Men's Physique!

[RandyMadsen]

I'm going to try Men's Physique for the first time, at the 2013 NB Provincials in just under 3 weeks from now.
This was me on Friday, 3 wks out. ~173 lbs

[Praetorian]

Just be prepared for completely inconsistent judging...you may look the best onstage but come dead last.

P

[steve_d]

Randy, you look a whole lot thicker than Nationals... Chest and arms look much improved. Normally I say you can't improve in such a short time - perhaps over depleted for nationals? I think this is a way better look actually.

PS: who said board shorts division was for guys with no legs. Randy's quads = out of this world - just look at the avatar

[Delt King]

Truth.
Although Ontario is finally letting some bigger guys win.

Just be prepared for completely inconsistent judging...you may look the best onstage but come dead last.

P

[steve_d]

I'll throw this out there... Not trying to stir up the pot, but from my experience it does seem as though the shorter guys look better in men's physique. I thought this wouldn't be the case, but for some reason 90% of the time it just seems as though they are more fitting for the sport. It could just be coincidence. Chicken or the egg thing... stage presence seems better on shorter people, but is it because they are shorter and there is more flow to the type of transitions? Or is it just pure coincidence. I guess same could be said for bikini.

I also think its still judged a lot on stage presence. There is a level of muscle mass that can't be overcome by stage presence but that is a pretty big dude. Just look at the nationals this year, guy that won looked like he would have placed top 3 in middleweight bodybuilding. Which he previously did compete in and did fairly well. And to be honest, I think he got bigger FOR physique. You just don;t have the same grainy skin, and round full muscle bellies of a top tier national level bodybuilder in men's physique.

Will be interesting to see where it goes in the future and how the posing evolves, etc. Just like bikini... its much different now than it used to be - not just the physique, but the presentation.

[RandyMadsen]

Praetorian - this is something I've already observed at the local level. I was even told by a figure head in my organization that I would be great for the National level, but might be "too buff in the shoulders and arms for men's physique around here". Very frustrating - how does one get to the National level (where they supposedly would do well) if they can't get through the Provincial level? We'll see!

steve_d - Thank bud! I was very much over depleted for Nationals. Long hard diet really flattened me out. After Nationals this year I was very meticulous with my "reverse diet". I added calories slowly to increase my potential for intake without adding fat mass. So I got up to 3000+ calories/day, allocating as much to carbs as I could ~500g the last couple weeks. So now I'm "dieting" on 2900-3000 cals/day, and 450-500g carbs/day, which has allowed me to stay very full.

I think the Men's Physique category is largely based on stage presence. If you aren't pretty and can't smile, you're chances of winning are much less. My goal for Provincials is to not come in tooo lean, minimal vascularity, lean enough that the abs pop but chest can stay full - I really flatten out, especially in the chest, when I've dieted in the past.

I feel like my physique is comparable to the guy (Chris G) who just won his pro-card. He's a buff little dude with a short midsection. Unreal arms on him tho!

[steve_d]

Praetorian - this is something I've already observed at the local level. I was even told by a figure head in my organization that I would be great for the National level, but might be "too buff in the shoulders and arms for men's physique around here". Very frustrating - how does one get to the National level (where they supposedly would do well) if they can't get through the Provincial level? We'll see!

steve_d - Thank bud! I was very much over depleted for Nationals. Long hard diet really flattened me out. After Nationals this year I was very meticulous with my "reverse diet". I added calories slowly to increase my potential for intake without adding fat mass. So I got up to 3000+ calories/day, allocating as much to carbs as I could ~500g the last couple weeks. So now I'm "dieting" on 2900-3000 cals/day, and 450-500g carbs/day, which has allowed me to stay very full.

I think the Men's Physique category is largely based on stage presence. If you aren't pretty and can't smile, you're chances of winning are much less. My goal for Provincials is to not come in tooo lean, minimal vascularity, lean enough that the abs pop but chest can stay full - I really flatten out, especially in the chest, when I've dieted in the past.

I feel like my physique is comparable to the guy (Chris G) who just won his pro-card. He's a buff little dude with a short midsection. Unreal arms on him tho!

Don't worry about your placings at this show as long as you qualify for the next level. I don't think that they will penalize you so much as to not place for being a tad muscular. I think the key is don't get excessively grainy looking - although like me, you probably wouldn't need to worry about that. Its largely genetics and even if you showed up looking like nationals you'd still be able to pull off physique. Not like they ask for a most muscular shot.

I was over depleted as well. we were probably similar stage weight, 160 or so. I took an opposite approach. I ate clean most of the time, but had no target calorie intake to maintain. Felt good not to count calories... Surprisingly I still haven't gained too much fat and bloat and am just shy of 200 now. Not 4 week out lean, but enough that I could get in shape fairly quick. I suppose I'll hit the stage again someday, but it won't be soon!

[RandyMadsen]

Thanks, Steve. That is mindset going in, just qualify and go to Nationals where the size is rewarded. My goal is to come in full, but not too lean - although I'm currently experiencing quite a bit of vascularity which is scored down, I have some cards to play to deal with that yet.
Yes I weighed in at 158 lbs, couldn't believe it! Sounds like you filled out nicely! I'm going to try to stay "4 weeks out" as much as possible, I can make lean gains by managing my intake as meticulously as I do, without adding any fat.