since my last post a long time ago I went to wpc worlds in Baton Rouge Louisiana in 2016  where I won my weight class and broke a bench wr and said good by to competing at this level. 2017 I was struck with Ramsay hunt syndrome which I struggle with today. Took almost 2 years to deal with the health issues around this and to learn how to squat with constant vertigo as my inner ear is no longer works because of the nerve damage. I did get to gpc nationals last year and manage a wr squat bench and total. This likely marks the end of competition for me. I would like to get one more in next year which would give me 30 years as a competitive lifter. time will tell. No telling where the next adventure will lead. I'm still training daily but as I'm not competing I've added in so much more life

My god it's been over two years sine I last posted here. Much has changed in my life and much is still the same. Had my two year check up to confirm that I am still cancer free, and now in the clear. Shortly after my last post here I was diagnosed with prostrate cancer had it removed ect. Was told that I would never be able to lift heavy again and certainly would not be able to compete again. 2014 was a year of rebuilding managed nationals and did a all time squat pr at this meet. 2015 found me back on form again although at the highest body weight I had ever been at 250 lbs. Manage to break two world records at nationals this year as well as winning best overall equipped lifter. I the last six months I have dropped 40 lbs body weight and with the help of a great nutrition coach have bee able to keep my strength high. Next year will find me making one more run at worlds hoping to break a world record that has stood for 32 years, I tried in 2012 and fell quite short, and this has been a torn in my side since.

This bench was from last week at 210 body weight the weight on the bar is 635 or three times body weight The pic below is a weekly update pic for my coach. doing ok for almost 54 years of age

One of the biggest changes in my life has been my shift away from promoting the strength sports as a result I've not been posting much these days. As this now is a personal journey I'm not sure how much I will continue to post

 

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.

post worlds

So didn't have the meet I was hoping for, still managed to win my class and set a world record on the bench while battling a stomach flue. With that being said I have retired from powerlifting. I am going to try and do a body building show in june, and will try to get a highlands game comp in before the year. So far the training is going ok, very different from what my body is use to. diet is a struggle as I am use to eating what ever I want most of the time coupled with the fact that I dropped from 240 down to 205 all ready this year so continuing to watch what I am eating is getting old. The hardest thing right now for me is learning how to pose, I have never really cared what I look like and not the kind of guy to be running around in a muscle shirt so it has been difficult to make myself stand in front of a mirror and pose. I must get better because I truly suck at this. If anyone wonders why I am doing this it is because it is forcing me out of my comfort zone, and it was something I wanted to do as a youngster. If I get this done it will be completing the circle.

last post before worlds

So I surely no reads this anymore as I have hardly posted this year. Weight is down I didn't think I would ever get it down but I did in the end. from 240 in march to 209 today. the video is a 730 squat from last week, this week 675 warmup missed the video of730 opener camera man was more worried about calling depth than making sure the camera was going squat was good and the last squat is 760. I cut it a bit mainly because I would never do a second attempt this close to a meet. But it has been a long hard road this time. I took most of the weight off quickly so that I would have more time to train at the weight closer to my comp weight. This had kicked the crap out of my strength. By the end of July with the strength loss and the change in body mechanics I was struggling with 585 in the squat couldn't pull 495 deadlift and raw bench was way down as well. Got a shirted bench day to get in this week and in 13 days I will know if the hard work has paid off. This will be my last powerlifting meet equipped for sure I might do a raw but I will have to wait and see. I have advanced osteoarthritis in my elbows and with the lack of joint space can no longer straighten my arms, heavy benching is not going to make this any better.

Sept wow

So still on my quest. It has been a crazy year. Since June I have renoed the house in Vernon to sell it (hasn't so far) bought a place in PG cheap because it should have been tore down, but after 3 months of working 12+ hours a day it is live able. All the while starting a new business and getting ready for worlds. weight has been good for a couple of months now and my lifts are slowly starting to return. It has been a challenge tring to find gear that works and figuring out how to best lift at this lighter body weight. In the past I never gave enough time to adapt and my total suffered for it. Hopefully this time will be better. I need to total 860kg to beat the world record, it has stood since 1984. i would be arrogant to think this will be easy

june already

So the wrist is giving me trouble. but \i did get up to a 385 bench last week and 705 out for a squat. the squat made my wrist sore for a few days. So I am moving back up to PG which is part of the reason for the lack of posting, also I haven't been able to train very affectively so there hasn't been much to post. Slowly losing the bloat I gained during the last few months of school. lost a total of 23 lbs so far. 5 more and I could make weight at 198, but I may drop more than that so I can gain some weight leading up to worlds. Well that's about it for now.

set back

Training Heavy

So training continues, I've been hitting it hard the last while. Weights are slowly moving up, getting to train outside more thats always fun. today was squatting, stones over a 56" bar, walking lunges with the ss bar, the sled dragging. nothing exciting durning the week mainly high rep body building type stuff. Start heavy high volume benching tomorrow. Thats about it for now

March 28

So training continues, body weight is not coming down but so far I'm ok with this. I've been following the Carb back loading diet and have dropped two and half inches off my waist and only have dropped five lbs. This is not normal for me generally one inch equals ten lbs of body weight. My strength is way up right now which is cool. I'm going to follow this for a while yet and see where I end up. On a recovery week this week after seven continues weeks of increases on my bench six rep max. At 335x6 it has never been this high in all my years of training considering that I will be 50 this year I'm the strongest I've ever been. Did an easy 725 squat a few weeks ago and next week I'm going to push it a bit harder. just my deadlift isn't moving as usual. I'm going to compete at what ever weight I'm at this summer and make a decision from that meet to decide what weight class I'll compete at for worlds in nov. The video is from yesterday I'm going to compete in the highland games provincials in june just for fun. Watching the video I see weight for distance needs a lot of work. This is such a fun break from powerlifting.