Get Fit Over 40 Update Video - The Cutting Begins (No Shirt)

I am 6 weeks out to my Victoria Cup Men's Physique fitness contest in Victoria BC and I have officially started my weight cutting for this competition. I plan to compete in both the Masters and Open categories of Men's Physique.

I am currently somewhere between 7-8% body fat according to my Fitbit Aria WiFi Scale and Sculpt Aim Body Composition Reader.

For the record I am just over 6 feet tall, I used to be  6 foot 1 inch but I think I have shrunk a bit in my old age perhaps under the pressure of heavy squaring and Deadlifts ;) I am also around 191-195 pounds depending on the day and time I weigh myself. (So on average around 193 pounds.)

I want to get down to around 5% body fat for contest day which means I need to lose 2 pounds for every body fat percentage decrease I need to make. This means I need to lose around 6 pounds of pure fat in total and get down to around 188 pounds and 5% body fat. I will be training hard this last 6 weeks so putting on a bit of muscle is not out of the question while cutting, I have done it before so I know it can be done again.

My plan is to cut 500 calories per day for the first couple of weeks and then reassess where I am and be either more aggressive or stay the course with my calorie intake. My last week of cutting is always pretty extreme since I do a veggie and fish diet that is super low carb and low calories, I usually lose at least 2-3 pounds in that week and if there is any fat left it will be all gone :)

I will be making weekly videos of my progress up until the week before the contest, then I will most likely be making daily videos in a VLog format till the contest. So keep checking back for more cutting videos to watch me while I shrink :)

My Taekwondo Yellow Belt Testing at CMA Martial Arts

My turn to test for a belt in Taekwondo :) I've been training in Taekwondo over at CMA Martial Arts for a couple of months now and it was time for testing. I have done some mixed martial arts in the past, (about 3 years ago) so it was not like I was starting entirely from scratch but we did not train for belts at the other Martial Arts gym.

In this belt testing cycle I was going for my Yellow Belt, basically the first belt in a series of 14 belts I need to get through to achieve my black belt. That said I do feel like I am doing fairly well against the other guys in my class who have been training for longer than me. I guess their higher level brings me up to speed quicker which is fine with me :)

In this Belt Testing video, we perform some basic punching and kicking combos, we break some boards, do a bit of sparring and we ended with some grappling but unfortunately my camera did not cooperate during the grappling portion of the video. At the end we where awarded with our belts but again I had some camera issues and only recorded my Yellow Belt being handed out. Congratulations to all the guys who have trained hard for their belts!

Gabriel's Taekwondo Purple Belt Testing at CMA Martial Arts

My son Gabriel tested for his Purple Belt at CMA Martial Arts in Langley. He is almost halfway to getting his black belt now and I am very proud of him, he is doing really well and is beginning to look like a real Martial Artist!

Testing involves demonstrating some punching and kicking combinations, breaking a few boards, sparring and grappling with opponents. I was really impressed with Gabriel's sparring and grappling, he is starting to put it all together and it is paying off with some nice combinations and submissions.

Congratulations to all the boys for their hard work, commitment and the reward of some new belts!

Fit4Less.ca - Workout for Only 30 Cents Per Day

Recently I happened upon a new Gym located fairly close to me in Langley BC Canada called Fit4Less (by GoodLife). Yes I have a wonderful home gym setup but I still like to get out of my house and do a workout from time to time. Sure I enjoy my CrossFit gym workouts for their group type setting but I still feel the need to do my body building and isolation work since this is required for the physique I am going for.

Up until now I have been training at Fitness World since I am grandfathered into a really low month to month rate (About $14 per month). But I find the Fitness World hours of operation to be a bit limiting especially on weekends and many of the workout stations and dumbbells are being used when I am there working out which makes my workouts less efficient.

So I thought I would give Fit4Less.ca a try, heck they only cost $8.99 per month for their basic membership and no locking in (as long as you are willing to pay their $35 initiation fee). You can avoid the $35 fee by signing up for a full year and at around $9 per month that is not a hard commitment to make ;)

The best part about Fit4Less.ca is that they are open 24 hours and have a card-lock system for when their staff is not on duty. And so far even at the busy times I can still get a quick workout in since they have a ton of free weights and dumbbells on hand.

If you want to ramp up your membership plan you can go with the Black Card Membership which is a wopping $18.99 per month! The same initiation Fee rules apply but with the VIP Fit4Less Black Card membership you also get free tanning, free massage chairs and half price vending machine prices. You can even hand off your Fit4Less Black Card to a friend or family member and they can use the gym for free any time they have your card with them...

One other bonus with the Fit4Less Black Card membership is that you can use it in any Fit4Less gym in Canada. That said there are not that many in BC where I live, just the one in Langley I go to and another one in Vancouver but I have a feeling that will change over time. Fit4Less also has other locations in Alberta (6), Saskatchewan (1), Ontario(29) and New Brunswick (2). But again most provinces do not have many of location just yet, except for Ontario which has close to 30 gyms. I'm thinking Ontario was their startup province and they are just now branching out to other provinces.

Well anyways I will be working out periodically at Fit4Less here in my hometown of Langley and taking advantage of the tanning since I have my Men's Physique Contest coming up soon in August.

3 Most Important Tips for Success in Health and Fitness

Make sure to watch my YouTube video for this article on the 3 Most Important Tips for Success in Health and Fitness as I go into much more detail than here in my written article.

For those that just want the condensed written version here it is :)

My first number one Tip for Success in Health and Fitness is Diet & Nutrition:

Without your eating under control you simply will not achieve your Health and Fitness goals no matter what they may be. If you are trying to lose weight and fat, there is no way you can out train a bad diet because you can spend hours a day burning calories in the gym, and then in a matter of moments you can eat them all into oblivion by choosing the wrong foods. Likewise, if your goal is to get strong and gain muscle mass then you need to make sure every piece of food you put into your body has a purpose. Not only do you need a surplus of calories when bulking but you also need the correct macros, so lots of protein, enough fat to keep the machine working at it's best and yes you will need a decent amount of carbs to fuel the workouts.

Number two on my Tips for Success in Health and Fitness list is Intensity!

Many people believe if they simply put the time in the gym that they will automatically get results. By simply moving some weight around they expect their muscles will jump into action and grow bigger and stronger with each workout. Unfortunately this is simply not true :( Your muscle need to be challenged every time you do a workout. If you are picking up the same weight you have been picking up week after week and even month after month doing the same amount of sets and reps each workout, then how can you expect anything to change? Sure you can maintain a level of Health & Fitness this way but to improve upon it you need to step up your game. You need to do 1 of these things... Grab a heavier weight, do more sets than before, or do more reps than before. You may not be able to improve your strength each workout but over time by pushing yourself beyond what you think you can do, you will find that you actually can do it. This takes focus and concentration and writing down what you do each workout will help you to avoid falling into workout plateau.

The same is true if you have hit a weight loss plateau, if this has happened then you need to change something you are doing, either take a look at your diet and make an adjustment or increase the amount of exercise you are doing.

Last but still supper important on my list Tips for Success in Health and Fitness is Consistency:

We all have those times when we lose focus or get burned out and perhaps take a little too much time off from our routines. Getting back on track can be a struggle but the key to your success in Health and Fitness is sticking with it! That could mean you might have to scale things back to fit into your lifestyle and to make sure you don't burn yourself out or stray from your diet. If you go too extreme you are setting yourself up for failure. It's best to start out with realistic goals and then over time increase the level of exercise or tighten up your diet a bit more. Success in Health and Fitness is not a race it's a marathon that lasts a lifetime so don't be in such a rush, earn your success by sticking with it and making a positive change for the long haul.