Contest Prep Big Announcement!

I wasn't even 100% sure if I was going to do a Fitness Show this year and was trying to decide between having to travel to some shows that offered a Pro Card or staying close to home and competing in a Regional Show for the fun of it. After much debate I had decided to keep the costs down and stay close to home and was going to do the Popeye's Fall Classic as I felt it was one of the best regional Show offerings in my area.

And then I did some more research taking a look at what it would actually cost me to travel to Toronto and compete at this years Canadian Nationals and it wasn't as much as I was expecting it to be. This may in fact be my last real chance at a Pro Card, after all I am 50 years old now and even as a Master I will be competing against some of the guys being 10 years younger than me.

I really don't mind competing against younger guys since I have competed in the Open Category a bunch of times but it does get a bit harder every year. Since I am 50 now I will be competing at the Canadian Nationals  in Men's Masters Physique and Men's Grand Masters Physique which will give me two shots at being in the Overalls. At right around 8 weeks out I have a lot of work to do to bring my best package to stage ever! I feel I am right on track holding a good amount of muscle with not a lot of body fat and I am injury free for now, let's hope it stays that way right to show day.

Road to the 2017 Canadian Nationals - Contest Day

In this my Contest Day video from my Road to the 2017 Canadian Nationals where I share some of my thoughts before the show. I also have included some pre-judging video that my wife took for me (not bad quality at all) and then follow this up with my thoughts about the show results.

WARNING: I do go into some politics and talk about my views on the direction of Men's Physique and my concerns about how competitors have been getting bigger and bigger to the point where I feel overall muscularity is getting away from what the original Men's Physique category was intended to represent.

Road to Canadian Nationals - 1 Day Out

Only 1 more day to go, this is when it gets really exciting as all the fun stuff starts to happen now. Today I traveled to the host hotel the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford where I will be staying at for my duration at this years Canadian Nationals. Friday for me is more of a get organized day but there are a few things I had to do like pick my team BCABBA jacket and get a group photo with the team. I also had to get signed in during the athletes meeting so I am fully registered to compete on Saturday. Somewhere in there I also had to fit in my first coat of spray tan.

Oh an I also got to have a pretty damn good dinner at Red Robin this time around, a nice juicy lettuce wrapped beef burger with bacon and cheese and a side of yam fries :)

Road to Canadian Nationals - Bod Pod and FIT3D Testing

There is a lot of info in the video so make sure to watch it for all the details. The short version is I tested at 7.6% using the Bod Pod which was a bit higher than I was expecting since I feel as lean if not leaner then I have been in past competitions. At the end of the day the Bod Pod is just a machine that spits out a number you can use to help you track your progress but it does not indicate what you look like in real life or how you present yourself on stage. That is what is ultimately the most important!

Comparing last year's FIT3D to this year's FIT3D results at 3 days out from the Canadian Nationals, it kind of looks like I have brought up my upper body just a bit and may be heading into this year's Nationals a little bit leaner and more conditioned. Again checkout the video for more info and a look at my FIT3D Animated Avatar that I had done at the Tsawwassen Springs Health Club.

Road to Canadian Nationals - Peak Week 4 Days Out

I have officially made it to Peak Week for the Canadian Nationals and today was my last Leg day for training and will also be my last low carb and super low calorie day. Tomorrow I start to load back in my carbs which will bring the calories up a little but I will still be at a calorie deficit at least for tomorrow since I will be getting one more upper body weight training workout in. After tomorrow there will be no more workouts unless I feel I need to do a little bit of cardio to work off some of the high carb foods I will be eating.

I am not only excited about getting tot eat carbs tomorrow but also my body testing starting with the Bod Pod in the morning and the FIT3D later in the afternoon. I wonder what these test will show, hopefully all good and that my hard effort has paid off!

For the most part I am still feeling pretty good but I can say my has started to fight back a little bit today which is a good sign as it's telling me I am getting very close to pushing it as far as I can. Just in time for my carb reloading so I think I nailed it!