When you decided to do your first competition, what kind of shape were you in?

[teirrah]

Anybody out there like to think back to when they decided to do their first bb comp and what kind of shape they were in? Also, how long had you been training, how much muscle, what level of bodyfat you had... basically any info to help me gauge whether I'm nuts to be wanting to try a comp next May with only 14 months of committed training. Any comments welcome...
BTW, I'm 34 (yeah, getting on a bit), 5"9, weigh about 68 kilos (150 lbs) and have 18 % bodyfat.

 

[Sassy69]

Naw - go for it. I'd been lifting for ohhhhh like 20 years (not solid commitment the whole time but pretty steady) and it never occurred to me to compete. Shit, back then women "didn't" lift.

I tried one of those "no carb" diets (don't do it...) and got down to like 150 and 16% when I started prepping - in 16 weeks I got down to 8% and 133 lbs. (I'm 5'7").

I would recommend that you find a trainer to help you simply because doing your first show can be very stressful and confusing trying to figure out the diet & training. Also do you plan to do figure or bb? For both you need to learn how to pose correctly and for bb you also have to do a routine. Its one thing to have a great body for comp but if you have no idea how to prepare for a show (tanning, suit, posing, routine) it shows & it will kill you. Also if you've never been to a show, go check them out. The "season" generally starts in mid March. Go see as many as you can - both the pre-judge (morning) and night shows so you see what its all about. Talk to the competitors. Find out what level the competitin in May is. The larger the competition, the more you'll have to know your stuff. A local level 2 or 3 comp is maybe a good place to start to get the feel of it & get used to the posing, being on stage, etc. Also check to see if there are some other shows in your area that fall within a week or two of your target show - this way you can decide if you want to do a second show while you are still in shape or want a second attempt to get your diet more "on". Or if you don't hit your target show in the shape that you need to be in (e.g. sometimes you can "spill over", go flat, not be lean enough, etc) it gives you a second chance. Its really easy to psych yourself out on your first show and its important to be "ready" - if you don't feel you are tight enough for the first date, you have the next one to fall back on and you won't start panicking and start starving yourself or doing 4 hrs of cardio/day or just decide to toss it all and give up.

You'll never know if you are "nuts" unless you try it

 

[MS]

"You'll never know if you are "nuts" unless you try it"

LOL

I think I had been WEIGHT training less than a year before I got roped in to my first competition (but was otherwise pretty fit and had been doing a lot of other exercise for at least 20 years). I was 65 kilos and around 16%bf when I began my diet. I entered at 55 kilos (including dehydration) and I dunno, maybe 8 or 9%bf. I'm 5'5".

 

[SteelWeaver]

Whoo hooo!!!! You're gonna do the shinjinsen! Do it girl, do it!!!!

Hell, when I *decided* to do my first comp., I'd only been training seriously for a few months, really, but I knew I had 2 years to prepare. And when I actually started dieting, right around this same time last year, for the same comp. you're thinking of (??), I guarantee you I was fatter than you and probably with less LBM. All I had was an unwavering commitment and a passionate desire. I didn't know a thing!

And with your body type, you'll be able to cut up faily easily, lucky b***h.

E-mail me and I'll give you the number of the most awesome trainer in town. You NEED a trainer - don't even THINK about trying it alone, unless you have guts of steel, a will of iron, and don't mind being squishy on the day. TRUST me on this - I was there, and I was too stubborn and proud to listen. Get a trainer.

Awesome - a gaijin winner at the shinjinsen!!!!!! A wonderful upset!

Get ready for an experience you will never, ever forget - oh, it's the most beautiful rollercoaster - a ride conceived in a hall of mirrors. Oh! I'm so excited for you I can hardly sit still!!!!

 

[teirrah]

Cool. Thanks for your replies, that's it, no more toe in the water,I've just jumped in.
And Steel, thanks for the inspiration, if I hadn't seen you working out at that gym I'd still be foo fooing around with plastic weights wondering when I might stop looking like a blob...Am emailing you right now.