I had been involved as a competitor and a sport chairman in bodybuilding for a very long time. I first competed in the Mr. Cleveland in 1969 and finished my competing with winning a couple small contests in California in 1984.
During all those years, I experienced about all a person could in the sport, in the gym, in nutrition, and so on. Competing in bodybuilding is like no other. It is you out there alone.
There are two parts to the competition. The first part is the pre-judging. Perhaps it should be called the initial judging. This is done before the judges with a very small crowd and no special effects or guests. The second part is the judging which is done during the evening showing in front of a packed auditorium, master of ceremonies, and cool staging.
During the pre-judging the judges spend hours placing competitors side by side, comparing different groups, and calling poses they want to see. It is grueling for both the judges and competitors and can go on for hours. They look at symmetry, development, stage presence, execution, muscularity, size, and posing.
Many of the poses have a name and there is even a group of poses called, "mandatory poses." These poses are ones that must be done and looked at. One of those mandatory poses is called the "double front bicep" pose. (So that is where this crazy guy got that title from - yep, that's it!)
The double front bicep pose is a forward facing, full body pose. You stand with feet about shoulder width apart while flexing the thigh muscles and the abdominal muscles. Sometimes you can have one leg out in front of the other as a variation. Both arms are straight out and at ninety degrees from your body, arms bent and biceps flexed. You can see almost any athlete performing something similar to this pose when they do something good. Maybe making a great tackle, score goal, completing something in the best time, and on and on. The biceps are what we might call glory muscles and they often get the most attention.
A huge part of the judging components is symmetry. Symmetry can win or lose a show for any bodybuilder. Symmetry is how balanced the muscle size and development from right to left and from the upper body to the lower body. Having huge legs and a small upper body lacks symmetry. Having a great big right arm and side while having a noticeably smaller left side and arm can lose it for you too. I was pretty lucky to be well balanced but some competitors struggle with symmetry and try to hide the weak side, which is all part of the sport.
As I said, I was pretty symmetrical. Okay, now I have to be a little transparent. I am not sure if this is just a bodybuilder thing or a guy thing (I am hoping a guy thing) but just like the gals check their hair and makeup in the mirror, us guys check out the old bod once in a while. In the old days, I checked out the old bod hourly! ha! (One can't be too careful, you know!)
Since I stopped competing, I fell on my motorcycle damaging and needing surgery on both shoulders, one elbow, and two wrists. My left side is significantly weaker these days than my right. The result is that my right side is much more developed and larger than my left. I skipped a few years of gym work but have been back in the gym for a couple years now. I was holding my own and was growing and developing quite well... until I tore a tendon in my left shoulder again. That is the cause for the greater weakness in my left side.
Being a guy, compounded by being an ex-bodybuilder, I, once in a while let the mirror capture my attention. With all humility, I confess I may even hit a pose or two, including the double front bicep.
Recently, on one such "RARE" occasion, I struck a couple poses and noticed I was completely ignoring my left side. I was pleased with what I was seeing on my "good" side, the right side and lingered there. I was not even looking at my "bad" side, the left side. Then it hit me! Isn't that the way we look at ourselves all the time?
Do we not see the good side of ourselves and deem ourselves to be good people while overlooking our bad sides? Don't we do this with issues of integrity, health, spirituality, family matters, and such?
As I thought about myself, I realized I did that all too often. What is really shocking is that we too often do just the opposite with other people. We see and evaluate their "bad" side while missing their "good" side! WOW!
The point I am making is we need to be symmetrical in how we look at ourselves. It sure feels good to judge the whole us based on the good side but we still have a not so good side that needs to be part of the judging process as well. We will only get a true picture of ourselves when we openly and willingly view both sides. As a competitor, if you didn't look at both sides you could never make improvements to the weak side and stand less of a chance of winning the show. When we do the same we take the chance of not being all we can be.
We could all just stay out from in front of the mirror OR we can take a good look at ourselves being open to see the good and not so good so we can be more loving, caring people and grow into all we can be. That's what winners do, why should we do any less?
Hey, I am not all pretty and good but by looking at my shortcomings I can strive to improve my weaknesses and be a better guy. I challenge you to think about doing the same. Have a blessed day!