Open source resources for someone looking to compete in first contest.

[Yamar1]

Hey fam,

I haven't been on this forum in ages!

Anyways, my back round has primarily been in powerlifting for the past decade. But ever since the NPC rolled out the classic physique division I have become increasingly interested in competing in it. This past year I switched my training style to bodybuilding and I did a mock contest prep of sorts to see exactly how lean I can get. I manged to come in near the top of my weight class at 6% bodyfat so that gave me the validation that I just might be competitive in classic (note: I know I can get leaner).

So I have the training part down, most of the diet part (I need to learn about peak week) and I even learned the mandatory poses but outside of that I know jack sh*t about anything else.

Is there any open source resources that cover what to expect from your first show? The items that I am confused about are:
1) How is a show ran?
2) Do I need to learn to pose with music and do an individual routine?
3) What tanners do I use?
4) Can I just pick any NPC competition and enter?

Thanks in advance!

[bschermerhorn92]

So you can find general information regarding mandatory poses and NPC rules specific to the classic physique division on the NPC main website.

From my experience with NPC shows it runs like this:
Friday night- competitor weigh in and check in
Saturday morning- competitor meeting at show location, explains details about how it will go
Saturday morning ~0930- pre judging begins, runs until ~noonish depending on the amount of competitors.
Saturday Evening ~1800- night show begins, you do your individual routine and awards are given out.

The mandatory poses done at pre judging are not to music, just the head judge stating the pose and then your group goes into that pose. During the night show you will have your own 60 second (at least for BB, not 100% sure for classic physique in regards to time but I think it’s the same) which you come up with to your own music that you provide.

For tanners I’d recommend if you want to do it yourself: protan products, you can order them on bodybuilding.com actually. I would really recommend just using the house tanning company. Normally, the show promoter has a tanning company that will be located at the show. You pay more but you get a base coat the night prior and then top coats and unlimited touch ups and glazing at the show venue. Much better option in my opinion, especially if you’re not super experienced with self tanner.

As far as competitions go, you can do basically any non-national level show. Meaning: anything advertised as a National qualify or even a smaller show. In order to qualify for a national show: place top 2 in an open class (as in not novice or masters class). You can generally find promoters in your area via a simple google search by looking up something like: Npc competitions near me.

Hope that answers your questions, reply back or message me if you need anything else!

[Yamar1]

So you can find general information regarding mandatory poses and NPC rules specific to the classic physique division on the NPC main website.

From my experience with NPC shows it runs like this:
Friday night- competitor weigh in and check in
Saturday morning- competitor meeting at show location, explains details about how it will go
Saturday morning ~0930- pre judging begins, runs until ~noonish depending on the amount of competitors.
Saturday Evening ~1800- night show begins, you do your individual routine and awards are given out.

The mandatory poses done at pre judging are not to music, just the head judge stating the pose and then your group goes into that pose. During the night show you will have your own 60 second (at least for BB, not 100% sure for classic physique in regards to time but I think it’s the same) which you come up with to your own music that you provide.

For tanners I’d recommend if you want to do it yourself: protan products, you can order them on bodybuilding.com actually. I would really recommend just using the house tanning company. Normally, the show promoter has a tanning company that will be located at the show. You pay more but you get a base coat the night prior and then top coats and unlimited touch ups and glazing at the show venue. Much better option in my opinion, especially if you’re not super experienced with self tanner.

As far as competitions go, you can do basically any non-national level show. Meaning: anything advertised as a National qualify or even a smaller show. In order to qualify for a national show: place top 2 in an open class (as in not novice or masters class). You can generally find promoters in your area via a simple google search by looking up something like: Npc competitions near me.

Hope that answers your questions, reply back or message me if you need anything else!

This is EXACTLY the information I was looking for! Thank you so much! Gosh, powerlifting is so easy in comparison to figuring out bodybuilding.

I was reading that classic physique does have a fee posing round in the finals. Hands down that is what gives me the most anxiety about this whole thing.

Thanks again- it is much appreciated. I am glad I ventured into this section of the forum as well. there really isn't much online in regards to actual competitions. Now I am driving myself nuts over peak week. I did a mock contest prep of sorts and I did water and sodium load and it didn't exactly work out like people say it would. I am considering buying Layne Nortons book and giving his method a try for my actual competition.

[bschermerhorn92]

Glad I could help!

So for the free posing, just go with the flow of the music you chose, pick something with a good beat. To take some stress off know this, by the time you get to the free posing, the judging portion is over! You don’t have to worry about this affecting your placing (note, this is only true for the NPC, if you’re a pro this is not the case). My first free posing routine I was terrified, and know that you don’t actually have to use the whole 60 seconds if you don’t want to!

As far as peak week goes, I have no real advice, it sucks but try and not make yourself too miserable! Lol

Lastly, just have fun. I know everyone wants to do well but understand that you have no control over what your competition brings to the stage, you can only control you. If you go on stage knowing you did your absolute best and worked your ass off, then that’s a victory, even if you come in dead last. Honestly, it takes balls to even get on stage, regardless of placing, so be proud of that. This is something lots of people talk about but never actually do.

I wish you the best!