Bodybuilding 101: Do you really have the time to compete?

The bodybuilding season is around the corner and you'd like to compete in a bodybuilding event.  You've been working hard, eating right and know you can do this. Or, can you really? Competing in a bodybuilding event is far more demanding than you'd expect, and unless there's someone to lay out the ground work you may be in over your head.  The countless hours of training and rigid dieting is planned so you can stand on stage for five minutes, if you're lucky. If you plan to compete next season take a look at the how much time you must invest  before you send in your entry forms.

Contest Prep

"Contest prep" is shorter or longer depending on the condition  of your body when you decide to do an event. Competitors that maintain lower body fat or use enhancement drugs can diet for shorter periods of time than athletes who are out of shape or natural. Depending on your level of leanness it can take any where from 12-24 weeks of dieting, and that doesn't include the amount of time in the gym beforehand to gain muscle.

Food Preparation

Food preparation is very time consuming and underrated. Eating six to eight small meals takes time, and is difficult to do when you work a full time job, have children, or on the go. Additional time is needed to cook and store food properly. Remember, if you do a lot of traveling you'll have to take time out the day to pre-pack foods in a cooler.

Training

Weight training is determined by you and/or a coach. Depending on your body fat and amount of lean muscle you may only need to lift for half an hour a day, but that can change once you begin your bodybuilding diet. There are competitors who lift any where from  45 minutes to several hours a day for five to seven days a week. That's a lot of gym time.

Cardio

You may need to do a little less or a more cardiovascular training depending on your leanness.  Some competitors do as little as thirty minutes a day while others such as IFBB Pro Andrea Watson will do as much as three, one hour sessions each day.

Posing Practice

Determining the amount of time needed for posing will vary due to the style and extent. Male bodybuilders have eight compulsory poses, as well as, a sixty second posing routine that must be accomplished without shaking, cramping and with good stage presence. Female bodybuilders must perform seven of these same poses while fitness and figure competitors are required to do mandatory quarter turns. Fitness and figure competitors are also repsonsible to do a "T-walk" depending on the organization. Poses should be held for at least one to three minutes, and practiced several times a week. Over the course of contest prep posing practices should steadily increase. For example; if you are a figure competitor doing quarter turns for three rounds, at one minute intervals, that is12 minutes of posing.  That 12 minutes takes a lot of practice.

Tanning

That ever present dark tan is from hours in a tanning bed. This too, takes a lot of time. Tanning for twenty minutes, three times a week, is one hour that has to come from somewhere. There are some competitors who tan each day, and that's very time consuming. Set aside time to apply your spray or cream tan before the show, also. This can take several hours in one days or several hours over multiple days.

Maintenance

If you're a female athlete and plan to have your hair, nails and makeup done don't forget to add this time into your day; especially if you have distance to get to your hair appointment.

Drug Testing

Natural organizations require drug tests in the form of polygraphs or urine tests for bodybuilding events. The polygraphs are often held Thursday or Friday before the show, and the morning of. There is also a urine test after the event for the overall winners. The location of your testing may be farther than you expect and that adds extra travel time.

Check-ins

It is mandatory for all competitors to check-in prior to a show. Some shows will allow check-ins the morning of the event while others will ask that you to check-in the day before. That too, is day you'll have to account for.