If that is the case, he needs an attitude adjustment before getting on stage nearly naked and being “critically” judged by 7.
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I know you are old enough to understand this… Must have used film and waiting to get it developed. 
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This just got me thinking and recall my view of competitive bodybuilding. I started competing in 1970 (about 3 contests per year), yet never once thought of getting any pictures of myself until 1977 when Doc Neely had contest pictures taken and offered to sell them to all of the competitors of that contest.
I mention this as a substitute for popcorn as we wait for OP to have his film developed.
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I think we are going to be waiting a while.
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Perhaps my posts were too “real” for Mr. IL muscle machine? My only hope was the OP would have really read all of the words I posted and maybe gotten a bit self-reflective on his ambitions/goals. I hoped the OP would have paused to really decide if his desire to pursue that pro card was worth the tradeoffs of job security, his health, financial stability, etc.
If I could suggest a path that was a bit more supportive, I would tell @TheillinoisMuscleMachine to whole-heartedly set that goal of competing in his first Novice NPC bodybuilding competition. Also, to fully devote all the necessary resources to competing, and winning, not only your weight class but the novice overall. That means having the proper finances to pay for a trainer/diet coach, getting in all of your weight/cardio workouts, NOT cheating on your diet, and giving it his all. After the show, reflecting on if it was an enjoyable experience and if he’d do it again. Many guys want to compete but after doing all that work, and NOT cheating (missing workouts, not going 100% in the gym, not being strict on the diet) many discover that it is REALLY draining to prep for a show for a full year (having a full off-season of bulking plus the 12 or so weeks dieting). The old cliche is very true for Bodybuilding: This is a VERY SELFISH, TIME CONSUMING SPORT!
But hey, if you like it and if you receive honest feedback from objective outsiders (namely, the judges) that you’ve got the genetics to be successful and you can also objectively assess your physique from looking at your show pictures, then by all means do another show.
But give yourself a set number of years/shows to compete and if by the end of that time you are still not winning shows or consistently improving your placings, that’s when you should be honest with yourself whether or not you should continue to pursue this dream. That’s kind of the route I took. Oh, and just like any other sport (e.g. football), every time you move up a level of competition (local show, state/regional, national level show) you must realize that the quality of your competition in your weight class will also be increasing at a rapid rate! The guys who do a local open SHW show vs. guys who do the USA SHW are NIGHT AND DAY different in terms of quality of muscle, muscle mass, shape, conditioning, etc. Think on that as well.
Hope this helps.
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@TheillinoisMuscleMachine Also, as others have requested, please post some pictures so we can see where you’re starting from physique-wise.
Try and take them in either posing trunks, but if you probably don’t have them, wear some under armour tights or at least for god’s sakes pull up your shorts so that we can see your quads/hams also. Sweatpants or super baggy shorts tell us nothing. And hit some of the mandatory poses in the pictures so we can see what you might look like onstage…maybe a front double bicep, side chest, rear double bicep/lat spread.
Obviously we know you are not in contest shape at this time and probably are not tanned, but that’s okay. I’m interested in simply seeing your frame/structure, what kind of muscle bellies/insertions, and overall muscle mass you currently possess.
Until we see these it’s impossible to give you honest feedback on your potential and on how much it’s gonna take to get you onstage with a winning physique.
If I were ever asked, I would tell that person: Competitive bodybuilding is a jealous bitch. She wants your total commitment. No cheating on her.
Hey, everyone I’m sorry for not responding to anyone for the past 3 days I have been sick with a fever and I will be reading all your guys replies. Thanks for taking the time to try and give me advice on my cycle, It means a lot.
I did guesstimate I did get my body fat/lean mass tested before but I have changed in the last 6 months so it would be pointless to tell you what my BF and Lean mass were that long ago.
So, I definitely would agree with you even my coach said the same thing I have been listening to him, but just haven’t thought about it very clearly and you saying this helped a lot.
I have been training naturally for around 5-6 years, but I get what you are saying since I just hopped on it would be better for me to train for a few years before competing in NPC and to try to go to Nationals to get my pro card. I was going to try out a show and see how I do then if I don’t do well I will take a break and train for 2-3 years enhanced then go back to competing.
So I have competed in bodybuilding before I competed in OCB which I enjoyed but I know it is somewhat different from the NPC stage. I know how it feels to eat clean and sleep and train. I also know about the political and subjective nature of the sport, but I have never competed in NPC so I only have a slight understanding of how that works.
No, you said everything perfectly and thanks for giving me that advice. I saw your message and re-read it like 3 times because I was re-thinking some things but this has been my dream since I was around 12-13 years old to become a pro bodybuilder, I know how much of a bitch this sport can be and I am fully ready to take whatever it throws at me.
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Still waiting for pics.
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This is a sport where passion and dedication isn’t enough. The top guys have to train hard, and be very disciplined to be at the top, but without what their parents gave them it wouldn’t matter.
I am not saying it can’t be a hobby. It can be something you love as well. It may also be a career if you’re lucky, but chances are that you are not. You mentioned doing another competition in the past. Do you have pictures from that? If you are conditioned in those, those will be enough to tell structure, and if you give background on your training we can see what potential you have. There isn’t a point in being scared of feedback here. It is either you find out now, or later on.
I had some ambitions myself for powerlifting. I was stronger than most of my peers in highschool. But that was a tiny talent pool. I went the natural route for a long time. Put on a ton of weight over several years to get stronger. I just didn’t have the natural talent to be great. I have won my weight class at local shows, but I’d get destroyed at even a regional meet. Training is still something I love to do. I kinda regret getting so fat to be mediocre haha. If I had known I was only going to be mediocre, I wouldn’t have done it. I think the same goes for gear. If you blast hard for the next 10 years, and maybe get your pro card, but you’re never able to make a living out of it, would it be worth it to you? I am not saying the answer is no, maybe it is yes for you if you love it enough. Just understand that if you do this, you will be questioning your actions later down the road anytime a medical issue comes up. You’ll be thinking, is this related to the gear use. Now I do use gear, but I understand at this point it is a vanity project. I am not aiming to be awesome, just to be top 1% in the general population. That doesn’t require a ton of gear, so I mostly just stick to TRT. A short little blast here and there (I am on blast less than 1/4 the time) where I just use Test at a couple multiples of my TRT dose is about all I do. I don’t think I’ll have a high probability of paying the piper down the road for this.
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