Sam Wood on his fitness journey and new podcast, The Wood Life

The 41-year-old former Bachelor star has hit back after a raw post he shared about his own fitness journey triggered a bizarre claim.

As one of Australia’s most popular fitness figures, Sam Wood is no stranger to sharing exercise and weight-loss tips – as well as the success stories that come from his program, 28 By Sam Wood.

But the former Bachelor star admits that sharing his own fitness journey has been one of his most vulnerable moments.

Last month Sam shared two side-by-side selfies on Instagram taken two months apart. In the caption he didn’t hold back, saying how the first photo had been taken in the last week of August of him in “a rut” and not being healthy.

The second photo featured Sam after completing his own eight-week fitness challenge sporting a ripped stomach and “feeling better mentally and physically in every way”.

Sam said his before photo had been ‘hard’ to post. Picture: Instagram/Sam Wood

“That was hard to be honest. I nearly didn’t post it,” he told news.com.au.

“It’s the before photo, I’m happy to post the after. That before photo where I really wasn’t looking great and was feeling pretty sh**ty, that’s hard to share because you go, ‘oh people are going to say he should never be in shape like [that].’”

In response, Sam received “thousands” of messages from people, especially men, saying they too could relate.

But it also triggered a barrage of negative comments, with some accusing Sam of using the photos as a “marketing ploy” – or even going so far as to claim he had photoshopped them, something he strongly denies.

“It was 100 per cent me, it was 100 per cent that timeline,” he said.

“It’s fascinating there are just some people you are never going to satisfy and they thoroughly must enjoy that whole trolling process, and I don’t particularly have much time for those people.”

Sam Wood. Picture: Instagram/Sam Wood

Responding to the controversy the photo caused, Sam conceded that fitness progress shots can be polarising, but told news.com.au both selfies were off-the-cuff photos he had initially not intended to share.

“If people were thinking that I was meant to be sharing it as the perfect before and after image then I do understand, I totally understand that query on it,” he said.

“But that’s not what it is meant to be and the frustration I think comes when you try to explain that and there are still people that really want to dig their claws in.”

As well as sharing his own fitness journey, Sam is also sharing his wealth of health knowledge on new podcast The Wood Life with ARN’s iHeartPodcast.

Sam has launched his own podcast, The Wood Life. Picture: Supplied

On it, Sam interviews experts for the best mental health, fitness and wellness tips, as well as a regular segment dispelling common fitness fads.

He wants the podcast to be a place where people can get “straight answers” on how to live their best healthy life.

“There’s so much information and misinformation and things contradict each other, and this says that but it is trying to sell a product and that seemed like a reputable article, but do they have an agenda?” Sam said.

“I just want The Wood Life to be a place where listeners can be really be involved with and they can get their questions answered in real time and feel like it is a place that they can trust.”

Listen to The Wood Life now for free via iHeartRADIO’s app or online.