CHAPTER 51

Your First Contest

“I believe bodybuilding can be an art form – only when the emphasis is off who is the biggest and put back into perspective, that is, who has the most pleasing physique coupled with the best stage presence.”

– Scot Dickerson, NANBF president, commenting on what direction he’d like to see bodybuilding go.

“Most judges have competed; maybe not as professional bodybuilders but at the amateur level. The IFBB wants people who have competed to judge because former competitors have a different take than a person who has never set foot on a bodybuilding stage.”

– Rich Gaspari, three-time Mr. Olympia runner-up and bodybuilding judge, responding to an interviewer’s question.

Now that you know what you’re shooting for, the next order of business is choosing your first contest. And the best competitive place for you to be located at the event is … in the audience! Yes that’s right. You don’t make your first contest one you compete in. If your image of bodybuilding is simply standing onstage hitting a double-biceps pose, you’ve got a long way to go. Most seasoned bodybuilders will tell you that preparing for a contest can be more demanding than off-season training. And the nutrition restrictions of pre-contest dieting are much harder on the mind. So your first step toward the Sandow statue is sitting comfortably in the audience at a local contest.

When you go to your first contest, don’t limit your observations to the competitors and their routines. Sit back and take in what corporate executives call the “big picture.” Watch the judges. Make note of which competitors they call out most frequently. What seems to catch their eyes? Which competitors cause the most discussion? Listen to the audience. Which posing routines get them clapping and “into it?” Which routines are met with silence? Don’t be afraid to eavesdrop. Bodybuilding audiences are among the most knowledgeable in the world, and you can learn a great deal just by listening to the chitchat that takes place among the judges and audience members.

Besides what’s taking place on the stage and in the audience, many contests have a small trade show associated with them. Many local supplement and fitness clothing stores will have booths set up outside the contest auditorium. Take a look at what they’re selling. Do you need posing trunks? Posing oil? Tanning lotions? How about some hot new workout clothes? A quick walk through the lobby will introduce you to a whole new world of bodybuilding merchandise.

GETTING TO IT

Bodybuilding contests are divided into two sections: the prejudging and the finals – more popularly called “the evening show.” While the evening show is as much entertainment as judging, the prejudging is very clinical and business-like. While a few close decisions are decided at night, but most of the sorting and ranking takes place in the morning during the prejudging. As a future competitor you will need to attend both parts of the contest to get an idea of what’s expected.

Being in the audience at an event is a great way to observe and learn about what competing involves.
Photo of Melvin Anthony by Irvin Gelb

THE PREJUDGING

The prejudging itself is divided into three rounds – relaxed, compulsory and free posing. If the weight class has a small number of competitors (fewer than four or five) the judges may add a fourth round called “the posedown.” In most cases, however, the judges leave the posedown for the finalists in the evening show. Men perform seven compulsory poses while women do five. In large classes the judges will “call out” (ask to step forward) three to five competitors and take them through the poses. In small classes, the entire class will go through as one unit. As you watch the prejudging you’ll notice that some competitors are frequently called out while others are almost ignored. Although this is not always the case, the competitors called out first are usually the ones the judges believe will battle for the top spots. Occasionally one competitor might be light years ahead of the competition and will be left standing alone, wondering what’s going on (although most of the self-confident types will know exactly what’s going on).

After the compulsories the competitors come out onstage one at a time and do a 60- to 90-second posing routine set to music. This is the most artistic part of the contest and allows each competitor to show his or her creative side. Although it’s no substitute for a great physique, a great posing routine can mean the difference between first and second. In close contests individuals with outstanding posing routines have beat competitors with slightly better physiques. There’s an old saying in golf that you don’t win the tournament on the first day, but you can lose it. The same holds true for the free-posing round. A great posing routine might not win you the whole show but a terrible presentation will probably destroy your chances.

Photo of Lee Priest by Irvin Gelb

Normally, the prejudging starts at 10 a.m. and is complete by noon. But in contests with large numbers of competitors it may start at 9 a.m. and continue until 1 or 2 p.m. By this time most of the contestants feel as if they have gone through two heavy leg workouts along with hard workouts for all their other bodyparts. Holding poses is very tiring, and combined with the hot lights this makes for a group of very tired and very dehydrated bodybuilders.

THE EVENING SHOW

“Over weeks and months of dieting and preparation it seems the contest will never arrive. All of a sudden it’s time to put on the contest color, don your trunks, and head off to the venue to compete. Then it’s all over in the blink of an eye.”

– Ron Harris, regular MuscleMag International contributor

The evening show usually starts around 7 or 8 p.m. It resembles the prejudging, but has a much larger audience, along with one or two entertainment acts (usually martial arts demonstrations), and a guest poser. The audience deserves a special comment. If this is your first bodybuilding contest you’re in for a treat. This is definitely not a night at the opera! Within a minute of the first contestants strolling onstage you’ll see what I mean. Bodybuilding audiences are among the loudest, noisiest and most vocal, around. And nowhere is this more evident than at a city or state contest.

A typical bodybuilding audience is made up of camps, or cliques (just think of the old high school cafeteria), each loyal to one or more contestants. The real wars start when you have groups of competitors from rival gyms. If you think polite applause and the occasional catcall is the extent of it, think again. As soon as the contestants start flexing their stuff the most vocal of the audience members will start yelling their support. From one corner it’s: “squeeze it, squeeze it!” From another it’s: “come on show those abs!” Add in an assortment of “hold its” and “oh yeahs” and you end up with nothing short of verbal mayhem. But this is what makes a bodybuilding contest so exciting and memorable. It seems no matter how hard the competitors try to outdo one another, the audience wants more.

Of course, between the bellowing and screaming there is an actual event. The first three rounds are identical to the prejudging, and then a fourth round is added. Affectionately called the posedown, it’s reminiscent of the knights of old going head to head. The top four or five competitors from the class are asked to step forward and are given one minute to outflex their opponents. Each competitor does his best to match shots with his opponent. By this point most of the competitors know the one to beat, and they converge on him like drones around a queen bee. The objective in the posedown is to try and get the judges to reconsider their rankings – for the better, of course! While this rarely happens, it does make for perhaps the most exciting 60 seconds in bodybuilding.

After the posedown the head judges will ask the competitors to step back and relax. From then on it’s a matter of announcing the winners. In most contests the top five are announced with fourth and fifth receiving medals and first, second and third receiving trophies. There may be the scattered boo during the announcements, but for the most part the judges place the contestants in the same order as the majority of the audience.

Once the winners of the individual classes are determined, they are asked to come back on stage and an overall winner is chosen. At the local levels the overall winner usually comes from the middleweight or light heavyweight divisions, as these are usually the most competitive classes. At the city level many of the heavyweights are either too smooth or just not carrying enough muscle for their height. Conversely, the majority of bantamweights and lightweights seem to get overshadowed by the middle- and light heavyweights. As you work your way up the levels you’ll see the heavyweights starting to dominate the overall class, since by this time they have the muscle mass to fill in their taller frames and overpower the lighter divisions. All things being equal, a good tall bodybuilder will defeat a good shorter opponent.

So what do you think? Are you hooked yet? If so, great. The next time you go to a contest, many of those yells will be directed at you. Of course there are a few intermediate stops along the way, and that’s where I come in.