planted the seed. And I don’t do anything in halves.

As he built me up — properly, progressively — I fell in love with running long distances. It fit who I am. I dirt bike, I camp, I live for the outdoors. Spending hours running through the bush became my escape from the Sydney rat race: out in nature, testing myself, pushing myself. A trail runner was born.

Everything went wrong — and I loved it.

On course at the Duval Dam Buster — first ultra.

My first big event was the Duval Dam Buster, and everything that could go wrong did — all my own doing, nothing to do with Nathan’s training. Wrong watch, which died halfway so I had no idea how far I’d gone. Didn’t take on enough nutrition, got badly dehydrated. And it was a heck of an adventure. I loved the pain, the struggle, and overcoming all of it. From there the distances kept growing — my longest run so far is 75km.

Nathan also coached me through the Spartan Trifecta — the 5km, 15km and 21km races all in one weekend, with 20 to 30 obstacles per race. That one meant a lot: all those years of strength work and all the new running fitness, coming together in one event.

Canberra, 100km on the card — and a coach beside me.

My hardest day was the Canberra 100km. Nathan didn’t just write the plan — he bought a ticket and ran it beside me, stride for stride, a race he could have knocked over in half the time. I did 75km in 18 hours and it broke me. I’d never pushed that hard in my life. I cried at the 50km mark from the sheer emotion of it. And when I reached my genuine physical limit, I made the call to stop rather than push on and injure myself — one of the smartest decisions I’ve made, and I could only make it because Nathan had taught me the difference between quitting and knowing.

All day, he knew exactly what I needed. When to push me, when to give me space, when to encourage me — and when a bit of blunt language was the only thing that would keep my legs moving. One of the hardest days of my life, and one of the very best.

Canberra 100km — 75km in 18 hours, with my coach beside me the whole way.

He’s always ten steps ahead of you.

Wherever I’ve been on this journey, Nathan’s been there before me. Every rabbit hole I’ve gone down in ultra running — which poles, which shoes, gels versus solids versus Tailwind — he’s got a first-hand answer. Not textbook PT knowledge. Lived experience. That gives me enormous confidence to keep pushing, because whatever comes up, he’s been through it himself.

And it’s the full package. The nutrition changes as your body adapts — we’ve reworked my macros and food choices plenty of times over five years. Life changes too: I work full time and have two young kids, and the training and nutrition have flexed around every stage of it. Nathan trains with young kids of his own running amok, so he gets exactly what it takes to show up with intent on no sleep. He lives it.

Race-day gear, dialled — every piece of it a rabbit hole Nathan had already been down.

The version of me my kids get.

The biggest change is quality of life. I can run with my kids at the park, ride bikes with them, jump on the trampoline for an hour if that’s what they want. We bushwalk, we swim in rivers and creeks, we chase waterfalls. They’re not iPad kids — we’re out and about, and the junk food basically doesn’t exist in our house. By being my best self with Nathan, I get to be the role model I want to be for them. That’s worth more than any number on a scale.

Out and about — the whole point of all of it.

Still here. Still grinding.

I’ve been a weekly client for five years and I’ve used just about everything Nathan offers — online coaching for years, Long Form sessions in the bush before big races to drill the specifics, and right now two PT sessions a week at Carlingford, upper and lower body, with my running through the week. He’s been my coach through the birth of my kids, through COVID, through every distance milestone. It’s one of the most pivotal things I’ve ever done.

Just do it.

Do what the plan says. Be honest with Nathan about what you’re struggling with — when I couldn’t stomach the volume of food on my plan, we found nutrient-dense swaps and adjusted, together. Be upfront and you’ll get the very best of him in return.

Give it six months and you won’t recognise yourself — physically, mentally, psychologically. If you’re on the fence: don’t think. Click the button, sign up, get started. You’ll never regret it.