Whakatāne bodybuilder Paul Mountfort is back and better than ever with recent success at the North Island Bodybuilding Championships, following a decade off the stage.

The newly crowned Mr Auckland in the athletic men class won both in his age category of 50-plus and overall, where he competed against men of varying ages in Auckland at the weekend.

He now has his sights set on the NABBA New Zealand National Championships in October in Invercargill. A month later, he will travel to Germany for the NAC Universe Championships.

At 50-years-old, Mountfort said there was an expectation from others that he would slow down – but that could not be further from the truth, and he felt that he was just reaching his prime.

“I have conditioned myself through years of training and I feel that I’m at my peak, which seems very strange to some people. You expect the peak to be earlier.

“I feel the body went out to pasture for a few years, which was a good thing. It gave it time to rest and recover.

“I believe it’s my time now to go overseas and have a good crack at it.”

Mountfort is no stranger to the pressures of the world stage and has hopes of a top three finish on the November 30 competition day, which is also his birthday.

“I have been on the world stage before several times; I know what I’m up against and I know it will be a tough call, but I’m up for it and I’m looking forward to the challenge that is coming,” he said.

“I'm pushing hard for it.”

He did not expect to return to the stage when he gave the sport up a decade ago to focus on family, but he felt that he left the international competition with unfinished business.

“When I left the world stage, I was 18^th, and I was not happy. I threw a hissy fit, chucked my toys in the bin and decided that was me done.

“That wasn’t the best way to leave the sport, and, in that time, I learned to let things go.

“I'm coming back a lot more humble and accepting of judging decisions. I'm 50 now and if I don’t do this, there will be regret that I didn’t.”

Prior to the Auckland competition, Mountfort put in 12 hard weeks of preparation at The Temple gym in Edgecumbe, The Rock Pit gym in Whakatāne and another gym at Mount Maunganui.

He said dedication was key in the sport of bodybuilding.

“Discipline is the key. You can have all the motivation in the world, but if you don’t have discipline then it’s not going to happen for you.”

Following his North Island success, Mountfort is focused on holding on to the muscle tone he has already got and building to be at his peak by the time he is in Germany.

“I was at 90 per cent for the Auckland show, not my best.

“With this sport you need to aim for a peak. Your peak needs to be the world stage, not here in New Zealand.”

Mountfort is also a personal trainer and took client Brandon Vercoe with him to the North Island Championship.

Vercoe said he began bodybuilding training from Mountfort in July last year, but this weekend was the first time he had been on stage, with several bulks and cuts in between.

He competed in the tall class of the novice athletic men division.

“It was nerve-wracking just because it was something new, but I really enjoyed it, and it was an awesome event.”

Vercoe said the final two weeks ahead of the competition were the most difficult and he was taking the time this week to relax with his family after making sacrifices during his training.

He does not intend to go to the national competition this year, but plans to continue working on his training, with a potential return to the stage in 2025.

Novice bodybuilder and The Temple member Emma Robinson's experience at the NABBA North Island Championships will be published in Friday’s paper.