Hypertrophy Dad
Busy dad balancing family, fitness, life. Helping others stay strong & healthy.
9 years ago, I got kicked out of the Fire Academy for being fat and weak.
Today, I'm a firefighter, a dad of three, and I just won a bodybuilding competition.👇
Here's how I turned it around while raising 3 kids, running 2 businesses, and working 72-hour shifts.
By Matt Gehlbach
Updated March 16, 2026
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Getting kicked out of the Fire Academy as a grown man with a family was never on my bucket list.
But I deserved it.
I could barely do a pullup.
I couldn't run more than a couple laps without wheezing.
And the assessors could tell I didn't take any of it seriously.
I had the attitude of someone who didn't care enough to try.
After they kicked me out…
I gave up on myself.
I ate whatever was easy.
I skipped the gym for months.
I avoided mirrors and hid from cameras.
The Picture That Turned My Life Around
One day my wife took a photo of me while I was on my laptop.
She showed it to me with a smile.
She said I looked great in the hat.
But as I stared at myself through her phone, something clicked.
I didn't look like a dad my kids could look up to.
I didn’t look like a husband my wife could be proud of.
I didn't look like a man who could keep his family safe.
I hated the man I saw.
So I made a promise:
I'm getting in the best shape of my life and passing the Fire Academy.
My unusual plan to melt fat and
grow muscle as easily as possible
The next day I hired a fitness coach.
I started tracking my workouts, my diet, all of it.
And I started ordering every supplement I could get my hands on.
Pre-workouts, BCAAs, proteins, electrolytes, mass gainers, etc.
My wife complained I was starting a pharmacy.
I just wanted to find anything that would make my goal easier.
Most supplements didn't do shit.
But the preworkouts were like rocket fuel.
For a few hours at least...
Until I crashed at noon. And if I took it too late in the afternoon, I'd get heart palpitations and lie awake until 3am.
I wanted a supplement that gave me energy, a sick pump, and bigger muscles without the caffeine crash and jitters
So I started experimenting.
I’d order the raw ingredients of every preworkout.
And test different dosages, brands, and combinations.
I kept notes on everything.
And after 6 months of testing…
I found a combination of 8 ingredients that worked better than ANYTHING I’d tried.
The first morning I took all 8 together...
I felt a little sharper than usual. Nothing crazy. But a subtle lift.
By the end of the first week, the afternoon crash was gone. I wasn't dragging myself to the gym anymore. I wanted to go.
By month two, I was waking up before my alarm. I had energy I hadn't felt in years. My lifts were going up every week.
By month three, people started noticing. My arms filled out my sleeves. My face looked leaner. My energy lasted all day.
My wife couldn’t believe it. She said even her friends had mentioned it.
She couldn’t keep her hands off me. We were like teenagers again.
The day I walked back into the Fire Station
One year after getting kicked out of the Fire Academy…
I walked back into the station as a real firefighter.
I'd reapplied and passed with ease.
You should have seen the surprised faces of the guys who recognized me.
“Jesus Matt. You been hitting the gym or something?” they asked.
But I didn’t stop there.
I kept drinking my supplement combo and I kept hitting the gym.
By 2024, I’d put on so much muscle my buddy convinced me to enter the Sacramento Bodybuilding Championships.
I won first place in three out of four divisions. At 37 years old.
My 30-year old self wouldn't have recognized me.
Guys at the station kept asking what I was taking.
So I shared my supplement combo.
First with them. Then my friends. And then their friends.
Nobody cared about the workouts.
What they couldn't stop talking about were the 8 supplements.
One friend said it gave them so much energy for the gym that he hadn’t skipped a session in months.
Another said he’d stopped taking any other supplement and was now benching more than he ever had at 49 years old.
Almost everyone told me they’d even take it on days they didn’t train because they felt so sharp, energized and focused on it.
Why these 8 supplements work better than
any other gym supplement
The 8 ingredients in this supplement combo work so well because they combine the best ingredients from a preworkout with a full stack of nootropics (supplements for mental performance) and electrolytes.
Here’s what each does:
Creatine for muscle size, strength and endurance.
L-Citrulline for better blood flow leading to bigger gym pumps
Magnesiums, Sodium and Potassium for hydration, cramps and better recovery
L-Tyrosine, Betaine Anhydrous and Alpha GPC for focus, sharpness and mental energy
On their own they work well.
(They’re the most research-backed supplements on the planet.)
But together the effects are amplified.
They fuel your muscles, improve blood flow, hydrate you and deliver nutrients for your brain ALL at the same time.
It gives you a sharp focus, boost in energy, bigger gym pump and greater strength on heavy lifts.
The big problem with my supplement combo
There was only one issue.
Buying all 8 supplements separately costs $172 a month.
Creatine: $29.99/month
L-Citrulline: $41.99/month
Electrolytes (Mg, Na, K): $45/month
Betaine Anhydrous: $9.50/month
Alpha GPC: $29.49/month
L-Tyrosine: $16.43/month
That's $2,069 a year.
And you're juggling bottles like a weird pharma circus.
So I had an idea.
What if I combined all 8 into one formula and manufactured it myself?
I brought the idea to my buddy Matt, a rehab expert for athletes who was even recommending the supplement combo to clients.
He was in.
It wasn't easy. We got burned by shady manufacturers. We had no investors so every dollar came out of our own pockets. We got f*cked over by shady loans.
But the math was obvious.
Instead of $172 a month, we could offer all 8 ingredients in one scoop for $62/mo.
That's over $1,300 back in your pocket every year.
So in March 2024, we launched our product.
Introducing…
Morning Would
The all-in-one Morning Drink for more energy, epic pumps and stronger muscles.
We made a few posts on social media and waited.
Then the messages started coming in.
Jay D.: "My bench press is higher than it's ever been. My deadlift is higher than it's ever been. The other day my wife asked me to slow down a little bit since I've been putting on so much muscle."
Stephan F.: "I've been a night owl my whole life, but working day shift jobs. It's miserable. I wasn't expecting much, but I was blown away. Up and mentally sharp within probably 15 minutes of taking it."
BT Gross: "Woke up with severe brain fog after having trouble falling asleep last night. Took 1 sip and felt like effects were immediate. It usually takes my coffee a few hours to feel anything. Morning Would is being added to my daily morning routine from now on."
Since that day, we've shipped over 23,000 tubs and 14,000+ orders.
Looking back…
I started this because I looked at a photo of myself and didn't recognize the guy staring back.
Today my kids see a dad who shows up.
Who has energy after a 24-hour shift.
Who coaches their sports teams and hits the gym at 5am.
Morning Would is the thing that made all of it work.
It's the foundation everything was built on.
Imagine waking up tomorrow and feeling sharp before you walk out the door. No coffee needed. No afternoon crash. Just the energy to crush your workout, put on more muscle and still have something left at the end of the day to be present with your family.
That's what Morning Would did for me.
That's what it's done for thousands of customers.
Try it. You've got 30 days. If it doesn't work, you get every penny back.
(Even if you've used the whole tub.)
No questions asked.
Thank you for reading,
Matt Gehlbach
P.S. Please see more reviews of Morning Would below:
Matt S.
04.02.2025
As a 40-year-old father to 3 boys, and the addition of identical twins in October, my energy levels were at an all-time low. I grew tired of coffee and energy drinks in attempt to keep up. I wanted something that didn't give me an upset stomach and jitters during workouts. Since using Morning Would, my energy levels feel sustained, I don't get the burning sensation/jitters from other pre-workouts, and the stuff tastes good. I have started hitting the gym before work in the mornings for the first time... EVER.
REPLY
BILL T.
09.16.2025
I didn't realize how much Morning Would helped until I was halfway through the day and realized I basically hadn't left a working flow state for like four hours. It doesn't stim you up and raise your heart rate at all, you just feel a calm focus for a solid 6-8 hours. 10/10 recommend, this has made it into my daily stack.
REPLY
MICHAEL N.
11.18.2025
Addicted to caffeine for years. Don't know if it's the drink or if it's in my head, but all I know is I'm off caffeine, my workouts are great, my energy is great, and I'm motivated all day. Worth every penny to me.
REPLY
David V.
04.12.2026
I went from consuming a full pot of coffee and 2 Bang energy drinks a day just to feel halfway human. I started taking Morning Would and I have cut down to one small cup of coffee a day and zero energy drinks. I feel better, clearer, more motivated, and more focused. It almost seems too good to be true, but it's real.
REPLY
Dustin D.
01.28.2026
It gives me the focus and energy to do my job as an EMT on our neighboring town's ambulance. Plus I'm a firefighter for our neighboring town. Also I'm a volunteer on our town's MRU! And a father and a business owner! Thanks to Morning Would I can stay on top of my game all day!
REPLY