nabba nationals

[hrdcor]

The problem is in alot of cases the Athletics look more muscular and better than the Body building class,so this is a sad inditement on the bodybuilding classes or just another confusion for the athletes and the audiance,I beleive there is just way to many classes these days!!!

There should be :

Bodybuilding Men/Women-- Jnr,Open,Masters

Figure/Fittness-- Open,Masters

Thats about it realy, to be honest not even sure about the Novice classes, I never ever did novice ,I did junior then Open, most novice conduct them selfs better than Open compettiors any how, so why add to the confusion, thats my take any how !

[grinder]

Its all about getting people to compete which = bums on seats which = $$$. Have a look at the numbers of athletic and figure competitors V's the phys classes. They (NABBA) wanted a class that would attract new competitors from the mainstream gym goers. "Not everyone wants to be super muscular" :roll:

I reckon at least 70% of competitors only do one year i.e. regional & national show and then never compete again..

[frogie2001]

speaking of all this. hhow are those pictures coming along???? I'm pretty keen to see some of the pre judging.

[Pseudonym]

You ask for pictures? Then pictures you shall have! These are courtesy of waxmistress... :grin:

[Pseudonym]

...and still they keep coming... Waxmistress has certainly set the bar high for the rest of you!

[deegee]

well done, a good range of photos there

[frogie2001]

does anyone take note of the compulsories. Holly shit not a single person is standing in a similar way. the side pose is more of a side twist. and the front semi relaxed looks like they have barrels under their arms. I hope everyone competing in the NZFBB nationals has a read of the posing outline

[waxmistress]

Yeah it was quite sad really, the judges kept having to repeat themselves asking for everyone to stand the same way - heaps of women didn't understand "please stand with your feet together". They'd then have to find out which competitor was standing wrong and address her by name! FEET TOGETHER! sheesh.

[waxmistress]

Unfortunately I wasn't around for all the classes. I didn't see how bad lots of the novice physique girls were until the night show, otherwise I'd have taken some pics! It appeared that some of them had just read how to pose as opposed to having seen how it looks or have someone show them how to do it! I don't know why NABBA bothers to have routines if they're not even going to judge them. They're so painful mostly. If you're not going to judge them, then why put the audience through having to watch them! ugh. They make me cringe (hell, MINE makes me cringe!!)

[frogie2001]

I agree. i think it would be so much better if maybe the top three of each category did their routines.

the madaotry poses were consistent to enable a real comparison. i mean how can these physiques be compared if they don't even stand the same way??

i think the NZFBB judging is pretty slack on this too. as their is a lot of variety of madatory posing.

[tallulahangie]

A good example of inconsistent posing is when the Open Physique & International Physique women were doing their compulsories. Barb Wheeler stood out like a sore thumb in stark contrast to the uniformity of Helen and Shona's poses (never mind that Shona is Helen's protege)... Shona and Helen posed like Physique women should!

[frogie2001]

YEAH i DON'T KNOW HOW THE ladies are judged. but i'm sure if they all stood the same and posed the same it would enable a base line to judge from. now don't get me wrong the winners etc deserved..... but when they look like a gabble of loosly based Body Builders I don't see the order. I think point of view would agree and a few of the old dogs. has anyone been to the Olympia. how do they pose the madatories there?

[waldo]

Everyone has seen shots of all the Olympia dudes standing in line, lats flared, then striking poses called by the judges. In fact, i'm going to stick Pumping Iron on to watch that scene again!

Even a layman would agree it's easier to compare when all are standing still striking the same poses.

[frogie2001]

i think that if they are 140kg with lats the size of barrels it is an excuse to stand semi relaxed with the arms out slightly(pushed out by the lats). the shots above have one of the guys standing with invisible barrels under his arms.

[waldo]

i think that if they are 140kg with lats the size of barrels it is an excuse to stand semi relaxed with the arms out slightly(pushed out by the lats). the shots above have one of the guys standing with invisible barrels under his arms.

I call this the 'concrete de-oderant'!

[hrdcor]

I stuggle to see the difference in alot of the photos between Physique and Athletic, ???? Every one looks to be in good shape though, a few have dieted down to much , but thats a learning curve

I offer my congrats to all that competted and you all can be very proud as we all know acheiving such a condition and to make it to the Nationals has to be the hardest thing any of you have done to date , much respect .

[deegee]

What are the signs of dieting down too much ?

[hrdcor]

Intialy the muscles look flat and drained, although the athlete is very lean they seem to have no full ness or clygogen storage in the cells , secondly the athlete looks a little to drawn or starved, given of a stringy apperance in there look , this is usally a visable sighn of muscle loss whilst dieting down,it is common in amature shows but as one gets more experiance in dieting one should be abel to actualy gain muscle whilst getting ready for a show. i was usaly abel to gain around 5kg of muscle whilst dieting through cleaner eating , proper protein counts and more consistent training !

[Varven]

At first I thought most of the competitors had very average backs in terms of width... i.e. none had a spectacular width with huge lat spread outs, forming an overexaggerated V shape.

Now I think about it and I think our perceptions of whats 'normal' in the BB world is influenced by pro's we watch and read about it magazines, internet etc, like Mr O. competitors. So maybe we are quite harsh as public judges as well ?

nonetheless thumbs up to every single competitor and thanks for all the pics waxmistress.

[pimp]

stan looks mean there...stink he came 4th in the international class....hes gona be mean for the aust musclemania

[point of view]

A good example of inconsistent posing is when the Open Physique & International Physique women were doing their compulsories. Barb Wheeler stood out like a sore thumb in stark contrast to the uniformity of Helen and Shona's poses (never mind that Shona is Helen's protege)... Shona and Helen posed like Physique women should!

You are absolutely right.The compulsories should be identical for all the athletes.This is the responsibility of the Head Judge and/or Stage Marshall to enforce otherwise how can you compare the competitors in the COMPARISON poses? This takes some skill and balls as some personal trainers convince their clients if they turn this way or bend that way they will get a fantastic competitve advantage(at a price of course) as only they know these tricks.Obviously they want to get their money's worth.

The way around this is to make it clear at the competitors briefing what the the judges expect with the compulsory poses and Quarter Turns(what a joke they are) and let them know that if you deviate from the standard you get marked down.

No one wants to come down heavy especially at the Nationals but those people on the stage have implicit trust in the judges and are simply looking for FAIRNESS.They are entitled to this.

I'm glad that this was raised and appreciate the excellent comments by people who have thought about it.

Just a quick word about Helen-what an amazing lady.Five years ago she was the proverbial bean pole,a chronic asthmatic (still is but improving)

has 4 children to look after and holds down a job as an instructor at Don Olivers.On top of that she is a lovely person. However being a westie she tells it how it is but is as genuine as they come.

No frills or BS with Helen,she never brags about herself but pays tributes to the people who encourage her and then encourages others. Shona is a classic example of her training.Heavy weights with good form,rest,lots of food 7-8 times a dayand above all no drama's or crises.I have high hopes for her at the Universe in November(3rd last year) but be aware if she wins she probably wont tell anyone!

[FemMuscles]

A few notes on things mentioned above coming from a competitor and judge of bodybuildng.

Waxmistress= everyone has done hard yards to get up on stage so deserve their right to have their time on stage to shine when it comes to routines. Audience is paying for some entertainment and its usually Novice athletes families coming for support, sometimes you pay upto $15-$20 to the movies and yet you take the risk the movie sucks. Not everyone can move on stage but you go to support the athletes and the sport. Dont like routines then go to the morning show only!

Frogie = Posing does vary in NABBA and INBA. If judges are good at what they do the they should be able to see through the different posing and still do their job and judge no matter how someones feet are placed. Different posing adds more feminity to the womens class', even physique, and different style posing and grace looks great on the men physiques. Arnold always posed different and his way to everyone, he used how he could change his body with posing different to everyone else, so he could WIN. One great thihng with NABBA and INBA symmetry adnd mandatory rounds is they look at ALL sides of your body and look for faults, you train your body fro balance of muscle and you train your weakness. BRING in a lat pose for the NZFFB women for physique and we will see where their athletes lack in symmetry! NO backs! Jackie Herbet would have beaten Jo Stewart easy in that pose.

Tallulahangie = yeah there was a difference in Barbara's posing in womens physique to Shona's, but we may need to ask WHY is womens physique dying or small in numbers? Is it because the posing is too regiment and butch looking. More style, grace, and feminity should be in womens physique as per figure so it shows that they are as much women as the ones in heels. Its like Plain black bikini's in NZFBB womens physique, if a judge is good at their job they should be able to see the body only and not the bikini. If we allow more colour it may bring more girls back into or try womens physique. You ask many novice women why they want to try Figure, because its more girly!

Just a few thoughts - there is NO money in this sport so why HAVE too many rules on how you can best show your physique.

[frogie2001]

I still reckon that similarity of posing is crucial for a real comparison. having invisible barrels under arms and doing a half stride side chest semi tensed/relaxed.

but you are right and I hope the judeges read this. they are the ones that need to slap the competitors around and ensure that they are posing the same.