What’s The Feeling Like To Compete On Stage?
The feeling of getting on stage…wow, sometimes I think that it was over 2 years since I’ve been on stage, but I can remember how it was like it was yesterday.
First let me describe in a few words the weeks leading up to the day the stage lights come on.
Weeks Leading Upto The Show
The days seem endless. You feel you have a million things to get done within the day, but don’t have enough energy to get any of them done. You feel completely exhausted, sleepy, hungry, pissed off, drained, angry, frustrated, doubtful at times, and can’t wait to get all this shit over with. Do you have a social life? Not at all, except those you see in the gym, and to be honest even those people coming to talk to you piss you off; them talking to you irritates you since your energy is low, and all you want to do it get in, and get out of the gym. Some of us diet that hard to get to that point, and those that ever have these feelings won’t understand since, in my opinion, they don’t push themselves to their limits.
The Final Week
Now, here comes the final week before the show. You’ve done all you can, you feel the end is near, and showtime is upon you! Depending on your condition 1 week out from the show, you’re doing your carb-loading, fluid manipulation, sodium loading/deloading, etc., and you watch yourself change daily, and hopefully peak your physique in top condition.
Contest Day/Game Time
The day of the show arrives, and you feel great honestly, even though the “thirst” is real, as you are probably very low to zero water in your system. But still, when you arrive at the contest, and see others going through what you are, you feel great. Being around misery can bring life (you have to experience it to understand this).
You’re backstage, your class is being called up shortly, and you start to pump up. At this point, the adrenaline is rising, and your time is near. You are trying to pump your physique up as best as possible, while being among a ton of other competitors, and making sure to time everything accordingly with some fast acting sugars, a little fluid perhaps, and achieve some solid pumps with either light weights, push-ups or resistance bands.
Now the time has come to get on stage. Your class lines up, and you are eager to battle. All you think about is your posing, and making sure to go through the same steps as you did all these past weeks with your posing practice in the mirrors. As you walk on stage, and they call your name/number, the feeling is unreal. YOU MADE IT. YOU ARE HERE. THIS IS MY TIME. You then line up, hear the cheers from the crowd, and do the manditories the judges call out. When posing, all you’re saying to yourself is “FUCKING HIT THIS POSE MAN!! THIS DUDE HAS NOTHING ON ME”. Whether that is true or not, you’re still talking yourself up (I know I do). Then after the first round, you are sent back to the side you came off from, then the anticipation starts when you await to hear if your number is called in for the First Callouts (this usually means you are in the top group/placings in your class). I remember when my numbers were called in the first callouts, I totally got stoked inside. All you want to do is yell out “HELL YA! DAMN STRAIGHT” but instead you keep a straight face, walk back to the stage line, and nail your front relaxed pose, smiling of course, and await for anyone else called up to the first lineup. At this time you pump yourself up for the real battle. This is the time you pose your best, as it will determine your placing. With each pose you tell yourself “NAIL IT YOU GOT IT. FLEX HERE, ROTATE THIS OUT, HIT IT. AND SQUEEZE!!” Man this is great feeling. Battling on stage with other great physiques is an amazing feeling that can’t be described.
Some people think they will get nervous onstage if they competed, since tons of people are watching, but honestly you don’t see a damn thing in front of you except the judges at your feet. The bright lights, pretty much make a dark/black canvas in front of you, and you barely see anything.
When you do your personal posing routine, this is where you get to express your artist sense and display your physique in the way you feel it should be. You add your personality to it, and show yourself off to the crowd. Some people try to wing-it, but I highly don’t recommend it as it looks boring and very un-thought out. Put the time into your posing routine, as this is time to show off, and bring some great entertainment to the show for 1 minute.
Aftermath
When the night is over, you reflect on it, and no matter what…you enjoyed every single bit of it. The day probably started at 4-5am, and ended between 10pm-12am, depending on when your class went up, and if you battled for overalls. But you loved it, and wish it wasn’t over. Some people get lost after a show, since they don’t know what to do after it. What goal do they have now? The goal was to get on stage for this show, and now what? This is where you need to just take time to relax for a few days, and become human again, and come back to reality for a bit. The next goal will come to mind soon enough, just take this time to relax and reflect.
Competing onstage is an amazing feeling, and it’s something I do miss very very very much.
