So often, as competitors, we focus on our diet and workouts and forget that how we present our finished product on stage is just as important.  Choosing the right color for your competition posing suit can add luster and shine to your presentation.  Color affects our mood.  Choosing the right color enables the competitor to exude confidence and energy.  Choosing the wrong color produces the opposite results.  Some colors worn everyday are not stage colors.   The goal is to brighten and enhance your presentation; to stand out and get noticed.   Here are some general color selection guidelines:

• Blonde – blue-red, royal blue, emerald green, hot pink, fuchsia, turquoise, black, silver, white, baby blue, baby pink, neon yellow, neon orange
• Sandy Brown – orange-red, teal, lime, green, emerald green, aquamarine, turquoise, raspberry, burgundy, blue (heavy crystal needed to brighten face), coral
• Brunette/Black – blue-red, emerald green, baby pink, hot pink, fuchsia, turquoise, black, silver, gold
• Purple/Yellow– purple and yellow react differently than all other colors under stage lights and is recommended for competitors with naturally colored skin and use of red-brown stain.  Wearing purple with a golden brown stain will result in a grey-ashen appearance of your tan on stage.  If you feel strongly about wearing these colors and you are Caucasian, I recommend testing various tanning productions and view the suit under very bright lights.

A successful result is a competitor, standing ready to walk out on stage, excited, pumped and ready to rock it!

-        Submitted by Mary Jane Snyder of MJ’s Atomic Designs, LLC, specializing in custom posing suits for men and women

Many of you out there have thought about doing a show, but not sure where to get started?  You are interested in competing or you wouldn’t be looking at this website, and maybe your wondering if you’ve got what it takes.  Doing a Figure show takes a LOT of commitment, not just at the gym, but at home with meal preparation, posing and discipline.  However it’s a commitment worth making, the end result after doing a show is so rewarding!

Many different things go into doing a figure show big things like your diet, exercise and posing all the way to the little things like your suit, tan, shoes, makeup, hair and jewelry.  I am here to tell you everything you need to know about Figure!

In the Figure category they are looking for a female with muscle definition, some separation in the different muscle groups.  Most figure girls step on stage around 8-14% body fat, however ever one is different, and it really depends more on how you look then where your body fat is.  Figure competitors train for a figure show for years, building up muscle, especially your shoulders, back, hamstrings and quads.  However once you have the muscle definition, many women diet strict (figure diet) for only about 4-6 months.  A figure diet consists of low carb, high lean protein diet, along with lots of water every day.  A figure diet leaves no room for error, which means you are strict on your diet the whole time, no more cheat meals!  The majority of your meals will be prepared by you, no more eating out every meal, which means a lot of time in the kitchen for meal prep.  Along with diet comes exercise.  Figure woman typically do cardio 5-6 times a week and weight train 5 days a week.  This averages about 2 hours at the gym 6 days a week.

Once you have build the muscles, and dieted down, you need to know how to present those wonderful bodies you have been working so hard on!  Posing is a huge part of figure competition.  If your posing is bad, it can really ruin your physique that you have worked so hard on.  Posing should be taking place 1/week at 2 months out, 2/week at 1 month out, and every day one week out.  There are many great articles on posing that can help figure competitors, however with posing it is something you really want a professional to help you with, hands on!  It is worth the money to hire a posing coach, that know what they are doing, and knows how to put your body in positions that look best for your figure.

Remember the day of the show that you have worked hard, trained hard, dieted hard, and you know what your doing!  Be confident and have fun!!

Written by: Amara Kockler Janke Pro Figure Competitor

Amara 801 791 7656

TeamCrazyFit.com