Dan Wilson of Grande Prairie is in the running for a Muscle and Fitness magazine contest. Wilson says he’d love the support of the community on his quest to be named Mr. Health and Fitness.
“To qualify, they’re looking for people of a certain fitness level and you have to pass the pre-qualifying rounds. Whoever wins this contest receives $20,000 and a two-page feature in the Muscle and Fitness magazine,” he explains.
“From there, essentially it’s just a voting contest. Everyone that made the cut gets their own page and anyone can vote for them.”
Wilson is 44 years old, has two boys of his own and he never got into fitness until later on in life.
“When you have kids things can get out of control, so I felt I had to make a change to improve my health. I really got interested in the science behind it and the way things interact with your body in the biological process. Lifting weights was just sort of a necessary evil and after a while, I fell in love with it,” he says
Wilson has been in a management position for years and says committing to his health and fitness and lifting weights has been a great outlet and stress reliever.
“It’s pretty apparent early on that if you put 300 pounds across your back and try to squat down and stand up, I guarantee you at that moment you’re not going to be thinking about work or anything else you have going on. It turned out to be a sort of therapy for me,” he says.
This is the first contest of this nature that Wilson has ever entered but he hopes to continue building that confidence in himself.
“I’ve been training and committed to it for six or seven years now. It’s definitely a bit nerve-racking to put yourself out there, especially against people from big cities in the United States. I’m also getting ready for my first body-building show,” he adds.
Wilson is currently second in his category. Voting closes for the top-15 for the Mr. Health and Fitness contest on May 12th.