Figure Competition Success Tips For The Newbie

By Karen Sessions
NSCA-CPT
www.FigureCompetitionSecrets.com

If you are new to the sport of figure and fitness, the mere thought of getting on the competitive stage in a skimpy suit could be all but terrifying… that is unless you have the little secret tips and techniques to ensure your confidence and improve stage presence.

You don’t have to have the perfect body to compete in a figure competition. What you do with your diet, training, cardio, supplements, tanning, posing, etc. can all give you the advantage of giving you that close-to-perfect body so you can get on stage and compete in a figure competition, look great and even place well.

Your figure contest preparation will ensure your success, so plan and prep carefully.

Figure Competition Success Tip #1

Create a plan
Planning is critical in anything you do. A plan is a series of sets you design to achieve a goal. To start your plan of action, first put it in writing. Write down your goal, which is ultimately to do a figure competition, and then list all the steps you will do to make that final outcome happen.

Such preparation material can include reading eBooks on figure competitions, watching figure DVDs, attending figure competitions, hiring a personal trainer, networking with other competitors, etc.

Figure Competition Success Tip #2

Utilize weight training to your advantage
Obviously, weight training is a necessary part of preparing for a figure competition. However, there’s more to weight training then just going to the gym and slinging the weights mindlessly.

You will need to get a structured weight training routine established to ensure you build and maintain lean muscle mass while you force your body to burn off body fat.

A weight training program can include training 4-5 days a week, grouping 2-3 body parts together.

Know your body so you workout to improve your physique and not disfigure it. For example, if you are pear-shaped you want to be sure to include a strong back, chest, and shoulder routine to bring more balance to your upper body while minimizing work that will add bulk to your legs such as the stepper, the treadmill on a high incline, etc.

The cool thing about weight training and cardio is that you can use them to totally reshape your body and how you want it to look. If you don’t know your body shape, ask your trainer or coach and he or she can help formulate the perfect exercise program to give you the perfect body.

Figure Competition Success Tip #3

Manipulation and Creation
The totally cool thing about competing on stage in a figure competition is, even if you don’t have the “perfect” body, you can still use many factors to create the illusion of having a perfect body.

For example, your skin color can make or break you on the competitive stage. The darker you can get with tan, skin dye and bronzers, the smaller you will appear “body fat-wise” and the harder you will look.

Another benefit is, on stage there are very bright lights shining down directly on you. This is so the judges can you better, but it also creates shadows from the bottom portion of the muscles, making your look more muscular and harder.

Also, how you pose can make your physique look totally different on stage. Some tricks competitors employ to make their physique appear more muscular, yet lean and well-defined is twisting ever so slightly on certain poses, such as moving an arm a few inches to show muscle definition in the serratus or angling the feet in such a way it brings out a muscular and defined sweep in their quads.

So, if you ever wanted to compete in a figure competition and always felt you were not good enough, not in good enough shape, etc. Just know there are little tricks you can do to make your body appear totally different on stage. It’s all in the art of manipulation. You’ll be amazed at how good you look!

Fitfully Yours,
Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
MsFit

P.S. For more advanced and detailed information on how to get the shape of a Figure or Fitness athlete, check out Figure Competiton Secrets. You'll be floored at how simple techniques can literally transform your body.

About the Author

Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988 and is a certified personal fitness instructor and specialist in performance nutrition. She is a nationally qualified natural female bodybuilder, holding numerous titles in the southern states including two overalls.

Karen has written six eBooks on fitness. She also writes articles for several fitness websites, and distributes two monthly newsletters regarding weight loss and female bodybuilding.

Karen has helped hundreds of clients reach their goal of transforming their body.
Her success and success stories speak for themselves.
www.FigureCompetitionSecrets.com