Fit at 40

January 20, 2015 • Health, In the Magazine

Capture Group’s Zark Fatah turns 40 and dedicates himself to mental and physical excellence.

Turning 40 in August was an interesting moment for me. Supposedly I am now over the hill and things are only going down from here. Well, having never been one to listen to what I’m “supposedly” to be or do, I decided I was going to start my 40s in the best shape of my life and push back that descent into old age so I set the goal of competing in my first Men’s Physique competition in November.

Working out, eating well and living a healthy lifestyle has always been very important to me. As an entrepreneur with multiple businesses and the stress and turmoil that comes with the job, the gym has always kept me balanced and provided me with an escape from the chaos even if just for an hour or two.

Since September, I’ve learned many things about how to train to make gains, what to eat to get ripped and most importantly, how strong I really am. It is our human nature to become complacent over time and take ease in our comfort zone. Although I have been training in one form or the other four to five days a week for years, I’ve never achieved these results and I now know why. With coaching and training by Mohamed Chikhaoui at Studio Fitness I learnt new training techniques and diet information that allowed me to take my physique to the next level. During the eightweek period both my training and diet changed and evolved as my body reacted. During the first few weeks it was all about power and strength training to gain size which was fuelled by a 4,000 calorie per day meal plan with a 1:1 ratio of carbs to protein.

The next stage of training was fat burning with higher repetitions and steady state cardio, gradually cutting down the daily amount of carbs. During the last few weeks as competition day got closer, it was all about cutting and sculpting, focusing primarily on cardio first thing in the morning and before bedtime. My workouts were lighter full body routines. My diet became very specific, down to the gram, changing every two to three days based on a daily assessment of my body’s response.

It was definitely an adjustment and challenge to fit in all the meals and training into an already packed daily schedule but I was committed to doing everything I could to maximize my results.

What I came to realize during this process is that for many years I have only been training and doing “enough” and just like my training, I have only been eating “enough”. I quickly learned that “enough” wasn’t going to cut it if I wanted the results that I had set my mind to. I had decided that I had enough of “enough” and it was now time to “do what it takes” to get the results I truly wanted.

Whether it be apprehension about leaving your comfort zone or a personal fear, we all hold back from doing things in life that we aspire to achieve. Above and beyond the physical challenge and the goal that I set out to achieve, one of the most important reasons why I set this challenge for myself was to tap back into that part of me that always did what it took to get things done. When I moved back from Miami broke and not knowing where I was going to live but knew the life I wanted, I did everything I needed to do to get myself established and begin the path to get me to the place in life I decided I deserved.

During those two months I was completely dedicated and committed to stepping on stage looking my personal best. I had to be very disciplined, organized and regimented. I had to say no to many fun and exciting opportunities and sacrificed some of the simple pleasures that I love so much (pizza, ice cream, chocolate, wine).

But waking up every morning and looking in the mirror and seeing myself getting leaner and closer to my goal every day is an incredible and highly motivating feeling. I can now tell you that the 10 minutes of pleasure that you experience while stuffing your face with whatever goodies you enjoy (and possibly the hour of remorse or guilt that follows) pales in comparison to the natural high of confidence that you feel all day long knowing that you look and feel amazing inside and out.

To be quite honest, if I knew I would have felt this damn good after all this hard work and sacrifice I would definitely have done this years ago. The best feeling of all though is the confidence of knowing that I have the control and ability to make the profound changes in my life that I choose to. I’m absolutely ready for my 40s, both physically and mentally. Bring them on!

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