How many guys never do a show because they dont feel big enough to win the overall?

[Knight9]

If you have to wait til you're ready...you're never going to be ready.

Not competing because you think you won't win the overall is absolutely ridiculous. The smallest weight classes aren't going to win the overall at a decent show...so just put that out of your mind if you fall into that category and either try to win your class or get bigger. You need to pretty much be at least a middleweight to have a shot at an overall.

Honestly, I always really disliked the guys who would talk about how they don't or won't compete because they are not big enough....mostly because the majority who said so had no chance and no fortitude to personify their yapping. They just wanted something to talk about and were making an excuse usually. Now anyone who says they need more size and is serious about it....I can appreciate-so long as they are getting after their goals and not harping on about it.

 

[GreenTLB6]

If you have to wait til you're ready...you're never going to be ready.

Not competing because you think you won't win the overall is absolutely ridiculous. The smallest weight classes aren't going to win the overall at a decent show...so just put that out of your mind if you fall into that category and either try to win your class or get bigger. You need to pretty much be at least a middleweight to have a shot at an overall.

Honestly, I always really disliked the guys who would talk about how they don't or won't compete because they are not big enough....mostly because the majority who said so had no chance and no fortitude to personify their yapping. They just wanted something to talk about and were making an excuse usually. Now anyone who says they need more size and is serious about it....I can appreciate-so long as they are getting after their goals and not harping on about it.

glad you added that. was about to get pissed because im in that boat. Ill compete when I feel im ready. That's no one else's business except mine and I am doing everything in my power to make this happen the next year or two.
and no I don't feel like im big enough yet. I will be soon and I have no delusions of winning and overall my first show. Novice would be nice. Take some more time off to do things right then maybe attack going after and overall

 

[swolepanda]

I felt the same way, always thinking I needed to get bigger to compete, then I thought about competing in a show this time next year and the motivation and desire gained a huge amount of urgency. So in a way not worrying about how much size you have to start competing might be the best way to progress the fastest because you have a deadline you must meet and the level of urgency is compounded.

 

[Knight9]

This is one of the issues with men's physique. Any asshole can choose to do it. It takes virtually nothing in terms of hard work via blood sweat and tears and pounding the iron. Bodybuilding is different. If you aren't a mesomorph and or heavily muscled via genetics, then you have to spend some real time "moving slag iron" as Dante calls it.

I started training hard in 2004. I didn't think about competing in 2005 or 2006. I knew it would take time to build something respectable. Nowadays kids and far too many individuals think "hey I'm gonna do a show." Ugh..end rant.

 

[doug1]

This is one of the issues with men's physique. Any asshole can choose to do it. It takes virtually nothing in terms of hard work via blood sweat and tears and pounding the iron. Bodybuilding is different. If you aren't a mesomorph and or heavily muscled via genetics, then you have to spend some real time "moving slag iron" as Dante calls it.

I started training hard in 2004. I didn't think about competing in 2005 or 2006. I knew it would take time to build something respectable. Nowadays kids and far too many individuals think "hey I'm gonna do a show." Ugh..end rant.

Unless you're the 19 year old in Pesty's thread, I agree.:yeahthat:

 

[MassiveXLG]

Thats pretty much the boat im in. I competed as a natty middle at the teenage level a few days after my 18th birthday. Did okay but saw the guys competing in the open ind i was like fuuuuuuuuk. Now im just making gains untill i feel like i can sweep a show. Come in with ass cuts at 205-210 at 5'9 and dominate everyone lol

 

[GymDudeVA]

From the perspective of an old fart.

I did several contests between 1998 and 2004. Every year I though I looked bigger and better, and every year I was disappointed in my placing. (Although part of me was just thrilled to fit in and feel like a real bodybuilder.)

Fast forward to to today and middle age. I have a shelf full of trophies. People see them and are impressed as hell. Almost no one asks or cares how I placed, or why I got fourth in my class instead of second, or if I took my class (I never did). All they care about is I was that kind of bodybuilder, a competitive one, a real one, a part of the sport. And to be honest, I myself sometimes can't remember how I placed. I just marvel that I pulled it off at all. I look at the photos, and what I thought was not very big or conditioned a the time...damn, I wasn't bad!

I plan to make a comeback this year, and will probably do well in the over-50s masters, but even if i never set foot on stage again, I've done it. When I'm in the nursing home and my body is withered, my trophies will grace my dresser-top. And I guarantee no one, including myself, will give a flying fuck whether I was overall or last in my class.

 

[DOGGCRAPP]

From the perspective of an old fart.

I did several contests between 1998 and 2004. Every year I though I looked bigger and better, and every year I was disappointed in my placing. (Although part of me was just thrilled to fit in and feel like a real bodybuilder.)

Fast forward to to today and middle age. I have a shelf full of trophies. People see them and are impressed as hell. Almost no one asks or cares how I placed, or why I got fourth in my class instead of second, or if I took my class (I never did). All they care about is I was that kind of bodybuilder, a competitive one, a real one, a part of the sport. And to be honest, I myself sometimes can't remember how I placed. I just marvel that I pulled it off at all. I look at the photos, and what I thought was not very big or conditioned a the time...damn, I wasn't bad!

I plan to make a comeback this year, and will probably do well in the over-50s masters, but even if i never set foot on stage again, I've done it. When I'm in the nursing home and my body is withered, my trophies will grace my dresser-top. And I guarantee no one, including myself, will give a flying fuck whether I was overall or last in my class.

Very good post.

I have to admit myself, I compared myself to pro's and it royally screwed up the thought process. I am 6'1" so i used to look at "over 6 foot" pro's or pro bodybuilders who were 6'1" my height and with similiar physique makeup and make that the goal. It was a mistake that played huge in my psyche. I was painfully thin when i started lifting (6'1" 137lbs starting at 19 years old) so trained for 7 years clean (up to a doughy smooth 242lbs) and then decided to take the "darkside plunge".

Berry Demey was the guy that was 6 foot 1 inch at the time and he competed at 228 to 238 so thats what I set my sights on....and I got up to the bodyweight I felt i needed to be in the offseason to accomplish about 230 shredded onstage. Right about this time Chris Duffy comes along at 6 foot 1 and competes at 258-263. This screwed up my head royally as Duffy and I have alot of similarities physique wise. Duffy was 300 offseason....back to the drawing board for me....I used ungodly training poundages and food and brought my bodyweight up to near 300....dieted down to do the World Gym Championships, pulled out with 6 weeks left because I just could not work 2 jobs, diet/cardio, think and function. I start the process again a few years later....and here comes Gunther Schlierkamp at 6 foot 1 weighing 296lbs onstage overtaking ronnie in a show and placing high in everything.....I was thinking "WTF!!!" I felt i had reached the Chris Duffy threshhold for a show and here comes Gunther 30 freaking lbs heavier at the same height. (This show I should have done...I was weeks out again and pulled out to reaccess, sat in the audience for the show and the superheavyweight class was so pathetic that it would have been an easy win and i just sat in my chair shaking my head at my idiocy).......start the process again....weigh 295-303 for quite a long time and its really solid.....Im determined this time...screw it....I diet down to 258-263ish with I think 4 weeks left and Im on point.....wife diets down too for the fitness show....Worlds Gym championship....Get a call from my mom and dad that my dad has a massive cancerous liver tumour and its not looking good (about 3.5 weeks out from show).....I cant even think straight....father going in for operation....doctors say from the size of it and placement of tumour, things not looking great.....wife and I after a long discussion about family life vs "competing because its expected for me to do so by others in the sport"....make the correct decision decide to pull out because my father's life was (he has since died) so much more important than anything I was doing. Rusty Jeffers IFBB Pro won the superheavyweight class of that show.
But I feel for alot of you...you look at some of these guys your height and think "ok i got to get there...I want to freaking dominate"....and it absolutely plays on your psyche. I feel incredibly bad for alot of guys 5'9"-5'10" ish in bodybuilding because that seems to be a pretty magic number as great bodybuilders go....but christ you look around and see Phil Heath and Kai Greene, Jay Cutler and big Ramy and your head has to spin as to what you aspire to be vs reality.

 

[bieberhole69]

I think if you wait until a certain size to compete that you're definitely selling yourself short. Of course, at all times, be REALISTIC about your physique and whether or not you SHOULD compete.

With that being said--without competing, how will you know what improvements you need to make? Is it conditioning? Posing? Your symmetry? All of these things take time and a bit of learning to master. Let's say you come in thinking you're conditioned at your first show--but then some guy blows you away and redefines "conditioned" for you. Posing itself is tricky to master, especially in a depleted state on stage where nerves may be getting the best of you. And symmetry can take a year or two alone to catch up! Competing can be a great goal-setter as you can get a large dose of reality on what you need to do to improve. There's no faking it on stage.

I'm not saying you should compete every year--I myself can't make the gains I need within a year's time to improve seriously on stage. Some people can. You'll never know unless you compete.

Here was me as a MW going up for the overall (black trunks next to HW in red, and I believe these pics really illustrate the importance of coming in CONDITIONED as it can greatly close size gaps--I honestly believe someone competing for the first time will have an extremely difficult time getting absolutely peeled and bone-dry). Conditioning on point, need to bring up legs and arms (and calves obviously), need more overall size.

 

[phatkid77]

Awesome post DC and bieber I would give u overall


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[bieberhole69]

Awesome post DC and bieber I would give u overall


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Thank you bro but that's just two shots out of them all (didn't want to flood). My point to add to this thread is: how would I ever have learned to nail the conditioning or what improvements needed to be made to win the overall if I hadn't competed?

Additionally, now that I know I can nail my conditioning--I also know that an overall is within my grasp with some more size and tweaking to my physique. That's pretty motivating to me, and has helped fuel an entire year's of hard training.

 

[concreteguy]

And don't forget the guys that talk all the talk and train there asses off just to quit a week or two before the show. lol
I forgot his name but a sponsor here comes to mind. The guy shot his mouth off about how wonderful he was and how he was going to do a show and as the show crept up on him HE CREPT OUT THE BACK DOOR. lol
Bottom line, there's Hammers and nails. Be a HAMMER! It's OK if you never do a show, but if that's what you want to do? Then fucking do it. Or shut up!

CG

 

[phatkid77]

And don't forget the guys that talk all the talk and train there asses off just to quit a week or two before the show. lol

I forgot his name but a sponsor here comes to mind. The guy shot his mouth off about how wonderful he was and how he was going to do a show and as the show crept up on him HE CREPT OUT THE BACK DOOR. lol

Bottom line, there's Hammers and nails. Be a HAMMER! It's OK if you never do a show, but if that's what you want to do? Then fucking do it. Or shut up!



CG

Bam!
SOOOO many around my area do this. Beast mode daily. Then vanish before the show. A couple girls have done this. Atleast 5 times. I'd be embarrassed. Do it or don't. Just shut up
Or the ones that declare. Victory. They are training to win. Bringing home hardware. Then they compete (we see pics day of now adays). And u get ZERO updates. Lol
I get being mad. But I bet embarrassed. I would atleast get on. Say got up there. Quality physiques today. Didn't go as I had hoped or planed. Ect. But you know..... Being HUMBLE is a lost art.


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[HimRoid]

Thank you bro but that's just two shots out of them all (didn't want to flood). My point to add to this thread is: how would I ever have learned to nail the conditioning or what improvements needed to be made to win the overall if I hadn't competed?

Additionally, now that I know I can nail my conditioning--I also know that an overall is within my grasp with some more size and tweaking to my physique. That's pretty motivating to me, and has helped fuel an entire year's of hard training.

You have great symmetry, bieber. You look very impressive!

 

[bieberhole69]

You have great symmetry, bieber. You look very impressive!

Appreciate it bro. Once again confirming that competing was the right move--these pics are from 2014 and in 2012 I did my first competition and it became painfully obvious what needed to be brought up (besides everything of course, but legs and arms mainly).

Now it's just more of the same, so adding overall size and hoping to fix the lagging arms in the process.

Competing is a great tool to find out the weaknesses in your physique and to drive you to improve them!

 

[GymDudeVA]

And for the vast majority of us who are not and will never be pro's, it's a HOBBY. It's supposed to be FOR FUN.

It's fine not to compete if you simply are not interested in doing so. But if your reason is that you cannot be the best, then I think some priorities are amiss.

There's a reason we call it a "show" just as often as a "contest." It's a performance. Besides cheering for their friends, people come to see the physiques, get motivated, mingle with like-minded individuals, peruse the vendor booths, etc. It's almost like a convention. Think of the last amateur contest you attended...quick, can you tell me the name of the middleweight winner? The overall winner even?