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.

Road to the Vancouver Fall Classic 3 Months Out

I did mention a while back that I had plans for a show in the fall and so it begins or I should say it has already begun since I have been consistently training with this goal in mind since April doing my best to stay fairly lean while adding some extra muscle before the really hard prep begins. The show I am doing is called the Vancouver Fall Classic and it looks like Popeye's is the main sponsor with many other sponsors coming to the table so I expect it to be a really good show with a decent turn out. I will be entering Open Physique and perhaps a Masters Class of some sort. Classic Physique I am not sure about but I will consider it as I get closer to the show and see how I am looking, specifically if my legs are up to the challenge.

I am currently sitting at around 205 pounds and would say I am around 11-12% body fat so I need to lose around 10 pounds of fat and would like to be come in right around 195+ pounds before I carb up and fill back in for contest day.

Over the next month my focus will be to slightly cut fat with around a 500 calorie deficit per day which should put me on track to losing around 3-4 pounds of fat for the month, I hope to add an additional 2-3 pounds of muscle so my weight should not change all that much during the next month of prep.

Heading into 2 months out the plans will be to cut a bit harder while maintaining the muscle I have gained, maybe even gaining a pound or two if I'm lucky. I will be in closer to a 1000 calorie deficit during this time which should lead to around a 6-8 pounds of fat loss but everything will be adjusted based on how I look and how I feel.

The final month before the show will be all about getting every last bit of fat off of me which means around a 1500 calorie defect which in order to achieve means with a BMR of around 2100 I need to do at least 1500 calories of exercise each day while eating around 2000 calorie of food. I have done this many times and for me this works. With this calorie deficit I can lose as much as 3 pounds of fat per week but anyone that has done this before will understand that your body does not always cooperate and your metabolism can crash.

Well that's the plan for now but it can change at anytime depending on how I look and feel along the way.

Road to the Leigh Brandt Muscle Classic 2021 - 11 Days Out

I am now only 11 days out from the Leigh Brandt Muscle Classic and the question is have I left it too close? Is there any way I can get lean enough to be contest condition? If I had been prepping for this show the way I normally would done, I would be a lot leaner at this point but I would have also been in a much harsher diet deficit for a much longer period of time making my body less responsive to continued dieting.

The advantage I have not being in so much of a diet deficit leading into my last two weeks before the show, means when I do push my body into a hard diet deficit this last two weeks, it will respond to it much better as my metabolism is healthy and my body will be more willing to respond well to the harsh dieting at least for the two week leading up to the show.

So in theory I am hoping to see really dramatic changes over the next week and by this coming Saturday I hope to have a better idea on if I will be ready or not for the show. I hope everything goes as planned but at 52 years of age sometimes my body doesn't always do what I want it to do! Fingers crossed and see you on Saturday when I do another check-in...

October Update Video - Possible Upcoming Show

I have been missing in action for the past several weeks mainly as I have been spending a fair bit more time taking care of my other YouTube Channel or should I say past YouTube channel. My Replica Airguns YouTube channel was taken down by YouTube with no notice other than a termination notice and so we are now in the process of uploading over a thousand Airgun related videos to Vimeo which is another video streaming platform.

On a more positive note I just might be doing a Fitness show, the Leigh Brandt Muscle Classic in a little over two weeks from now, I have my work cut out for me for sure and so it really depends on if I can get into the shape I need to be in and I probably won't know until about a week out from the show as my prep time is limited but I feel I can make the changes I need to as I was not super far off going into the process.

Vancouver Island Showdown - 1 Day Out

Just one day left to to go till I make it to the stage of the Vancouver Island Showdown. Today was all about checking in and loading up with carbs to fill in for show day. If you're not sure what carb loading is, it's when you purposely deplete yourself from carbs and glycogen so as to make your muscles go flat or less inflated looking in preparation for loading them up right before stepping on stage. So in effect your muscles will actually absorb more glycogen and water making them as full as possible for the competition.

That is the plan at least and getting it just right is a bit tricky as you can come in underfull or overfull. Underfull means you didn't eat enough carbs and your muscles still appear a bit flat and dry. Overfull is probably worse since if that happens the glycogen spills over into other tissues like the skin and any fat in it washing out the hard full look of the muscles. Let's hope I got it just right!!