53 Year Old Contest Prep 1 Week Out Update Peak Week

We are in the home stretch now and this is generally the time I start to get really excited for the show as I am so close to stepping on stage and enjoying all the hard work that has gone into the full prep.

In this video I cover days 7 and 6 out documenting what I am eating and some of what I am doing each day alone with an update posing video. Normally even though at this point in the prep I am super fatigued I seem to find my second wind and get kind of reenergized. Unfortunately not everything is going exactly as I want it to but life does bring challenges and it's how you deal with these challenges that really tells what kind of person you are.

I plan to make video logs of each day during Peak Week so do join with me on this last Peak Week and hopefully you will get an idea of the ups and downs, joys and disappointments that go along with it. Life is not always what you want but it is what you make it to be.

53 Year Old Contest Prep 2 Weeks Out Update & Posing

We are nearing the home stretch with 2 weeks to go until the Vancouver Fall Classic and so it's time once again for an Update with some Posing so you guys can see how things are looking and if I am on track to be ringing hopefully my best size and conditioning to date on stage?

Yesterday I gave myself a higher calorie refeed high carb day to give my body a bit of a break and also see how it would react to higher carbs since I have been low carbing it for several months now. In the past when my body is struggling from a hard prep adding carbs in to carb load and fill in my depleted muscles has not always gone as planned and if I'm not really careful I can spill over even on a moderate carb load.

Yesterdays test run carb load was around 500 grams of carbs as compared to my 75 or less tropical diet I have been doing. To be honest I barely notice the carbs this time and only gained maybe a couple of pounds form the addition of glycogen and water filling my muscles. This tells me everything is working well and I should be able to carb load even a bit higher come contest day but I will still be somewhat conservative just to be safe.

I am happy with things overall and according to my body fat measuring devices I am somewhere around the high 6% or low 7% body fat right now. I want to be in the low 55 or even high 4% come show day so I need to lose around 3 to 4 pounds of fat still which is very realistic since the last two weeks I tend to be aggressive with my diet and usually lose at least 5 pounds during this time from past show experiences.

I feel I look a lot better from 2 weeks ago when I made my 4 weeks out posing video but you be the judge!

Road to the Vancouver Fall Classic 3 Weeks Out Update with Bello 2 Introduction

So we are just under three weeks out from the Vancouver Fall Classic where I will be stepping on stage to compete in Open and Masters Men's Physique and Classic Physique classes (if all goes well). In today's update video I introduce an interesting Health Tech product from Olive Healthcare called the Bello 2 which is claimed to have Dexa Scan Accuracy. This is not a review video for it as I will be making one after my show once I have been using the Bello 2 for a bit and can give me feedback on how it works and how it compares to my at home and gym based InBody body composition scales.

I also talk about how my prep is going sitting at just under three weeks out. What my plans are for fine tuning my calories in and out so as to hopefully get really close to where I need to be when I hit 2 weeks out in about a week. Right now I am for sure seeing the fat coming off and I am really liking what I am seeing but there is still a good deal of work to do and so I need ot stay focussed and on track especially now.

53 Year Old Contest Prep 4 Weeks Out Posing

So here is my latest Posing Update Video exactly 4 weeks out from the Vancouver Fall Classic where I plan on competing in both Physique and Classic Physique in a mix of Open and Masters Classes.

I have been eating 2000 calories for 6 or 7 weeks no (kind of lost count) with a lot of exercise (generally 1500+) each day.

So I can see the fat coming off and even my scale is going down so I know I am losing weight. Sometimes during a contest prep your mind plays tricks on you so it is hard to be realistic about what is actually happening. Even these update posing videos don't always tell the truth as lighting and water retention can play a roll but it is what it is so you be the judge and see if I have made improvements from my 6 Week Out Posing Video.

More importantly am I on track? Will I be lean enough in 4 weeks? I feel like I am on track sitting in what I believe is the high 7% to low 8% body fat mark. I need to get into the 5% body fat ranges but this should not be a problem given I have 4 week to go...

53 Year Old Contest Prep Full Day of Eating & Exercise 4 Weeks Out

I do get a lot of people asking me to show them what a full day of eating looks like and also what I do in terms of activity like workouts and cardio leading up to a show. We are one day away from being 4 weeks out and for the last 6 weeks or so I have been sticking to this relatively same program of around 2000 calories of food each day with at least 1500 calories of exercise which generally includes around 1+ hour of weight training 6 days per week with at least 6 miles of walking each day.

On my one non day of weight training I try to get a little more activity in if I can like a mike ride or something but I do need that one day off from weight training for sure to give my body a chance to rest.

In terms of macros my diet is low carb with higher protein and a bit more fat than most people eat during contest prep which does mean it is hard to get all my protein in since fats take away from other macro calories. That said I generally get between 150-200 grams of protein in each day, with a little over 100 grams of carbs and a little under 100 grams of fats. It does range a somewhat each day.

During this video I record a short clip each time I do some exercise or eat something so you ca get a get the full picture of what I am doing in terms of diet and exercise leading up to a show. I do change things as I need to but at this point I most likely will continue exactly what I am doing to the 2 weeks out point and then reassess where I am at and where I need to be. If all goes well I will be 99% ready for my show and will be able to cruise the last 2 weeks with a little more food then I usually allow myself.