Conceive, Believe, Achieve!
The making of a competitive bodybuilder
Venture to any bodybuilding contest and take a good look at the competitors, and have a quick think about what you see. Even though bodybuilding is a relative obscure sport in regards to mainstream support, it always manages to defy social borders. Race, religion, background, social status – it all means nothing when it comes to bodybuilding.
Competitive bodybuilding is one of those sports where people from different and varied backgrounds can get together in the spirit of competition, and to share their passion with other like-minded individuals.
Talk to most competitors and the prospect of winning isn’t what drives them. Just to be able to stand on stage in front of their families, their supporters and their peers is reward enough. To be able to work towards a goal and to achieve it is what it is all about, irrespective of placing.
Every person who competes is already a winner. I guarantee there are at least ten people to every one who competes who are sitting in the crowd, wishing they had the drive, determination and tenacity to do it themselves.
It takes a special kind of person who competes…
The first step to becoming a competitive bodybuilder is to conceive the idea. Ask any would be competitor about getting on stage, and the usual response of ‘no way am I getting onstage in a pair of speedos/bikini’ comes to mind. As a current competitor, I’m telling you that this will be the furthest thing from your mind on competition day. Performing at your very best will be the only thing your are concerned about.
If you decide to compete for the first time, you need to do something which could be hard at the start, but in the end will benefit your greatly. To have the idea of competing is great but if you don’t have the physique to back it up, then this can be disastrous. I recommend that you book an appointment to see someone who has experience with preparing competitors, or even a competent judge. Let them critque your physique, and ask them to be brutally honest as possible. Maybe you are seeing yourself leaner then you really are, or that you already have ample muscle size. This might not be the case. They might suggest you put off your comp goal until next year when you have more time to prepare.
This might crush you a little now, but will be a lot better then being crushed onstage. To many times now we see people compete who simply do not have the goods. Competition is all about competing with yourself first and foremost, but in honesty if you do not belong on stage just yet, then it will be better to hold off until you do.
If you are interested in competing but are unsure about how you will go with your current level of development, you can send me some photo proofs to info@physique-essentials.com, tell me which division you are entering and I will give you an honest assessment, FREE of charge.
Ok, you have decided you are going to compete – what now? Well, you must believe in yourself, and your own abilities. You must believe that you have what it takes, both mentally and physically to do well on the contest stage.
I have seen to many competitors who simply go ‘through the motions’ when it comes to competing. Prompt them why they are competing, and it’s always something like ‘the gym owner said I would clean up’, so here I am. I ask you, if it is not YOUR goal, do you think you will give it your best effort – no way!
The first part to believing that you will become a successful competitor is to first conceive the idea. You need to be doing it for yourself, and no one else. I don’t know about you, but if my gym buddy wanted me to diet for 5 months, perform cardio until I was blue in the face, and attack the weights with the velocity of an angry dog, you can only imagine what my response would be. But, if competition was my goal – my OWN belief – that I could not only compete, but do well, then I would give it everything I had.
Let’s face it. Competing is hard. It takes an awful lot out of you, and unless you are truly up to the challenge, forget it. But if you do believe in your own abilities, then you are already half way there.
So you have the idea, you have the belief, now you need to ACHIEVE.
There are so many different ways you can attack your pre-contest, it all comes down to which one you believe is best. I personally believe that high intensity, low rep sessions are best for not only off season but pre-contest as well. Additionally, my cardio time frame never goes longer then 15 minutes. On the flip side, I know of people who never use less then 12 reps and cardio is a minimum of an hour, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. It doesn’t matter who is right and who is wrong, as long as whichever system you use, you implement to the best of your abilities.
That was actually the easy part to decide. All the finer points like tanning, posing, costume etc can be the hard part. I suggest you employ the services of someone who has competition preparation experience and let them guide you in the areas you need help in.
So in retrospect, to become a successful competitor, you only need to follow three simple guidelines:
Conceive
The goal must be your own
Believe
Believe in yourself and your own abilities
Achieve
Implement your system to the best of your abilities
Everything else will simply fall into place.