The 50th year celebration

So didn't have a big party didn't go on an exotic trip somewhere, I celebrated my 50th year my way. First I was done school by this point and the prospects of working for myself in Vernon were slim at best, so Gwen and I both had opportunities in Prince George and because of the amazing support of our families this was the move that made sense.  In July R&R Massage Therapy moved to PG and I have spent the year building it and loving my new work. The first of my planned adventures happened the Aug long weekend after my birthday Tiffany and I took Hang Gliding lessons something I had wanted to do for a long time.

In September I started preparing for WPC Worlds in powerlifting they were held in LasVegas in November. Although this meet didn't go quite as planned with the help of Mike Webber choosing my attempts and Kevin Lutz helping with my gear we manage to win my division and set a world bench record. Powerlifting is what I have loved the most in my years of training and this meet was my major focus of the year.

 Next was preparing for my first body building show. With the help of a trainer we started in December. Seven months of hell and support from many people I got on stage at provincials in June. I manage a third place finish in the grand masters division, which was awesome since I went into this hoping not to make a fool of myself. Body Building was a bucket list thing, when I start lifting I wanted to Body Build but I was one of those skinny kids and it became apparent that I was never going to put the size on that is need to be competitive. It has taken a long time to get here and if I didn't do it now I never would.

 Then with five weeks after the body building show I had to bring my weight back up and try to gain back the strength I lost from dieting down so far to get ready for BC strongest man. I manage to win the 405lbs deadlift for reps event with 21 reps and I also won the log clean and press for reps with 13 reps I was middle of the pack on the other events except my nemesis the stone load where I had a poor performance which bumped me from third over all to forth. still I had a great day so much fun. Those of you who know me, know I've had strongman equipment since the mid nintys, but I've never really competed mainly because there was always another oylimpic lifting meet coming up and then powerlifting meets after that. I did some small stuff, but this year I finally made the big show in BC

This was my present to myself the accumulation of more than thirty years of training and twenty one years of competing in strength sports led me to my toughest and most rewarding year of competing at the age of fifty

So I finally got the shots from my meet and this is what  51 looks like for me, well a month short of. Well for a couple of weeks anyway. Putting some size back on for the strongman meet coming up on July 27th two days before my 51st birthday. Strongman training is going ok but my body really needs a break from this. I will post some video of our training in the days to come.  

So I survived the Body Building adventure. But to be honest I would have never made it without the support of many others. So THANK YOU first to my loving wife Gwen Tomra for not killing me in my sleep, she did so much to help me though this. to Karley Green for helping me with my posing Brandon Best for putting my posing routine together Dawn Alisonfor the diet and training programs, Michelle Mcbeth for the countless times she was on suicide watch so many times I was ready to give up. Dezeray Tomra tomrad photograpy for the great pics she took because this may never happen again, well maybe once more (sorry honey) and everyone else who kept me on track by showing intrest in what I was doing, many times someone would ask how it was going and it would spur me on again.

So here is a pic from yesterday, nine days out. The count down is on now for sure. Learned something about myself on tuesday. It was squat day and day five of no carbs. I got to the gym and felt like crap took everything I had just to start. In the end I hit all the numbers I wanted and the reps it just took me about twenty minutes longer. A year ago if someone told me I would be able to get though a workout in this state I would have said they were nuts. But this day proved to me that we are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for. Well off to do cardio five more sessions to do

So 12 days out not much to report Still putting in about 25 hours a week training. The dieting has become very hard no carbs 5 days a week making it very hard to function well. Also affecting sleep as I am unable to sleep because I am hungry all the time. This pic I'm totally carb depleted and flat I will post another friday after carbing up for a couple of days. That is about it I will be glad when this is over 

4 weeks out from BC Body Building Championships

So here I am four weeks out. cardio is up to 75 min a day seven days a week at 75% htr. Diet is tight now 10 g carbs a day for five days then two days carb loading, also white fish 5x/day on those days. training has been going well but starting to get tough now with the low carbs. To complicate matters the BC Strongman has been moved to July 27 so five weeks after the BB show, as a result I have started to add a bit of strongman to my training but it is a balancing act. Body building show is of the most importance right now so any strongman I add has to support that, but hopefully also prepare my body for the training coming up in July. Body weight in this pic is 195 and I hope to stay around this weight through July to compete in the under 200 lbs weight class at the strongman meet. There is no way in the time frame I have that I would be competitive in the 230 class  The low energy level were tough at the start, and I was moody ( poor Gwen) but my body is adapting and I am doing better again. So far I have learned a lot about myself again and I suggest that everyone find something that they are passionate about and push themselves once in a while, it is uncomfortable but you will never know how great you can be if you don't try. One word of advice surround yourself with people who share the passion and will support you, for me it has taken a huge team of people to get me here. I would have quit long time ago without their help. I am down 53 lbs and have lost 11 inches off my waist, learned how much harder I can push my body and still recover, seen the positive impact I've had on others who were on similar paths but were struggling with seeing themselves achieving. It doesn't matter on June 22 if I win or not I will have gotten on the stage and done the best I could and that is all I expect of myself. The path to the stage though will have changed me forever I have grown and I will be stronger physically mentally, and spiritually in the future and that is exciting. 

Here is a link to a video of last weekends including of strongman into my BB training.

Last weekend training  

six weeks out

Not much to post, six weeks and a few days out now. Training about twenty hours a week, and the diet is dialed in. Moving on I have committed to BC Strongest man in sept. So looking forward to eating and training heavy again. I will start to post more again when I am actually doing something.  sounds like we may get a group together again to go this meet. 

10 weeks out from provincials

So not much to post bodybuilding is not all that exciting. The pic here is 10 weeks out from the contest. Cardio is 65min a day 7 days a week right now, weight training is 1 to 1 1/2 hours a day 6 days a week. Posing practice is half an hour three days a week and tanning three times a week. this plus making and eating 6 meals a day and work is all I am doing right now. I have to say that we hear all the time that bodybuilding is a life style, well you have no idea until you actually walk the walk. It has been challenging and I will see if I will use the word rewarding when this is over, but I will say now that so far I'm glad I have tried to do this 

Meet prep stars

So contest prep starts today. I gained a bit of weight over christmas so we have decided to  start 4 weeks earlier. Since Nov we have been trying to bring up weaknesses in my body, It has gotten better and now the dieting starts. 19 weeks and 5 days counting down already. This is going to be an adventure, and a test of my resolve. But if it were easy I likely wouldn't be interested in doing it.

jan 23

well the Christmas bulk up is slowly coming off, opps. I had to start doing cardio already, at 22 weeks out instead of the planned 16, I guess that is the price I will pay for eggnog. Bodybuilding is quite boring compared to the strength sports, pick light boring weights up and put them down, not much to write about. As I start to lean out I may post some pics. Having a coach has certainly helped, already my physique is starting to balance out. It has meant doing a whole lot of exercises I would rather not do, which is why I had those imbalances to start with. So big thanks to  Dawn Alison ( Fit Body BC) for all her support

Jan 3 2013

Strength, determination, perseverance, commitment,  I thought I knew these words was a master of these words. Twenty plus years of competing in strength sports, training, dieting, recovery, doing whatever it takes to be the best I could be. Then I start this bodybuilding adventure and I realize that I have much to improve. Thinking back it was a process like it is now, but as I became more proficient  at what I was doing it had become more of a habit than a discipline. Now I am learning all over again much to my surprise. I fell  off the BB wagon through December, diet went for shit, reps fell on the big three so I could lift heavier. As a result three weeks later I have gained ten lbs and injured my low back. This is one of the reasons I have decided to do a BB meet, three years ago when I went back to school to become a RMT I quickly learned that I had become complacent with my view of myself. I thought I was constantly reading and upgrading both at work and in training myself and others, I was sure school would be no problem. Boy was I wrong. I now find myself here again, although like before nothing is new but man is it different. So now once again baby steps, and with some help of the people I have supporting me I will have to find a new level of strength, determination, perseverance, and commitment.