Road to Popeye's Fall Classic 2017 - Why I Do Competitions

Some people might think it's a little bit crazy the way I prepare for a fitness competition like the Popeye's Fall Classic, the hard dieting, the hours of training, and all so I can pay a bunch money to be the entertainment at a body building fitness competition where most of the time all I may get out of it is a medal or trophy for my accomplishment.

Well if you put it that way it does sound a bit off but I love it any way! Here's why:

• Fitness Competitions give me a goal to focus on so I can work hard and get into the best shape of my life!
• I truly enjoy watching the physical transformation my body take when I prepare for these fitness shows.
• I even kind of enjoy the food tracking and manipulation, it keeps me focused and on track.
• I enjoy the fitness competitions themselves, meeting all the like minded people who also have put themselves through hell and back to get on stage and do something that very few people will even try to attempt.
• I love that my body is a representation of who I am as a physical person, strip us all down to the skin, take away our fancy clothing, expensive cars and designer homes and we are only left with ourselves. My health and fitness lifestyle has moulded me into who I am. 

Road to Popeyes Fall Classic 2017 - 1 Week Out

It's almost crunch time or what we call "Peak Week" when preparing for a fitness contest. This is when it gets even more serious and changes are made to the diet to get dialed in for competition day. Calories and Macros are adjusted almost daily with the end goal of walking on stage as lean as possible while still holding as much full muscle as you can. Carbs, water and salts are often manipulated very carefully to achieve this goal.

At roughly 1 week out from my Popeye's Fall Classic Fitness show where I will be competing in Men's Open Physique and Men's Classic Physique I feel I am right on track and will be the leanest yet the heaviest I have ever been on stage to date. Lord knows I am going to need the extra size and conditioning to be a competitor in the Classic Physique division, let alone keep up with the youngsters in Open Men's Physique.

I am really looking forward to this show and hope to have a ton of fun doing it while getting to know some new folks!

What do I Eat During Contest Prep?

A common question I get when I'm getting close to another Fitness Show I will be going into is: "What do I eat when I am in contest prep?"And usually people want to know what I do specifically during my "Peak Weeks" which for me is two weeks out from the show day. This is when I really have to crack down and trim off all the last bits of fat and use a method called carb depletion to make my body burn fat and drain it of glycogens so come show day I can rapidly refill my glycogens effectively giving me a glycogen boast. This makes me luck fuller and more detailed when I'm up on stage for the show.

In this video I go over what foods and supplements I take during my 2 week "Peak Week" process along with my calories, macros, what exercise I do and how I load my carbs back in prior to contest day.

Here is a list of some of the Isagenix suppliments I take during my Peak Weeks:

• IsaPro Protein
• Amped Protein Bars
• Isagenix Greens
• Isagenix Fruits
• Amped Power
• Amped Recover
• e+ Energy Shot

Road to Popeye's Fall Classic 2017 - 2 Weeks Out Posing Practice

Today I am officially two weeks out from the Popeye's Fall Classic Bodybuilding Show where I am competing not only in Open Physique but also Open Classic Physique. This means I have some work to do learning how to pose like a Classic Physique competitor. Not an easy job for someone use to doing pretty basic posing in board shorts :)

Thankfully my good friend Warren Kindellan is helping me out figuring out what works and what doesn't work. Over the next two week I will be doing a lot of posing practice!

Road to Popeye's Fall Classic 2017 - It Begins

I have been holding off before deciding to let everyone know about a new show I plan on going into in about a month. Partially because I was not sure myself if I was going to enter it or not? Well I have decided to go for it even though it's only about a month away. The show is the Popeye's Fall Classic 2017 being held in Richmond BC on November 19th 2017.

This show for me is all about having fun, my last show the Canadian Nationals was kind of stressful as I had my 1st place title to try and hold onto and also that Pro Card dangling in front of me. The Popeye's Fall Classic is not a qualified show so I can enter pretty much any class I want to, so why not go in Open and compete with the young bucks. I even have plans to give Classic Physique a shot, why not, it's only an additional $50 and it's all for fun!

In prep for the Popeye's Fall Classic I have been on a slow bulk and I'm currently hovering around 204 pounds which is heavy for me, the good news is I'm not all that fat and feeling stronger than ever so there is some new muscle I hope to take with me to the stage which will help a lot in Classic Physique for sure!

I do have my work cut out for me heading into the Popeye's Fall Classic as I need to lose about 5-8 pounds of fat and keep the muscle I have been working hard to gain and I only have about 4.5 weeks to do it in...