Why Size Doesn't Win Bodybuilding Competitons

Size matters, but do does other factors.

It's not always the biggest guy who wins the bodybuilding competition 

Perhaps you want to pursue a career in bodybuilding but can't seem to place better than you should.

One of the biggest mistakes that most beginners make is to assume that the goal is to get as big as possible and that their success on stage is proportionate to the amount of muscle mass that they can present to the judges. 

Size is a big factor in determining the winner, but it is definitely not the only factor that matters. If size is still your weak point, try these supplements, or build your own bulking diet here.

Size isn't all that matters.

Have you ever been to a bodybuilding show and wondered why the biggest guys are sometimes placed lower than someone clearly smaller than them? 

The judges aren't blind. They just judge according to different criteria than you. While size is what distinguishes bodybuilders from the rest of the world, is it only one factor in determining the ultimate bodybuilding athlete.

Size is important, but certainly not the most crucial part of winning.

How to win a bodybuilding competition

1. Symmetry

2. Posing ability

3. Stage presence

4. Proportion

5. Muscle definition

6. The total look

Requirements of a bodybuilding winner

1. Symmetry

Balance is important to the bodybuilding aesthetic.

See how bodybuilders earn their salaries here.

You can be twice the size of the guy next to you. But if any muscular imbalances are visible to the naked eye then you might as well give your spot away to your smaller but symmetrical competitor.

Judges grade competitors on a points system. Body symmetry can cost you the most points without you even knowing about it. 

Have a good look in the mirror. We all have a 'good side' and a 'not as good' side, but one of your main goals will be to close this gap as much as you can. 

You need to work hard to find any parts of your body that don't quite match the other half and correct them. Only upon closer inspection might you see that your left peck slightly dominates your right.

This might not be a big issue in normal life. It is definitely a possible 'I don't know why I didn't win' card for you to pick up after the next time you step on stage. Correct imbalances like this to do better at your next show.

Work on your imperfections.

2. Posing ability

What are the best poses? Which poses do you need to do on stage? Have you practiced them in front of the mirror so many times that it feels natural and comfortable?

More importantly, do you know how to execute each pose so that every body part and muscle is flexed in such a way that it boasts your physique in the best possible light? 

Take a good look at the next show you attend and take note of who knows how to pose the best, in your opinion. Take note of who poses more naturally and who looks like they need to concentrate more on pulling the right muscles at the right time.

Match these findings up to the winners afterwards and you will be surprised by how much posing ability actually determines the winner.

Judges can easily see the difference between people who are completely in touch with what makes their bodies look the best with each pose and those who are just doing what the others are doing and 'going with it'. 

It looks like practice really does make perfect.

Practice makes perfect.

Everybody is different. 

Take the 'front double biceps' pose, for example. Do you know which body parts this pose emphasizes and how you should hold this particular pose for your body's best look? 

With practice you will find that perhaps you need to bend your knees a little more to show off the leg muscles or rotate your feet in a certain direction to get the best calf angles. Get big calves now.

3. Stage presence

Choose what you project.

Do you look like the newbie who is still trying to come to terms with the bright light in your eyes when you first walk on stage? 

As the audience turns their attention to you when your name is called out, is your body language that of a champion that deserves to carry the legacy of bodybuilding forward to the next generation?

Does your body language show nerves or an 'I'm trying not to look scared' face? 

Walk with confidence. Let your presence on stage depict a victor in need of reckoning. This takes time, but you need to work on developing a persona that envelopes the crowd.

With time, you need to learn to conquer the crowd with your presence - don't let the crowd conquer you. 

Command admiration, and it shall be given to you. Walk like the champion, be seen as the champion.

4. Proportion

Grow the weak. Balance the strong.

Do you know what one of the biggest destroyers of would-be bodybuilding champions is? Calves!

Upper-body and lower-body proportions are extremely important. Bigger competitors are often placed below their smaller peers because of body proportion.

If you have freakishly large pecks, make sure the rest of your body is just as freakishly large or it could actually work against you. 

You cannot afford to lose the placement that you deserve because your one muscle groups is larger or smaller then what is considered 'proportionate' to the rest of your body. You need to work on keeping everything in proportion.

Imagine trying to not let any other body part outshine the other. 'My chest is smaller but my bigger arms will make up for it in the show', said one loser to another. 

A few friends of mine have lost shows purely because of certain muscles being out of proportion to the rest of their bodies. 

We often see bigger guys lose to smaller guys because their legs weren't in proportion to the rest of their body. If your calves need work, click here.

5. Muscle definition

You must define what you grow.

How well can each muscle be seen within every muscle group? Can you see all three heads on your triceps, for example? 

Reduce body fat and decrease the water reserves in your body to reveal the muscles underneath.

Be able to show the muscles that you worked so hard to get. It is just as important as the size of those muscles. 

You can get all the muscle in the world. If they aren't seen clearly, what is the point of entering a bodybuilding competition?

6. The total look

Check your hair, skin and style.

Every bodybuilding federation has a certain look they tend to lean towards. You need to look the part.

Winners are chosen among those who a certain bodybuilding organization or federation feels would fit their image and embody what they feel is the picture of the ultimate bodybuilder according to their standards.

Do you look like someone who would be sponsored by big companies? How far is your look from the guy that these competitions want to find?

We all have a different image in our heads, but there are definitely similarities in general. 

'The look' comprises of your body, face, haircut, outfit, body language, persona, eye contact, and more - even down to skin tone. 

Work to create the look that these organizations are after. Be the one that they chose because you are their prefect poster boy.

If you want to compete in South Africa, check the local bodybuilding competitions here.

Conclusion

So as you can see, size doesn't win bodybuilding competitions because it is only one aspect that will be judged to find the ultimate bodybuilding champion. 

Work hard on all these often under-looked areas and you will be well on your way to placing better and better after each bodybuilding competition. 

Work hard. We hope to see you in the next magazine! STAY STRONG!

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How to break a plateau

Get back to progress.

If you follow the same workout program for too long, you will start to see diminishing results (fewer gains in muscle size and strength) over time as your body adapts to the stimulus placed on it. This is called homeostasis.

You want to grow as fast as possible, right? A gym program is only as good as the strength and size gains that it brings you. 

There might be nothing wrong with your program, but if you’re doing the same thing over and over, your body will have adapted to it and stop growing to meet the same old physical demands.

Signs that you've hit a plateau

1. No increase in physical performance for two weeks or longer
2. You aren’t losing fat or building muscle anymore: Your body weight isn't changing
3. Your gym regime seems more like a daily routine instead a challenge
4. The work seems easy but you still reach failure and can’t push past your previous bench marks

Change it up.

1. No increase in physical performance for two weeks or more

You aren’t increasing your reps and weights anymore. You're stuck at the same place that you were two weeks ago. 

It needs to be for two weeks in a row for you to be concerned, because all of us suffer from drops in performance for a day or two, every now and then. If your physical performance is not improving, your body won't either.

2. You aren’t losing fat or building extra muscle: Your body weight isn't changing

This is a classic plateau symptom. Your body has adapted to your exercise routine and has become comfortable. It does not feel the need to change because it feels safe with its physical expectations and output.

3. Your gym regime seems more like a daily routine, instead a challenge for your body to overcome

This is a psychological symptom of a plateau. If your workout no longer challenges you, and if you don't need that much determination to finish your workout, it might be good time for change. 

I personally change my workout plan whenever I feel like it is getting boring to avoid hitting a plateau. This will also encourage that lack of motivation, since you aren't feeling or seeing any physical changes as a result of your hard work anymore.

4. The work seems easy but you still reach failure and can’t push past your previous bench marks

This is a classic, common sign that you've hit a plateau. If you don't feel like your workout is taking a lot out of you, even though your body won't let you go any further, you've most probably hit a plateau. 

If the maximum volume, time, reps or weight that you can do stays the same; you've hit a plateau. If your maximum output decreases, you might have over trained.

Change is awesome.

Although over training and plateau’s can interlink, they are not the same thing. 

It is possible to over train without hitting a plateau - and it is possible to hit a plateau without over training.

A plateau leads to a lack of physical progress. Over training leads to reversed progress (you get weaker instead of stronger), joint pain or injury, and exercise-induced depression.

Signs of over training 

If you’ve overtrained then you need to remedy that instead of trying to break a plateau. Click here to heal from over training.

1. Insomnia or oversleeping

2. Lack of motivation

3. Extreme appetite changes (no appetite or extremely high appetite)

4. Moodiness, frustration, depression or emotional outbursts

5. Diminished physical performance

6. Muscle spasms and twitches

7. Low immune system

8. Constant, unquenchable thirst

Note that it is extremely unlikely to get any of these symptoms from a plateau (except for the emotional response for people who tie their self-worth to their exercise performance or physical progress).

Don't push your body too far.

1. Sleep: you suffer from insomnia or oversleeping

Ironically, struggling to get good sleep, sleeping too much or the constant desire for more sleep is all caused by over training. All three symptoms can arise from too much physical stress being placed on your body. 

For people who struggle to sleep, your body is under so much stress on the central nervous system that it can't calm down to recover properly. Read more about your central nervous system, how over training affects it and how to help it recover here. 

Sleeping for too long is common among others who are over-trained because your body needs more time to recover, but the stimulus placed on it is so high that it never catches up on needed recovery.

This will also explain lethargy, fatigue and the desire to sleep all the time. This is how to fall asleep ASAP.

Sleep problems are rarely caused by a plateau, though.

2. Lack of motivation (could also be present in a plateau, but not as much)

While a plateau can also sap out your motivation to further your goals, over training attacks your motivation more aggressively. 

Some people don't lose their motivation when they've hit a plateau. They just fall into the monogamous routine of doing the same thing over and over again - even when they don't see new results anymore. 

Over training is the most common culprit among athletes who begin to wonder why they are putting so much effort into their sports or exercise efforts in the first place. 

Many of them start to hate the sport that they do or dread the idea of practicing or exercising. Over training can cause depression, whereas hitting a plateau does not have as a big an impact on your emotional state.

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3. Diet: lack of appetite or constant cravings for high calorie/fast food

This is a very common sign of over training that isn't usually present in people who have hit a plateau. 

Since their bodies are bombarded with physical stress and they are frantically trying to recover, they might not be able to regulate their hunger (ghrelin) and satisfaction (leptin) hormones properly.

Again, different people will experience this in different ways. Some people will lose their appetite completely because their bodies are starting to break down from too much physical stress. 

Others crave high calorie and high fat foods because their bodies try to get as much energy from food as possible to compensate for drastic energy depletion. 

If you feel like this might refer to you, you need to recover from over training.

4. Moodiness

This is commonly seen in athletes who have over trained. Since the physical stress starts to crush the body from the inside out, the emotional state suffers as well. 

The brain does not have enough time to recover during sleep, since the body is taking as many resources as possible to recover physically. 

Also, mood-regulating hormones fall out of balance along with the rest of the body's normal mechanisms.

5. Halted or diminishing physical performance

When you train more than what your body can recover from, your physical performance will not increase but slowly start to decrease. 

The longer you stay in this overtrained state, the faster the rate at which physical performance declines. The longer you over train, the longer it will take to recover.

Too much of anything is unhealthy.

6. Muscle spasms and twitches

This is due to the central nervous system being over stressed. It starts to fall apart. Getting this from hitting a plateau is almost impossible.

7. Lowered immune system: Falling ill more easily and more frequently

Your immune system also takes a big hit when your body suffers from over training. If you are getting sick more often, you might have over trained and your body probably needs a good long break.

8. Constant, unquenchable thirst

This is another common symptom that is associated with over training. You might also feel nauseous often as well. In other cases, it also becomes harder to follow your normal daily routine (waking up, working, spending time with friends and family, bed time, etc.)

There 8 other possible reasons for extreme thirst from exercise.

If you have over trained (nearing or at the point of over exertion), a few rest days might be all that you need. Here are great ways to make your rest day the best recovery day that you've ever had.

Rest is good for you.

Now that we've distinguished the difference between over training and hitting a plateau, read on if you think that you have hit a plateau.

How to break a plateau

There are 8 ways to break a plateau. These methods can turn your workout routine back into the body-enhancing agent that it is meant to be.

1. Take a rest week

2. Change your diet

3. Use creatine

4. Change your exercise routine

5. Get more sleep

6. Increase sunlight exposure

7. Invite a friend to your workout

8. Mix in some music

Do this and prosper.

1. Take a rest week

A rest week might be all that your body needs. 

Your body adapts between workouts the best that it can for the time being, but there is also a long-term recovery that the body can use to maximize your progress. 

It is recommended to take a rest week off every 10 weeks that you spend hitting the iron so that your body can repair itself on a deeper level. 

Lack of long rest might be causing your plateau as the need for deep recovery starts to accumulate.

Avoiding this kind of long rest for too long and you risk eventual over training.

Benefits of a rest week

Have you ever noticed that your muscles look bigger when you've skipped a few days of exercise?

A rest week will allow your body to re-align muscle fibers, strengthen bones and joints and stock up on inter-muscular nutrients without the stress of quickly recovering as best it can before the next workout. 

Many people have larger muscle growth rates in their rest weeks than on normal training weeks! I am one of these people. 

People often return to the gym with increased strength, stamina and motivation. I recommend that you spend two days during this week at the gym - only stretching and relaxing in the sauna, which will help to maximize your body’s recovery.

It is hard to avoid the gym, road or studio when you've finally built up the dedication to make exercise a daily habit. Trust me when I say that the results (and mental benefits) are worth it. You will return with more motivation than ever.

Try it out at least once and see how you feel when you return. 

In the meantime, use this opportunity to clean your house, spend some extra time with the family or do something fun. 

A nice, relaxed walk can do wonders for you, both mentally and physically, during a rest week. The goal is not to stop moving completely. It is to allow the body to go into a deep state of recovery.

Not sure what do to with your extra time on rest days? Turn an awful rest week into an awesome recovery week. 

Here is the perfect rest guide if you're only doing it for a single day.

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2. Change your diet

You’ll be surprised how often too much or too little of something is the cause of that annoying plateau. 

Are you consuming enough calories to sustain muscle growth or energy output? Are your macro nutrients (protein, carbohydrate, fat, fruit and vegetables) in the right proportion and size according to your current physical needs? 

There are many ways to customize your diet.

1. Try a simple/fast-acting carbohydrate food straight after your workouts to replenish glycogen stores in your muscles quickly

Your body might need more energy to advance to the next level. Use MyFitnessPal to monitor whether you eat enough calories.

2. Increase protein and water intake (throughout your daily meal plan)

You need water to recover. Avoid beverages that cause dehydration. You can't build new cells or repair them without protein.

3. Increase the total daily calories you consume

If maximum muscle growth is your primary goal, try a diet high in calories for maximum muscle gain.

4. Switch out your protein sources (too much whey, too little fish?)

Try taking protein supplements according to the way the protein enters your body so that your body always has the protein that it needs to recover.

5. Add micro-nutrients like vitamins, minerals or oils

Are you eating enough fruit and vegetables to get important nutrients that your body uses for recovery? Do you need more minerals or electrolytes? You lose precious nutrients every time that you sweat.

6. Check your supplements: Are they really perfect or is it time for a change-up?

I've seen many cases where simply changing supplements increased muscle growth. Here are the supplement basics that everybody should know.

7. What else can you add or subtract to help your body get its growth back?

Is all the sugar in your diet slowing you down? Perhaps you eat too much junk food or too little carbohydrates for sufficient energy production.

Try a few of the points above until you find what works for you. I battled with a shoulder joint injury until I supplemented with fish oil daily.

Try different things to find what works.

3. Go on a creatine cycle or use a pre-workout

A good pre-workout or creatine cycle will give your body a boost to blast past that wall it can’t climb over. 

Start with a half dose for 2 weeks. Advance a full dose for 2 weeks. Go back to a half dose for the following 2 weeks. Keeping the same reps and weight numbers you did on the full dose when you do the second half dose. 

Sometimes our bodies just need a good push in the right direction to get them growing again.

Find the form of creatine that works best for you. Don't use creatine for too long without giving your body a break. You should always cycle creatine.

Try other types of supplements for muscle performance.

4. Change your exercise program

This is the most common way to overcome a plateau. I've listed it at the fourth best way to overcome a plateau (instead of the first) because you should automatically change your program at least every 2 months.

How long have you been following the program that you are currently on? Go back to the other points if you've hit a plateau and you've changed your program within the last 2 months. 

It’s time to change things up if you use the same exercise plan that you did 2 or more months ago (regardless of whether you hit a plateau or not).

Change the whole program completely (like from a standard 5-day split to a Push-Pull-Legs (PPL) program or vice versa) or change a few small things within the program if you want to keep at it a little longer. 

If you are ready for a real challenge (advanced weight lifters only), try the GARRY workout program. You can also check out our research on what the best workout split for muscle growth is.

There are many things you can change in your existing program to bring back your body’s awesome adaption mechanism.

Change equals growth.

1. Rep range

Many people cycle between a week of higher reps and a week of lower reps to keep the body in its prime adaption phase. Try using heavier weights with fewer reps or lighter weights with more reps.

Changing your rep range can have a great counter-plateau effect. High reps can also build muscle mass.

2. Rep times

Increase your TUT (total time under tension) with each rep. 

If your reps are usually under a second, take a full second to lift the weight, another second to hold it there and two seconds to lower the weight back to your resting position. 

The burn you feel in your muscles after doing this will definitely be an indication of greater stimulus being put on the muscle.

3. Number of sets

Change the number of sets to a higher or lower number. 

Would your muscles benefit from a few more sets per exercise? Are you doing too many sets for them to recover sufficiently before the next exercise session? 

4. Change the exercises

Switch rows with pull-ups. Replace cable presses with bench presses. Do hack squats instead of knee extensions.

This will help you to bust out of that plateau instantly.

5. Change your grip

Reverse the grip on all of your exercises to work the muscles from an angle that they are not used to. This will force them to adapt to a new form of stimuli.

I was shocked at the positive change that this simple hack brought to my own training regime when a friend recommended it to me.

6. Change your set format

Swap the standard 8, 8, 8 set for a pyramid style (15, 12, 10, 8, 6); drop set (6, 10, 12, 15, 20) or super-set (bench press and dips in the same set) to keep forcing your muscles to grow.

7. Intensity

Decrease the amount of time that you rest in between sets. 

Now muscles will need to get stronger and bigger to be able to cope with less recovery time they have before being recruited to work again. 

You can also increase your rest time, so that you have more strength with each set.

Discover which rest times work best between sets.

8. Exercise order

Change the order of exercises you do, so that different fibers in the muscles are recruited at different exercises. 

The bench press might be exhausting your triceps before you hit the dips. 

Now your triceps can do more on the dips and your chest will need to step it up to complete the bench press afterwards.

9. Rest between exercise sessions

You might rest too little in-between sessions that use the same muscles. They therefore aren’t at their full potential next time round. You might rest for too long. In this case, they are over-rested and have started shrinking back to normal before they are stimulated again.

Keep it fresh.

You don't have to implement all of these changes at once. Choose the ones that you are going to change and take it from there. 

The next time you feel a plateau coming on; you can change a few of the other elements. 

Sometimes, all it takes is one good change instead of many. 

If you really want to change everything up at once, go ahead. That's also okay.

5. Get more sleep

You might feel fine, but an extra hour or two of shut eye might be all that your body needs to recover to the max for its next workout session.

Most muscle growth happens when you sleep. It is important that we get enough of it and have the right nutrients in our bodies when we sleep so that our muscles can do what we want them to – grow!

This is how to fall asleep efficiently at night.

6. Get some sunshine

Expose your skin to the natural rays of the sun. This will increase your testosterone levels naturally through the vitamin D that our skin makes during contact with sunlight.

No wonder why our energy levels are lower and we're just plain lazy during winter!

There are many ways to increase your testosterone naturally.

Sun and sleep help with performance.

7. Add a friend to your workout session

Studies show that people perform better at physical exercises when their friends are with them. 

Some healthy competition between you and a bud will increase your muscular output. This might sound crazy, but who cares if you're getting stronger?

8. Mix some music into your workout

Music can increase physical performance during exercise.

Imagine beating your personal best just because the right track was playing!

My personal, top 3 methods to blast past a plateau

Everybody hits a plateau (although some plan ahead and make changes before they plateau). My personal, favorite ways to speed up muscle growth are:

1. Taking a rest week

I like the idea of getting a good, deep recovery every few weeks. I personally feel like it sets my last cycle’s gains well into my new cycle’s starting point. 

After a week of rest, my new size and strength gains become the new ‘starting stats' for me to improve on before my next rest week. 

I take a rest week every 8 weeks.

2. Going on a creatine cycle

I feel like creatine can be the jumper cables to a body that wants to start slow down. 

It is natural for our bodies to save energy whenever they can. They will only grow when it feels like it has to in order to survive. 

A helping hand from mister C never hurts.

3. Change of program

I generally do a rest week and then a creatine cycle once I've maxed out. 

I then create a total change in my exercise program (different exercises, reps, split and everything). 

I love the soreness in my muscles when starting a new program because I feel like the muscle is being forced to grow even bigger. 

If my muscles aren't suffering, why would they grow?

STAY STRONG!

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Make a Career out of Bodybuilding

Turn your passion into your career.

This article is about how to get into the bodybuilding industry. Learn how bodybuilders earn an income here.

How to turn you love for bodybuilding into a full time job

It is possible to get rich doing what you love - and bodybuilding is no different. 

There are too many people trying to make a career out of this sport, however, and the industry is not big enough to support everybody that simply works out. 

You need to do a lot more than a few bodybuilding competitions to turn it into something that can support your current lifestyle.

A bodybuilding career is different to other careers for many reasons

It is not, and can't be regarded as, a normal job where you get paid a monthly salary for performing a pre-set list of tasks or duties.

Your success depends on working with as many different companies and organizations as possible. It’s not like you simply pass one interview and you’re set for the rest of your life.

Unlike other careers, you will be discriminated against according to the way you look.

More so than other careers, you need to develop your personal brand (both physically and in the industry). You are the actual product that you trying to sell. 

The people that will pay you are typically more interested in how you will be able to influence the public to buy their products or support their own brands.

Create what other will pay for.

Make a career out of bodybuilding

Get obsessed

Many people wait for years until they finally feel like they're big enough to compete. They then compete once a year and hope that someone is going to spot them and throw money at their face. The chances are almost definite that they aren't going to make a single cent in this industry. 

There are millions of people around the world that hunt down companies that use brand ambassadors - and you’re sitting in the locker room hoping that they will come to you?  Don't waiting for a good opportunity to come by before you actually do something about what you want.

You might not be ready for a sponsorship yet. Start doing certain things now so that when you are ready. Get all the preparation stuff done so that you can attack the market, head on. Become a lot more aggressive in your attempt to succeed. 

Obsession means that you are prepared to sacrifice a large part of your life for this. If you aren't going to put in the work, stop now. Don’t waste your time thinking that you’ll get anywhere. 

Every day that doesn't bring you closer to your goal is a day wasted. If you only do something about your dreams once a week, you will take 7 times as long as it could take to get you where you want to be. Not only that, but you will be 7 times slower than anybody else.

You can get closer to your goal everyday by doing things that you wouldn't think you needed to do until it’s too late. 

It's all or nothing.

What skills do you need that you currently do not have? 

Have you practiced your poses in front of the mirror so much that its second nature, preventing disastrous slip-ups on stage? 

Have you practiced your facial expressions for when you get that envious magazine shoot? 

Have you worked on building your confidence so that your nerves don’t destroy your chances of winning? 

Are you constantly building up your social media platforms so that you are slowly but surely becoming the influential icon that companies would want on their books?

Bookmark this page and refer to it often to make sure you are constantly improving to get better and better than the next bodybuilder.

Know the key players in the bodybuilding industry

Study the people who have made it.

What do you want to become? Who are the people that currently hold the positions that you want? 

It is important to know their stories and how they got to where they are. If the guy that is currently doing what you dream of doing walks past you in the gym or at an event, would you even know?

Knowledge about the key players will help you to direct and steer your networking attempts towards the right people. 

You need to know the organizers of events, bodybuilding competitions and their judges. 

Extreme measures for success

Some top performers even research who the judges of a competition will be and change their stage approaches accordingly. 

How nice would it be to know that the current judges of a competition generally score higher on athletes wearing red? It sounds crazy, but it works. 

Do you know which companies currently sponsor bodybuilding events? Which organizations sponsor athletes like you? Know what they look for in brand ambassadors. Discover who the people are that they hire to scout for the few sponsored individuals. 

Have contacts in other industries that could complement your career goals. This will be of monumental help to you. Imagine knowing the journalist or editors that could cover your story in a magazine or newspaper!

You need to do your research and know your story. Knowledge is power. Unfortunately, the world isn't going to open up to you once your biceps grow to a certain size.

What are you pouring yourself into?

Learn everything that you can about the bodybuilding industry

Who are the top 5 most successful players in the supplements industry of your country? How did they get there? The chances are high that you can’t answer these questions - and neither can the other 98% of people who want to make it in our industry.

Those top 5 knew the answers to questions like that before they made it big. Knowing the industry is a requirement to getting through the door. Being obsessed with it helps you get further than the rest. 

Reading articles like this when you have nothing to do at work or because you’re bored and browsing the internet is just not good enough to get to the top. 

People think your body simply looks good by going to the gym. They don’t know about all the work that you actually put in; like training programs, research, eating plans, supplements and the like.

Similarly, people don’t just train until they are big enough, walk onto a stage and become world famous. It takes a whole lot a research and planning. 

How many bodybuilding competitions are there in your area? Who would sponsor you? How much do athletes get sponsored for? What opportunities exist in the market right now? How will you add value to this industry that people, companies or organizations are willing to pay for? What streams of revenue are you going to earn from?

Know your environment.

Network like crazy

The more people you know and the more contacts you can make in the industry, the higher your chances of success are. 

Many people overlook this point and assume that they can make the right contacts when they need to. People assume that they can Google who they need to know or they just don’t need to meet more people to further their careers.

The percentage of top players who got to where they are because of the people that they know is phenomenal. It is very unlikely that you will get anywhere without knowing the right people and without the right relationships.

Notice how people on the bottom don't know anybody. People at the top of their industries are well connected. Is this a coincidence?

How to network

Start by making friendships with whomever you can. Make friends with the people who want to make a career out of bodybuilding as well. They might just know of a great opportunity that you don’t.

It might sound silly to make friends with the guy who is reselling supplements on the corner. Months later he asks you to be the face of his brand in the shop that he just took over. He launches an online empire with all of his marketing.

A good friend of mine scored a big deal through the above example.

It is very important to prioritize networking as one of the core strategies for success.

Start wherever you can. Here are a few ways that you can make friends at your local gym without irritating them.

Network your way to the top

Get involved

If doing bodybuilding competitions is just a fun hobby of yours that you do every now and then, there is nothing wrong with that. But if you want to make an actual career out of it, you are going to need to do a lot more. 

You need to get intensely involved in the industry. Go to competitions - even when you do not compete. Go to the finalist events - even if you didn't make it. Attending all the events associated with this trade. This will give you have a greater chance of getting in on what is happening. 

You will learn a lot of valuable information in these places. Meet with important people, make surprisingly helpful contacts, find out about great opportunities, discover other ways to achieve your goals and reinforce the burning fire that you need to push your way upwards. 

I've met some great contacts in events I didn't even take part in. For example, I met a journalist who does stories on up and coming stars in the industry. Imagine getting a significant interview that will help your career, at an event you weren't even competing in! 

You hear about success stories about people who got lucky by meeting the right person at the right time that jump-started their path to success. What you don’t hear is that they were so obsessed that they were constantly at events like these. 

You’re not going to meet anyone worthwhile when watching TV at home on your rest days.

Procrastination is the enemy of progress.

Get a relevant job

You probably want to be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger. You need to start right at the bottom. It is not essential to get a job in the bodybuilding, nutrition, health or fitness world - but it will definitely help a lot.

Many people who compete are personal trainers - and you will especially do better with your personal training job as you increase your rank in bodybuilding competitions. Plenty of people who are relatively successful on stage use their success to exponentially increase their earnings with their personal training jobs or fitness businesses.

Their pro-status means that they can charge a lot more for personal training sessions and even coach other people on how to compete in the same type of events. 

Try to get whatever job you can in the industry, so that you have a steady stream of income until you cash in the mega bucks. 

Stay in the industry on a nine-to-five basis to give you a better competitive edge than the people who spend most of each day outside of the industry. 

This means that your chances of making great contacts, learning about current opportunities, getting sponsored etc. are much, much higher.

How much time can you dedicate to your dream?

Enter as many bodybuilding competitions as possible

This should be obvious, but you want as much exposure as possible. 

You can enter as many competitions as you want until you do well in one of them and you get a pro card. 

When you become a pro at a competition, they will issue you with a pro card. This pro card is coveted by many competitors. You cannot enter bodybuilding competitions by other organizations when you have a pro card. You are then restricted to only entering into that specific competition. 

Enter into as many competitions as you can until you get your pro card.

Enter into bodybuilding competitions even when you are on your off season

It is a good idea to enter these competitions even when you don’t feel like you are at your best or ready yet. Your off season (or bulking phase) is a great time for practice.

This is because the more competitions you do, the better you will be at it.

See the competitions that you don’t feel too confident about as practice for the big ones. Having a few competitions under your belt and attending them regularly to keep in the swing of things will add to your overall performance and placement in the long run.

Do not limit yourself to bodybuilding competitions. Try some modelling competitions as well. These might open new doors and opportunities for you.

Here are the bodybuilding competitions in South Africa.

You do best when you choose to stay active.

Attack the media

Try to get into the media whenever you can. You can definitely use this coverage as good leverage later on for further success. 

Make friends with journalists and editors from different forms of media like TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines. 

The media is often very open to doing articles on new athletes who are entering into competitions.

This exposure might lead to greater exposure or even land you the sponsorship that you want. A judge who reads your article in the newspaper will more likely notice you on stage than the other contenders. 

Self-promotion is essential to building and establishing your brand above the rest and should be done right from the beginning. 

Your wins look a lot bigger if your journey has been in the eye of the media from the start. It is often too late to try to attract extra media attention if you only start after doing well in a competition.

How to get into the media

Don't contact one newspaper. Search for all the media outlets in your area and get hold of them all. Chances are that one of them will do a story on you if you contact enough of them. Use this story as leverage for other people that you approach.

Use social media. Start building your following. Most sponsorship companies look at your social media profiles to gauge whether they are sponsoring somebody with influential pull or some random Joe.

Look at this guy. He has Crohn's disease and he is pursuing a career in bodybuilding. He uses the fact that he struggles with Crohn's as an advantage by writing articles for online sites like SA Spotters to build his personal brand.

Our door is always open to aspiring athletes who want to gain some exposure for themselves. Here is how you can make your name known among our readers.

Build your momentum now.

Build a portfolio

There won’t be anybody else to promote you in the beginning. Nobody who you want to reach will know of you. It is your job to change that. 

Build a portfolio with your information, pictures and past successes. This portfolio is basically an advert with the goal of persuading the reader to buy into the product you are selling (you are that product). 

Keep copies of this portfolio on hand and take it with you wherever you go. Try to get this in front of as many people as possible. 

It is your job to somehow get the right people to see your portfolio. You should make sure that it is so good that after seeing it they can’t resist not paying you to promote their brand.

Self-promote yourself as much as you can and wherever you can! 

Make a Facebook and Twitter page at bear minimum and get as many followers as possible. You want to try and build your name into an authority that people want to emulate. 

You need to build yourself into the person that others want to be like. As soon as you do this, sponsors might even start looking for you.

Promote yourself.

Contact as many companies and people as possible

Single out the companies that you would like to be sponsored by and get stuck in their faces. They should be forced to see your portfolio just to shut you up. 

If somebody sees your portfolio and rejects it, found out why. If you can find out what is wrong or missing, you can make the right changes to increase your chances of success the next time. 

People tend to send their portfolio to one company that they like through an email and stop there, waiting for a reply. Don’t be that guy. That guy gets nowhere. 

Getting accepted is a numbers game. You should have a list of your favorite companies that you would like to work with. You need to submit your portfolio to as many companies as possible.

Chasing your dream should be done like a full time job - and that means putting some serious effort into contacting as many companies as possible. 

Try as many ways as you can to get your foot in the door. Keep your eye on these companies and see whether and when they have competitions with sponsorships as prizes. 

Offer to volunteer with the events these companies hold. This is another great way to get you noticed above the masses of the other people who are trying to grab their attention.

Establish good relationships with photographers

Try to establish good working relationships with photographers. When they build their own portfolios, photographers often ask for models to pose for free. 

This is a good idea because you can also use these professionally taken photos for your own portfolio - and you will appear in the photographers’ portfolios when they show them to their clients.

Volunteer as a model. This is also very good experience to learn how to pose in photo shoots.

Rather mess up in front of an amateur than right in the middle of your dream shoot! Contact many photographers - it is better to work with a number of them than just one.

Final words about making a career out of bodybuilding

Take a moment to imagine two people. One person tried everything on this list. The other one read through the list and found a few interesting points but didn't really implement anything.

One of them became world famous. Who do you think it was?

If this article gives you a daunting sense of what needs to be done, I've done my job. Success isn't easy. 

Please share any other ideas or strategies you might have in the comments below. STAY STRONG!

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