First Competition

[Flexfreak]

I'm 33 and I am looking to enter my first natural contest within a year or two. I've been training since I was 12 but the last ten years I've really made leaps and bounds. What mistakes should I avoid when preparing for a contest. What supplements should I be taking and although I know not to water deplete, should I carb load? Thanks!

[str8flexed]

Biggest mistake...
Not practicing posing enough. I cannot stress this enough...PRACTICE YOUR POSING!
Peace

[Mark21087]

Bump on posing. If you don't know how to pose effectively, you will not be able to show your strengths and hide your weaknesses. I wish I posed longer than I did.

[LeBrunFitness]

Double that on the posing, if I had known how much was involved in holding poses so long, I would have practiced much more.

The thing with carb loading is, it is only useful if you are very, very lean and in great shape.

Only then does it work.

If you are not very lean already, carb loading will not do anything and can actually make you look flat and bloated.

About 5-6 days from the show, start to decrease your sodium and increase your potassium.

3-4 days out, eliminate your sodium as much as possible and take a couple 99mg potassium pills each hour.

Only decrease your water the weekend of the show, probably starting Friday.

Instead of using Protan--just use Dreamtan and you will not have to worry about Protan at all.

I hope some of this helps.

Good luck in the show!

Shawn
http://www.shawnlebrunfitness.com/tips.html