Former beer-swilling bartender from Leeds swaps booze for bodybuilding

Adam Hindley, from Leeds, spent his student days working behind a bar but, after qualifying as a physio, decided to put his drinking days behind him. He went on to shed almost five stone and gained a six pack - in just six months.

He recently placed fourth and fifth in his first Pure Elite bodybuilding competitions after dropping from a weighty 17 stone 3lbs to 12 stone 7lbs.

Adam, 25, has gone from knocking back the booze four nights a week to being teetotal and has ditched his greasy, calorific post pub takeaway for lean meat and fish from online healthy food retailer musclefood. He now spends 14 hours a week in the gym doing weights and cardio.

To prepare for his competitions, Adam upped his training to almost 18 hours a week and replaced his lean meat and veg diet with a stripped-down menu of egg whites, lean turkey and fish.

Adam said: “I’ve always been into fitness and eating well, but as soon as I went to uni, that all went out of the window. I spent three years having a great time, drinking too much, eating the wrong food and cutting right back on gym time. During my second year I began working in a bar and saw the extra weight pile on. As soon as I woke up with a hangover, I’d head for all the greasy, high calorie food I could get my hands on.

“Six months after I graduated, I knew I had to clean up my act. I started working as a physio and was keen to get my PT business off the ground so had to shape up. I had the knowledge of how to lose the weight, I just needed to get on with it. At the time I told a mate I’d have abs in six months. That was my first goal and despite lots of sarcastic comments from friends, I smashed it. In just six months I lost nearly two and a half stone and my confidence soared. My next one was to compete, so I signed up for my first comp.”

After 20 weeks of intensive training, he placed fourth in transformation and fifth in beach body and is already planning ahead to more competitions next year. Adam now works as a physio and online personal trainer and is using his success to help others achieve the same goal.

To follow his journey, find adam_hindley on Instagram.