I get to the theatre nice and early, I’m tired and hungry, I get their and the mind games start, everyone who is competing is in baggy sweats, trying not to give anything away with what’s lurking under their tracksuits. All you see is a tanned face under a hooded jumper with darting eyes, trying to size you up, working out if you’re competing against them and if you’re a threat, I feel like a lamb to slaughter.
We get weighed, and get the first glimpses of the competition as it is standard to be weighed in only your posing trunks. More and more huge guys keep stripping off, showing their thick cuts and muscle striations. I however feel like I am shrinking by the second, a bodybuilder’s worst nightmare. I hand over my music and head backstage.
Backstage offers great inspiration and knowledge, asking anyone questions who would answer honesty, after all I would not give all my secrets away. Huge guys are tanning up, they seem just to get bigger and bigger as more coats of tan go on. Some you look at have no threat but as they tan and pose their bodies begin to come alive and double in size. I find myself staring in awe and asking how they can be that big and cut, but I remember what a long journey bodybuilding is, it takes time, i’ll be there one day.
The nerves are setting in as it becomes obvious who is in my category, before you know it I am called upstairs to begin pumping up, wine and chocolate are swirling around my mouth as I try my best to get some sort of pump in my muscles, but within minutes I am exhausted, luckily I have a training partner their with me shouting at me, faster, one more, squeeze. We are then ordered to get in line, we stand their lats out and abs in……………….its show time.
I walked on stage, the lights hit my face, hundreds of things went through my head, could I remember the exact position for every pose, was the huge guy in front of me just dwarfing me, was I cut enough, was I big enough, had I done enough work, was the 22 week diet long enough, did I do enough cardio, did I honestly push myself as hard as I could have, was all the time, money, sweat and tears worth it?
Then I start hearing my family and friends shouting my name…………..the adrenaline sets in………………..Yes it was definitely worth it.
We went through the mandatory poses, I begin loving it and all those nerves backstage as I pumped up have disappeared. I know I haven’t won or been in the top six call out but that does not matter, I am having too much fun, soaking in the experience, I’ve got many chances in the future to become competitive. We go off stage, then are called back on one by one to do our 60 seconds free pose.
I’m called on stage and walk to the middle, I hear the rock tune start playing that i’ve practiced too hundreds of times , its only 60 seconds but time seems to pause, I hit my favourite poses, the music ends and I walk off to the cheers of my friends and family. The adrenaline is amplified and grows stronger and stronger, we are called on stage again, we all receive are UKFBB medal and a free t-shirt, even though everyone gets this medal I’m chuffed with it, its signifies my first bodybuilding show, it proves to all those people who thought I could not or would not do it, that I have and will hang proudly for many years to come. I had set myself a goal and accomplished it, just like anyone who enters a gym with something they want to do, improve fitness or look and feel stronger, it’s a great feeling of self satisfaction when you complete that goal.
I went back to the changing rooms bit by the bug, i’ve always loved bodybuilding since the first time I watched Arnold Schwarzenegger in Pumping Iron, but that love for the sport has increased even more, I know I want to be doing this for as long as I possibly can. I am proud that I can call myself a bodybuilder, I am no longer just someone who takes weight training serious. I can’t wait to get back on stage and do another show, bigger and better……………. But first things first, 22 weeks diet, I’m starving….pizza.
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