First show in the books! It was an incredible day and experience, so much fun. Overall a successful first show and I’m extremely proud of the package I brought. I’ll try to not type a novel here.
It was a long day, we got to the school at 9am and left at 9pm. Most of the day was spent waiting around in the hallway of the school, or the “backstage” area. It was crowded and tight with people pumping up and getting their tans ready, fortunately I found a zone near the entrance that wasn’t too bad, tried to sit and relax as much as possible.
First was the weigh in, I woke up at 146.6 and weighed in at 148.8, no problem getting under the 150 mark. There were 11 competitors total in open bodybuilding, so they ultimately divided it up into 3 classes: light, middle and heavy. There were 4 total competitors in the light division including myself, and I certainly “drew the short straw” in terms of competition. I was competing against 3 other guys, including:
- The guy who ultimately won the overall, also a bantam at 149, who had competed in 7 previous shows over the past few years, won his weight class 5 times and all 5 times narrowly missed his pro card. He absolutely deserved it last night.
- A lightweight who got 2nd place to winner of last night’s show by 1 point at his last two shows.
- A guy who is a pro physique competitor, won his last pro physique show, competed at this show last year winning overall physique and placing 2nd in bodybuilding.
That being considered, I definitely held my own against them and I think my overall structure was even a strong point. My legs were not nearly as dialed in as any of theirs, which kept me down, combined with the fact that I was the only rookie up there going against 3 experienced, very strong and successful competitors who knew the feeling of being on stage before. But, the goal was to get on stage and bring my best, and I feel I was still able to hang with those guys. I know we’ve been holding back as we’re really aiming for the Hercules in 8 weeks, and I will do whatever it takes to come in with my legs diced up. All of the guys were extremely nice, we all talked and hung out back stage, a great sense of sportsmanship and camaraderie overall.
Many people, including the judges, said that the lightweight class was no doubt the hardest class to judge. The pre-judging made that obvious, it lasted about 15 minutes and was pretty grueling. I’m glad I practiced posing as much as I did, but the pre-judging was a good kick in the posing trunks to practice even harder and longer. I literally sweat off about half my tan, I’m not sure how that happened but I kept smiling through it. I think next time I’ll do the rub on tan and put on some base coats a good few days in advance so it can soak in longer. As dark as I thought I looked, I was the lightest guy on stage, so next time I’d like to come in a little darker as well.
After pre-judging we went out to the local diner as we had a few hours until the night show, I brought my cooler and kept up with my rice cakes, peanut butter, nutella and a little chicken. Once the night show rolled around, it was time for my routine, which was a blast, primarily because the pressure was off and I just wanted to perform well for myself, my wife and my friends/family that came. After watching the video, I also feel I was tighter, fuller and overall stronger at night, after more food in me and a good pump from the prejudging. Another good lesson and learning experience from the day, that I can handle more carbs for the show. We went to the diner after the show and I had a turkey melt, sweet potato fries and a ton of homemade cookies, and woke up Sunday morning looking much thicker, fuller and I feel overall better than Saturday. So, further evidence I can handle more carbs and feeding into the next show in 8 weeks.
At the show you can order professional hi-res shots taken during the posing routine and finals show, I ordered some and will be sure to post them once they arrive. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get them, but I’m glad I did so I can have a great visual of my first show, and also because I know I looked better at night than at prejudging.
Yesterday, Sunday, I woke up at 150.4, and had an amazing day of relaxing, eating whatever I want (probably went a little overboard but after 18 weeks of dieting I really just wanted to not worry about it and enjoy myself), and enjoying looking at pics and videos from the show.
Here are two front and back pics from Saturday. You can definitely see my tan sweating off, a little embarrassing but nothing I could do about it. I gave my damn best effort and am proud that I was able to hang with the guys in my class, and it’s just more motivation to get me to the Hercules!
