8 min read

SIX MONTHS AGO , Men’s Health fitness advisor Bill Hartman, P.T., was like many of us: in decent enough shape, but heading in the wrong direction after years of eating on the go while working long hours. Sure, he exercised hard a few days a week and ate healthy foods.“But I didn’t pay attention to portion sizes,” he says. A snack of a handful of cashews, for example, often became five or six handfuls, leaving him with a 600-calorie tab.

With the big 5-0 approaching, Hartman, a co-owner of IFAST Gym in Indianapolis, needed some inspiration. “Jack LaLanne would often do a big physical challenge on his birthday,” he says. “I thought maybe I should do something a little crazy too.” Hartman’s goal: to get shredded and regain the shape he was in back in his 20s, when he competed as a bodybuilder.

He would need to muster more effort this time, because losing fat and building muscle becomes harder with every passing year.…