Evidence-based coaching for high-achievers whose training fell behind their ambition. Ironberg engineers adherence into the system, so the plan survives your actual life and your body catches up to the rest of you.
A four-phase system for high performers who want measurable results, zero guesswork, and a body built to last. Each phase feeds the next, and the last one loops back to the first.
01Baseline
Diagnose
Know before you build.
Before a single rep is programmed, we map what you’re actually working with: structural imbalances, movement quality, training history, recovery capacity, lifestyle load, nutrition baseline, and where relevant, blood diagnostics through a partnered performance physician. Most of what’s holding you back is already hiding in this data. This baseline isn’t a formality. It’s the ruler everything later gets measured against.
You can’t fix what you haven’t found.
02Blueprint
Structure
Build the system, not just the program.
Your blueprint gets drawn: training split, progressive-overload model, periodisation, nutrition targets, the KPIs we’ll measure against, and the check-in cadence that keeps it accountable. Everything is intentional. Nothing is random. You’ll know exactly what you’re building and why, because you’re the one who has to execute it.
A program is a workout. A system is a path.
03Load
Execute
Earn the result.
This is where most coaching stops: you get a plan and a login, and you’re on your own. Not here. Execution is where adherence engineering does the work. Daily access, fatigue management, real-time programming adjustments, and honest coaching when the process feels slow, stalls, or life gets in the way. Progress is tracked against KPIs, not feelings.
Trust the data. Show up anyway.
04Re-test
Optimise
Refine, peak, repeat.
The loop closes. We re-test against your Phase 01 baseline, write up what worked and what didn’t, and map the next block against the ceiling you’ve just raised. This is how one-off transformations become year-over-year progression, and how you leave understanding your own body as a system you can keep building on.
A one-off transformation is a spike. A system is a trajectory.
Phase 04 feeds back into Phase 01. Every block re-baselines the last, so the method compounds instead of resetting.
Who it’s for
You don’t accept mediocre at work. Don’t accept it from yourself.
You competed once, or you were just genuinely fit. Then came the career, maybe kids, and a body that fell behind the standard you hold everywhere else. You don’t need motivation. You need a system that holds up against a 60-hour week.
Honest fit check
✓You’ll invest in yourself and show up to the work
✓You want reasons, not just instructions
✓Beginner to elite. Ambition matters more than your current numbers
✗You’re chasing a six-week magic-bullet shortcut
✗You want someone to blame when you skip the work
Coaching
Three ways in
Serious training for people with no time to waste on bad training. A fixed-term rebuild, ongoing 1:1, or the proven Ironberg system you run yourself. All built on the same method.
Flagship
Flagship · 6 months · First intake
The Crucible
By enquiry
Six-month program · scoped and priced at your 1:1 consult
The deepest level of coaching. A medically-supervised rebuild for high-performers who want a complete transformation, plus the objective data to prove it. Blood work and diagnostics with a performance physician, wrapped around fully individualised training and nutrition.
Everything in The Forge, plus:
Bespoke six-month periodised roadmap to a defined end-state
Immersive in-person, either weekly (Sydney) or start, mid-point and end blocks (remote)
Priority direct access and regular strategy calls
Re-tested at each stage, so results are measured, not guessed
Medical care · with Dr Vinay Patel
Pathology request forms at weeks 0, 12 and 24. Bulk billed where clinically indicated; any private extras quoted upfront.
A 15–20 minute telehealth call reviewing each panel with Dr Vinay Patel.
A written action summary emailed after each call, yours to keep.
Priority access to full Vin’s Clinic care.
How it works. Every Crucible is scoped to the individual, so it is not sold off a price list. You start with a 1:1 consult. If it is a fit, you get a written scope and a fixed price before anything is booked or charged.
Or pay upfront: 24 weeks for $3,600 Save $600 — effective $150/week
Your own coach, your own plan. Training, nutrition and mindset built around your goals and schedule, then adjusted as the data comes in. Ongoing, and selective.
Fully individualised training and nutrition, rebuilt around your schedule
Programming adjusted weekly from your logged data
Load and fatigue management built in — the essential piece for long-term, injury-free progress
Daily coach access via the CoachRx app
Scheduled coaching calls, check-ins and form review
1:1 onboarding consult to map goals and confirm fit
Sports nutrition coaching · included
Individualised calorie and macro targets set to your training load and goal, not a generic template.
Recalibrated at every check-in from your weight, performance and body-composition trends.
A flexible strategy built around your real schedule, preferences and social life, not a rigid meal plan.
Fuelling and recovery around your sessions, plus evidence-based supplement guidance where it’s actually warranted.
Coaching that teaches you the why, so you can eventually run it yourself.
What happens after month one. The Forge runs on an initial three-month commitment, because that is the shortest honest window to build a baseline, run a block and re-test it. You are charged monthly for those three months. After that it rolls month to month with no fixed term, and you can cancel any time by giving 30 days notice. Your last payment is your last month. Periods already served are not refunded. Full terms.
Or pay upfront: 12 weeks for $699 Save $129 — effective ~$58/week
The system without the bespoke build. Coach-built, periodised programming across strength, physique and power tracks, for commercial-gym or functional setups. Your first week is a coach-reviewed baseline: movement, benchmarks, capacity. You’ll get a read on where you’re at before you commit.
The same evidence-based programming engine behind our 1:1 coaching
Strength, physique and power tracks
For commercial-gym or functional kit
Coach-reviewed baseline week, free
No lock-in. Billed monthly with no minimum term. Cancel any time with 30 days notice and your next payment is your last. Periods already served are not refunded. Full terms.
All prices in AUD. Not sure which fits? Apply and we’ll work it out on a short call. No hard sell.
Built in the arena, not the mirrorIronberg crew · Turf Games
Results
Receipts
From world champions and Hollywood actors to everyday transformations.
Featured
“Dan’s been instrumental in my post-career training. I’ve been the strongest I’ve ever been, with over 10kg of lean muscle added while keeping my fitness.”
James Magnussen
World champion swimmer · post-career rebuild
BeforeAfter
Individual result. Outcomes vary with training history, adherence and circumstances.
Featured
“A coach like Dan is essential to my work. He’s been instrumental in developing my physique for Hollywood roles, building my training around the exact aesthetic each part needs, from Superman shoulders to a full chest and arms, while keeping me durable and injury-free through the workload.”
Luke Cook
Actor, Los Angeles · coached 6 years
BeforeAfter
Individual result. Outcomes vary with training history, adherence and circumstances.
Case · The Forge
Scott
Strength · pain-free pressing and squatting · recomposition
Scott arrived with a shoulder that had shut his bench down completely, and a body that had drifted well off where he wanted it. The first job was not fat loss. It was getting him pressing and squatting again without pain, which meant rebuilding position, load tolerance and technique before we chased any number.
Once he could train hard without paying for it, the strength followed. We stripped him to a lean 68kg, then rebuilt to a controlled, lean 74kg with the bar going up the whole way. He is now hitting lifetime PBs across the board, pressing and squatting pain-free, and is stronger, leaner and more athletic than he ever was in his twenties.
Pain-free
full pressing and squatting restored
Lifetime PBs
strength across the board
Lean recomp
soft 74 to lean 68 to lean 74kg
BeforeAfter
Individual result. Outcomes vary with training history, adherence and circumstances.
BeforeAfter
Mitch
16-week recomposition block
Dropped body fat and gained muscle across a 16-week recomposition training block.
BeforeAfter
Gautham
Fat loss → lean muscle
In progress
An eight-week fat loss phase down 8kg, then 4kg of lean muscle built back on. Still in the lean muscle phase.
“My snatch went from 65kg to 100kg in twelve months and my body composition is the best it’s been since my bodybuilding days. Can’t recommend Dan’s coaching enough.”
Nathan Smith
Weightlifting & S&C client
“Personalised, well thought-out sessions with the professionalism to match. There aren’t many people smarter than Dan when it comes to what the body needs.”
Sean Brickwood
Owner, CrossFit Origin
“Working with D-berg has been a game-changer. He’s taught me so much about food, training and mindset, and he educates you as he goes.”
Luzmaria Rabanal
Coaching client
“Coached by Dan for nearly four years, with continual gains and injury-free the whole time. He programs around my line of work so I perform better on the job.”
M.L.
Tactical athlete
“Coaches need coaches, and Dan was amazing in helping me execute a cut, getting from almost 70kg down to 58kg and maintaining it year round.”
Zoe Vincent
Founder, FIKA Nutrition
About
The coach
Ironberg was founded in 2015 by Australian exercise scientist Daniel Malmberg. Ten years of coaching, from world champions and working parents to tactical athletes.
I wrote the plan. Then I stopped running it.
Deep in the workload of building Ironberg, I stopped coaching myself. Discipline slipped, habits slid, and I got out of shape while writing the exact plans that would have prevented it. I was the classic case: knew what to do, wasn’t doing it.
So I stopped making excuses and ran my own protocol. Ten weeks in a structured deficit: down 8kg, and I held my strength the entire way. Not “mostly kept it.” Held it. 145kg bench press, 44kg weighted pull-up and 200kg squat. Then a deliberate lean build, 4kg of lean tissue back on.
I ended up in better shape than I ever managed in my twenties, when training was my whole life and I had none of the responsibilities I carry now, and this time without the joint pain and niggles.
The point isn’t the numbers. It’s that the system held when everything else in my life didn’t. No heroic willpower, no living in the gym. Structure did the work, so I didn’t have to fight myself every day to stay on it. That’s the same thing I build for you.
−8kg
in 10 weeks, strength held
145 / 44 / 200
bench / weighted pull-up / squat (kg)
+4kg
lean tissue on the rebuild
Australian exercise scientist. Coaching since 2015, based in Drummoyne, Sydney.
Grounded in the evidence base rather than trends, with programming built on periodisation and progressive overload.
Works with beginners through to world champions, in person in Sydney and online worldwide.
Front — before / after
BeforeAfter
Back — before / after
BeforeAfter
Same backdrop, same distance, same lighting, ten weeks apart. Individual result. Outcomes vary with training history, adherence and circumstances.
FAQ
The common questions
Not covered here? Reach out and we’ll point you the right way.
What equipment do I need?+
Access to a commercial gym or typical functional kit covers the standard protocols. On The Forge and The Crucible, training is built around whatever equipment you actually have.
Do I have to be an elite athlete?+
No. Ironberg works with beginners through to elite. Programming is matched to your current level to take you to the next one. The only real requirement is ambition and the willingness to do the work.
How accessible is the coaching?+
Your coach is reachable daily through the CoachRx app. Depending on your tier you’ll also get scheduled calls and regular check-ins on movement, nutrition and lifestyle.
How does billing work, and can I cancel?+
The Forge. $175 per week, billed monthly, with an initial three-month commitment. Three months is the shortest honest window to build a baseline, run a block and re-test it. After that it rolls month to month with no fixed term. Cancel any time with 30 days notice and your next payment is your last.
The Protocols. $69 per week, billed monthly, no minimum term. Cancel any time with 30 days notice.
The Crucible. Scoped and priced individually at your consult. You get a written scope and fixed price before anything is charged.
Periods already served are not refunded. Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law are not affected. Full detail in the terms and refund policy.
Is there a trial?+
The Protocols start with a free, coach-reviewed baseline week — movement, benchmarks and capacity — so you get a read on where you’re at before you commit. The Forge and The Crucible are for people ready to invest in themselves, and start with a 1:1 consult to confirm fit. No hard sell.
Do you offer in-person or one-off consults?+
Yes. Select in-person PT in Sydney, plus one-off mentoring consults for people who want to learn to train and eat at a higher level. Apply and we’ll work out the best option.
Ready to start
Stop collecting programs. Start finishing one.
Tell us where you are and what you’re chasing. If it’s a fit, we’ll build the system that gets you there.
