There’s nothing like seeing results after all the long hours put into the gym, and all the fantastic food you had to turn away from. Time and a serious amount of dedication have elevated you to a new level of fitness. Here’s everything you need to know about Muscle Contest 2018!

But what should you do now?

It really can be difficult to maintain the level of fitness throughout the year. After all, sometimes back to back pizza parties happen, or that weekend bachelor party in Vegas happens, or who knows what else happens, and suddenly you’re derailed.

Muscle Contest 2018, Should You Sign Up?

We’ve found, one of the best ways to keep your fitness in perspective and to continually push yourself to greater limits is to have something to shoot for.

You know how you schedule a special event a few weeks (or months) out and having that one goal helps get you through work?

Well, consider doing that with your fitness.

Maybe you have a beach goal coming up, a wedding or another special activity.

But what then?

What should you do to keep it up?

Why not consider a muscle contest in 2018?

These aren’t something you need to do, but if it’s something that sparks your interest, by all means, go ahead!

It might open up a world of opportunities for you (not to mention a nice boost to the confidence level). You just need to make sure you’re well prepared and educated for these upcoming muscle contests.

Before Enter A Competition, Watch One…

Doesn’t winning a muscle contest just have a fantastic ring to it?

Sure it does!

But you can’t just walk into an event and think you’re going to win it, especially if you haven’t actually seen such an event before. Muscle contests will open your eyes not only to the world of muscle competition but you may end up seeing definition and muscle development beyond anything else you’ve been around.

Hitting the gym, cutting down your body fat and having solid biceps and pectoral muscles are all fine and good, but judges will look over every inch of your body, and if there’s one weak muscle link, you won’t fair as well as you think.

One of the biggest mistakes newcomers, or at the very least, those who have never seen any muscle competition before, make is not really understanding what the contest is about. It’s not who has the best biceps.

It’s who has the best complete muscular body & symmetry.

We recommend not to just watch one on TV or YouTube (although these sources do provide some great research).

Instead, actually visit one.

So much is cut out on television that even if you’ve seen the videos online before, you may not really know what’s going on. So prior to signing up for anything, head on out to a muscle contest. Some even offer workshops that can give you pointers and insights into the best course of action for competing, all of which is well worth the ticket price.

Start Small & Be Realistic

Everyone has a crazy dream growing up. Maybe it’s throwing a game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl or winning Best Director at the Academy Awards. We all have those dreams.

However, you don’t go from point A to point Z in one move, nor are you going to walk off the streets and win the biggest muscle competitions in the world.

You need to learn how to swim before jumping in the deep end (even if you had one of those uncles who would just toss you into the pool without knowing how to swim).

So how do you do this?

How do you get your feet wet in the muscle contest circuit?

Look for something coming up in your area. If you live in a larger metro area, chances are there will be competitions coming up. Summertime really is where it’s at for major events like that (although you can find contests throughout the year). If you don’t live in a major metro area, there will be spots in your state. Look up competitions in locations near universities in your state, or even nearby states. If you go to a local gym, talk to gym management about whether they have any insights on local muscle contests.

You wouldn’t believe how many people don’t even look towards the local shows.

They want the big time!

They sign themselves up for a competition in Las Vegas or Miami, spend a lot of money flying out, booking hotels, and then they arrive and are completely not prepared for the contest. Dropping thousands of dollars to walk across a stage and not really learn anything is a pretty steep price to pay.

And you wouldn’t be alone.

Because here’s the thing.

There is almost always at least one person on stage who completely shouldn’t be there.

Everyone knows it.

Even the partners, wives, sons and boyfriends of competitors who know nothing about muscle competitions will see it a mile away. And one of the worst feelings is ultimately being laughed off the stage. It sounds harsh, but it really is.

Let’s put it this way.

You know those singing competitions on television like American Idol and such?

What is, in reality, the best episodes to watch?

The first audition episodes.

Why?

Because you see people go on stage and completely bomb. They sound terrible, yet they have a false sense of security and think they’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. That’s not a unique experience for the music industry. It happens everywhere. There will be plenty of other hot-shots who think they can just walk in and dominate.

Perhaps you could.

But we recommend skipping this for now in favor of the local, smaller event and always, always (we can’t stress this enough) take in a contest ahead of time.

What Are People Taking To Get So Jacked At Competitions?

People have this kind of mental tendency to, whenever they see someone in amazing physical shape with larger than normal muscles, assume the person is obviously doping. They see the size, then turn and look at their own, and jump to the assumption that the person must be taking steroids.

That, more often than not, is not the case.

For common muscle competitions and regular bodybuilding contests, steroids are really, really not needed.

We just want to mention this here and then move on.

As Is the Case With Just About Everything, There Are Politics

If you haven’t figured this out by now, just about everything in life is politics. From your job to landing the best table at your favorite restaurant, there are politics in everything.

This includes muscle competitions.

Now, this doesn’t mean you need (or should) slip each judge a few hundred bucks.

Don’t go that road.

You’ll be more liable to get kicked out and banned from the sport for that.

But it’s a major reason why you need to start off with the small competitions.

Because here’s the thing: many of the best performers have very similar muscle compositions. It’s understanding how the sport works.

Think of it as a basketball coach on the sideline.

One yells and bickers and has his voice in the sideline official’s ear all night. Eventually, he might even land a technical foul.

But then, as if by magic, the calls start going his team’s way.

That isn’t a coincidence.

It’s because the coach knows how to play the game and knows how to politic during the game. You’ll learn these tricks of the trade, so stay with it and do what you can at these competitions.

Always keep your ears to the ground and pay attention to what’s going on, who wins and what they are doing.

It’ll help you as you move along in the sport and above all, politics or not, bring your A game always!

Schedule Yourself Into A Local Muscle Contest

Muscle Contest competitions is not a spur of the moment kind of thing.

You need to prep for it.

If you want to see some simple things I did for prep you can click here.

or the blog “9 Things I’m Doing While Training For A Physique Competition“.

Here’s an excellent schedule to help you get started and to really illustrate what you need to do in order to give yourself the best chance of success.

Recommendations are as follows:

• 1 Year Before the Show

Start looking at possible options. If this is your first year, check for smaller venues and shows in the area. This will give you a goal to set your sites on. You’ll enter the preliminary stages of your show training. You might be a solid shape now, but you’ll need to push yourself as the year goes along. You can also pick out a few performance songs and clothing to wear for the events. You’ll also want to start up on a diet of tons of protein and eating every few hours to get your body accustomed to it (before you really hit the training hard).

• 6 Months Before the Show

With half a year to go, begin working on your poses. If this is your first time it might sound a bit odd to begin working on poses.

After all, don’t you just flex?

Not exactly.

Watch videos of poses online. You’ll find very specific poses and, most importantly of all, those professionals competing understand how to get the best pump and best flex for their particular body. Also, if you don’t practice, it can lead to cramping. Muscle cramping is a real thing during these shows. Prior to the show, you’ll flush out as many liquids as possible, which does make your muscles more liable to cramp (do you really want to lose because of a muscle spasm?). By practicing the pose your muscles will become accustomed to moving and remaining flexed in a certain position, which in turn will help you avoid cramps.

You’ll also want to change your workout routine a bit. Look at yourself in the mirror.

What muscles are great, and what muscles are lacking?

While you should maintain workouts for your major muscles, you’ll want to start targeting these weaker areas of the body. You’ll also want to put in 30 minutes of cardio every day, to help burn off those added calories. Also, if you haven’t already, order your posing suit. You might be surprised as to just how backed up these orders can be. It is recommended to order a suit two sizes smaller, because you will shed inches under your workout and diet routine.

• 5 Months Before the Competition

This is when your real competition diet starts. Some people will start at 12 weeks, but that leaves little time for error, and as you probably know, moving into a new diet often gradually is far easier than stopping and starting instantly.

This will make it easier for you.

At your gym, ask if there is someone who has muscle competing before (or even a judge) around. If there is someone, have them look at your physique and tell you what is lacking. Also, take photographs of your poses. This way you can see how you look and if something isn’t looking as good as you’d want.

Lastly, ask the contests you’ll be competing in for a list of the rules. Each muscle content has something a little bit different, and you’ll want to make sure and follow the rules.

• 2 Months Before the Competition

Register and pay all the necessary fees for your contests. Also, hold onto the receipts just in case. Plus, there may be a membership requirement for the contest, so take care of these as well. You’ll also want to start making travel plans, look for accessories and make-up, plus you’ll need to start tanning. If this is your first time through, you might be amazed as to just how much tanning goes into it. You’ll want to invest in quality self-tanning as well (and make sure to exfoliate so you don’t have odd smears and blemishes).

• Final Week Before the Competition

It’s your final week.

You can see some great tips on “Peak Week Tips – Simple Rules I followed During “Hell Week””.

You’ve put in almost half a year of dieting and intense workouts. You may just be in the best shape of your life. So make sure you have your bases covered before you head out.

Continue to practice your poses and routines, plus bring several copies of your music.

And, on the day of the competition, make sure you leave plenty early, as you never know what kind of traffic issues there might be.

So What Do Judges Look For?

This is a great question and one that can vary a bit from one competition to the next. However, in general, the most important points to focus on include muscle proportion, size, and separation. Separation comes from your cardio and dieting as it reduces water weight and fall cell size around your muscles.

What Kind of Classes Are There In Muscle Contest?

This really depends on the competition. The more prominent a competition, the more classes there are.

Take, for example, Lindsay Productions Muscle Contests.

These are some of the most popular contests in the world.

We won’t get into the different height categories (there are a ton, take our word for it).

For the men’s, some categories include unlimited men’s bodybuilding, novice men’s bodybuilding, masters men’s bodybuilding (40+), unlimited men’s physique, men’s physique masters, men’s physique masters (40+), men teens physique (usually 16-19), novice men’s physique and often some specialty physique classes.

As for the women, you’ll find categories including women’s physique, unlimited bikini, masters bikini (35+), masters bikini (40+), novice bikini, unlimited figure, masters figure (35+) and masters figure (40+).

Conclusion

If you’re interested in taking part in muscle contests more power to you!

We completely support your dream to compete as a professional bodybuilder.

We just want to make sure you are well prepared and ready for the contest. This is not something you just walk into and assume you’ll win. Far too many people have done that over the years, and most have been laughed off the stage.

So start your training, stay focused, and make sure to stop by and check out some of the different contests in your area.

You will begin to learn the ropes and discover what it takes to become a winning competitor.

And, most importantly, remember to stick with it, because it is a considerable amount of work.

-Terry Asher