The first time you start prepping for a show, it can be exciting to look forward to how far you will come in the short months! But there is a lot to consider in order to present your best! How much and of what to eat, workout programs, posing, costs, tan, etc. But as long as you get your game plan down, you will already be ahead of most others! Here we will go over a few things you should know, and be expect before getting too deep into your first competition prep!
# 1 Enjoy The Journey
You should be competing because you love to live the fitness lifestyle. You like to exercise, be healthy, and maybe inspire or show others how far you can go with it! Remember that for when the workouts and diet get hard. As you diet down, your energy levels will drop, and workouts will be more difficult. But thats all part of becoming the best you can be! Dedicate yourself to your goals, and don’t allow anything to veer away from them. Because when you get up on stage, and you know you gave it everything you had, it is all worth it, and it can be some of the greatest moments of your life!
# 2 Plan Ahead
This goes for more than just picking a show, and purchasing your NPC card. Im talking about giving yourself time to prep. The diet and exercise shouldn’t take just a few days, or a month. Allow about 12 weeks to prep for this show (depending on how much you need to transform). You’re going to be spending some money on it, so make it worth it, by presenting your best self! This happens through slow but steady improvements over weeks and months. The more time you give yourself, the less stressful it will be, and the more muscle you will retain when burning fat and cutting weight. This will make you look much better on stage, and able to enjoy your prep a little more.
# 3 Posing
Ask any judge. Posing and presentation are probably the most important parts of the competition! So practice as often as you can. At least 3 weeks out! This will make you look and feel more confident on stage, and allow you to perfect what shows your physique the best! You can never be too good at posing! If it’s your first show, I highly recommend getting a posing coach, or just someone who has done it plenty of times before!
# 4 Not A Skinny Show
People will sometimes cut way too much for their first show and just look skinny and weak when they get on stage. You have to remember, this is a bodybuilding show. Whether you are competing bodybuilding, physique, figure, or bikini, you can’t just walk on stage like a stick! It may be hard to do at first, but monitor yourself and your progress. If you are cutting down too much, too early, you may need to up your calorie intake. It can be very helpful to get a second opinion on your progress, So maybe getting a friend or coach to help can go a long way. Because no one wants to look fantastic 3 weeks out, and terrible on show day!
# 5 Tracking
Tracking your workouts and nutrition are both very important. You want to keep your workouts intense, and retain your strength as much as possible! On top of the workouts, your diet is obviously the most important to track. Doing it all in your head would work, but that just sucks! Personally I use MyFitnessPal.com to track my calories and macros. This makes life so much easier, and hassle free!
# 6 Tanning and Show Day
So the day finally comes. The few moments you have been training for months for! The last thing you want to do is throw it all away by messing something up on the last day! So make sure everything is packed (food, cloths, suit, pillow, cards, etc.) Make sure you are on time for your tan which is usually the day before. If everyone in the show is getting their tan from a specific tanning company, its usually a good idea to get yours from them to! That way you don’t run a higher risk of having a bad tan that stands out in a bad way. Lastly, back to enjoying the journey, enjoy the last few moments of this one! Your time on stage is where you can really show off what you have accomplished, and own the stage! Its what the audience and judges want to see! And don’t get too nervous! Just go up, have fun, and deliver your best self! You worked hard for it!
