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.

Road to the Vancouver Fall Classic 6 Weeks Out Posing

My last posing checkin for the Vancouver Fall Classic was 4 weeks ago and so it has been a while and I was hoping to see some visible changes. I feel like there are some changes but sometimes it does not translate to video as well... But I for sure notice the fat is slowly coming off my trouble areas (stomach & lower back) and I am down 4 pounds from a month ago sitting right around 201 pounds versus just over 205 in my last Update Posing video.

My InBody Body Composition Scale also is telling me I am down around 2% body fat (9.8%) which is again around 4 pounds of fat so this means I did not lose any muscle at this point even with the fairly hard calorie deficit over the last 4 weeks. In comparison the InBody Scale at the gym said I was 9.1% Body fat.

I need to for sure get down to 195 pounds and maybe even a bit more so that is around a pound per week which should be fairly easy to do, this will get me in the 6% body fat range which on my scale may even be less since it seems to be a bit higher than the Pro InBody Scale I use at the gym. So I may even be in the 8% body fat ranges right now!

The plan for the next two week is to stay on my same diet plan of 2000 calories per day with around a 1500 calorie deficit each day, this again is to ensure I lose at least a pound per week of fat. At 4 weeks out I will reassess and figure out if I need to stay at 2000 calories per day, go up a bit or maybe even drop calories if need be. What ever I have to do is what I will do, hunger is not important, energy a bit more important so I hope that stays good...