Road to Canadian Nationals 2017 - What Are My Goals?

A year later and another go at the Canadian Nationals competing in Men's Masters Physique. So why do it again since last year I got 1st place in my tall division? Well last year I did not win the overall category which is where the winner of each height category go head to head to see who the overall class winner is in Men's Masters Physique.

Last year it was a close one but long story short I didn't win the overalls. This year my goal is to take first in Men's tall again and then go after the overall win which would award me with the elusive IFBB Pro Card! What's so good about an IFBB Pro Card? It really would be more of an achievement thing then something that would be of practical use for me since an IFBB Pro Card would allow me to compete with other IFBB Professions throughout North America. Keep in mind this is an Open category so I would be competing against all ages, young and old like me :)

After last year going head to head with the young bucks in the Open category at the Nationals, I realised that I am just too small to be competitive since that is the way the class is going at least for now. Either way I would still be totally honored to win an IFBB Pro Card and may even compete in an IFBB Pro show or two to show those young bucks that us older fellows still got it!

Road to Canadian Nationals 2017 - It Begins!

It has officially begun! Today was the first day of my contest preparation for the 2017 Canadian Nationals where I will be competing in Men's Masters Physique and defending my first place title :) I have more to prove this year, my hope is to not only take first place in the tall division but also win the overall 1st place and get my IFBB Pro Card. I was super close last year but it was not meant to be...

I feel I am in my best starting shape ever sitting around 195 pounds at around 8% body fat. Overall I am healthy with no serious injuries. I feel stronger than ever and I have around 14 weeks to lose about 3% body fat and put on about 5 or so pounds of muscle. Since my weight cut will be almost non existent as I hope to walk on stage at 195 pounds, what I need to focus on is hitting my nutrition and working harder than ever in the gym. My goal this year is to be in my best shape ever and leave no question to the judges when I walk on stage and stand with all the other top athletes.

2016 CBBF Canadian Nationals - Men's Masters Contest Photos

It took a while for me to get my official professional 2016 CBBF Canadian Nationals Contest photos this time but I finally got them :) I'm still waiting for my DVD Video that I paid for from both the 2016 Vancouver Pro Am and of course my recent Canadian Nationals but at least I can now share with you some high quality stage shots.

I did find it very interesting looking at the photos from the Men's Masters Top 3 Overall which I was a part of, when you are up on stage you can only guess how you look compared to the other competitors. Seeing if from the perspective of the camera lens I kind of feel like perhaps I had the Overall but in the end I did not win nor did I get the IFBB Pro Card that went with it. It was not meant to be this time around, I will try again another day. Congratulations to the winner, I am sure he is overjoyed and was well deserving.

Down the road I may share some of my photos from the Open Division where I went up against some absolute giants of men, some of them looked like full on body builders in board shorts! I ended up placing 10th in a group of around 20 or so competitors, not bad for a 47 year old a this extremely high level of competition.

Road to the Canadian Nationals - Competition Day

And finally the day we have all been waiting for is here! I started off my Canadian Nationals Men's Physique Competition day with a nice lamb and Sweet Potato breakfast, with a short coffee of course. Lunch would for the most part be candy and rice cakes to get the quick carbs into my system to try and fill out a bit more for pre-judging show time which was around 11am.

Pre-judging went well and I was pretty sure I was going to get a top position in Men's Masters but in Open I only made it in the second call out which meant I was going to be placed between 6-10th. The guys in open where really built and it seemed the judges where looking for beefy guys in the open division, in Master's it did not seem to be as important?

After pre-judging my wife and I went out to Burger Heaven in New Westminster and I had the Hulk burger on lettuce with Yam fries :) I chased it down with a nice cold beer too! On the way home to rest between the pre-judging and evening awards show we stopped in at Dairy Queen to get a dip cone but when I got there I upgraded my order to a banana split. After that there was not going to be a dinner for me since I needed to digest and get the food out of my system so as not to come in looking bloated on stage.

I did not spill over for the Canadian Nationals evening show and came in nice and full and felt I presented myself as good as I could which was good enough to get first place in Men's Masters C (tall) division but not good enough for the overall at least this time around. That elusive IFBB Pro card will have to wait till another contest :(

In Men's Masters Open D (Tall) division I ended up placing 10th in a group of around 20 guys so not bad for an old timer! After the show a bunch of us Masters went to Earls for some eats, I then went over to Boston Pizza for my second evening dinner and pretty much filled myself up till I could not eat any more, it was really way too much!

All in all the Canadian Nationals was a really great show and as usual I met some more awesome people, now it's time to take some time off and get back to a more normal life for a while. I will resume my training shortly...

Road to the Canadian Nationals - Peak Week - 1 Day Out - Registration

One day out from the CBBF Canadian Nationals!, it's basically go time, all the work has been done and now I get to enjoy the process of going through the show. I will confess I did some last minute morning cardio since I was awake early and could not get back to sleep. I am neither a morning or cardio person so this was rather strange for me!

After my cardio session, I showered and then got my wife to spray on my second coating of tan, after a little bit of dry time I had breakfast and then made up my bag lunch for while I was waiting around at registration. My big carb loading meals would come later on in the day. Prior to registration I met with the other BCABBA Team members to get our Team BC jackets followed by a group photo. After that I went into the main registration to wait my turn to get heighted and officially registered for the show.

This CBBF Canadian Nationals registration process took till about 2:30pm, I was tired at this point and ready to get to my hotel so that I could grab a nap. Unfortunately the old vintage 1910 hotel I was staying at did not have AC and I was on the top floor, being one of the hottest days this summer the combination was not so great for me to try and stay cool and not sweat off my tan but I managed...

The evening concluded with dinner, a short walk around the area and seating in for a movie and earlier bed time. I did also fit in my last coating of tan before I headed off to bed and a really great sleep for once.