Taking The Plunge by Natural Pro Bodybuilder - Jeff Alberts
Having a colossal offseason is undoubtedly one of the premier aspects to having a very successful contest showing, but there are other vital elements in preparing yourself to get on stage. I am not talking about the commonly discussed components such as how much protein to eat, what type of training to follow, how much cardio, etc. I am talking about other uncommon subjects, that are often missed, which help you maintain the right perspective for entering a bodybuilding competition. Goal Setting
Assessing Your Physique
As a bodybuilder it is imperative to hear the truth. Hearing the truth about your physique will confirm your current level of development and ensures your perception remains grounded in reality. In return, you will be more inclined to choose a goal which is realistic and within reach. So, where do you turn to get an honest assessment? An experienced bodybuilder or an actual bodybuilding judge would be the best bet. Ask them to give you honest feedback. They tend to be brutally honest about your strengths and weaknesses and that is exactly what you need. They will guide you towards goals that are attainable and to the level of competition that suits your physique. Another person who can give you a genuine assessment is surprisingly, yourself! But how can you gauge your physique truthfully? Research! Look on the internet for contest results, on forums, and in magazines to see how you physique stacks up with other athletes at each level of competition. Ask yourself the following questions and answer them honestly. How tall are they? How much do they weigh? How symmetrical are they? Are they leaner than me? How do my individual body parts compare to theirs? Can I pose that well? These are just a few questions you can use to compare yourself and asses your level. This will help you determine where your physique stands in comparison to others and will assist you in setting your next goal. An Adjustable Game Plan Just like in most sports, in bodybuilding it is critical to devise an initial game plan in order to succeed. Also like most sports, adjustments must be made as the game evolves. It is always a good idea to have a starting game plan for your contest preparation, but far too often bodybuilders fail to make the necessary adjustments as they progress through their preparation. In many cases they come into contests looking soft, flat or both. An experienced bodybuilder will make the necessary adjustments during their journey to ensure a tremendous physique on show day. For example, when you start your game plan on week 1 it is bound to be different by week 8. You may have to adjust your food levels, weight training, cardio, etc. to keep the progress rolling. The key is to evaluate your progress objectively and frequently.
I use a whiteboard to track and monitor my weekly weigh ins in order to evaluate my progress objectively. Do not let your ego hold you hostage to your initial game plan when your physique starts to look run down or when you hit a brick wall with your contest preparation. How many times in a football game have you seen a stubborn coach insist on running the ball against a stout defense with 8 men in the box? Over and over they run the ball and only manage to gain 1 yard. Before long, they are down by three touchdowns. Don’t let your physique suffer because you didn’t make the necessary in-game calls. How do you know when to make these adjustments? If you are a seasoned bodybuilder you probably know how your body responds to certain protocols, but if you are a novice or intermediate bodybuilder it is highly recommended to seek out assistance from an experienced coach. Posing Practice
Maintaining Balance
Show Day
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You are finishing-out your most productive offseason to date and you are looking bigger than ever. You gave your best with each workout and it’s certain that your hard work has produced newly acquired muscle. You hit all-time personal records on every exercise in your arsenal and you followed your nutrition regimen like a Super Bowl-winning team follows their daily-practiced game plans. Now you have more quad sweep, new splits in your hamstrings, a deeper-etched back, rounder pecs, seriously capped delts and arms that graduated from handguns to nuclear warheads. Many gym goers are taking notice and they are encouraging you to compete. You have done your homework and everything else has fallen into place with your new and improved physique. With bolstered confidence, you have decided to take the plunge!
How many articles have you read on goal setting? It is very cliché and common to see articles in magazine pages on this topic, and rightfully so. Without a goal there would be no drive to improve and no willingness to achieve success. Whether you want to be a world champion or just compete for the first time in the novice division, it all begins with having a goal in mind. Everyone has heard of long term and short term goals and how their development is essential in reaching your end-goal. However, let’s not forget about a distinct type of goal which sometimes gets lost in the shuffle: Realistic goals! 
In order to set a realistic goal, which we discussed earlier, you must gauge your current level of development. Sometimes athletes view their physiques from an unrealistic perspective. Some will choose an unattainable goal simply because they are misguided by family, friends or even by their own perception. But how and why would your family and friends mislead you? More times than not, family and friends are biased and they will tell you what you want to hear. They are there to support you, so of course they focus on the positive. For example, you just finished a phenomenal chest and arms workout. Your chest is as round as can be, your arms are like balloons and you have veins that resemble earth worms, popping out all over the place after a rain storm. Your friends at the gym and your family at home express how great you look and how you could win the overall title at the next show. Understandably, you trust them and believing in this assessment you think to yourself, “I can win this title!” But wait, what about your underdeveloped legs? You enter a pro qualifying show and low and behold there are five other guys with exceptionally balanced physiques. You end up in 6th place and your confidence is shattered. “What happened? What went wrong? Everybody said I was looking awesome!” Frustration sets in because you were led to believe you were ready for the pros. 
Athlete after athlete will bust their a** in the gym for weeks and weeks on end, following their nutrition perfectly for 6 months straight without cheating a single time and doing hours of cardio to get as shredded as possible. They go out of their way to get to a tanning salon so their body has that glowing brown color. Everything is accounted for until they get under the bright lights and then it hits them like a Mack truck, “I can’t pose!” A bodybuilding show is just that: a show! Posing is probably the single most important aspect of a bodybuilding show and yet it is set aside by so many bodybuilders as an afterthought. The stage is where you perform for the judges and for the audience. You hear it at every show, a frustrated audience yelling to an athlete: “spread your lats”, “keep tight”, “chest up”, “smile!”
You may be thinking of maintaining balance as having a symmetrical physique or eating a balanced diet, but what I am talking about is maintaining balance in your everyday life. Far too many bodybuilders will center their attention on their prep to the exclusion of everything else. They focus so much on training, diet and cardio that it can be quite consuming during a long haul. There is nothing wrong with setting a realistic goal and putting forth full effort to accomplish that goal, but don’t forget about the rest of your life. Make the time to enjoy your family and friends. They are the ones who will support you as you take your journey. They are the ones who will scream and cheer for you as you hit those poses. They are the ones who will celebrate with you after the show and they will surely be the ones who will be there for you after it is all said and done. 
When you finally arrive at your destination on your special day, reflect back on the journey. Remember what it took to get there. The weights you moved in the gym, the hard stints of cardio, the tiring hours of posing practice and all those difficult days you felt so hungry that you wanted to eat your own arm. Embrace the camaraderie between athletes and listen to your fellow competitors’ journeys. Take in the backstage atmosphere and the support and love from your family and friends. Relish in the applause of the crowd and the adrenaline rush during the pose down. Accept your final placing, good or bad and accept the judges’ feedback. Receive all the compliments and enjoy the pizza, burgers and desserts. Take all of it in and really enjoy your day. You worked so tirelessly and hard to get there and you deserve it! And most importantly, thank everyone who supported you along the way. 
