Kasper Jorgensen demonstrates some strength training outdoor exercises at Bruce Trent Park, Monday, Oct. 17, 2016. Both Jorgensen and Alayne, who are 40 and 41 years old, were overweight and reclaimed their health in their late thirties.
Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017 | 2 a.m.
In his words
"Forget about the scale. The scale does not exist. The people who give up are the ones who lose motivation because they think they’re not seeing any progress, not knowing that even though the scale is still saying 200 pounds, your body fat has probably dropped by 10 percent because you’ve gained muscle mass. ... What matters is what you see in the mirror, and the tape measure, and the pinching method. If you keep pinching your belly, you’ll feel the fat melting away. First it gets softer, then it gets jiggly, then it gets thinner, and then the skin will reset. And that’s it! And then you look good!”
The holiday feasts are over, and the deluge of New Year’s Resolutioners on a mission to get fit in 2017 has begun. By February, the gympocalypse will be over, with only a few fighting on to banish love handles and shed some pounds.
Past 40, those results may not be so quick to appear, but persistence seldom fails. Kasper Jorgensen proved this, taking fat-to-fit to a whole new level.
Four years ago, he weighed 275 pounds with more than 30 percent body fat.
“Every morning while brushing my teeth, I’d look at myself in the mirror and I’d think, I’m not getting any younger, and this isn’t getting any better,” he said.
So the Danish-born ex-MMA fighter started lifting again, something he had started at 14 and loved. After a year, Jorgensen was definitely stronger, but it was when he changed his diet that the real results followed.
“Within a month, I saw it. Within two to three months, everyone else saw it,” Jorgensen said of his fitness gains. “My girlfriend, Camille, started lifting, too, and the diet just became a lifestyle, because she would cook the same food for me that she was going to eat and vice versa.”
Jorgensen won his first National Physique Committee figure competition two years after commencing his fitness journey. (Camille has won two.) He says he now weighs 235 with 4 percent body fat. With these fitness gains came professional gains. Last summer, the Aria security guard’s physique wowed casting agents, who called on him to audition for a role in the indie thriller “Looking Glass,” starring Nicolas Cage, with production starting this fall.
With eyes firmly set on Hollywood, Jorgensen also is venturing into personal training, having joined forces with a friend who recently opened a gym. They’re on a mission to encourage Las Vegans to lead healthier lives.
If you’re firmly rooted in the belief that you’re too old to successfully battle the bulge, Jorgensen’s counterargument is this: “When you’re older, you have something called muscle maturity. Younger guys may have bigger muscles, but they often look fluffy, with no cut or definition,” Jorgensen said. “This changes as you mature. Your body gets drier; your skin gets thinner; you get more vascular,” he said. “You look far better than you do when you are young.”
Kasper's tips for older gym-goers
• First, what’s your goal? If it’s only to lose a few pounds, a diet can do that easily. But if your goal is to attain better overall health and get your blood circulating, maybe even tone up and build some muscle, then you need to start an exercise program and have a clean diet. Once you start seeing changes, the process will fuel itself, giving you the motivation to keep at it.
• If weight loss is the main goal: Use healthy fats such as almonds and avocados as your primary fuel. Decrease your carbohydrate (rice, breads, potatoes, etc.) intake to between 50 to 100 grams a day. Lower overall insulin levels — achieved by reducing carbohydrates — allow your body to more readily access fat stores for energy.
• To gain weight or muscle: Lower your fat intake and increase your proteins and carbs, but ensure they are clean carbs from whole foods, instead of processed carbs or junk food. Muscles need carbohydrates, water and sodium to fill out, and protein to rebuild them after a workout.
• Eat to fuel your workouts. High-intensity interval training is favored for its ability to burn more calories in less time. It also stimulates hormones similar to those stimulated during weight training. But fats are not an effective fuel for high-intensity cardio workouts. Opt instead for fast-burning carbohydrates like white rice and sweet potatoes.
The body takes longer to burn fats than carbs, so if your pre-workout fuel is low- to no-carb, ensure your cardio is low-intensity so your body has time to burn those fats to use them as energy. Go at a slow pace, 2 to 3 mph with an incline on the treadmill, or on the stair machine for an hour. Low-intensity cardio helps to cut fat while maintaining muscle.
• Willpower and discipline will be the keys to your success. It’s not just the discipline of going to the gym, but also of cooking your food and eating and sleeping on a timely schedule. These are the cornerstones of good fitness, and if you mess with one of these basics, nothing else works.
• Older muscle looks better, but older bodies also get hurt faster. So, be smart and be careful. Take time to warm up your muscles before commencing your workout, and when lifting, utilize straps and wraps to minimize strain and injury.
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