Brian, a 44-year-old father of three, has already done the hard thing — he lost 40 pounds, got lean, built serious strength, and learned to fuel himself like an athlete.
But now, years later, with more on his plate and less room for perfection, he’s looking to get back into shape and is wondering: “Why isn’t what worked before working now?”

We talk about the pressure of setting an example for his kids, the frustration of stalled progress despite doing everything “right,” how he’s learning to trade perfection for sustainability, and what he needs to do differently to get unstuck.

Today I’m joined by Justin — a 42-year-old stay-at-home dad, former diesel mechanic, and garage business owner who's been working hard to build a lean, muscular physique without letting the rest of life fall apart.

He’s been shredded at 189, bulked up to 227, and now he’s trying to land somewhere in the middle — strong, athletic, and confident… while still keeping up with the demands of parenting, working out, and running a small business.

This conversation is about physique goals, time pressure

Today I’m speaking with Richard Golden — a longtime Ripped Body reader who’s undergone a dramatic transformation over the last decade.

Rich grew up with an identical twin brother who was lean, while he struggled with weight gain, body image issues, and cycles of yo-yo dieting. At his heaviest, he weighed over 230 lbs.

Now at 44 years old, he’s sitting at a lean and healthy 155 — and more importantly, he feels in control for the first time in his life.

We talk about how a painful breakup triggered a turning point, what he learned about sustainability after years of failure, and why he’s now chasing something new: not just maintenance, but mastery.

But can he push through the final plateau now that his health is not on the line — or will comfort hold him back?

Let’s get to it.

Today’s guest is Justin Maller — a world-class digital artist and tech founder based in New York. At 41, Justin just completed his first real bulk after years of hovering in maintenance and making no real physique progress.

We talk about what finally pushed him to commit, how he gained 30 pounds and made the biggest strength gains of his life, and why cutting back down now feels surprisingly difficult — despite having done it before.

This is a conversation about late-stage gains, body image rewiring, and what happens when you finally give yourself permission to grow.

Let’s dive in.

Michael opens up about his lifelong struggle with weight, starting in his early 20s when he hit 200 pounds, without any muscle. After the birth of his first son, he realized he needed to change — not just for himself, but to keep up as a dad. That was his first serious cut, and it sparked a 10+ year journey of self-education, strength training, and cycles of cutting and bulking.

He’s now stronger than ever but stuck in a long-standing all-or-nothing mindset, especially with weekend eating. During the week, he’s disciplined and in control. But when Friday hits, family time, baked treats, and decompression turn into overeating — not just for enjoyment, but out of habit.

Michael wants to set a better example for his four kids, especially his son, who’s now lifting and developing his own self-control. He’s wrestling with how to stay consistent, how to eat in a way that balances discipline with family joy, and how to shift from "perfect or nothing" to something sustainable.

He’s not just chasing fat loss — he’s trying to break a generational pattern before it repeats.

Alex opens up about his years-long battle with performance obsession, burnout, and a hidden addiction to Adderall. What began as a drive to "get the physique" spiraled into overtraining, under-recovering, and chasing a shredded look at the cost of his mental and physical health. A serious injury and a breaking point in his personal life forced him to confront what he was running from — and how much he’d been avoiding.

Alex shares how rebuilding his relationship with food, training, and himself has given him a new mission: to pursue sustainable progress, not perfection. But that doesn’t mean the struggle is over — he's standing at the edge of his next challenge: bulking. And with it comes old fears of bloating, body image, and letting go of his abs.

This is an honest conversation about identity, control, and learning to trust the process — even when it’s uncomfortable.

Ryan is stuck in a battle a lot of men never talk about: the fear that changing his body might change how he’s seen - by the world, by his family, and by himself.

He’s no longer chasing a six-pack for vanity. He’s chasing a bigger goal: becoming the kind of role model his daughters deserve.

But to do that, he has to wrestle down the old fears - of getting too lean, of looking "too small," of not being "enough."

This is a raw, vulnerable conversation about what it really takes to fight for growth when staying the same feels safer.

Ryan knows the man he wants to be. The question is: **can he stay in the discomfort long enough to become him?

It started with a moment of quiet shame: his girlfriend swooning over a Twilight actor’s abs while Sam sat next to her, skinny-fat and stuck. That moment sent him chasing change — first through generic magazine workouts, then into the hands of a “pro” coach who gave him abs, yes, but also exhaustion, rebound weight gain, and a deep sense of failure.

Sam rebuilt himself the hard way — through obsession, mentorship, and reps. He became the coach he once needed. But success brought its own trap: business mentors told him to prioritize profit over people. That wasn’t who he wanted to be.

In this episode, Sam shares what pulled him back to coaching for the right reasons, the personal loss that changed how he shows up for clients, and why empathy — not macros — is his real coaching superpower.