I am sixteen weeks out from my first competition and scared to death. I have no idea about picking a song or posing. I know there are some videos. How about websites to help. I am also interested in knowing what type of suit would be best and where to purchase one. I know I don't sound very prepared but I'm sure it will all come together for me.

Kellog,
You're right it will all come to together, don't worry. I'm in the same boat - first show in Nov 03. In ref to posing music all I can say is you'll know the right song when you hear it. It will just grab you, that's what happened to me. As for posing I do have someone helping me with that area, but I also have the posing video that is offered thru Beverly. In ref to posing suits if you search the web type in "posing suits" you'll get tons of results. I know and have heard of "Cherry Bombs", good suits at fair prices. Best of Luck
Kristy

As for music pick something that fits your physique and personality. If you are a larger competitor youll probably be okay with heavy rock etc, but me, as a bantam, should not go out to something like Down with the Sickness etc. Again, I think the music should fit the physique...if this makes sense. Or state of mind or a message you want to convey.

Posing trunks will fit your hair color and skin tone. You probably have a decent idea about which colors look good on you. Go with this its no different. As a blonder person with green eyes and golden skin Ive found that green and blues look best on me, at least Ive been told so.

Beyond all this your main focus should be getting your diet in order. Id contact beverly if you havent already done so or at least get someone to work with you who has done this before.

Good luck and make valuable use of this board.

JT

I just did my first show back in May, and am getting ready for my 2nd show in 8 weeks. Let me share a couple things that I learned:

Suit: If you have good legs, and they come in nice, go with a Pro Cut style which is thinner on the side. If your legs aren't as strong, or don't come in, go with a Euro style which has a little more fabric on the side.

Music: I agree with JT, I am a LHW so I go as heavy as I can find (it's cool that I already like the heavy stuff). Find a song that gets you "jacked up" and that'll be the one.

Posing: Since this is the first one, I would get the video from Beverly, then if possible visit Beverly or hook up with them at booth at some show and get some pointers. But MOST IMPORTANTLY, pose, pose, pose, and when you are done, pose some more. Here's a segment from an article that Dave Payne did, I did most of this for my other show:
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Tip #3 – Pose, Pose, Pose!
This is the most neglected area of precontest preparation. How ironic! Bodybuilding competition is posing! In 9 years of competing, no bodybuilding judge has ever asked me how much I can squat or deadlift!
I start posing practice at 12 weeks out. I begin with 3 – 15 minute early morning posing sessions per week, holding each mandatory pose for 15 seconds. I work my way around in a circle hitting every pose. After I complete all the mandatory poses, that’s one set. I do 2 total sets.

Each week, I add 5 – 10 seconds until I reach a full minute on each pose. Eight weeks out, I add an evening session. I’m now doing 2 sessions per day - one in the morning and another in the evening. I get up early, take my morning supplements – GH Factor, Energy Reserve and Lean Out - hit the stereo (being careful not to crank it too loud to wake my wife!), and start my session. I do my 1-minute holds for 2 total sets with a 15-second rest between each pose. I use a stopwatch to make sure I’m on track. The entire session lasts 25 minutes.


Dave's pre contest supplements in PDF format:
Energy Reserve - GH Factor | Co Factor Vitamins
At my evening session I start with 2 sets of 30-second holds followed by my "prejudging drill”. I made a 10-minute tape where I call out quarter turns and poses just like the head judge at prejudging. This drill is tremendous for practicing quarter turns. No rest between poses; stay tight the entire drill. For variation use an actual prejudging tape from a previous show. Put it in the VCR, press play, and go through it just like you’re on stage.

At six weeks out I add my 90-second posing routine to music 3 times back to back to end my evening session. I do 2 posing sessions Monday through Friday, Saturday one long session, and Sundays off.

I keep this posing regimen until the last week before the show. If you’ve followed your Beverly diet to the tee, you’ll find you can reduce or eliminate cardio the final week. I use the extra time to add yet a 3rd posing session, 2 more sets of 30-second holds. I can’t over emphasize the difference in hardness and muscle separation these posing sessions will make - you can overdo training or cardio but you can’t pose too much!
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I knew one of my judges and he said my posing was great. Make sure you really stress the "relaxed" position, you never know what's going to happen when you get on stage and what the judges will have you do. For my show, I did make the call out, so I had to stand over on the side for what seemed like forever. That whole time I did my best to stay in the relaxed pose. You want to look professional and confident, after watching my video and seeing what some of the other guys were doing (hands on hips, slouched over, who knows what), it's important to separate yourself.

I hope I didn't ramble too much, but just coming off my first time, it was fresh in my head.

Good luck!!!

Dwayne
ps - the more you practice your posing and your routine, the better you will feel on stage in front of the crowd.

Dwayne
Totally not rambling, I thanks for the good info on comp. for the first time. I plan on doing a show late summer early fall,I will be taking you advice!
Laura

Laura, Go visit www.cherrybombs.net, she has wonderful suits! She form fits them to your body style! I just picked up my Two-Piece and One-Piece from her this past weekend! Shes awesome, she does this for a living! Her name is Cheri as in the bomb!

Melissa J.

melissa j.
Hey thanks I will definatly check it out, hopefully not to pocket wrenching. I am single and in the military, and 2 other side jobs just to get supp. and a trainer its hard on a small budget! When are you doing your show?
Laura

We got our suits from cherrybombs as well -- very happy with them and great service, reasonable prices.

Im doing my 1st Figure show on March 20th in Fargo, ND! Im very nervous but excited too! Might try bodybuilding too sometime!

Cheri is very affordable I think for the work that she does! I paid $100.00 per suit and its definitely worth that! Especially when you want to look your best for your 1st!

Best Wishes to you!

Tell Cheri I told you to call, she'll be glad!

totally! Thank you guys and GOOD LUCK all my best to both!!

Another good source for posing suits is jagware.

web site is www.jagware-posingsuits.com

They had low prices and good service.

VA MadDog