Your first show.. Experiences/lessons learned

[Rookie]

Was just curious on all the first show experiences the BBers have gone through and how much they weighed at their first show and at their last...

1) What was your first show like, nerves etc

2) What mistakes/mishaps did you make in prep

3) How did you do things differently for your next show?

4) What advice would you give to someone who is wanting to compete? Compete when you get the opportunity or wait till you've got some decent size?

Rookie

[PeterDolan]

Listening to too many different people for advice

Not practicing posing enough

Over carbing

Bad colour

You're bound to not get something right first comp, don't stress and enjoy it

[soundsgood]

Heres a few ideas off the top of my head.

You should not attempt to enter your first comp under your own steam. You have to find someone who has competed successfully before to guide you through. Whether they write up your whole diet, supplement, training and cardio sessions or whether they are just someone to bounce ideas off you need them. I would recommend as PD has said, taking advice from just one person only and sticking with it. For your first comp this person should be able to see you physically as opposed to just over the Internet.

You also need to seek out a qualified Posing instructor. There are IFBB judges around most of the country who will take you through your mandatories and help you construct your free posing routine as well for a fee. This is money very very well spent. You cannot possibly learn all the intricacies if posing via YouTube or a magazine. The earlier you can start doing this the better. If you have well prepared your routine you will be much less nervous performing it and will enjoy the day more.

Make sure you are lean enough. Don't worry about sacrificing too much muscle while you cut. If it's your first time cutting yes you will freak out going from a decent 100kg down to a shredded 80kg and fitting medium shirts for the first time in 5 years. You will look better with less fat, slightly less muscle than if you are still fat and got a little bit more muscle. Judges will reward leanness and conditioning over mass every time.

Don't get carried away during your diet. Yes you can a cheat meal 4 weeks out and it won't affect too much. Don't pull out of the comp because of it.

Most people turn into short wicked pricks in the weeks leading up to comp. Realise you will be more tired and irritable than normal because you are hungry and training harder. Try and deal with your feeling internally rather than throwing them at other people around you.

Don't worry about sodium depleting, more to it than most people realize, save it for your next comp.

Use diuretics, herbal or otherwise. A dry physique looks so much better!

The carbup is not as important as some would have you believe. As Harry says, it can make you look 10% better or 50% worse. So be cautious on your carbup. Definately carb deplete leading up to the show but I would say be careful about throwing to many carbs in on the days leading up to the comp, this is your first comp, you want to look good for this one, you can experiment with it more your next one. Again this is something you can discuss with your mentor as you get closer to the comp. If you have time up your sleeve, you can have a trial run carb deplete and curb up 3-4 weeks out from comp to see how you react.

Shave your body 3-4 days out from comp, then again night before so you are nice and smooth when the tan is applied. Some like a base spray tan a few days before, some like to do it all on the day. Up to you.

Personally I think more people should compete. Nothing like it really. It's a big effort but worth it. Even if you stripped down to 70kg Rookie, you'd be a solid 70kg and you'd look mean.

[teamfatboy]

Wow, great post SG.... answered a lot of questions

[nate225]

Wow, great post SG.... answered a lot of questions

That. :nod:

Two things I learnt the hard way are you can never be too dark, and you can never be too lean. :nod:

[Bobsta]

Here's what my experience was at my 1st show, (i've only done 2, both last year, 3 weeks apart)

I had to fly down to another town but also had to work friday so the flight was quite a late one, arrived at the hotel about midnight, I did my own diet through out my prep as i knew my body pretty good, my plan was to carb up throughout the night as i knew I probably wouldnt get much sleep cause I still had to do my 3 or 4 coats of the Kabakoff contest colour, and obvoiusly you have to wait between coats for it to dry.

I had put some rice cakes etc aside in a bag for my carb up, once arrived at the hotel I realised I had the left the effing bag at home!!!

I thought ok sweet, lets have a look at the late night hotel menu and all they had was ham and cheese sandwich and nacho's. Obvoiusly this wasnt part of my plan and I was realy annoyed and in that depleted state I went real stubbern and thought f*ck this im ganna wait until the morning where i can go buy somthing decent.

Was up pretty much all night getting painted on and starving.

Anyway 7am arrived and i was down stairs eating everything i could at the buffet breakfast.

Fast forward a few hours and I signed in at the show and I got the number 31, there was only 40 somthing competitiors so i thought its gonna be ages before its my turn, so i decided i was gonna go for a walk and do a bit of site seeing :nod:

Found this little cafe and i thought why not lets get somthing to eat, got a chicken salad and some rice, took my sweet time eating it and casualy walked back to the town hall where the show was at.

As i walked in one of the ladies that was gonna help me with my taning ran to me and said where the hell have you been?? you're up in 2mins???

WTF?? we run to the back stage and she strated putting the color on me.

A couple of people said i wont make it and its too late, anyway heard the last call and just ran down the hall way and just made it, the very last guy on stage :pfft:

As for my bodyweight, i was about 88kg on stage, but i had a very slow cut which i prefer for my body type as im usually quite lean anyway, at the start of the diet i was about 95.

Nerves?? I was suprisingly relaxed apart from the f*ck up with the timing and also the lack of food the night before the show. I guess again it comes down to how well you know your own body, and that sorta gave me a lot of confidence.

I had a few other mishaps in my next show which was 3 weeks later but I leave that for another time.

The main advice I guess is be super organized the last few days and especialy on the day, do your homework before hand re your prep and when you know you've done everything you could that in itself would give you a lot of confidence which then would show on stage.

[weener lad]

You're bound to not get something right first comp, don't stress and enjoy it

And every other comp following as you will try new things :pfft:

SG great post covered most of it but.

Definately carb deplete leading up to the show

:naughty: Not necessarily, why if your weight is fine and your still full would you change everything and pull out the carbs? It will just flatten you out and then you will overdo it trying to put them all back in. If you need to make weight class then sure but if it ain't broken do change it especially in the last week.

My two cents: Man up and get waxed or do it yourself about 5 days out then all you need to do is get a base tan the day before and your sorted.

Like everybody has alluded to, PLEASE get some expert advice not only can they sort your diet, training and posing. They will also have an impartial and hopefully brutaly honest view of how you are shaping up.

Finally enjoy the experience you may hate all the cravings and early morning cardio but it is all worth it come the day of the comp.

[Darwinstef]

Some great posts here. I'm with Wenner, wax is gold. Personally I found the pain of contest colour on top of freshly shaved worse than waxing :pfft:

I always seem to find the actual day really relaxing, theres not much more you can do so you might as well relax and enjoy it. One thing tho, there's no need to pump up for a solid 2 hours before you get on stage, seen that enough times , better to relax and give it death 10-15 out.

Be patient with your helpers if your feeling a bit carb depleted and twitchy, chances are they are on the money and your just being unreasonable, thank god my wife has the patience of a saint.

Overall just enjoy it, it's good fun.

[PeterDolan]

Waxing is a no go for me. My hair is so thick that not all the hair would come out so I still had to shave. Shit hurts like a motherfucker too.

I'd like to say thanks on behalf of all men to the women that get their snizz's waxed, it cant be easy

[jimjim83]

Waxing is a no go for me. My hair is so thick that not all the hair would come out so I still had to shave. Shit hurts like a motherfucker too.

I'd like to say thanks on behalf of all men to the women that get their snizz's waxed, it cant be easy

Its a different kind of wax PD not nearly as painful as legs believe it or not.

[AgentOrange]

I'd like to say thanks on behalf of all men to the women that get their snizz's waxed, it cant be easy

Its a different kind of wax PD not nearly as painful as legs believe it or not.

Have you had yours done Jim ? :pfft:

[Optimass]

1) What was your first show like, nerves etc

Nerves not that bad - I had 2 glasses of wine and a shot of whiskey before I went on. :nod: made it easier to get through the routine. I was leaner than most of the guys so this was a confidence booster as well. I had been training with a successful competitor leading up to the show which was a big help. (We had a team entered that year so support structure was good).

2) What mistakes/mishaps did you make in prep

Dehydrating and not taking in enough carbs - 1 day load and should have done 2-3 days. (bw was 85kg).

3) How did you do things differently for your next show?

Overhydrated with a sodium load > also used glycerol for the first time in transitioning my carb load ... Came in nice and full -. I carbed up on creamed rice which worked well but there was a 3 hour delay in theshw starting so it had already hit my skin by the time I had gotten on stage.

4) What advice would you give to someone who is wanting to compete? Compete when you get the opportunity or wait till you've got some decent size?

Don't worry about size bro - it's nice to get a trophy but it's not really what novice is about. If you worry too much about winning your first show you may miss all the excitement. I made heaps of new contacts/friends, people I still talk to today. Second show is a bit different as you have something to bench mark on. Your first show is to have a bit of fun with.

The after party was awesome - it's amazing how much piss you can put away after dieting for so long and then finally getting to indulge in some real food

[tomsammce]

my first show i ever did was 17 years old, did the taupo INBA show weighed 66kg. barbara wheeler talked me into it leanne simays did my diet as i had no idea wtf i was doing i weighed 62 when first went to see her ended up 66kg 10 weeks later and leaner too. loved my first competition was nervous as hell from the time i woke up in morning to the second i came off stage... i look back at the photos now and laugh i had such shit posing and i remember shaking so much while up there. came off the stage with a huge smile on my face... i was addicted to bodybuilding! i got 2nd out of 2 (last) and the competitor who beat me was in exactly same boat as me... we became mates and hes now my best friend 7-8 years down track.

my comp was and still is very memorable for me and got alot out of it, i would never have imagined getting as big as i got back then. i would definitly say if you thinking about it but edging on the side of not sure to just go for it! especially for younger guys like i was it just adds so much more motivation to your training, ull meet lotsa good people that can help you further your training and give u nutrition advice and supplement deals and then ull meet some not so good ones if you choose to go down that road. but a great experience overall!

do it rookie.

[Rookie]

Damn, thanks for all the responses guys

Awesome insight thanks SG: The coach over here is a JBBF judge and was an amatuer BBer and said he'll help me out with diet/training+cardio/posing. Its time to change my mindset from getting stronger to looking the best I can, as you say physique is all that matters so I need to instill that mentality!!!!

Also thanks to everyone else for their input.. Opti thanks for the comment re not worrying about mass etc.... Will aim to get as shredded as possible but not look like Rakich 85kgs for your first show is AWESOME!!!!!!!! As you said I'll just use this as a stepping stone

WL: Thanks a lot mate, I saw you compete last year and :shock: if I can reach conditioning somewhere near that at 70kgs should be good. Did you change your carb sources as soon as you went into prep? I've been told brown rice, soba noodles and all slow digesting carbs will be in and fibre will go up too

Also to my brother Tomsammce: Shot bro, thanks for the encouragement man! Will be good to see what I look like all stripped down. Sounds like your first show experience turned out very well :nod: I'll take the pansy plunge and represent TEAM HUHUHU! LETS GOOOOOOO!!!!!

[soundsgood]

I'm pretty sure Doc just deleted you off his facebook :pfft:

[weener lad]

WL: Thanks a lot mate, I saw you compete last year and :shock: if I can reach conditioning somewhere near that at 70kgs should be good. Did you change your carb sources as soon as you went into prep? I've been told brown rice, soba noodles and all slow digesting carbs will be in and fibre will go up too

Cheers fella but condition can and will always get better. I don't change my diet all that much but in saying that I stay reasonably lean all year round. So come 12-15 weeks out it's just a matter of increasing my cardio and cutting out the nice stuff (sauces ect). That decrease in calories seems to be enough for me to have a steady decrease (500g per week) till about 4-5 weeks out then I'll adjust by cutting meals sizes as necessary. With a weight limit of 81kg it will be a while before I have major problems making weight class.

Like everybody has said just get lean and hard. Don't be one of these chaps who is so concerned about his size that he gets up on stage at 8%+ BF and looks shit. Lean and conditioned will always look bigger, unless your up against a monster :pfft:

[cantygirl]

This year will be my 21st comp, never had a year off. Im still learning.

The biggest mistake I made was listening to the team leader during an Australian comp tell us we had so much time and not to rush. Normally I get ready tanning up in plenty of time so that I can enjoy some wine and gently pump up with no stress. Rushing back stage running down the stairs half prepared is no fun - be prepared early.

You will experiment with carbs/without carbs, with diretics/without etc over time and figure out what was your best look. Enjoy the ride, its very addictive.

[oldfella]

Brilliant thread with a lot of valuable information. :clap:

Excellent feedback from those with the experience.

[Matrix]

Hi Rookie,

There is some good advice on this thread.

Ive done a half dozen shows now and have made pretty much every mistake too but as long as you learn from each show, then that ok in my book.

From my experiences, not getting to heavy/fat/over your target weight is very important (I compete in a restricted weight NABBA Athletic Class).

My first show I got up to a sloppy 94 kg and whilst I had made some solid strength gains getting there, getting the 17kgs off in 11 weeks to compete meant 2 x 45minute cardio sessions per day, 6 days a week,which left me looking flat and still not as lean as I wanted on stage as my body reached a form of starvation mode. i also got ALOT weaker, which took a long time to get back and meant that I had sacrificed alot of muscle getting the fat off!

6 months later I did a show, stayed within 6-7 kgs of my weight goal, looked alot leaner, stayed stronger and won my class.

I agree that posing is probably the most important yet most neglected aspect of Bodybuilding, especially amongst the guys. Everyone loves to train and loves they way they look pumped at the gym, yet come 8 weeks from the show, every excuse in the book comes out to avoid practising. For two reasons 1: its boring, 2:its hard and laborious, as hard as any workout,especially when you are in a jaded, energy restricted state yet it can literally be the differnence between winning or losing or a 2nd or 4th place.

E.G. Andy on this sight had the best physique in his novice athletic line up at the Nth harbours Last year, but didn't have any colour and didnt look confident with his posing. 6-8 weeks of hard practice + good stage colour and confidence and he would have cleaned up, cause he had a great, ripped physique. I dont think you will see him repeat these mistakes again though!

For hair removal, I have always had good results with delipatory creams on my legs and arms, just dont get it anywhere near more sensitive areas otherwise you will quite lierally see god!

For Colour: I have always used a Pro or Dream Tan base, then Dream Tan Cream on the day and plenty of it as I am pasty. Even my then 2 year son didn't initially recognize me backstage and I am certain my mum didn't either.

Also be careful with pre stage boosters as if you sweat too much on stage it can kill you colour. I had 2 too many Niacin, sweated soo much that I looked like a racoon on my first show!

For whether to do it or not: I believe the good usually outways the bad, you meet some great people and it teaches you to push through adversity and not to accept mediocrity. It also gives you an appreciation of just how hard evryone works to look good on stage Man/woman/juiced/or natty, it all takes alot of hard work and discipline, but it is worth the experience, at least once!

[jimjim83]

I'd like to say thanks on behalf of all men to the women that get their snizz's waxed, it cant be easy

Its a different kind of wax PD not nearly as painful as legs believe it or not.

Have you had yours done Jim ? :pfft:

Yes

[Rookie]

I'm pretty sure Doc just deleted you off his facebook :pfft:

:oops: I actually checked as soon as you said that lol!

Will use next year as my year for PLing/BBing off season

WL: Thanks a lot mate, I saw you compete last year and :shock: if I can reach conditioning somewhere near that at 70kgs should be good. Did you change your carb sources as soon as you went into prep? I've been told brown rice, soba noodles and all slow digesting carbs will be in and fibre will go up too

Cheers fella but condition can and will always get better. I don't change my diet all that much but in saying that I stay reasonably lean all year round. So come 12-15 weeks out it's just a matter of increasing my cardio and cutting out the nice stuff (sauces ect). That decrease in calories seems to be enough for me to have a steady decrease (500g per week) till about 4-5 weeks out then I'll adjust by cutting meals sizes as necessary. With a weight limit of 81kg it will be a while before I have major problems making weight class.

Like everybody has said just get lean and hard. Don't be one of these chaps who is so concerned about his size that he gets up on stage at 8%+ BF and looks shit. Lean and conditioned will always look bigger, unless your up against a monster :pfft:

Sweet, I will aim to get sliced and diced mate. The coach was saying that I could get away with losing more weight/fat in a shorter time since my levels aren't low to start with, but reckons we'll need to be careful as I get leaner and leaner. Will get started on posing asap too

Hi Rookie,

There is some good advice on this thread.

Ive done a half dozen shows now and have made pretty much every mistake too but as long as you learn from each show, then that ok in my book.

From my experiences, not getting to heavy/fat/over your target weight is very important (I compete in a restricted weight NABBA Athletic Class).

My first show I got up to a sloppy 94 kg and whilst I had made some solid strength gains getting there, getting the 17kgs off in 11 weeks to compete meant 2 x 45minute cardio sessions per day, 6 days a week,which left me looking flat and still not as lean as I wanted on stage as my body reached a form of starvation mode. i also got ALOT weaker, which took a long time to get back and meant that I had sacrificed alot of muscle getting the fat off!

Thanks for that Matrix! I'm looking to drop about 16kgs in just under 20 weeks. Nothing drastic I don't think, I've always been a porky kid so will be interesting to see how I look once all the fat is off and how my body will respond to the diet and everything else.

Will be hoping to not lose strength, I know pros don't apply to the average person but I heard about how Branch Warren said he still lifts as heavy as possible going into a comp. Training will still revolve around the big compounds and lifting heavy but just more volume and exercises/drop sets etc on the rest.

Once again thanks for your insight mate. I'm hoping to compete at over 80kgs+ on stage later on 5+ years time since I want to give competitive BBing a real crack!

Rookie

[HarryB]

Lot's of good stuff here Rook... I would say just follow your gym coaches advice and don't get too caught up looking for a million different ways to get in shape, sounds like he has some tried and true methods. The process is hard but really try and enjoy the journey and changes!

Definitely looking forward to it! And don't train light!!!!!!

Lol 80k on stage in 5 years? Come to sydney? 80k onstage same time next year lol

[Rookie]

Lot's of good stuff here Rook... I would say just follow your gym coaches advice and don't get too caught up looking for a million different ways to get in shape, sounds like he has some tried and true methods. The process is hard but really try and enjoy the journey and changes!

Definitely looking forward to it! And don't train light!!!!!!

Lol 80k on stage in 5 years? Come to sydney? 80k onstage same time next year lol

Cheers bro, haha would love to live over there bro and do some BBing too. Anyways off to see the coach now and get things sorted for the diet