Turned 56 Years Old - 3 Months Out From the Vancouver Open

So I turned 56 this past Saturday April 5th. This birthday thing is starting to get old, a bit like me I guess. To be honest, I really don't care all that much as long as I feel good and I'm taking care of myself and the way I look. My modeling days are over, well they never really ever began, my bodybuilding days still seem to be hanging in there but my health is first and foremost.

As of April the 5th, I am three months and one week out from the Vancouver Open Regionals, the real contest prep will start three months out but I am on track for sure. I figure I am somewhere in the single digit body fat percentage, probably the mid to high 9% which means I need to lose around 10 pounds of fat and put on 5 pounds of muscle. This is pretty standard contest prep numbers for me and three months gives me lots of time to get there. I am right around 195 pounds currently so adding 5 pounds of muscle and losing 10 pounds of fat should put me right at 190 pounds, this will be my weigh in weight which will go up a bit as I carb up to probably around 195 pounds on stage. That's the plan for now but we are a ways out so the actual numbers may be a little bit different.

It Begins - 2025 Vancouver Open - 56 Years Old - Post Open Heart Surgery

So it begins yet at least one more time! Last year I did a show called the 2024 Vancouver Open Regionals and competed in the regionals which is "Open" to everyone, no qualifications required. I competed in Classic Physique 45+ along with Physique 40+ and Physique Open.

The goal of this show for me was to see how my body would respond now after the open heart surgery and to see if I could get anywhere near being somewhat competitive on stage. I did end up placing 3rd in Classic Physique 45+ and 3rd place in Physique Open, which I was happy with but more importantly I was very happy with how my body responded to the contest prep as it is very stressful on the body and I have to say this contest prep was probably one of the easiest and most comfortable I have ever done.

That brings us to this year and I have decided to compete again at this years Regional Vancouver Open which is on July 12th, so that gives me over 3 month to contest prep which is perfect. Last year I only had around 5-6 weeks to prep and my starting weight was 185 pounds with a body fat percentage in the high 9%. Right now I weigh 195 pounds with a body fat percentage in the mid to high 8% so I am in a much better starting place with an extra 10 pounds yet around the same body fat percentage.

With all that in mind my expectations for this years Regional Vancouver Open will be much the same as last year. Which is first and foremost to not stress my body out too much and to come in highly conditioned and with as much muscle as is healthy and realistic to expect, knowing that I can not rely on drugs to do much of the work for me. I am just not willing or prepared to jeopardise my health for a plastic trophy a the end of the day. This means I will more than likely not be holding as much muscle as some of the guys that have less to risk, so I will have to focus a lot more on conditioning to make the muscle I do have look as good as possible.

Hopefully at this years show the judges will be awarding conditioning a bit more than last year as in my opinion they were looking more for size over conditioning based on what I saw in the judging and placing of those on stage.

If at any point I do not feel good or have any health concerns I will be shutting down contest prep, but I am confident that it will go well this time around as I do have more time and can take things slow and adjust along the way.