This is Ryan Burney, and this is my transformation. The first picture is from 2011 to the end of 2015. The second picture is this year, feeling great and healthy!
I was a heavy drinker, living life from a whiskey bottle. I was on the verge of losing my job, pushing my family away and running head first down the wrong road. I went to treatment in 2015 for drinking and started working out.
Finding the gym saved my life, it gave me a place where I can take every bit of bad thought and bad energy and dump it on the barbell. My purest form of therapy I could have asked for. Then joining the Bucked Up team just helped me see that there are ways I can help others from my experiences, we are all here for the same reason — to be better than we were.
Tell us about your transformation and what inspired it.
2015 I made a big life changing decision to quit drinking. It was ruining my life, was on the verge of losing everything and pushing everyone in my life away.
My transformation has come from many years of looking for answers in an empty bottle. Wasting time and energy pushing everything and everyone important to me out of my life. When I found the gym it was the one answer that I truly needed. Pure therapy, opened doors for me that I had never before thought about and helped repair parts of my life that I thought were destroyed forever.
I’m very thankful for the Bucked Up family and the team mentality we have. I’ve seen the support and given my own advice when I could.
What was your goal? How did you reach it?
My initial goal was to find a new outlet. Put my time and energy into something healthy and productive. After the first year, it was part of my daily routine. My schedule always had a space for my gym time, my time. The best self help program around.
What was your biggest obstacle and how did you overcome it?
Finding the ability to make my fitness journey a priority.
Finding what worked for me was by far the biggest obstacle, tried following a bunch of other lifting/training programs but they just didn’t fit. Once I started tracking my workouts, I started building my own routine and it’s been that way since.
Why did you choose Bucked Up?
First off, I absolutely love Woke AF. But then joining the team, it was a great feeling of acceptance and encouragement, which everyone needs.
How has Bucked Up helped with your journey?
It started out by liking the supplements, then joining the community, interacting with others on the team, it’s like having a full blown support group at your fingers. All here for the same reason, pushing each other to reach our goals.
Great supplements of course, but the team or “the Bucked fam” is a group of people who are all going through their own journey and we all look to each other for help and guidance. Having that support is money in the bank!
What do you do for motivation?
Watch bodybuilding videos, put on some music and remind myself why started this in the first place.
Crank up the music, power down my pre workouts, and hammer it!
What are your favorite Bucked Up products and flavors?
- Woke AF: Blood Razz.
- Racked BCAAs: Watermelon.
- 6 Point Creatine
- PUMP-OCALYPSE: any flavor, but probably Blood Razz so I can mix.
- Deer Antler Spray
What makes Bucked Up different from other supplements you have tried?
They’re clean. Everything is on the label, not a bunch of crazy concoctions thrown together. They do what they’re supposed to when used properly.
What was the one thing that most impacted your success?
The determination to not be the person I used to be and to be better, stronger and healthier than I was yesterday.
Don’t let setbacks, failures, or tough times stop your progress. A failure is a lesson. We learn from lessons. Take each one and turn it into fuel for your fitness journey.
Pure therapy, the gym opened doors for me that I had never before thought about and helped repair parts of my life that I thought were destroyed forever.
Any advice you’d like to give to people looking to start their own journey?
The hard times in life are no different than the heavy weights we lift in the gym. We build ourselves up daily to be better than we were the day before and lift more weight than the last lift. Another day, another set, another rep. Keep goin.
Can’t get enough of these stories? Check out this one about Drew Abbott.
