Road to the Vancouver Open Regionals - 1 Week Out Posing

Getting real close now to the Vancouver Open Regionals. I shot this video on Sunday so 6 days out technically but it will give you an idea of what my conditioning is like about a week out from the show. I always push things really hard the last week to get those last little bits of fat off, I can generally strip another 2 pounds of fat from the stubborn areas and that's about all I need to do now. I feel I am very close and I hope to come in as lean or maybe even a bit leaner than last years show with a bit more muscle added. Yesterday I was 188 pounds as compared to last year this same time I was closer to 182 pounds. So I am up potentially around 6 pounds of muscle if my body fat is in fact the same.

This week to get as lean as I can I have dropped my calories down to around 1500 per day at least till Wednesday and then I will need to start adding in carbs which will increase my food calories a ton generally up adn over 3000 per day as I need to at around 500 grams of carbs for the carb loading process. I also will be walking 6 miles and hitting my weight training each day for an hour or so. This will bring my exercise calories up to around 1500 per day, add that to  my BMR and I am burning 3500 calories per day while only eating 1500 so that generates a 2000 calorie per day deficit.

I am really looking forward to showing off all my hard work at this years show. Last year I did not hire a posing coach, this year I have a couple sessions with Jeff my Posing Coach so this should make the presentation a little better also.

Getting Off TRT - Is it a Good Idea?

One of the most common comments or questions I get in my TRT related videos is going to be, "should I start taking TRT". Just as often I get the same comments or questions about "should I stop taking". In this video I talk about what might be happening when people have been on TRT for sometimes even a decade and then they all of a sudden decide they do not want to be on TRT anymore.

Most often the reason they give is because they don't want to be dependant on drugs, so in this case the Testosterone. Sure having to take a drug for probably the rest of your life is not an exciting prospect but you need to really weigh the benefits of the drug versus what This can lead to over thinking about the inconvenience factors of tacking a drug like having to inject every week and also the cost of purchasing it which with Testosterone is not really super expensive in TRT doses.

If you do decided to come off TRT, and you have been n it for a while, your body may not be able to make its own Testosterone anymore and the reason you may have gotten on TRT in the first place was because your body was not already making enough so that will not change now, if anything you will be completely shut down now and may not be able to make much of any of your own natural Testosterone.

Personally, I would strongly consider not coming off TRT if in the first place you really did need it, that is not going to change now even with proper sleep, eating, training and a healthy life style. If you went on TRT for esthetics reasons (so basically a high does TRT not as aggressive as body building doses), then again the artificial Testosterone will now have suppressed your bodies nature ability to produce Testosterone and you may now be in a situation where you are dependant on it.

That said, you will never know unless you come of the testosterone if your body can start making adequate levels of Testosterone but be prepared for that not to be the case.

• TRT in Canada and the US

 

Road to the Vancouver Open Regionals - What Are My Expectations

Last year when I competed in this same show, the Vancouver Open Regionals. My expectations where just to make ti to the show in good health and see how it felt to compete again. I didn't have a lot of prep time last year as I decided a bit late but it was on y radar so I was slowly easing into it even before my actual contest prep. I was just starting to get my strength back in the gym so I was not at 100% in terms of muscle size and density, probably at least 5-8 pounds lighter than normal and that would be muscle mass. My main goal for that show was to come in nice and lean and not push myself too hard as I really didn't know what to expect. I feel I did meet my goals for that show so I was very happy with it even though I did not place all that high. The judges at that show for sure favored size over conditioning.

So here we are a year later and I have one show under my belt post Open Heart Surgery. I know now I can push myself a fair bit with the diet and training and that's what I have been doing. I also have had a lot more time to prep for this show. Officially my prep is a 3 month prep and so I am hoping to be able to bring more muscle mass with at least the same conditioning I brought last show, maybe even a bit tighter! Based on last year I was around 180 pounds at the end of my cut before carbing up. I am hoping to be closer to 185 pounds for this show before I carb up and so on show day I should be close to 195 pounds all carbed up to the max. 5 extra pounds may not seem like all that much but when it's in all the right places and you come in shredded it makes a world of deference!

I am starting to feel the push now at times, it comes in waves and when it hits I get a low energy fatigue feeling that sometimes lasts a couple of hours but generally I get my energy back or at least enough of it to make everything happen that needs to happen.

In terms of how I hope to place in this years show, of course I want to be first in every class I enter but even if I come in a bit bigger this year, I know most of the guys will out size me. If I can come in super conditioned with good esthetics than there is always the chance of pulling off a first place. it really depends who shows up for this show and how they look. Also what the judges are looking for? Last year size was key. This year, who knows?

Road to the Vancouver Open Regionals - 2 Weeks Out Posing

When I get to two weeks out from a show, in this case the Vancouver Open Regionals, it starts to get real. Generally I start the process of signing up to the show at this point and making sure I have all my registration and tanning all setup and scheduled. At two weeks out I also usually get tighter with my diet and start adding in a bit more walking to increase calorie burn while reducing calorie intake. Calories this week will be around 2000 per day with at least 3500 burned calories via my BMR and exercise calories combined. This means I will be in around a 1500 calorie deficit each day so I should lose around 2-3 pounds per week.

I have been trying to stay as close to 190 as I can while I cut meaning if I am able to do this while losing fat, then that means I am gaining muscle. I have just recently started to dip a bit lower on the scale than my 190 goal but that's OK, it is bound ot happen at some point as I get as lean as I need to. I am hovering around 187 to 189 depending on the time of day.

I am feeling really good, yesterday I had a bit of a refeed, and so today I had a ton of energy and got a lot of walking in along with my regular weight training. I hope I am able to keep my energy up over the next two weeks while pushing a bit harder but I know there will be some ups and downs along the way.

Watch my poing update video here at two weeks out and let me know if I am looking much better than my last 4 weeks out posing video...

2011 Zero XU Complete Upgrade 20KW Brushless Conversion - Ready to Ride

If you have been following along with me in my quest to upgrade my 2011 Zero XU Electric Motorcycle with pretty much a complete new electronics system, well the wait is over and it is now ready to ride. There are still a couple of small things I want to address but it is at least 95% done now! As a recap I installed a new QS165 50H Motor with a Fardriver 72890 Controller and this all came with a new speedometer, a complete wiring harness, and the left and right controls including the throttle.

There where a few challenges along the way, but I was expecting that to happen, and if anything things actually went better than I was expecting them to. Some of my concerns where making sure I got all the wiring correct, as I did need to integrate some of the old system in with the new, but not a lot. The only real electrical issue I came across was one wire that went to my speedometer needed to be swapped out to a different wire, this was to get my actual speed to register and also what gear I was in (Gears on an Electric Motorcycle are just power levels).

Mounting the motor went really well and I thought that was my biggest challenge, but I was able to mount the rear motor mounts using my foot peg holes with some spacers and so I only needed to fabricate the front mounts using some aluminium flat bar. I would say my the hardest part of this build was the gearing and chain, I did end up having to revert back to the original 61 tooth 420 sprocket and 420 chain as the new 428 sprocket and chain where just geared too high, which made made the acceleration weak, kind of like staring out in 4th gear. Now back to the original gear setup, I have good torque off the line and a nice top speed of around 120km/h.

I was expecting to get more amps to my controller and motor as my battery is rated at 200 amps nominal and 400 amps peak, but it seems anything over 250 amps shuts the battery BMS system down, resulting in having to restart the bike to get it going again (Turn it on and off). At 250 amps with the 72 volt battery that gives me 18kw of power, but when my battery is fully charged, it is actually sitting at 84 volts which gives me right around 25kw of power. That's 33.5 horsepower with a even more torque. So she rips along pretty nicely now with the upgrades.

So here is what we achieved with this full electronics upgrade:

• We went from the stock 4.8kw (6.4 horsepower) to 25kw (33.5 horsepower).
• We went from a top speed of 82 km/h (51 mph) to 120 km/h (75 mph).
• The battery was also upgraded before I got it from the 1.7kWh pack to a 7.2kWh pack, more than quadrupling the range. From around 40 to 161 kms (25 to 100 miles).
• With the electronics being all new, it will be super reliable.

All in all I am super happy, the upgraded 2011 Zero XU is a lot of fun to ride with lots of power at any speed and it handles like a dream. Now it's time to get my wife out on it so the two of us can go riding, her on the 2011 Zero XU and me on my 1993 Ducati 750SS.