Connor Thompson Academy

"I always tried to hide my size under bigger clothes."

That's where Scott was. 109kg, in his 50s, reaching for the baggiest shirt he owned every morning so nobody could see the body underneath. Working 7 days a week between a guesthouse and his trade, carrying the belief that quietly finishes most people off at his age: that the fit, strong version of him was gone for good.

And his journey wasn't a clean run either.

Partway through, he needed surgery. Weeks off, forced to stop, watching everything he'd built go on pause. That is the exact moment most people let it all slip and never find their way back.

Scott didn't slip.

He rested, he recovered, and he walked straight back in. Not tentatively. He came back fitter than he was before the operation, with his fitness levels ending up higher than the day he first started with me. Read that again. A man in his 50s, around a brutal 7 day week, came out the other side of surgery stronger than he went in.

And the way he trained told you everything. Spin classes before the day started. Runs squeezed into a schedule with no gaps. Lifting, week after week, no perfect conditions because there never are any.

Fast forward to today.

From 109kg to 84kg. That's 55lbs gone. Six inches off his waist. Into 34 inch trousers for the first time in over 20 years. Every shirt he owns taken in by 4 inches. At a party, people who hadn't seen him in months called him "an imposter" because they genuinely didn't recognise the man in front of them.

But my favourite thing he ever said wasn't about a trouser size. It was this: "I look like I'm in my 30s, not my 50s."

That's not vanity. That's a man who got his energy, his confidence and his identity back.

Scott, you are living proof, mate. Too old is a story people tell themselves to stay comfortable. You buried it!!

If you've been telling yourself you're too old, too busy, too far gone, Scott was saying all of it at 109kg. Then HE decided otherwise!!

Your comeback starts the day you choose it.

DM me "SCOTT" and let's build yours.

Connor

This photo is the bit I could not sell you if I tried!

Half the people stood here had never met before Saturday. They had spent months in a group chat celebrating each other's parkrun PBs, sending photos of their Sunday prep, telling each other to get out the door on the days it was raining. Then they walked into a room and it was like they had known each other for years, because in every way that matters, they had.

Here is what I think most people get wrong about getting in shape.

They think the plan is the thing. It is not. The plan is the easy part. I could write you a good one in twenty minutes and you would still be exactly where you are in March, because you have had good plans before and you are still here.

What you have never had is a room full of people who notice when you go quiet.

That is the actual mechanism. When you have thirty people who know you said you were doing that half marathon, you do the half marathon. When someone posts their first sub 30 minute 5km at 7am on a Tuesday, you get out of bed on Wednesday. When you have a rough week and you say so in the chat, nobody tells you to try harder. They tell you about the week they had in February.

That is why our lot stick around for twelve months instead of eleven days.

Every single person in this photo has changed how they look. Some by a lot. But not one of them talked about that on Saturday. They talked about races they have signed up to, kids, football, who is running what next year, and how far they have all come.

That is what you are actually buying. The physique is the side effect. It always was.

When we win, we all win. Roll on the October one ⏳️

Connor

Black and white...

..until it wasn't 💙🧸

Saturday morning, In the sun, smashing parkrun with some of the team, banging coffee catch after.

There is not a single thing I would do to change this!

The single best thing to kick off you weekend is always do something active with like minded people!

Shout out these two speed demons 😈

And one of our funny sexy cool team members now running a sub 20 minute! This is what happens when you stick to the plan 💪

Want in?

Connor

"Tired of looking and feeling the way I do."

That's the sentence Luke wrote at the very top of his plan. Not a weight goal. Not a six pack. Just a man who was fed up, low, and wanted to feel better about himself.

And I'll be honest with you. His journey was anything but smooth.

A few months in, he broke his foot.

Ten weeks. No running. Sidelined and watching the work he'd put in sit still. He told me it messed with him mentally, that he finally understood how injured athletes feel when they say it gets in their head. That is the exact moment most people quietly disappear and never come back.

Luke didn't disappear.

He couldn't run, so he controlled what he could. He kept his steps up. He locked in his food. He started rehab and chipped away at it, day after day, ankle rotations and calf raises and single leg balances, until he could walk properly again. And through the entire injury, with zero running, his weight kept dropping. That does not happen by accident. That happens because a man decided he wasn't going to let a setback become the end.

Then he came back. From scratch. 5k, then 6k, then 8k, cardio climbing again, that foot stiff but pain free. 11k now being smashed!

Fast forward to today.

From 102kg to 86kg. That's 35lbs gone. Work trousers replaced twice because they kept falling. Shorts he can't wear anymore because they swim on him. Compliments from mates and colleagues every week, even if he's too much of his own critic to see it himself.

And the running he used to dread? He now looks forward to it. It became the thing that lifts his head on a hard day.

Luke, you should be so proud of yourself mate, genuinely an inspiration!!

Don't want to go to the gym and literally lose the weight of a big microwave?

Dm me the word "LUKE" and ill show you how

Connor

"Be the example of fit at 50."

That's what Ali wrote at the top of her plan on day one. 196lb. Hadn't run in years. Hiding in baggy clothes. Stuck in the "f*ck it" cycle that had ended every attempt before this one.

Look at her now 👇

🏃‍♀️ From not running at all to her longest run EVER at 16k, with the Torbay Half Marathon now booked in

🏅 PBs at every distance, closing in on a sub-30 5k

💪 40lbs down, her lowest weight in over 30 years

📉 BMI under 30 and body fat under 35% for the first time in her life

🏋️‍♀️ Squat, hip thrust and arm PBs, dodgy knees and all

👗 Cleared out a whole wardrobe of the cover-up clothes she used to hide in

And here's the part that matters most!

She did this in her 50s. Through perimenopause. Through night sweats, freezing 5am starts, and three days of homemade cake in the office she didn't touch.

Not superhuman willpower. Just habits strong enough that quitting stopped being an option.

In her words: "6 months ago I would have comfort-eaten. I didn't."

It was never about the scales. It's about becoming the woman who just does it, no matter what life throws at her.

If you've been telling yourself it's too late, that your body's changing, that there's no time. Ali said all of that too. Last year.

Now she's the example and honestly one of my favourite humans!!

Ready to be next?

DM me the word "Ali" and let's get started

Connor

Mondays run club, in the sun, with legends who consistently want to be better! You cant beat that feeling!!

Once upon a time, I would feel anxious and nervous to meet new people so I always kept my circle as small as I could.

Now I surround myself with like minded people and it literally has changed my life.

These people you see on a monday evening every week are exactly the same!

Searching for their best version and want to around people doing the same.

Monday evenings are way more than just a run! Its a social, its a network, its a collaboration, and its a community!

The reason why mondays starts so well, is because of evenings like this! And guess what? Its for ALL abilities!!

Want in?

Dm me the word "LAUNCHPAD" and ill get you involved

Connor

If you take actiom against your current feeling or how you believe in yourself, you will find the best version going forward.

Ive failed consistently! I have actaully got pretty good at failing. And if it wasn't for this skill, I wouldnt be where I am now.

Ive had a tone of Insight calls over the past 3 months of people who have perceived time constraints, percieved stress, brought on by either ego or misconception!

Open the mindset, be willing to fail and accept it. Be willing in invest in something scary or do something you may never be brave enough to do.

If I can be working full time, two businesses, completely a house reno, be mentally homeless, have a child on the way and still achieve consistent training and fat loss, you have zero excuse!

Im sorry but its true! You are literally lying to yourself and making out your while world is against you!

We have people who work 60 hours over 3 days train, eat well and get in shape!

How?

A system that fits...

Its that simple

Connor

55lbs.

Let that sink in for a second.

When Scott came to me, he was 109kg and hiding. Baggy shirts, bigger clothes, anything to cover up. In his 50s, working 7 days a week between a guesthouse and his trade, carrying the belief that most people his age carry: that this is just what happens now. That the fit, strong version of you is behind you.

He decided that wasn't good enough.

So we got to work. Not with some fantasy plan that ignores real life, but around it. Spin classes before the day started. Runs squeezed into a schedule with no gaps. Lifting, week after week. No perfect conditions, because there never are.

And then life tested him properly. He needed surgery, and was forced to stop for weeks. That's the moment most people quietly give up and never come back.

Scott came back fitter than he was before the operation. His fitness levels ended up higher than the day he started with me. Read that again.

Today he's 84kg. 55lbs gone. Six inches off his waist. Into 34 inch trousers for the first time in over 20 years. Every shirt he owns taken in by 4 inches. At a party, people who hadn't seen him in months called him "an imposter" because they didn't recognise the man in front of them.

But my favourite thing he ever said to me wasn't about a number or a trouser size. It was this: "I look like I'm in my 30s, not my 50s."

That's not vanity. That's a man who got his energy, his confidence and his identity back.

Scott, you are the proof. Too old is a story people tell themselves. You buried it. It's been an absolute privilege to coach you, mate. 👏

If you've been telling yourself it's too late, that you're too busy, that your best days are behind you, Scott was saying the exact same things at 109kg.

Your comeback starts the day you decide it does. 🙋‍♂️
DM me "SCOTT" and let's build yours.

Connor