Strength & Health November 1970
Competing in any sport is always exciting. Regardless of
whether a particular contestant wins or loses, the experience of competing can
be extremely rewarding. Sometimes, however, it is heartbreaking, particularly
when one does not know how to lose.
Learning how to win is always easy, but knowing how to lose
is a much truer test of the stuff we are made of. Fact is, being a competitor
can bring out the best and the worst in our nature.
Being a physique competitor can be rougher on the guy than
being a contestant in any other given sport, because physique competitions are
so difficult to judge. In swimming, running, and skiing, for instance, one is
judged on “stop watch” performance. The one who passes the finish line first,
wins. The winner immediately knows he has won and the losers immediately know
they have lost.
Determining a winner of a physique contest, on the other
hand, such as Mr. Indiana, Mr. Greater Baltimore, or Mr. Western America, etc…
is not so easy. Here you are judged by many factors. These are muscular
development, body symmetry and proportions, your posing ability, and even poise
and speech, as compared to those vying for the title along with you. Judges
often do not agree upon who the winner should be and the loser is often tempted
to blame the judges rather than himself for losing. It can be frustrating.
To further frustrate the bodybuilder who is in contention of
winning a title, the bodybuilder, regardless of how much muscle he has been
capable of piling on his frame, is stuck with just that, HIS frame. He is
short, tall, or medium in height, and will be throughout his days as a
competitor. If he is particularly long limbed or short waisted, he may be at a
disadvantage if competing against a man with the body structure of a Steve
Reeves or Jim Haislop. The determined bodybuilder who may not have the ideal
body structure, can still win major titles, even Mr. America.
Physique judging is difficult. My first experience at judging a contest some
time ago taught me that symmetry and body structure can be more important than
heavy muscular development. The man I had chosen for first was not the man. My
own choice was the most impressive in terms of development, but he was lacking
in symmetry. After all the judges’ scores had been tabulated, the winner of the
contest turned out to be the man I had chosen for third place. I was a little
puzzled, even though I realized that judges are seldom unanimous in selecting a
winner. I conferred with the other judges so that I might possibly learn
something from them. Looking at the winner, I had to admit that, yes, he was
the most symmetrical and had the best proportions even though not quite as
thickly muscled as the man I had chosen.
The ideal physique, the kind that usually wins major
physique titles, is one with broad shoulders, a small and tapered waist,
shapely and developed legs; the neck, arms, and calves should measure the same
on the tape or at least close to it. Having studied anatomy and been given the
opportunity to judge in a number of contests, I personally prefer a man with
developed trapezius, developed obliques and gluteus maximus as compared to one
who is not fully developed in these areas. People are too often impressed by
only a pair of bulging biceps. They forget that the arm is not actually a large
muscle group, as are the legs, chest and back area and the gluteus maximus. A
Mr. America winner must concentrate fully on each and every muscle group, and
with a sense of proportion so that the difference muscle groups blend together,
giving him maximum symmetry and balance.
Assuming then that you are ready physically to compete and
that you’re in top shape, it is equally important that you have worked on your
posing in order to show off what you’ve attained to your best advantage. This
involves not only the realization of what poses suit you best, that are most
flattering to you, but also how to get from one pose to the next in the easiest
and most graceful manner. Although posing is hard work, involving more
concentrated effort than a normal workout, it must appear effortless to the
judges; moreover, it is to your credit if the judges feel you are actually
enjoying posing for them. Naturally, they are aware of the pressure and strain
you’re undergoing, but performing in any capacity requires a certain sense of
theatre that means making what is difficult appear as though it is easy. You
are, after all, a performer and are being watched every second.
The physique competitor who has practiced posing for many,
many hours before a mirror, is the tone who is prepared. He is more sure of
himself and will be ready to rise to the occasion. It will show, believe me.
(The judges are no fools and that’s why they are judges.) Practice diligently
your posing routine. Time it so that it is one minute in duration. One minute
posing is standard in A.A.U. competition. Practice walking before a mirror and
then before a friend or your family. Know that the judges will be watching you
from the instant you walk out to the platform, until the time you have finished
posing and have completely left the stage. Practice your posture and take
careful note of your appearance by simply standing relaxed, as you would in the
line-up. The line-up is usually at the beginning of each contest, when all
contestants are marched before the judges in order for them to compare you
together. It is a most crucial test of your appearance and poise and often the
eventual winner is chosen from this stage of the competition, even before
anyone has had an opportunity to pose.
In addition to being in top physical shape, of knowing how
to stand, walk, and pose, there is in all national contests (contests beyond
the local, regional, and state level) that which is called the interview. The
following national contests require the all important personal interview:
Teenage Mr. America, Junior Mr. USA, Junior Mr. America, Mr. USA, and Mr.
America. At these meets, you will always have the interview, but be prepared
for it at all smaller meets as well. I can tell you from experience that there
can be an interview whenever those in charge of a particular meet feel that it
is necessary to hold one.
The purpose of the interview is to give each individual
competitor the opportunity to demonstrate his personality and display his
ability to speak and answer questions put to him by the judging panel. In this
way the judges are given the pertinent background information on him, so that
he becomes a person to them and not just a mass of muscle on display. The
interview may be as long as five minutes for a contestant and is the first part
of the competition; so in the name of Hercules, please dress for all contests
you may enter so that you are always prepared for the interview. Being dressed
properly for the interview means wearing a suit, dress shirt and tie. My advice
is to go out and have a suit tailor made, it’s worth it, believe me.
Now. Lets sum up what a physique competition will involve,
from beginning to end. First of all, your application to enter has been sent
in, along with your usual two dollar entry fee. Two dollars is a standard fee
for A.A.U. competition. This takes some of the sting out of meet expenses. Make
sure that the application has been sent in before the “deadline.” Next, you
should arrive at the meet on time; the time as given on the application. You
should be dressed appropriately, in suit, shirt and tie, and shoes shined. You
should have your gym bag with you to carry your posing trunks, towel, some kind
of gym shoes, a warm-up or sweat suit so that you remain at a constant body
temperature and don’t cool off too quickly and catch cold while you are down to
your posing trunks.
Be sure that you have with you your A.A.U. membership card
and that it is current and has not expired. An A.A.U. membership card can be
obtained by calling your local Amateur Athletic Union (A.A.U.) and simply
asking for an application for a membership card so that you may compete as a
bodybuilder. Bring that card with you because you cannot compete without it.
A travel permit is no longer required of a contestant,
unless he is competing outside his region (or association) and his expenses are
paid for by his gym or other than himself; in other words, he is being
sponsored. But this need seldom concern most of us.
Prior to the competition, all contestants are usually called
together, either by an A.A.U. Official or the man who is emceeing the show. You
are then given a number, and will be expected to wear it on your trunks to help
judges identify you. You are then called individually, but that number, to
appear behind closed doors and in private, before the panel of judges, usually
seven in number, for the personal interview.
After all contestants have been individually interviewed,
you are directed to change to your posing trunks, and to re-appear before the
panel of judges for the physique judging itself. Generally, there is the
“line-up” first, where all contestants face the judges in trunks in a single
line, so that they may compare you with your opponents. You are asked to face
front, give a right side turn, face back, another right side turn, and again to
face front. In this manner, you can be observed and compared from all sides.
This is important for fair judgement and all the more reason that the
competitor should have good development all around and not just from the front.
You are then marched off and brough back for individual posing.
Now is your chance to show off your posing routine and your
posing ability. If there are body parts being awarded, best legs, chest, back,
arms, and abdominals, you will be called back to give your best pose, showing
that particular body part.
For all practical purposes, the contest is now over. Let me
explain. It has been decided by those of the A.A.U. Committee, that contests
should be prejudged. This means that the contestants appear in the afternoon of
the evening of the contest, to be judged at a more close and intimate situation
and under normal overhead lighting. This allows more time for each contestant
and makes it possible for each contestant to be called back as often as judges
feel it is necessary for fair judging and results. All of this comparing and
being called back and forth can be boring from an audience standpoint.
Therefore, it is done before the audience arrives and what the audience sees
that evening is each contestant posing under the posing light on the posing
platform, but the results have already been decided. In running the contest in
this manner the best interest of both contestants and audience are considered.
Generally contests start at 8:00PM and so all contestants,
at the end of pre-judging are asked to return by 7:30PM. You are warned that
even though the judging has been decided, the results can be changed according
to your behavior or lack of it on the platform before the audience that
evening.
It is evening and the contest begins. You have completed
your individual posing, this time in the main auditorium before the audience. Next
comes the presentation of awards, and with it, the increase of each
contestant’s heartbeat. As a contestant, let me say, it’s the part of the
competition that’s the toughest. You ask
yourself, why am I here? Why did I ever go into bodybuilding? You wish you were
out sitting in the audience, instead of sweating out the results backstage.
What’s it worth anyway, all those sets and reps and all the sweat? What are you doing here,
and on a Saturday night, when you could be out having the kind of fun you have
grown unaccustomed to, for the sake of training? Wow! You must be nuts!
Finally win, place, or don’t place at all, the contest is
over. The chips are down and the pressure is off. Fellow contestants climb in
cars to drive to some place to eat, to go catch a late flight home, or back to
the motel for a little sleep. You think and suddenly you feel a part of a
fraternity and you’re proud, even if you didn’t fare too well that evening. You
congratulate the winner, there can only be one. You sit eating and talking
about what has happened on this long day. You know yourself where you’ll be and
what you’ll be doing on Monday. On Monday, you’ll be back training and training
harder than ever. You think to yourself that you’re going to change your
routine a bit, that the exercise that Ron told you he does for shoulders,
sounds great, that you’re going to try it. You can hardly wait.
Enjoy your lifting!