Thursday, March 14, 2013

Should I compete?

Bodybuilding competitions.

I've been thinking about bodybuilding competitions lately. Should I do them?

I am obviously not ready for them yet, I probably won't be for at least another year, year and a half or so.
But when the time comes, should I do them?

First of all, I need to decide which event to do.

Bikini competitions are less muscle definition, and more for beauty.
This is the 2010 Miss Bikini Olympia winner, Sonia Gonzales.



Figure Competitions, generally have a lower body fat percentage and are judged more for the more "ripped look"
This is Erin Stern, the winner of IFBB Figure Pro and Ms. Figure Olympia 2010


Fitness competitors not only compete for physical appearance, but also are tested with strength activities . This is Tanji Johnson.
 

And lastly, Bodybuilding competitors usually go for the extreme muscular look.
This is Cheryl Myers in 2010.



I would be most likely to compete in Bikini competitions, since it seems to be the easiest. I can also see me doing figure competitions as well. But I am still not sure if I want to do them or not.

Why?
1. It is a huge commitment! Your diet, exercise, training is so intense and takes a lot of time and hard work. Not to mention the fact that if you suddenly decide to stop doing competitions... well... you just don't do that.
2. You might not win, and in general, bodybuilding isn't anything you can really earn money off of. Some people strike it lucky and win competitions and prizes, some get sponsorships, but usually sponsorships are more like a lot of free samples, rather than actual money.
3. It is a really "public" thing. You are showing off your body, and it can be really intimidating. I don't think I would mind this so much, but it is still the type of thing to take a lot of confidence and charisma.
4. Expensive. With travel, bathing suits, tanning, food, the gym, shoes, and EVERYTHING it really adds up. There isn't a big payoff as I said before. So it is extremely expensive. Plus if I am really going for it, I should probably invest in a professional trainer.

There is one more thing, that I thought was a bigger deal than in all actuality: Tanning.

If you have seen me, I am EXTREMELY pale. I have the whitest skin ever. I was stressing thinking "If I do bodybuilding competitions, I have to tan a lot more" which is true, I am going to have to tan to create a base coat. But obviously, as you can see from those images above, they are super tanned. This is from spray tanning. Bodybuilders usually spray tan once the night before and once in the morning of competitions. The reason why bodybuilders tan so much for competitions is because the lights on on the stage are really bright, and darker skin + the lights creates more muscle definition.

So in all actuality, the tanning really isn't THAT much of a big deal. The spray tan takes a few weeks to wear off, but other than that, it's not an enormous detail.

So will I do competitions? Well. I can't answer this question at this time. I want to wait to see where my fitness route takes me. If I develop a good physique, than I think it wouldn't hurt to do a couple of competitions. But as I said, it is going to be at least another year or year and a half before I achieve that body.



Sources:
http://blog.bodybuilding.com/fitnessprincess/2011/07/06/an_introduuction_to_some_of/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdzzANd3leA
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ramsey19.htm

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