 You can't practice posing too much. I always believed in flexing and posing whatever body parts I was training during any workout in the gym. If I trained arms, I would stop between sets and do some arm shots, studying myself in the mirror. Training legs or anything else, I would always take time to pose. Posing this way is not vanity. It has two specific advantages. On the one hand, this constant flexing in its self is a good form of training, helping to make the muscles hard and well defined. On the other, it constantly shows you exactly how much development you have achieved or failed to achieve. As great as your physique may appear at rest, it will primarily be judged as seen in poses. Therefore, what it looks like when you pose is the ultimate measure of your success. That is why I always assessed my physique by seeing what I looked like posing. Did I need more cuts in the upper back? Was I getting the right tie-in between pecks and delts? There is no way to tell without examining the body in each of these important poses, and that's why I felt I could never pose enough. The Basic Posing Routine: In I.F.B.B. (International Federation of Bodybuilders - the dominant sanctioning body for international bodybuilding) and other contests, you are judged in four rounds. During the pre-judging, you: 2. Do six mandatory poses; 3. Do a short, individualized posing routine.  To be seen from three of all four sides. In the evening show, you are then called upon to come out and repeat your own posing routine, but, usually, the outcome of the contest is all but decided by the end of the pre-judging. The six mandatory poses are: 2. Side chest shot from both sides 3. Front lat spread and rear lat spread Individualized Posing: Beginning and intermediate bodybuilders should concentrate on learning basic poses. But, to go on further in bodybuilding, you have to expand your posing routines and include movements that show off your physique to its best advantage, and take attention away from areas that are less than perfect. It is amazing how many great bodybuilders were able to win contests doing nothing but a few, simple pose's. But I have also seen times when competitors with inferior physiques were able to achieve victory purely on the basis of their posing routines and over all stage presence. All in all, the better you pose, the better your chances in a contest. The basic rule to follow is that it's better to do a few poses well than a lot of poses badly. It takes time to develop a good personal routine. You have to choose the poses that really suit your particular physique, that call attention to your strengths and distract from your weaknesses. You also have to learn to go from one pose to another in such an assured manner that you never stumble, hesitate or lose control. I was going through some old photographs of myself recently and I was amazed that, at one time or another, I seem to have tried every pose in the book. I did Frank Zane poses and Sergio Oliva poses and a lot of others. Over a period of time, I was able to find out what really worked for me. I finally settled on a routine that included a lot of wide, sweeping movement to capitalize on my height and long proportions. My friend Franco, on the other hand, being short and compact, developed a style that were more suited to his physique. Posing Practice: Posing requires just as much attention as the rest of your training, if you are going to become good at presentation. All you need for this practice is a full-length mirror and plenty of light. Ed Corney, one of the best posers of all time, used to spend at least an hour a day in front of the mirror working on his routine, and that was a addition to the time spent in the gym doing a double-split workout. An important part of posing is getting from one pose to another, and this is often harder than it looks. The idea is to take your time. If you can't do it slow, you can't do it. After you have full control of the movement, and you know exactly what you are doing and where you are going, then you can speed up to normal pace. Remember, when you actually enter a contest, and you are being pre-judged you may be forced to hit certain poses over and over for a matter of hours. If you haven't practiced, and you aren't in great condition, you will tire before the end and might even end up with uncontrollable cramps. Analyzing Your Pose: One of the best ways of learning is by imitation. The same can be true in learning to pose. Young bodybuilders frequently study the routines of their idols and try to copy them. This can be valuable, but only if the bodybuilder you copy has the same sort of physique you do. If you have a Frank Zane or Franco Columbu type of body, you should not copy me. On the other hands, if you have the proportions of an Arnold Schwarzenegger, you should learn to take advantage of this, and not throw away your edge by doing the posing routine of a small, densely muscular bodybuilder. I can't analyze your physique for you, but I can show you how I go about ascertaining what poses are right for me, and which are not. By studying the process rather than the specific results, you can get an idea of how to apply this to your own developmental needs.  The Javelin-Thrower pose: Poses can be athletic, aesthetic or muscular, and this pose is a little of each. I use this pose to give the impression of a Greek statue and to take advantage of my long proportions. Notice, however, that the effectiveness of this pose depends on having good biceps and good triceps, without development in these areas this pose would look ridiculous.  Abdominal Pose: Abdominal development has never been my strongest suit. Therefore, to display my abs, I like to do a pose that emphasizes the muscularity of my entire upper body and creates a wide look to the shoulders to make my waist seem even narrower. Notice how the powerful look of my arms, delts and pectorals complements my abdominal development.  Side Biceps Shot: This an aesthetic way of showing off the biceps which, at the same time, emphasizes the mass of the deltoids and the upper arm and make the waist seem slender and narrow. I use this pose frequently as a preliminary to a full one-arm biceps shot. Since this is a more aesthetic pose, notice I try to stay looking relaxed, that makes it even more dramatic when I bring my right arm up into a full biceps shot and really hit the pose hard. In this pose, and several others, I like to turn slightly to the side, twist, and not face the camera directly. This makes the waist look narrower and keeps the poses from seeming too "blocky".  Behind-the-Neck Biceps Shot: This is a good example of how many different ways there are to show off any body part. Here, I am flexing the biceps, but I have also revealed the serratus and intercostal muscles of the torso by placing one hand behind my head. This has also brought out the lats, emphasized by the V-shaped torso, and made my waist seem smaller. Where you look can make a significant difference in any pose. Looking away from the biceps instead of toward them, I have given just the right tilt to my body and created a much more pleasing impression.  Most Muscular Pose: It is important to do a "most muscular" shot sometime during your presentation, but there are a number of ways of doing this pose. The traditional "crab" shot is, perhaps, the most impressive, but this variation is much more aesthetic. I always do a slight hip twist in this pose, and work on arm against the other to bring out maximum striations in the arms and chest. Also, this photograph points out the importance of flexing all your muscles in every pose. Even though this is primarily and upper body pose, I have my thighs and calves tensed to the maximum.  Front Double Biceps: It is a standard, compulsory pose, and there is a good reason why. You really have to have the physique to look good doing this pose, no misdirection, no deception, no looking like a Greek Olympian. You have to have the arms, the serratus, intercostals, and the works. But see how I remember that the entire body is still on view, not only the biceps. My lats are spread, hips twisted slightly to minimize the waist, stomach held in, quadriceps and calves tensed. Also, in this photo and most of the others, I wear black trunks, since this does not draw attention to the midsection and so de-emphasizes the waist. |