6 weeks out first competition

[canes_fan_07]

Hi everybody, my name is Michael and im doing my first bodybuilding competition on August 18th. The Mr. Tennessee in Murfreesboro. Ill be doing the teen division. I started dieting three weeks ago and have alittle over 6 weeks left. I thought i'd post some pictures and would like any input positive or negative. Sorry about my posing, i know it needs some work. Im starting to practice though. Anyways here are some pictures.

[canes_fan_07]

One more.

[DJINN]

First and foremost, congrats up front for your decision to throw your hat into the competitive ring so to speak! 6 weeks out...upper body conditioning is looking good. Legs a bit behind, but in 2 weeks, which would be your 4 week out point, things may come together a bit more as long as you stay tight with your diet and cardio. Ultimately my big piece of advice, and you already stated that you are addressing this, is to practice your posing. Your pics reveal some flaws in your poses that you have plenty of time to tweak...so hop to it, so when you hop on stage in 6 weeks you can kick some teen butt! Good luck bro!

[canes_fan_07]

Thanks a lot man i apprecaite all your advice and encouragement. Would it be better for me to do the elliptical or the stair mill for cardio to help bring out my legs?

[DJINN]

I know alot of people that swear by both, but the stairmaster will kick your a$$, literally, and perhaps even aid in your being able to display striated glutes and accentuate the glute/ham "tie-in" if you get your fat low enough and water retention is not an issue. Again, good luck brother and now go kick some a$$...well, for the next 5 weeks, it'll should be your own a$$ you're kicking...then take it to the stage and kick the a$$ of all who dare stand next to you!

[canes_fan_07]

I'll definetely give the stairmaster a try. Thanks.

[canes_fan_07]

The pictures i posted before were actually like seven weeks out, i had my dates alittle mixed up. These pictures im posting now are from today, exactly five weeks out. I weight about 169-170 lbs.

[canes_fan_07]

a couple more.

[Akers1021]

You will more than likely win the teen class... That TN state has had a SORRY turnout the last couple of years in the teen class. Are you gonna cross over and do novice too?

I applaud you, your conditioning will be great, work on your posing and after your pro/dream tanned up you will look great!

[canes_fan_07]

I haven't really given any thought as to crossing over into novice. This is my first competition and i dont really know how all that works. Do i decide if i want to do that when i get there or do i have to know before i send in the registration form?

[Akers1021]

You have to normally put on the registration if your gonna cross over. I would if I were you.

[canes_fan_07]

I think i might do that. Thanks. I see you got first at the Battle at the River, Congrats. Are you gonna be doin this competition too?

[nevrilkphoto]

Awesome work Michael, your looking on point!!

[demonwareltd]

Looking great for 5 weeks out...I applaud you! By the way, how tall are you?

[Agostage]

definitely go novice as well, you'll be fine. good work so far. study more posing pro posing pics and try to mimic and correct. conditioning is coming along very well. good luck.

[italianplaya30]

looking good bro

legs are alittle behind but look very good

you will def win the teen class, you should cross over to novice

think of crossing over as an extra lottery ticket.....Who knows you have a chance to bring home 2 trophies

as far as your posing goes, purchase this dvd from bodybuilding.com
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/ppbox.jpg


keep up the good work but keep practing your posing

Posing wins shows!

[Akers1021]

Originally Posted by canes_fan_07

I think i might do that. Thanks. I see you got first at the Battle at the River, Congrats. Are you gonna be doin this competition too?

haha... I dont think I will make it

I won the Open Welters weighed in at the cutoff of 165.25. I weighed 205 this morning, yeah 40 lbs in a little over 6 weeks. I new I was gonna rebound HARD this year!! It's kinda funny because I still have my upper abs, lol.

I am already Qualified for the Nats, and my wife would have KILLED me if I would have dieted any longer!

[canes_fan_07]

Originally Posted by nevrilkphoto

Awesome work Michael, your looking on point!!

Thanks man.

[canes_fan_07]

Originally Posted by demonwareltd

Looking great for 5 weeks out...I applaud you! By the way, how tall are you?

Thanks. I can't wait for the show im gettin excited. I'm like 5'10"-5'10.5" somewhere in there.

[canes_fan_07]

Originally Posted by Agostage

definitely go novice as well, you'll be fine. good work so far. study more posing pro posing pics and try to mimic and correct. conditioning is coming along very well. good luck.

Posing is definetely something i need to work on. It's a lot harder than i initially thought. But thanks for the advice, ill definetely start lookin at some photos and make changes to how im doin it.

[canes_fan_07]

Originally Posted by italianplaya30

looking good bro

legs are alittle behind but look very good

you will def win the teen class, you should cross over to novice

think of crossing over as an extra lottery ticket.....Who knows you have a chance to bring home 2 trophies

as far as your posing goes, purchase this dvd from bodybuilding.com
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/ppbox.jpg


keep up the good work but keep practing your posing

Posing wins shows!

The lottery ticket thing is a pretty cool way of looking at it. lol. Even if i don't bring home one trophy ill still be happy just to get up there although it would be nice. I bought that dvd but i need to watch it a lot more cuz my posing does need quite a bit of work. Im practicin but probably not enough. Thanks for your positive input.

[canes_fan_07]

Originally Posted by Akers1021

haha... I dont think I will make it

I won the Open Welters weighed in at the cutoff of 165.25. I weighed 205 this morning, yeah 40 lbs in a little over 6 weeks. I new I was gonna rebound HARD this year!! It's kinda funny because I still have my upper abs, lol.

I am already Qualified for the Nats, and my wife would have KILLED me if I would have dieted any longer!

lol i read somewhere in another thread that you'll be at the knoxville show on August 11th to watch. I'll be there watching too. Maybe ill get a chance to talk to you. It'd be cool to meet ppl from this site. This site and all of you guys are huge inspirations. And again congratulations on getting qualified for nationals, im sure your gonna do awesome!

[Gerry1251]

Good luck. Look very lean and good conditioning for this point in time.

Check out my posing information at the top of this section. Any questions, get in touch.

Practice every day! And one suggestion on ab/thigh; set leg, inhale, hands should be behind your head, exhale and squeeze elbows in toward your head. Will squeeze abs to max.

[DJINN]

Originally Posted by canes_fan_07

Posing is definetely something i need to work on. It's a lot harder than i initially thought. But thanks for the advice, ill definetely start lookin at some photos and make changes to how im doin it.

Hey bro...looking good. You may want to hook up with someone local to personally help you with your posing. If you are not familiar with the compulsory poses (in terms of basic body positioning), it can be difficult to completely correct your form simply using pictures or video of others. I would recommend asking someone you know that competes to assist you. At the very least, if you're going to use pics or video, practice everyday...this means all the compulsory/mandatory poses and work not only on form but also on endurance. Its bad to be the guy who has a good physique but doesn't capitalize on it due to poor presentation...and you also don't want to be the guy shaking like crazy when posing because your endurance is poor. You will definitely get attention that way, but it may be by the local emergency personnel responding to a call for suspected seizure activity

I'm just kidding, but seriously, practice-practice-practice. Keep pushing forward.

[canes_fan_07]

Originally Posted by Gerry1251

Good luck. Look very lean and good conditioning for this point in time.

Check out my posing information at the top of this section. Any questions, get in touch.

Practice every day! And one suggestion on ab/thigh; set leg, inhale, hands should be behind your head, exhale and squeeze elbows in toward your head. Will squeeze abs to max.

Ill definetely take a look at your posing information. And thanks for the suggestion on the ab/thigh, i tried it out and it makes a difference.

[canes_fan_07]

Originally Posted by DJINN

Hey bro...looking good. You may want to hook up with someone local to personally help you with your posing. If you are not familiar with the compulsory poses (in terms of basic body positioning), it can be difficult to completely correct your form simply using pictures or video of others. I would recommend asking someone you know that competes to assist you. At the very least, if you're going to use pics or video, practice everyday...this means all the compulsory/mandatory poses and work not only on form but also on endurance. Its bad to be the guy who has a good physique but doesn't capitalize on it due to poor presentation...and you also don't want to be the guy shaking like crazy when posing because your endurance is poor. You will definitely get attention that way, but it may be by the local emergency personnel responding to a call for suspected seizure activity

I'm just kidding, but seriously, practice-practice-practice. Keep pushing forward.

Haha yeah i dont want to be shaking really bad on stage nor do i want to have bad presentation. I understand what you're saying about not being able to correct my form on my own. I have somebody helping me with diet and everything and we went over poses but i'll ask him to go over them a few more times with me to make changes and correct all my faults. Thanks for your support and advice man.

[DriverDan]

I agree with the other comments. Your build is good but you need a lot of work on your posing. Practice DAILY. If you have a video camera set it up without a mirror and review at least a few times a week. If you don't have someone local who can work with you get a posing DVD. At the very least pull up some prejudging videos on YouTube and follow along with them.

As far as your build your calves seem to be your biggest weakness.

[Original Hatred]

Definitely work on your posing.. but you look to be on schedule.

I lived in Murfreesboro for 3 years...lol good luck man.

[canes_fan_07]

Originally Posted by DriverDan

I agree with the other comments. Your build is good but you need a lot of work on your posing. Practice DAILY. If you have a video camera set it up without a mirror and review at least a few times a week. If you don't have someone local who can work with you get a posing DVD. At the very least pull up some prejudging videos on YouTube and follow along with them.

As far as your build your calves seem to be your biggest weakness.

Thanks for the advice, ill look at some videos on youtube and as they call out poses ill follow with them. And yeah my calves aren't very good but im workin on em'.

[canes_fan_07]

Originally Posted by Original Hatred

Definitely work on your posing.. but you look to be on schedule.

I lived in Murfreesboro for 3 years...lol good luck man.

Still have some work to do but im gettin there. Did you go to MTSU?