my first contest enter as a novice or open as well

[ironjim53113]

i'm doing my first show on may 23. i wanted to know if i should just enter as a novice or do the open as well. being this is my first show. thanks

[stayfit2008]

do them both.

[AustrianOakJr]

I played with this question for my first show which was last October. I chose to do the novice only. Some would say this was a bad decision, but I dont know. I did well in the novice and placed second next to Chris (stayfit) ^. I did not compete in the open, but I beat the second place guy in open in the novice class. Other people told me I would have won against the first place competitor as well, but I will never know. So......thats the bad part. Ill never know. I could have very well placed 2nd in the novice and won the open middleweight. But, the whole reason why I only did the novice was because I didnt want to pressure of doing two classes. I viewed my first show as a learning experience and really didnt care how I placed.......I wanted to absorb the show and learn what it was all about and I just didnt want to get wrapped up in listening for two classes, timing two pump ups, timing the food intake for those pump ups, etc. In that way I was happy with my decision to only compete novice because I REALLY enjoyed the day and learned a ton.

Now, I have to decide the same for my next show........do the open only or compete in the novice again as well.

[ironjim53113]

i think i'm just going to enter as a novice this time around. just take everything in with this being my first contest. just try to enjoy myself and have fun with it. thanks oak jr