CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE CPA NOVEMBER ISSUE | Page 22

Social media – judges do not
care how many Facebook
friends you have, how many
Instagram followers you have,
or what your last tweet was
leading up to the show. Your
popularity on social media, or
lack thereof, has absolutely no
bearing on how you look
compared to those beside you
on stage. The judges can only
assess what they see in front of
them. Considering how big
many of the CPA shows are
now, judges barely have time to
drink some water, never mind
to look you up on “the Gram”.
Sponsored athletes – similar to
what has been said about social
media, the judges are not
provided a secret list of
sponsoring companies and
their respective sponsored
athletes competing in the show.
I know it sounds even ridiculous
to suggest, but I have heard
some sour grapes after a show
sounding off about how
another competitor won a show
because that person was a
sponsored athlete. It’s absurd.
Your personal worth – if there’s only one thing you take
away from reading this article, I want it to be this. The
judges can only assess the physique they see on stage in
front of them. The judges do not know your story, do not
know your challenges you overcame on the way to the
stage, how much weight you lost to get in stage
condition, or most importantly, they do not judge you as
a person.
Your ultimate placing is not a reflection of who you are
as a person, but merely how your physique compared to
the ideal physique of your respective division and to the
other competitors on stage with you on that particular
day.
Use your performance as a benchmark for assessment
to receive feedback from the judges, both from your
placings and video critique offered at each CPA show.
No matter what you place, I want you to use your time
on stage as a celebration of your hard work and taking
yourself higher than ever before. With this mindset, not
only will you enjoy our beloved sport even more, but you
can never lose with this mindset!