Bill Kaine has a nice trophy and other swag to show for his performance at last month’s Third Annual Popeye’s Fall Classic. However, it’s a glance in the mirror that provides the biggest prize of all.
At 53, the Tsawwassen resident made his return to the competitive amateur bodybuilding stage for the first time in nearly three decades to finish runner-up in the Grandmasters Division at the River Rock Casino Resort event. It took a heck of a journey over four months to get there.
“I started doing this when I was 23 and my first competition was when I was 25. I’ve continued (to lift) on and off for the last 30 years. I call this my 28-year comeback,” smiled Kaine.
“It was something to check off the bucket list. I didn’t care if I lost or even cared where I placed. I just wanted to do it one more time. That’s all that mattered to me.”
Bill and his wife attended local bodybuilding competitions and she thought he would do well as long as he ‘lost a little belly fat.’
“I finally was going to do it. I kept looking at competitions to enter but as they got closer I decided I couldn’t do it. I was not ready for it. After a third time, my wife said she didn’t want to hear it any more,” Kaine chuckled.
“This time it was now or never. I’m getting older and it not going to get easier. It was time.”
Kaine wasn’t interested in joining any gym. He had always trained at the Winskill Aquatic Centre where his wife happened to work and that wasn’t going to change.
However, he did reach out to Nick Czubak — owner of Reflex Supplements in Tsawwassen — for some advice on his comeback bid. He recommended trainer Troy Cornell and his wife Rachel, both accomplished bodybuilders themselves.
“He drew me a road map and told me to follow it. Troy looked after the training part and Rachel the nutrition part. Things were going to be taken away and never added to. It was going to be a big change.”
It was early July which meant Kaine had to ignore it was the start of “beer and barbecue season.” The mobile insurance specialist also had to stay away from the takeout pizza that was readily available at the car dealerships he regularly visited.
The goal was to lose 50 pounds over the next four months. The only carbohydrates he would consume were sweet potatoes and yams but no more than 50 grams daily. Kaine also had to drink four litres of water per day. That increased to six as Popeye’s drew closer.
He visited Cornell on a weekly basis at his South Surrey gym and also began working on poses.
By the time of his weigh-in, the night before competition, he had lost 48 pounds and was down to 217.
“It was a hard journey but I knew where I wanted to be and just had to put the blinders on to everything. I focused on what I needed to do and watched my weight come down. I had hardly told anyone (about the competition) but once the (weight loss) results were happening people noticed the change.”
Kaine is also grateful of the support and encouragement he received at Winskill along the way.
“They have all been so accommodating and supportive. I was always asked what gym did I train out of and the answer was this little rec. centre in Tsawwassen. It was limited but it still can be done. I am proof.”
The competitive bug hasn’t left Kaine yet. He has now qualified for the provincials next summer which he might enter if another event in March goes well.
“I’m probably about 12 pounds over my competitive weight right now. It’s Christmas season and I needed to live a little bit,” he laughed. “But after the 26th it’s onwards and getting back to where I was before.”
