CASE STUDY: Daniel K’s Before and Afters (And Why He Succeeded)

I wanted to give a bit of a client update. Here is Dan Kuhnen’s awesome progress.

I met Dan Kuhnen way back in 2008, when I was first entering the world of personal training and fitness. He later went on to become a successful personal trainer himself,  working alongside each other for a while in 2011. (damn, how the time flies) Dan moved cities and we did our best to keep in touch.

Years later, Dan competed in a bodybuilding show. Afterwords, he wanted more, to push himself, see what size we could add, and really refine his look. So, Dan reached out to me once again to be coached online, wondering if I would be able to help with this part of his journey. I jumped at the chance to help out an old friend again.

With various ups and downs (as most will encounter on their fitness journey), a couple job changes, and stress – Dan has been nailing things. Dan has got to be one of the harder workers I’ve seen in my career. Despite a fused ankle from a previous Motorcycle accident, a couple shoulder injuries from years gone by, and a flat out stubborn metabolism from hell, this is the best he’s looked.

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Here’s Dan:

I’m Dan, a busy professional in Calgary.

I met Marty when I worked got into working into the fitness industry around 2008 and always trusted his knowledge, attention to detail and work he putting in studying training and nutrition.

He was the first coach I hired to teach me the foundations of nutrition and training when I set goals to be a fitness competitor.  Since then I have moved to Calgary and started a career in sales.  It is a busy job with very long hours, high stress and little free time.

When I first started I found that I put training and nutrition on the back burner.  In the summer of 2017 I was unhappy with how I looked and felt.  I was out of shape, tired and unconfident with how I looked.  I’d always seen myself as “fit,” so this was depressing.

I reached out to Marty about 8-10 months ago for help.

Marty put together a nutrition and truing program and we went over what I struggled with.  I found without a set schedule I was missing a lot of my workouts in the evening — I would plan to go to the gym right after work but at times didn’t get out of the office until 8 or 9 pm, and I was so mental burnt out I would go home, order pizza and open a bottle of wine.

I knew to prevent this I had to get back at meal prepping and preparing ahead.  Once I set aside some time and cooked my food it was easy to avoid ordering in–even when I got home late, my meals from Marty’s plan for me were always in the fridge prepped and ready.

Based on advice from Marty, I got in the habit to training before work, which meant getting up at 5 am to get to the gym.  But we also planned some of my workouts at this time during the week and then the harder training days on the weekends.  We also worked together to plan ways for me to get more sleep, and Marty kept track of me to make sure that the training days were not overkill. I started to love the morning workouts, as they helped take my mind off my stressful job and stat my days in a positive mindset.  We planned my cardio to be short to fit in after my weight training in the morning or I used my bike in the evening during summer months to go for a ride that was relaxing before bed.

Eight months later and this stuff is much easier: I am now training 6 days a week and have a schedule where I prep all my food on the same days each week so my meals are always ready.

Even though this year I am even busier at work than 2017 I still manage to fit it all in.  With proper organization I am no longer missing workouts even with an even more demanding work schedule. I’m proof that having someone in your corner to help solve problems, motivate you, and change nutrition or training when needs is priceless. Marty made the difference between my fitness going downhill to actually improving.

At this point I am leaner than ever at 31 years old and in better shape than I was 10 years ago — or even 5 years ago when I worked in the fitness industry.  I feel more clearer mentally; I have better energy; I enjoy the gym more now, even with my busy schedule.

I would recommend Marty to anyone — from people just wanting to feel better, to competitors looking to get on stage.  At this point all my friends who knew me before are asking me “when I’m competing” when I run into them, because I look better now then when I entered my first fitness competition — even though I have no plans of competing!

I still enjoy wine and eating out while on a date or with friends on the weekends. I am not depriving myself and still have had vacations to Miami, Vegas and many other places where training and nutrition were ignored (briefly).  Marty helps find that balance between living your life and the gym so you don’t feel deprived about your nutrition plan or amount of time spent at the gym.

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Dan’s Pictures:

Marty:

Here are some of the key things Dan did.

• He provided detailed information about his injuries, allowing us to build his programming around them
• He got the appropriate muscle therapy when needed; he didn’t wait around until things got worse
• He communicated well when things were off — both physically, mentally, and emotionally
• He kept me up to date about work schedules, vacation, and other times when we would need to make adjustments to his regular planning
• He made both of us proud with his results.

Best part is? We’re not done yet… not by a long shot 🙂

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Thanks Dan, for sticking around for all the years while I learn more, grow more, and am now able to help you out with more skill in my tool kit than when we first met. It’s guys like you that took a chance on me 10+ years ago that were the foundation of my coaching. It’s greatly appreci