If you compete in Women’s or Men’s Bodybuilding, Women’s Physique or Fitness divisions, you may incorporate dance moves as part of your routine onstage. Dance moves are always a crowd favorite and add to the entertainment value of a posing routine, breaking up the monotony of hitting one mandatory pose after another. But I am not talking about true dance moves here. What I am talking about is the flow of energy and the fluidity which a competitor should ideally bring onstage regardless of the division in which he or she competes. This includes Figure, Men’s Physique and Bikini divisions.

You may exclaim, “But I am not a dancer!”, and that is fine. You don’t need a dance background to move gracefully onstage. However, when you step onstage, your movements should look effortless and should demonstrate the confidence you should have while up there. The worst thing you can do is to have a deer-in-headlights look or to move like a robot because you are overthinking your steps. It also will NEVER serve you to get nervous onstage. So how do you combat these obstacles to really bringing it onstage and crushing the competition? Here are some tips to help you develop that flow and swagger before you hit the stage.

TIP #1: PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!

You should be practicing walking and posing as MUCH as possible! Make sure to wear your suit or trunks whenever you practice so that you can become aware of how the attire fits your body and shows off your lines as you move. Figure and bikini ladies need to practice in their show heels so that they can become aware of shifts in their center of gravity as they move. Once you have your basic poses down, work on your turns and transitions. Finally, once you are VERY comfortable with your posing, you can add flourishes and styling which are reflective of your personality.

I tell clients to walk around their homes wearing their contest heels not only to break them in but to also get used to how they carry their bodies when wearing those heels. A pair of regular street heels won’t quite do it either, so make sure to wear the shoes you will actually be wearing onstage. Do NOT get high platforms because they are tricky to wear onstage and will increase the chance of tripping or twisting your ankle, and they also make your leg line look very chopped up and clunky. You won’t be fooling anyone by getting Frankenstein platforms, trust me!

TIP #2: VIDEOTAPE YOURSELF AND USE MIRRORS

A great way of getting feedback (besides having competitor pals watch you pose, which I also recommend) is to videotape yourself walking and hitting your poses. You may think you look great, but by watching footage, you may pick up on some bad habits or angles which you can then work on before contest time. After competing for several years I honestly think that videotaping yourself is an indispensable tool when practicing your posing.

Whenever possible, you should also practice in front of a mirror. I used to practice in a dance room which had mirrors on three walls so I could check out my posing from all angles, but if you don’t have access to a room like that, you can just practice in front of an inexpensive full length mirror.

TIP #3: WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEOS

I always advise clients to watch YouTube videos from NPC National and IFBB Pro events in order to learn from top competitors. Watch the competitors who get first callouts because their posing plays a big part in their top callouts. You can usually tell which competitors will end up doing well because they make the poses look like second nature, moving gracefully or purposefully from one pose into the next. One word of caution: if you are a local or new competitor, do not try to add the styling that the pros add. For one thing, that sort of thing will come with time and experience onstage. Secondly, most judges do not like all the unnecessary flourishes and will mark you down if you add too much “flavor”. Keep your transitions nice and clean.

TIP #4: GET A POSING COACH

I think every competitor can benefit from having a posing coach, even if they just have one session. A posing coach will lend a trained eye and correct any bad habits, making adjustments so that the client’s physique is displayed in the best way. Even the slightest shift of the hips can look great on one body and horrible on another. If you are in the Los Angeles area, I am available for one-on-one posing, but if you reside elsewhere, there are some excellent posing coaches out there who can help you out. Make sure to select someone who knows how to pose for your particular division!

TIP #5: FLUIDITY

Once you have been practicing posing for a while, you can work on making your movements as fluid as possible. This means that when you transition from one pose to the next that you don’t look like a robot when doing so. It also means getting out of your head! I have seen competitors who are obviously thinking about their next pose, and their movements end up looking very choppy. You should not be thinking, “okay, front pose, then I will step with my right, er, my LEFT foot, then ummmm…” because that will ensure a very unappealing presentation onstage. You can have your internal chat before you step onstage, but leave it backstage where it belongs.

TIP #6: SMILE!

Perhaps the best thing you can wear onstage to engage the judges and the audience is a smile. You need to look like you are having a blast onstage, not like you are dreading those few minutes up there. This definitely means that you will be smiling so much that your face may end up fatiguing from it, but believe me, it makes a big difference.

TIP #7: DON’T BE NERVOUS

I remember being very nervous the first few times I competed. Then after a while I thought to myself, “What is the point of being nervous?” and all my jitters sort of melted away. This doesn’t that mishaps don’t occur, but your attitude about them makes all the difference in the world. I was at the IFBB North American in Cleveland in August of 2011 and I kind of tripped over my feet when doing a transition during overall comparisons. Instead of getting rattled I just kept moving and it wasn’t a big deal at all. I have also heard a story about a competitor whose top flew open during her posing routine. She kept going, topless, until she finished her poses, then picked up her top from the stage floor and walked off!

If I ever start to feel any kind of nervousness (which at this point is very rare), I remind myself that I know most of the judges and many of the other competitors, and that unless I do something really stupid onstage, I have absolutely NOTHING to worry about. Leave your anxiety and jitters off the stage and just get up there and have fun!