My first Classic Physique bodybuilding competition is less than 8 weeks out. That may seem like a long time, but when you are sculpting your body it is not a whole lot of time. The class I am currently in has the max weight at 175 lbs. I’m only tipping the scale at 161 lbs. My goal was to be at 170 lbs before my cut (which will be minimal since I naturally do not hold much body fat). At this point I don’t think I will be able to add any weight. In fact I will most likely be going in a few pounds lighter.
My biggest challenge will be posing. I have been working for almost a year on spreading my lats with little to no progress. Finally a trainer at my gym (FIT Iowa City) asked about my workout routine. As I listed off my back exercises and said “rows” he stopped me and said “NO MORE ROWS”. My traps and rhomboids are a bit overdeveloped as well so yes backing off the rows is good advice I’m also working on what poses show off my strengths. I concentrated on isolation exercises for my lats and within a couple weeks BAM. I finally got the mind muscle connection I needed. Posing without a mirror has shown to be tough, but when I get on stage I need to be able to go off of feel because there is no mirror to look off of. So I will either have someone critique me or be recording my posing to review which I have attached a little posing practice.
Since I naturally stay pretty lean (I know what a terrible problem to have) my cut will be pretty short. I’m thinking at this point it will be around 6 weeks. Being as new as I am to competing I will be getting some help with my cut. This is why I love being on a team of sponsored athletes. The gym I am with has a great group of competitors that have a wealth of knowledge. I have always liked to figure things out on my own, but these days I am trying to rely on others for advice a bit more.
My next step is to put a routine together. I’m still looking for specific classic poses that will suite my physique best. Oh yeah and a song. I have no clue at this point what song I will choose. Maybe I will just wing it…..Or not haha.