How to Pose for a Bodybuilding Competition

Bodybuilding is a unique sport.  Like most athletic sports, success requires a tremendous amount of skill, physical discipline and focus.  But unlike sports that require direct physical competition such as football or basketball, the primary "event" of bodybuilding involves the skill of "posing".

To those outside the sport, the competitive skill of bodybuilding posing does not sound very impressive.  But learning how to properly put on display the shape and definition of your muscles involves a dedication to fitness and taking on a physical challenge that is as great or greater than those faced by any athlete in any other sport.

The discipline of bodybuilding gives the athlete a tremendous physical grace and shape that is judged based on how it is displayed for judges.  The ability to display how expertly you have trained for the bodybuilding event and to pose so the definition of your muscles and the symmetry of your shape is properly appreciated is a skill that takes some work to learn to execute well.  Many times in a bodybuilding competition, it is the athlete who is most expert at posing well who sometimes wins even if his physical definition is not the most superior of the competitors in the event.

There are eight essential poses that you will learn from your bodybuilding coach in preparation for a big bodybuilding competition.  To be prepared to hit a series of competitions, you should become expert in all of the significant poses that you may be asked to execute.  While we cannot discuss them all here, let this overview help you get started on a long career in bodybuilding.  It is an excellent first step to become a winner in bodybuilding competitions to learn the various poses and what sets one bodybuilder apart as a winner from the others.

Probably the most common bodybuilding pose that you should master first is called the quarter turn.  It is one that is used in pretty much every bodybuilding competition and excelling at the quarter turn will get the judges attention as you move on into more involved poses during the competition.  To properly do the quarter turn pose…

•    Face the judges directly.  This is a straightforward beginning pose, arms at your side.  You can assume an alert pose but present a relaxed composition to the judges.

•    The turn is to the right so that you presenting a profile to the judges.  While you should accomplish a full turn to meet the qualifications of the pose, it is common to twist to face the judges and show your chest, abs and shoulder muscles.

•    Next turn right a quarter turn again so you are facing away from the judges.  This puts your back, rump and legs muscles off so practice flexing to show the definition you have achieved there.

•    One more turn allows you to show off the opposite side of the body with appropriate poses to flex your arms and torso for maximum exposure.
•    Finish with one more right turn which brings you completely around to complete the pose.  You are done so you can step out of the spotlight when the judges give you the signal.

As we mentioned earlier, there are a number of other poses that you should master along with the quarter turn.  Work with your bodybuilding trainer to perfect each pose and make it your own.  It also pays to attend and view as many bodybuilding competitions as you can to get ideas for how you will make yourself stand out in a field of competitors.  But by preparing well and both understanding and practicing all of the bodybuilding poses that you may be asked to execute, you will give yourself the edge that could turn into many wins when you begin to compete regularly in those competitions yourself.