Peak Physique: Journey to the Stage

2015, 108 minutes

You'll learn how Jon Mills prepared for his debut physique competition at age 36 by rejecting the dogma and misinformation for a healthy, scientific, and evidence-based approach to obtaining the perfect body.

This documentary follows Jon Mills through his 26 week journey to competing in his first natural fitness show. I started filming this feature-length documentary for Jon in October 2014 and we finished filming in May 2015 (where the real work of editing my first feature-length project began). When I first started working on this film, I really wasn't sure what Jon imagined it to be or how it was going to be any different from every other fitness documentary out there. And to be perfectly honest, I didn't even understand why he wanted to spend the money to make it, but his motivation and vision became clear very quickly. It was simple, he wanted to make sure that young, aspiring athletes understood the effects that unhealthy fitness goals and methods can have on your body. It wasn't just about showing how fit you can get your body naturally (as I had first thought). It was about trying to reach as many athletes as he could to inform them of the dangers of unnatural supplement use, warn them of the potential mental health risks involved, and prepare them for the (often extremely difficult) post-show reverse dieting. He wanted to let anyone interested in fitness competing know that they can achieve the "peak physique", but to be aware that they might have to sacrifice a few things in order to achieve the goal of stepping on stage at an "all-natural fitness competition" and trying to win it all.

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