At 37, John Mathegi says he feels stronger than he did in his 20s. As he approaches 40, he is betting that the physical and financial foundation he is building today will give him the freedom to navigate life on his own terms.

For a man who has no plans to marry, Mathegi imagines a future where he is physically fit, financially secure, and free to travel the world without having to depend on anyone.

“I bet I will have made a lot of money by then. The essence of life is to live a good life, and I have been working on building that base, body-wise and financially,” he chuckles, in his soft voice.

It is not difficult to see that his ambitions extend beyond the words. He is a sharp dresser, drives a sleek black sedan, and maintains a well-built physique. It may not be the sculpted body of a fitness model, but it gives him the confidence he needs, particularly when he walks into boardrooms for pitch presentations.

There is, however, one small battle still being fought.

“I am working on the small belly (which you will have to be extra keen to spot). I love my chapos, you know. I don't think I will get the abs anytime soon, but let's see,” he says, chuckling again.

JB, as he insists I call him, has been working out for 13 years, and his approach to fitness has evolved considerably with age.

“In the beginning, and I am talking about my 20s, my idea of working out was to see who lifts heavier than the other, you know the peer pressure that comes with that. So you train for others, not for your own good. But with age, I have come to understand my body, which has changed a lot. Recovery is one of the major changes I have incorporated as I get older, and that seems to be working out so well for me.”

For a man who runs an advertising firm while also moonlighting as a stylist through his tailoring business, time is valuable. So, these days, his fitness routine is not simply about pushing harder but also about knowing when to step back a little.

“A little doesn't hurt, but some might want to dispute that.”

JB has made recovery an intentional part of his workout regime, taking an extended break at the end of each gym subscription without worrying that he will lose his muscle.

“I have made it a habit that at the end of my gym subscription, at the end of every month, I take a week or a week and a half to rest without working out. I maintain my diet, which isn't that strict. During those breaks, my muscles get to heal and build.”

The pause comes at a small price. When he returns to the gym, he admits he initially struggles to find his rhythm again. But he says it does not take long.

“I just need two days after resuming, and I am back like I never left.”

But there was a time he almost forgot what working out looked like.

“A lot was happening then in my life. For two years, I didn't step into a gym. For many of us who work in the advertising space, we were heavily hit by the Covid pandemic. Nothing I tried seemed to work. I was stressed, and stress eating kind of became my thing, my dopamine. I gained some bad weight, weighing 90 kilos then, but now I am 88 kilos with much of that bad weight gone,” he recalls.

But beyond the recovery strategy employed, his gym routine has changed too.

“Nowadays, I prefer doing a whole-body weighted routine, alternating that with isolation workouts in certain weeks. That way I am not only able to engage my entire body at once, but also to build muscles in specific body areas.”

His sessions are never as intense as before, but also not prolonged.

“An hour and a half is good enough. I also realised you don't always have to lift heavy to grow your body muscles. However, once in a while, whenever I feel I have some extra strength in the bag, I love to challenge my body by taking on much heavier weights than my usual.”

JB is among the few people who seem to train with their phones as much as they train with weights. His phone is never too far away. After completing a set, he picks it up, scrolls through social media and the wider internet as he catches his breath before the next set.

“I know it goes against the holy grail of training, but it keeps me locked in. I never really get distracted by my phone during my workouts, as some would argue. There are those who prefer training with headphones, music playing, but I don't.”

Unlike many people who find their way to the gym after a doctor’s prescription or a health scare, JB’s fitness journey began with something far less dramatic, with admiration for his older brother.

“He is now in his 50s and in impeccable physique. When we walk together, there are those who think we are agemates. He has influenced me since I was young.”

The influence was reinforced by the environment in which his brother worked out. He once owned a gym, although JB is quick to clarify that it was far removed from today's polished fitness centres.

“It wasn't a fancy one. It was, you know, those hood gyms with all the rusty weights and stuff. So I would see many people working out, and as a young man growing up, it looked cool. I too wanted to look cool, and that’s how I began my fitness journey.”

Taking stock, that decision has paid dividends beyond physical fitness. His physique has become an unlikely marketing tool for his fashion side hustle.

JB makes suits, and his body has become part of the visual pitch when clients come looking for a particular fit.

“Many times a client will tell me they want a suit that looks perfectly fitting like mine, and sometimes you look at a client and deep down you know that isn't going to happen because of their body structure.”

Rather than simply promise the impossible with a perfectly cut suit, JB says he sometimes has a more uncomfortable conversation with his clients, particularly men who need to shed some weight around the middle.

“I have made it a habit of telling such clients that they need to work on their physique and lose some weight, especially in their middle sections. I do that especially with men who rarely take things to their chests.”

For JB, tailoring begins long before a measuring tape is pulled out. The body, he argues, is the foundation upon which good tailoring works, something many tailors don't tell clients.

“It doesn't matter how well the cut of fabric is. Without a good physique, the cloth will struggle to achieve an outstanding drape. As I always tell my clients, physique is the fit. No cloth goes against a good physique, whether cheap or otherwise.”

It is a philosophy he does not merely have to struggle to preach to many clients.

“You will always look good in any fabric when you have a good physique, and I am glad I am always able to demonstrate that to them with myself.”

tmatiko@ke.nationmedia.com