they have not reached that level yet in their development. Many are focused on being too fancy but they forget to project what ' s needed the most for their category and earn their placing. Being advanced when it comes to posing means being smooth, making it look natural and displaying all the best features while being able to divert attention away from weak points.
Juan: What advice would you give someone who has never done a show before on where to begin learning how to pose?
Carl: In our current era, competitors have the ability to learn from platforms such as YouTube or Instagram. Although this can be useful, they have to be very careful with who they choose to replicate or learn from. There are frauds pretending to be knowledgeable that want to gain popularity or financial benefits and have no idea how to teach. You should always choose someone who is closer to the type of structure you have and has a higher level of stage experience than you do. Posing is a custom-tailored art form where no two people will look exactly the same as they hit their poses. It takes a very special set of eyes to be able to pick up strong and weak points. This is important so that we can make adjustments to what the athlete needs. That is why learning from an actual posing coach or an athlete that is truly passionate about posing makes a real difference. A good posing coach needs to have the ability to analyze and communicate properly what changes are needed in order to maximize the look of the athlete’ s physique.
Juan: What are some things you feel " experienced " competitors neglect or could improve on when it comes to their posing or posing practice?
Carl: As many climb up the ranks, they start getting lazy and making excuses that they don ' t have time. If that ' s the case, then this sport is not for you. The amount of dedication and personal sacrifices that are required to be a good physique competitor are more than many can imagine. It requires hard work and persistence for days, weeks, months and years. Posing often helps to create muscle memory just like training sessions. If you start posing the last 4 weeks of your preparation it is not going to help you much because all the bad habits that you may have. It may seem fine during practice but when comes to show day, I ' ve personally witnessed all the plans go right out of the window and nothing looked natural. Posing should not be seen as a chore. If this is your view of it, then you will not achieve your best look on stage and us judges can see that instantly. We can tell if you ' ve waited until the last month to start posing or if you have been stubborn not to make changes we recommended in the past. I recommend practicing posing year around. Even if it is only a few times a week for 2-3 rounds each time. This dramatically helps because it benefits not only fortifying your muscle memory, but it also allows you to see where on your physique has weak points and where it is dominant. This allows you to adjust your training and diet accordingly. I want people to stop with the excuse of: " I am not comfortable with my current physique to pose." Perhaps you should not let your physique get out of hand during offseason.