James Jirayuth Used to Drink Heavily Every Night and Never Sleep—His Six-Pack Body Came Back Thanks to His Wife

James Jirayuth once drank heavily every night and barely slept for a year, but he managed to transform his physique—thanks entirely to his wife pulling him back from the brink. In an interview on "On the Way with Chom," he reveals the story behind his lean six-pack, opening up about his darkest period when partying every night left him sleep-deprived for a year, wrecking his health and triggering allergies. His wife's iron-fisted rules brought him back. He runs daily and hits the gym regularly, but his cholesterol has spiked—he may be on medication for life. His golden-body secret: accept that nothing comes easy, start with simple, doable tasks, build your own momentum, and willpower will take you further than you imagined.

On Hyrox, he admits he wasn't satisfied with his performance. During the simulation, he thought it would be easy since he hadn't trained seriously. He'd only done PT sessions at Qubic gym, saw his wife and friends competing, but they'd only done one class together—he'd never trained properly. He believed he was strong from running, and everyone said runners have an advantage, so he figured he'd be fine. He was right about the advantage, but it turned out to be only half the battle. Initially, he thought he was fit enough, but once there, he realized foundation strength was lacking because he hadn't trained properly. The gym builds muscle mass and strength, but functional movements like lifting and carrying were weak. When he actually competed, he discovered he got anxious—the atmosphere was thrilling. Before starting, they brief you not to run the first lap, but everyone's talking loudly. He saw people taking off their shirts, stretching, and he didn't know why he'd entered such a competitive wave. He started at around wave five—basically page five—but he was the second-slowest in his group and everyone else was gone. The fun part was feeling like he might collapse from exhaustion, as if life suddenly felt easier or his fitness routine had become too easy. For Hyrox, it's a team event, but personally he finds the pair format fun—solo requires extreme strength and self-challenge, but mixing it works well. It's like running with a friend and playing alongside them; when tired, you rest, but you never actually get to rest.

On his physique now, he's happy but wants to push further. Overall, he might want fuller development, but getting bigger seems difficult due to genetics—going further would require heavy loading, which might be exhausting and he might not like himself at that size anyway. Diet and training must align closely. He uses the principle of doing simple things first, and when starting from an easy level, it's not too hard, but as levels increase, complexity grows. He needs to eat more and balance it with output, which requires lots of calculations. His first goal before improving his physique further is to see how he can maintain it, since this was his first time ever achieving abs in his life. He was curious how to get them, and when he first did, it was quite intense—time-limited training.