Meet The S2B Coaches

Today I’m going to introduce you to the coaches in the upcoming Scrawny To Brawny Coaching Program, and show you their own S2B transformations. I’ll also tell you a little more about my own.

Guys often ask me what the “secret” to building muscle is. They’re looking for a particular food or supplement that will magically put them over the top. And, having been there myself (more on that below), I know that feeling well.

Of course, there isn’t just one strategy that will do it: success is the culmination of hundreds of small changes working together.

But if you’re a skinny guy — if you’re looking to build muscle and make what we call the Scrawny To Brawny transformation — then there IS one thing you absolutely, positively can’t do without.

And that thing is good mentorship.

Finding good mentorship is the single most important thing you can do for yourself. Because without a mentor, change is largely impossible.  And with one, success is almost inevitable.

As I’ll show you below, I know this from first hand experience.

My transformation

Back when I was 17, I was a really skinny guy.  At 5’9″, 135lbs, I was so skinny that a lot of the time I felt invisible.

As I said in my video interview, being skinny was like the soundtrack of my life.  A lot of the choices I made – from the people I chose to hang out with, to the clothes I chose to wear, to the activities I’d participate in – were determined by my scrawny body.

Embarrassingly, I had already been been going to the gym for about a year or so.  And nothing really happened.  I got a little stronger.  But I didn’t get much bigger. I was spending hours in the gym each week and, at a certain point, it started to seem hopeless.

Then, I met my first, and possibly greatest, coach and mentor.

His name was Craig and he was the biggest dude in my home town.  He was 5’8″ and about 240lbs of solid muscle.  And one day he came over while I was going through one of my “scrawny guy” workouts and asked me if he could make a few suggestions.

He must have seen that I had actually listened to him and had done what he said, because he offered a few more suggestions the next time he saw me. And so it began.

A month later, Craig and I were close friends and training partners.

When I started, I was barely able to bench press 65lbs.  A year and a half later, I was bench pressing 315lbs for sets of 10 reps.  Also, during those 18 months I had gone from 135lbs to 205lbs.

Want to see what 70lbs of lean muscle looks like? Well, here’s me at 18, before meeting Craig.

Me at 18 years old, 135 lbs, before my Scrawny to Brawny transformation.

And here’s me 70lbs later.

Me at 21, 205lbs, after my Scrawny to Brawny transformation.

As you might image, the Scrawny to Brawny coaching program is something near and dear to my heart, because I started out as a skinny guy myself and really, skinny guys are often overlooked.

There are tons of muscle magazines and websites, of course, but so much of that is idiotic. Our philosophy here at Precision Nutrition has always been to cut through the bullshit and tell you exactly what works.  And when it comes to body transformation, what works can be summed up in a word: mentorship.

It’s the only thing that worked for me, so I’ve decided to pass it on. For the past couple of years, I’ve taught a class here in my local gym exclusively for skinny guys.  Because I know what it’s like. I know how frustrating it can be. And I also know how to overcome all those muscle-building obstacles that scrawny guys face.

And I know, because someone once taught me.

On Tuesday, we’re launching the S2B coaching program, so that no matter where you live, you can now get the mentorship and coaching that I once got.  But to do that, I needed a few good men to help me coach.  And, as you’ll see below, they’ve been down this road themselves.

Meet Coach Paul

I first met Coach Paul in 2008, at a seminar I was giving in London, Ontario.

When we met, his physical attributes were impressive.  He was about 6’2″, 215lbs – tall, muscular, and ripped.  In addition, he seemed like a cool guy – outgoing, friendly, and supremely confident.

During that first meeting, there was no evidence that just two years prior, he was knee deep in disordered behavior.  He became hooked on endurance running and low-calorie dieting, and by the time he was 19 years old, he was as skinny as a skeleton.  At 6’2″ and 133lbs, his health was massively deteriorating.

Realizing he had a problem, Paul decided he was going to make a change.  One day, while at the book store, he picked up a book called Scrawny to Brawny – written by yours truly and my co-author Mike Mejia.  He was skeptical.  But he bought it anyway. From there, he launched an all out attack on the program.

He told me he started the S2B program by following it to the letter, doing everything without deviation.  I was impressed.  Very few guys ever leave their ego at the door and do exactly what’s asked of them.

However, I had to laugh when he told me his intention; “I did everything you said because I wanted to prove that you were wrong, that your program was garbage, that it wouldn’t work.”

Little did he know that he’d go on to become one of my greatest students.

Four months later, he had gained 30lbs of lean mass.  “That’s when I realized maybe there was something to this program,” he now jokes.

He then joined a previous version of the S2B coaching program, and over the next year or so, gained another 50lbs.

“I started out trying to prove JB wrong,” he says. “So I did exactly what he said.  Then, after a few months, I realized that the program worked.  So I continued to do everything, exactly as prescribed.”

Coach Paul - 210lbs and Ripped

“It’s the coolest thing.  You just do what you’re told to do.  And you grow.”

And, grow he did.  Paul gained almost 80lbs of lean mass in nearly 18 months.  And his before/after transformation is one of the most impressive body transformations I’ve ever seen.

Coach Paul's Transformation - From 133 to 210 lbs in 18 months

After his transformation, Paul made it his mission to help as many people as he could. And his motivation is simple.

“Not only did this give me a physique that I’m proud of,” he says, “this changed my life.  This changed my mentality, this changed my self-identity, this changed my confidence, this changed everything.”

“To this day, I’m very proud of how I was able to change my habits, my outlook, and my physique.  And, with the Scrawny to Brawny coaching program, I now have a chance to help other guys make the same kinds of changes.  I can’t wait. ”

Meet Coach Chuck

Chuck and I first met during a local weight lifting class I teach.

He wasn’t necessarily scrawny when I met him.  But we wasn’t really brawny either.  At 6’2″ he was weighing in at a fairly lean 175lbs.  With a t-shirt and shorts on, he looked pretty average.

But I soon learned there was more to the story. Just two years prior, I found out, Chuck was better known by his nickname: Bones.

“All throughout high school, I was really skinny,” says Chuck. “Being 6’2″ and 145lbs, everyone called me ‘Bones.’ Even my dad called me ‘Bones.’ It was the worst.”

So at 18, he decided to do something about it.  Armed with a weightlifting book and a hearty appetite, “Bones” lifted and ate his way to a 30lb muscle gain in the next two years. Not bad. But his best gains were yet to come.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t have any real guidance. I stalled out far short of my goal. It wasn’t until I met Dr. Berardi, 5 years later, that I learned how to do things effectively and efficiently.  Then my progress sky-rocketed.”

During a weight-lifting class I taught in 2009, Chuck was one of the star pupils. He worked hard. He listened to everything I said. He applied everything I taught. He practiced every day. He was the hardest working guy in the group.

And all that hard work paid off.

About 1 year after the course wrapped up, Chuck gained another 45lbs, tipping the scales at a decidedly brawny 220lbs.  Check out the 3 stages of his transformation.

Coach Chuck's Transformation - Age 18 (left), Age 20 (middle), Age 24 (right)

“I feel like I’ve been given quite an opportunity here,” says Chuck. “The first time I tried to gain weight, I did it on my own, and although I made progress, I know that I didn’t do it the best way.”

“Fortunately, I got a second chance. With the help of Dr Berardi’s Scrawny to Brawny lessons, I learned how to build muscle and strength the right way, and fast.”

“I’ve done things both ways, wrong and right,” he says. “I’ve tried, I’ve erred, and I’ve learned so much along the way.  And now I can’t wait to help other guys figure out the best and most efficient ways to go from Scrawny to Brawny.”

What to look for in a mentor

I brought each of these guys on because they’re ideal mentors for skinny guys looking to build muscle.

There are 3 criteria that any mentor must meet:

1. Must have gone through the process themselves.
2. Must have taught others to go through the very same process.
3. Must thoroughly understand the process itself: how it happens, what it works, what the underlying principles are, etc.

Paul, Chuck and I pass all of those tests. Whether you’re learning to be a carpenter, a musician, a writer, or in this case, a bigger, stronger guy, you need to find someone who meets all three criteria to teach you.

Unfortunately, there are very few of them out there. Hence, this program. It’s a way of making sure that any skinny guy looking for help can find it here.

If I can give you one simple piece of advice that just might change your life, it’s this: go out today and find a mentor.

It doesn’t matter where or how — could be a buddy, a trainer, a guy you see in the gym, a coach at the local college. And as of Tuesday, we’re here too, if you want. What matters is that the person meets the 3 criteria — and most of all, that you just find one.

A summary of the Scrawny To Brawny Coaching Program:

If you want to know a little more about the S2B coaching program, here’s a brief rundown. Essentially a muscle-building version of our renowned fat loss coaching program, Lean Eating, S2B coaching is a carefully designed program of daily tasks built to get you in the best shape of your life in 6 months time.

• Group coaching program exclusively for skinny guys looking to build muscle
• Only 200 spots in the program
• Private website exclusively for S2B clients
• Detailed nutrition instruction
• Complete training program
• Private support forum with guaranteed responses from dedicated coaches
• $99 down, $99 per month
• 6 month minimum commitment
• $10,000 prize for the best body transformation in 6 months
• Results guaranteed: you build the muscle you want or the course is free.

We use this very same coaching methodology in Lean Eating, our fat loss coaching program. And our research shows that our methods are 3-5x more effective than working with a trainer in person. The reasons for that are many, but in short, it’s because:

1. We address every aspect of the body transformation process, from training, nutrition, cooking, supplementation, recovery, dealing with negative influences in your life … everything, basically, and
2. We do it one step at a time, in a carefully designed process that adds just a little more each day, preventing you from burning out or getting overwhelmed — and allowing you to keep the body you’ve built for life, even when life gets in the way.

Wanna learn how to do it, once and for all?

Interested? Put your name and email address on the list below. We’re only taking 200 guys, and guys on the list get first crack at a spot in the program on June 1st, 24 hours before it opens to the general public on the 2nd.

PS: I don’t know how registration will go, because it’s the first time I’ve ever run a Scrawny To Brawny coaching program. But if it goes anything like the Lean Eating program, it will sell out in hours. So those on the presale list have a big advantage. I like it that way — the spots tend to go to the most motivated.