No age barrier to fitness

Todd Payette never dreamt he would be in the best shape of his life in his late 30s, an age when a lot of people are dreading the big 4-0.

The 37-year-old Winnipegger surprised even himself when he went from placing sixth in his first novice bodybuilding competition to being named the fourth best light heavyweight in Canada -- all in the span of one year.

"I could have done cartwheels I was so thrilled," Payette says of his national win in September.

Six-foot Payette wasn't always a 220-pound Hercules with biceps measuring 19-and-a-half inches. When he walked into the gym for the first time at 19, he was a gangly, 160-pound teenager looking to do some leg extensions to ease a knee injury from high school sports.

He grew to love weight training and stuck with it for several years before gym visits gradually got bumped from his routine. Payette made a return in his 30s but it wasn't until a year and a half ago that he decided to take his bodybuilding to the next level and compete.
After four months of training, a nearly naked Payette summoned up the courage to step on stage and fulfil a longtime dream.

"It was definitely a scary experience, walking out in front of a couple thousand people in what amounts to being covered with a doily," he says. "It's a little frightening at first."

When he placed sixth, the "bug had bit." Payette vowed to do better next time and researched ways to train smarter.

MAKING MISTAKES

He admits to making mistakes the first time around. He used running as his main source of cardio, which he later learned is good for the heart but not the most effective way to burn fat. Payette has since slowed things down, switching his cardio routine to brisk walking on an inclined treadmill for two 45-minute sessions daily.

He lifts weights for one hour each day but you won't catch him sacrificing form for pounds.

"It's much better to bench press 135 pounds for 10 reps than 200 pounds for three reps that are very sloppy. You're more than likely just going to injure yourself and you're not impressing anybody," he says.

Payette has also made changes to his diet. He no longer cuts out carbohydrates and fat.

"The body needs carbs and fats, so by doing that -- and with the running -- I lost a lot of muscle size."

Payette now alternates between low, medium and high-carb days, which he believes keeps his metabolism guessing and his muscle tissue from being used up as fuel. He eats protein at every meal and tapers off his carbohydrate intake towards the end of the day.

From his first novice competition to his second, Payette's body-fat ratio took a dramatic dive: from 10% to 4.5%. He won in his light-heavyweight class and earned best posing honours.

"It was a tremendous feeling," recalls Payette, whose day job is selling vehicles at Woodhaven Lexus Toyota.

His learning curve continued during the lead up the Mr. Manitoba contest in June. Payette let his cardio and diet slip and ended up rounding out the top three.

"That taught me that you can't take it easy when you're getting ready for a show," he says. "You're placing will show that."

Payette was disappointed with the outcome but happy to have earned a spot to compete at the nationals. He teamed up with personal trainer Darren Mehling of Goal Oriented Training Solutions in preparation for the Canadian championships in Saskatoon, where participants all vie for the elusive pro card.

Aiming for a spot in the Top 10 in the light heavyweight division, Payette was shocked with his fourth-place finish.

"I felt like I was floating," he says. "To be able to make Top 5 at your first national is a bit of a rare thing."