“Hey — aren’t you supposed to be the cardio guy?”
That’s the reaction as BODi Super Trainer Shaun T makes his bodybuilding debut. Stepping out on the IFBB Texas Pro stage in August 2023, he’s a far cry from the cardio and dance programs that launched him to the top of the fitness world.
Still — this is a stage on which the INSANITY instructor belongs.
Shaun takes home five first-place metals — including Classic Men’s Over 35 and 45.
Shortly after, he releases DIG DEEPER, a strength-training program on BODi (the fitness platform once known as Beachbody).
From the outside looking in, it’s a wild transition: one of the world’s top cardio instructors shifting gears in his 40s and diving into the taxing world of bodybuilding and physique competitions.
But the science suggests more people should be following in Shaun’s footsteps. Since most people hit their peak with weight lifting in their 20s and 30s, incorporating resistance training in your 40s, 50s, and beyond is a great way to stay healthy as you age.
From improving mobility, to “increasing the healthy years of life,” strength training can be a powerful tool for keeping our bodies healthy. This gets more important as we age — because if we don’t use it, we lose it.
Our muscle mass is one of the first things to fall off in the aging process. Because of this, it’s all too easy to view any form of weightlifting as a losing battle.
We don’t have the natural strength we had when we were 18 — and we probably never will again — so what’s the point?
But “who wants to be 18 again?” Shaun asks. “I don’t.”
With DIG DEEPER, the trainer pushes past the limiting belief that our best years are past us. Instead, he reveals strength training as the path to a healthier body at any age.
“You lose 3-5% of your muscle mass each decade … blah, blah, blah,” Shaun laughs. “Ok, so you’re just going to accept that? I can still maintain one hundred percent of what I can maintain. So even if 97% is my new 100%, I can still keep at it. You can too.”
Encouraging everyone to maintain their 100% — no matter what that is — has become the driving motivation behind DIG DEEPER. For long-time fans who are making the jump from cardio to weightlifting alongside Shaun — and BODi users looking to “use it rather than lose it,” the program remains a hit half a year after launch.
“Not everyone is aspiring to have a six-pack,” he says. “They’re aspiring to be strong and keep strong.”
Shaun notes one person — a 65-year-old gentleman who was born with a degenerative disc disease — who was able to get from 18% to 12% body fat with DIG DEEPER.
“Everyone told him he would not be able to do it,” Shaun says, “but look at him now. I’m doing everything in my power to debunk this theory that everything goes downhill as we get older — we just have to do something about it.”
Just as it is with INSANITY, Shaun T’s positive energy pushes people to the max in DIG DEEPER. Whether you’re no stranger to Shaun T’s past programs — or you’re jumping in with the fitness legend for the first time — the program brings a proven, results-driven plan for unlocking your new 100% using strength training.
But before showing others how to DIG DEEPER, Shaun went through a transformation of his own.
“I was teaching a lot of classes and streaming on BODi,” he recalls, “when I started to have shoulder pain. I had to create my workouts around it — and it got to the point I couldn’t even grab a glass out of the kitchen cabinet.”
In light of this injury, Shaun needed shoulder surgery. Afterward, he began physical therapy, where he met Kristen Bennett (now a member of the DIG DEEPER cast) who would forever change his fitness journey.
“She was jacked,” he laughs. “I was like: ‘Can you be my trainer?’ She brought my shoulder back with physical therapy and lifting weights. I just felt so strong — and knew this was it. Weightlifting became my thing.”
Shaun — a dancer, track athlete, and famous for a workout that made him shredded without weights — still keeps cardio as an integral part of his fitness routine. But the addition of weightlifting has helped him find a new 100%, even in his forties.
And, at an age when most people start leaving the sport, Shaun is chasing pro bodybuilding dreams.
“I love to compete,” he says. “This is a sport where I don’t have to compete on the day of the event, ‘cause I do all the competing in the gym. What’s spectacular is that this sport is less about how you compare to other people and more about the work you put in to prepare.”
The secret to staying healthy (even as we age) and the secret to excelling in the bodybuilding stage are the same: it’s about continuing to do the work.
“We used to celebrate and search for the mythical fountain of youth,” Shaun says. “Muscle is that fountain.”
And even as our muscle mass declines, we all have a new 100% to aspire after.
If you want to DIG DEEPER with Super Trainer Shaun T, click here to check out the program on BODi.
M&F and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.
