“More-Mentum?”

momentum

Plural momenta or momentums

A vector quantity that expresses the relation of the velocity of a body, wave, field, or other physical system, to its energy. The direction of the momentum of a single object indicates the direction of its motion. Momentum is a conserved quantity (it remains constant unless acted upon by an outside force), and is related by Noether’s theorem to translational invariance. In classical mechanics, momentum is defined as mass times velocity. The theory of Special Relativity uses the concept of relativistic mass. The momentum of photons, which are massless, is equal to their energy divided by the speed of light. In quantum mechanics, momentum more generally refers to a mathematical operator applied to the wave equation describing a physical system and corresponding to an observable; solutions to the equation using this operator provide the vector quantity traditionally called momentum. In all of these applications, momentum is sometimes called linear momentum.

So what if?

When it comes to exercise, fat loss, muscle gain—or the Eclipse what if what has already been set into motion is influenced by some outside force such as exercise intensity or calorie control, or a change in macronutrient percentages. Can what has already been set in motion increase speed? If so can momentum morph into “More-mentum”?

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/momentum

Frank Ridgway is a friend, client, and colleague. He is a quantum thinker, and it is while exercising and during the course of our conversations that he comes up with some of his witticisms- this is one of them.

So I thought I would run with it and use it in my own thinking. Can something good become better? I think so. Can we add to what we already have and increase efficiency? Yes and I think that this is what has happened. As I continue with what was working without forcing things to happen I have actually generated more-mentum! Instead of losing ground. A very important point to ponder.

If we continue our behaviors they, in time, will become habits- then they are almost automatic. And as we continue to build we not only compound our efforts we also compound our results. But if we do it all at once or too quick we can overdo it. We first need to have the proper conditioning.

One of the critical components of the Eclipse is that it is something that has happened over a period of time- for me that means over 30 years. By continuing, by not giving up we can, (if we don’t do it too quick or all at once) actually increase. Each day I am more encouraged that the Eclipse is possible even though it seems impossible.

To Thine Own Self Be True

During my “cardio” time I almost always listen to my thoughts. And this past week the thought that came to me over and over was, “To thine own self be true”.

As I meditated on what this message might be- more thoughts came. I knew this was Hamlet but I pondered if there was  another application to this old quote.

Polonius:
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!

Shakespeare’s Hamlet Act 1, scene 3, 78–82

Then a few days ago I was reading an interesting article about Serge Nubret who was one of the bodybuilders of the “Golden Age”. He was being interviewed about his training and his workout methods.

http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14998

 

I think the writer understood that Serge was saying that his methods worked for him but could this high volume training work for everyone to the extent that it worked for Serge?

To me- a similar question would be, would Serge Nubret’s shoes fit everyone’s feet?

Probably not- but could I learn something from this as I continue to conduct my personal experiment?

Yes, I may find out that this high volume may not allow me to recover from one workout to another.

But his physique is so amazing and inspiring.

Have you been inspired by something or someone?

I have.

Then let what they have done and the results they got inspire you to do what you need to do to get what you want.

You don’t have to necessarily do what they did. Ask me how I know this!

So what was my message? I think it was a confirmation.

I must be true to my personal energy levels, my personal energy out put, and above all I must be true to my own personal rate of recovery. Because if I don’t I  will go from training and producing results to over training and setting myself up for either diminishing returns or an injury that could put me out of the running.  And so will you.

What’s important to me particularly right now is what works for me. I am not attempting a Transformation- I am attempting The Eclipse- 31 years after the fact which means I need to lose what ever fat and water necessary to keep and display the muscle gained to be able to surpass my condition of over three decades ago.

I need to keep the delicate balance between training and over training. I know I can lose weight- but in an all-out effort to lose weight quickly will I also lose muscle? That is exactly what I am trying to avoid so this process is taking a little longer than I expected.

OK this thought goes in my Journal.

November 19th Picture Day

The motto used by the U.S. Army

“The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer.”

November 19^th was official “picture day.” It was a good experience and a new application of some things I already knew. And what was that? one might ask.

Several things have come to my mind and I think they are lessons worth sharing.

Since my body is not yet where I want it to be, to fully eclipse, I decided not to take official pictures. My intention and plan to peak on the 19^th was a “man-made” deadline. I can see that my eclipse, the “impossible,” will take a “little longer” than I originally planned.  I remain committed to the outcome.

We can plan for an outcome and I think that’s good. We can attempt to force things to happen and that may not be good.

Things we decide to do, or deadlines we impose are all man-made. Deadlines like a contest, cosmetic nutrition, training, a certain condition or appearance, are all man-made, or “man” determined.

Can we fit our recovery neatly into a 7 day man made week?

Can we make pin point accurate predictions about variables that we didn’t know exist or things that are out of our control?

The muscles recover when the system has been restored. Period.

Competition- whether its figure, bikini, or bodybuilding- it’s all man-made and even when you don’t use drugs the condition one achieves is not normal. In many instances this can mean that this low fat muscular condition may not be healthy or safe- but it does look good to the eyes- even though it will usually only last for one day!

How long does it take to achieve this condition and still feel healthy?

Each one of us will have to discover that for ourselves.

Yes- I know that we can “Transform” our appearance in a matter of weeks- and even then there doesn’t seem to be any guarantee that this Transformation condition can be maintained– unless we know how to.

I believe what I am expecting from my body is possible, it will just be a question of time.

I am reminded of the motto used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Seabees”) during World War II:

“The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer.”

If we force ourselves to respond to someone else’s program we may experience an injury that will set us back and completely discourage us- which can take us completely “out of the game”. Ask me how I know this.

I believe I need to practice “Regret Prevention” by giving my body whatever time it needs to fully recover while I hold in my mind the image of what I want to accomplish.

I’m going to have to travel at the speed of Carlos if I am to remain healthy and avoid over training or injury.

So I didn’t make my “deadline.” Now what? Have I “failed”? Do I give up? NO! Think about Thomas Edison’s 10,000 experiments to find the perfect incandescent light bulb that would eventually be sold to the consumer and provide light to every household. He never gave up and never considered a “failed” experiment a “failure”!

He made many discoveries about what did not work! What if he would have given up? So…No. It’s not a place to be discouraged, or give up. To take a cue from Edison, we now know what did not work. Or took longer to work based on body recovery time. That’s all! He remained committed to the outcome because he didn’t give up on his desire, and neither should we!

You too will have to “Stay in your own lane”.

So dear reader this quest you are on- it’s really about you. Not what others have done, (whether possible or impossible). It’s not what others have accomplished, how they accomplished it or even how much time it took to accomplish! That information can give us motivation and inspiration. At the end of the day- your quest is about you finding what works for you.

Your Experiment Of One.

I remain committed to the outcome, however long that will take. I hold firmly in my mind the outcome I desire….it is only a matter of time for the “impossible” to be made possible. Watch me!

I maintain my current momentum and shoot for my next picture goal date of December 30^th for my next attempt. I’m on course, working with my body, and fully committed to the outcome I hold clearly in my mind.

We must remember that our man-made deadlines must factor in elements of the unknown and may need adjustment when our goal date comes and goes without having realized our desire. Do we use this as an excuse to not be 100% committed to our current goal date? Do we use it as an “out” for not trying as hard as we can? NO! We do this with integrity. Full throttle, as if there were no other option!

Momentum

An Almost Forgotten Concept

Normally when we think about momentum we think in terms of the speed that is built up as a result of an initial thrust. But lets take a look at what I feel is an acceptable dictionary definition for the purpose  of this discussion.

mo-men-tum (mo mentm, m-) n. , pl.  -tums or -ta (-t) [[ModL < L: see MOMENT]]   1 the impetus of a moving object   2 strength or force that keeps growing [a campaign that gained momentum ]   3 Physics, Mech.  the product of the mass of a particle, body, etc. and its velocity

So then what is an “impetus” in this context?

im-pe-tus (imp ts) n. , pl.  -tus-es [[L < impetere , to rush upon < in- , in + petere , to rush at: see FEATHER]]   1 the force with which a body moves against resistance, resulting from its mass and the velocity at which it is set in motion   2 anything that stimulates activity; driving force or motive; incentive; impulse

When we begin a program there is an initial setting of things into motion, a push or a thrust.  The impetus would be the driving force or our GRW (Great Reason Why) we began this undertaking to begin with.

In addition:

“1: a property of a moving body that the body has by virtue of its mass and motion and that is equal to the product of the body’s mass and velocity; broadly : a property of a moving body that determines the length of time required to bring it to rest when under the action of a constant force or moment”

2: strength or force gained by motion or by a series of (continued) events

So even though we have an initial starting point or thrust it can slow down and lose speed and as stated even  “come to a rest” if we do not continue to apply the necessary action that will keep it building up speed. The more components we add, the more “speed” we will build. We know the components- nutrition, action, consistancy, and the motivation to continue.

Sentence structure:

“The company has had a successful year and hopes to maintain its momentum by introducing new products.”

So remembering the concept of momentum can be an encouragement to all of us on those days when we think we are not seeing the results we were hoping for. Its important to remember that we have set these things in motion by the actions we have already taken and it could just be a matter of time before we actually see the results.

My thoughts are that my continued training for those 30 years after competition has given me the momentum to attempt the Eclipse, because as long as we continue applying action- we are building up speed- a very important thing for me to remember right now.

Eight days away from the Target Photo Date and my thoughts are since I have built up momentum in these last few months and switched from year around strength training to the Eclipse mode and because-

“The truth is that I am committed to the outcome (The Eclipse) not the method.” 

And at this point not even the time frame- I am looking at this photo session as my first attempt.

Mission Eclipse First Attempt 8 days.

The More Profound Truth

Interested Friends Gather

It’s Friday evening and I have friends gathered who are interested in The Eclipse. It has captured their attention and they’re realizing that they don’t have a full understanding of exactly what I’m doing. So they are asking me questions that I thought would be of interest to those who are following my quest.

The Conversation

Darin said, “I only have one question to ask as an outsider. Why is your story worth telling?

I said, “I really can’t tell you much about the Eclipse without you knowing the back story- otherwise I don’t think it will make much sense to you”.

D: OK go ahead.

C: Well I think the origins of the Eclipse has to do with making choices- 35 years ago, in 1976 I became aware of the fact that most of the bodybuilders I looked up to were using steroids, I decided to make a choice to train and compete drug-free. That decision would prove to have a price tag. First it would take me three years just to win the State Championships in what the AAU called the sport of physique, because drug use had streamed down from the professional ranks to the amateur in very short order. Then I would, for many years see men with drug enhanced physiques on the covers of all of the bodybuilding magazines at that time.

So after winning the State Championships there was really no where for me to go to compete as the drugs did give the users a decided 15-20% advantage over the non users. That statistic has escalated to probably 50% now with the new designer stacked injectable’s.

But by 1981 the physical culturists were fighting back with small organizations popping up with tested bodybuilding events. It looked like bodybuilding was beginning to take a turn for the better. I read about the tested events and I thought “This is where I belong”. So my training partner and I drove out to the mid west for the 1981 Natural Mr. USA which I won. Then five months later the same organization sponsored the Natural North American Championships, I won that as well.

Before long the Natural bodybuilding movement was struggling financially, as a result of  limited exposure and awareness, and there were no (to my knowledge) contests on a world level for several years. But in late 1984 it was announced that there would be a Natural-for-life World Bodybuilding Championships in New York. My training partner and I trained for the whole year in preparation for this contest and in December of 1985 I became the first Pro Natural-for-life World Bodybuilding Champion, and from there I retired undefeated in drug-free competitions.

Recently it occurred to me once again  that if I had “experimented” with the “sports drugs” I would have ended up like many of them- washed up. So the idea came to do the Eclipse- could I, because I didn’t do the drugs surpass my former condition? Could I be better than I was 30 years ago? What a crazy thought. Crazy or not this is where my blog takes a turn and begins to record my new journey.

The Eclipse

After this recitation of the back story, Tracy, another friend, began to ask questions.

T: So what exactly is the Eclipse?

C: It’s all about making quality choices- this is something we all can do. But it takes a commitment for the long term. Yet making the right choices will eventually pay off, and making the wrong choices will always have consequences. Don’t think for one moment that I didn’t initially admire these champions- I think everyone did. Was I tempted to go get some and do it their way- since “everybody was doing them?” Yes I was tempted- I wanted to be the best. I just didn’t want to do it their way.

T: So is the Eclipse about bodybuilding or is it about character?

C: It’s about character with bodybuilding as a vehicle. And this is where we landed after a series of questions I can no longer remember.

The Discussion

Saturday morning Sue and I talked about the session because she was unable to be there. We talked about the fact that it was a choice yet the interesting thing is that first you make a choice that is somewhat conceptual. But that’s just the beginning because if you make a choice every day you come up with 365 choices a year to resist the temptation. So that’s really 365 choices!

Then over the period of 31 years you have 11,315 choices! Now that’s more like it- that’s the real truth! It is really a series of choices- as I wrote, it is a daily recommitment.

And that sounded good, and I thought I would include that in our next taping.

But does it end there?

The More Profound Truth

Later on Saturday morning I went into the studio for my workout with all of these thoughts on my mind. And I found that I was making a choice to do each and every set of exercises.

Then the thought came to me:

“How many times a day can you be tempted? Just once a day?”

How could that be? Maybe 2 or 9 who really knows- I would guess it depends on the struggle. At this point we lose track of numbers because they become staggering, and should not be the focus.

What is important is that there needs to be a choice (or an acceptable answer) for each temptation, each time, each day, as many times as it comes. This is what “gets” us. We really aren’t prepared to deal with anything that will so relentlessly continue to pressure or pursue us. In reality this is what happens. Could this be the reason we sometimes fail? I think so.

What’s the “self talk”?

Making new habits requires that we find ways to stick to our plans- we may not be successful if we just attempt to resist temptation once or twice, or every once in a while.

To resist temptation without some type of reenforcement or replacement leaves the old familiar path open as an option- it leaves a void that needs to be filled- resistance alone will not work for the long term.

We can reenforce the new choices by practicing the new lifestyle and making sure that we have a mission statement to our vision. The vision is where we see ourselves- the mission statement is how we get there. This is what I did to become a world champion. It began in my thoughts as I went face-to-face with every fear, every doubt, every uncertainty. As I practiced confronting each, I became stronger in my mind and my choices became easier and more permanent as each day passed. Soon these behaviors became my new habits. I wrote all these “answers” down in my journal that I read every day. I read them over and over as often as I needed to, much like a perscription! Soon these answers became my default thinking, as a permanent residence in my mind. Then I acted on my new beliefs and began to see tangible results.

Conclusion

Armed with this knowledge we are better able to effect a more permanent change and transformation.
This then, is how we write our Affirmations and declarations and ensure that they are accurate and true.

Once Upon A Time

I Was Angry.

So why do I even care? People do what they want to do- it’s a free country, right? I guess that’s true but when it comes to deception- what about that? Doesn’t that bother anyone?  And who the hell am I? Am I just a sore loser? Yeah- I didn’t make it on the cover of the best Muscle Magazines- but the steroid users did! Hey it was my choice- I chose to be drug free so why the anger?

Why the anger? Well..what about a misrepresentation of what is true and authentic- what about the classic Charles Atlas physique that just comes with hard honest work- isn’t that the premise of what this country was built on? Isn’t that what we all talk about? Work hard, pay your dues, follow the rules and you will get ahead young man. Isn’t that what we were taught in the 1940’ 1950’ and even the 1960’s?

Sure…. and just how naive are you? I would come to ask myself.

But I did win everything in my day. I was undefeated in drug free competitions. I did work hard and compete in 36 contests. Was anyone listening or watching? Not many- You know why? It was dround out by what the media placed in front of their eyes. The Mr. This and Ms.That- that as represented by the media got to the point that it wasn’t about hard work, dedication, and perseverance any more- it became a question about can you afford to do the “injectables” (drugs) and move up from the “orals” to become a “champion”.

How else can you become one of the big guys- one of  the freaks- yeah that’s what people pay their money to see.. both then and now.

So the whole sane drug-free movement of the 70′s and 80′s  goes virtually unnoticed. You know that you followed the rules, you did the “right” thing. Yet in doing the right thing and saying “no” to drugs what the heck happened?

What happened is the real life story I am telling. This is indeed why I decided to do the Eclipse. And the only reason I could even think that it would be possible. Why? Because of a choice I made 44 years ago when I was 19 and decided I would not bend to the “Hey, everybody is doing it” rational of the use and abuse of the “sports drugs”.

I wasn’t doing them, and that would be my theme song for many, many  years. So fast forward to 2011 and what’s happening now?

I have traded anger for the desire to understand. Now I think I understand why some chose to do the sports drugs. And there seems to be as many reasons as there are choices and individuals.

Not withstanding-  I am sure I made the right choice! Especially when you look at my contemporaries. Where are they now? You can’t fake it till you make it. Because the “it” factor of time has caught up to all of us.

 I have been promising that I would post a picture. So until I get the camera on a tripod and the right distance away- here’s my first photo taken by Sue at 31 days away from November the 19^th which is to be my anniversary date of winning the Virginia State Championships and the target date for the Eclipse.

Can he do it?

So what are we looking at? Well the guy in the picture can definitely use a lot more color- that will make a difference. And it does look like maybe he has gained some size over the younger version of 30 years ago. That’s good news- but can he peak out and beat the young guy?

Is the Eclipse possible readers?

Committed To The Outcome

At the fifty day mark and things are changing.

First my body told me that I had maxed out on TURBO which I  had started in April and at the time I was wondering if I could match the weights I had done 30 years ago- I thought this would give me some indicator as to whether I was kidding myself or not. To my surprise I surpassed the weights I was using (back then in 1980) and I thought …”well maybe I can do this”. So I’m plugging along with TURBO and after a while I’m getting some over training signals. In reality I was pushing Super Turbo 6 days a week.

So I’m sitting in my den and as I’m thinking about what to do now- what adjustments do I need to make.  Do I go to 4 days a week?

Then the thought occurred to me- wait a minute…how can this work?

How can you do an Eclipse by doing Turbo. At best you might equal where you were 30 years ago by using the same method as you did 30 years ago?

Well duh.

And if you can pull that off that would be good but it would not be an eclipse– it would not surpass.

Having never done this before- and not knowing anyone who has I was open to ideas.

All of a sudden thoughts began to race in my mind.

Wait a minute you are right where you need to be to “rebound”!

I remember seeing athletes looking better a day or even a week after the contest.

I had seen my athletes rebound EVERY time they competed.

So what’s a “Rebound” right?

The rebound is the weight gain a bodybuilder experiences after being in a depleted state of contest preparation. So what I would do is take advantage of this natural phenomenon by giving the athlete a week off for recovery then put them in a 10 Week Growth Phase– which is the forerunner to my PFC Muscle & Strength System and launch them right into a muscle growth cycle.

So I’m thinking- the real goal of the Eclipse is to surpass, and if I ride this rebound and keep my calories under control I can possibly grow muscle during this time. That’s what I need.

But (alas) I had already said I would be doing this Eclipse with Turbo.

And that’s when this project got its first refinement- I remember writing about something like this in my essay on Discipline. It’s basically a mid course correction or adjustment. This (for me) is the unknown- but I’m thinking that if I can be teachable and “listen” to the silent promptings and nudgings that I am getting from my body then I can avoid disaster or failure by being flexible.

The truth is that I am committed to the outcome (The Eclipse) not the method. So I had to change my approach.

The Bounce

I had done “Muscle” as an off-season workout for over 20 years- I needed something different.

But the emphasis is not on lifting- it is on stimulating muscle tissue. I don’t think this method would appeal to the manly men- they seem to want to throw around the heavy weights. Yet I remember what Arnold said about how he needed (at some point) to stop struggling with heavy weight but the emphasis for what he wanted would be different. So I am doing something different.

I address that thinking in my updated Muscle & Strength System:

Tools

Look at your resistance objects as tools. The weights, the machines, the nutrition- they are the hammer and the chisel which you use to sculpt, mold and shape your body into the image you have in mind of yourself. Think about it. Think about the process of it.

The sculptor working on marble uses the larger hammer and chisel to remove the large pieces, then to bring out the finer lines there is attention given to detail- this requires a steady hand and careful tapping of the smaller hammer and finer chisel to bring out the lines over the knuckles and the groves that shape the finger nails- the big hammer could never do this.

So see yourself as the sculptor, your body as the marble, and the objects that form and shape you as tools. If you do you will not try to lift them, as much as you will use them to bring about the image that is hidden in that piece of marble. Like a master sculptor, we sculpt and refine our bodies using specific “tools” such as the right amount of  calories, weight, the full number of reps, and the quality of form.

When they asked Michelangelo how he made his statue of David he is reported to have said, “It is easy. You just chip away the stone that doesn’t look like David.”

- Michelangelo

Countdown Mission Eclipse 50 days

No One Ever Accomplished Anything Great

 Just recently I finished reading Napoleon Hill’s masterpiece entitled “The Law of Success”. It has 17 chapters, 1188 pages and was published in 1928. Yet you won’t get very far into this ageless document before he tells you in no uncertain terms that:

No One Ever Accomplished Anything Great By Themselves

He outlines, 83 years ago, what would in the 21^st century be called “networking”!

It was true then- its true now.

Back in the 70’s and 80’s I had the fortune to have Rodney Jackson as a training partner. We trained brutally hard but the journey was much less arduous with a traveling companion. He was strong and didn’t know the meaning of giving up- perfect.

Since I have never seen anyone attempt an Eclipse, I would say that to accomplish something like this- at least for me, it would be something great.

For the Mission Eclipse I once again have a training partner even though she is 300 miles away.  We will be in touch with each other and comparing notes on all aspects of training. Her name is Elaine Morales. She is the Grand Champion of a well published World-wide Transformation Contest and has since also competed in two Figure competitions.

She has come up through the ranks of hard knocks and experience which I believe motivated her to author “Why Delay Amazing- A Total Transformation Guide”. In this guide she gets into the practical nuts and bolts of reasons other incomplete methods fail. After reading it you will walk away with answers- not just more questions. Elaine also  blogs regularly on her  Not Just A Day Dream- Real Life Transformation- the community that she founded for anyone interested in permanent Transformation of body and mind. What you will find here are others who are on similar journeys who will provide support and encouragement.

Check her out:

 http://www.thetransformersclub.com/

Not someone to sit on her hands- Elaine is now gearing up for her third competition in as many years and is once again using my T.U.R.B.O. program to get into contest shape.

Look back on every great accomplishment and you will see that these great bridges, buildings, or corporations were not done by the Lone Rangers of society- actually not even the Lone Ranger was all alone!

Every body wins. Let me give you just one example. As a result of just training with this type of dedication and intensity (as a training partner) Rodney himself was able to win the 1982 Mr. Natural USA !

Countdown Mission Eclipse 73 days

Judging Part 2

How To Judge Mission Eclipse

Some readers have expressed that they may not have the seasoned eye of a physique judge and perhaps they would not be very good at judging.

I am going to show you how you can look at any picture with the trained eye of a physique judge so that you will have a good idea of what you are looking at.

After reading this blog I believe you will know how to look at the comparison pictures and determine just from using the proper scrutiny whether or not I have eclipsed.

How can one just look at  pictures and  distinguish the differences- albeit sometimes subtle differences? In November I will post a new picture and have it side by side with the picture taken in 1980. I am attempting to have it taken from the same angle and keep it the same size- both very important elements in judging comparisons. Now with these pictures in front of you,take a ruler and a pen and draw lines horizontally every ½ inch from the neck down.

Then begin looking at the pictures, following the lines accross from one picture to the other. Look at the neck. First one picture then the other, especially the most recent picture.

From the neck look at the traps (the muscles that come up to the neck). Compare one picture then the other.

Any differences?

Look at each picture in half inch increments. Look at the shoulders on both pictures.

How do they compare?

Look at the arms, look at the shape and size of the arm.

Any differences?

Look at the chest of both pictures how do they compare?

Look at the waist line

Which one looks better? (more muscular- defined)

Look at each body part within the lines in the same way.
Remember the cartoon in the Sunday paper where it shows you two pictures and asks the question,
“What’s the difference? Can you see all 8 of the differences?”

That’s how subtle it can be. Each half inch look straight across at both of the pictures, draw lines and follow one line all the way across and look for any differences but just focusing on one area at a time. Go down between the next lines  and look at both. Go down between the next set of lines and look at the body part there, and look at both, all the way down the entire picture.

That’s going to give you a real critical eye because you will be able to focus on one area at a time until you have seen the entire body. And based on those observations you can judge whether or not I succeeded with the eclipse!

You can use a  ruler and just slide it down, and look straight across comparing both pictures, because everything else can distract you. So if you take something and cover up the rest and just look only at what you see between the lines, you will be able to see what a seasoned judge sees while judging contestantants on stage. You are now beginning to scrutenize the physique, the body, and all the parts the way a judge would.

To illustrate what I mean here’s a “Real Time” evaluation using a photo of  my good friend Meri as our model.
Meri has been kind enough to volunteer her pictures with the built in graph. As you can see Meri has already followed a cardinal rule in physique comparison by keeping integrity in her photos because she is showing the  images the same size. This is the type of photo integrity that is needed to make an accurate visual assessment.

As you can see we have a very good picture comparison of Meri. Beginning with your focus on the space between lines 1 and 2 compare from left to right just by looking at that section. You are going to see some things you didn’t think were there! The collar bone on day 28 is more pronounced than on day 1, meaning that there is probably a loss of fat or water or both. The neck muscles are also more visible on day 28 than on day 1. You are going to see that the shoulders themselves are looking a little tighter and the pec line is different.

In the space between 2 and 3 what I see is in the abdominal area the day 1 is wider than day 28 take a look. As you go down further look at the space between lines 3 and 4 and what you are going to see again is that the tummy is getting closer to the abdominal wall, that is very obvious to me. As we look between 4 and 5 we see that Meri’s thighs are actually getting tighter than they were on day 1. Now take a look at just the knees. Very interesting comparison here. Meri’s knees are totally different now.

Look at both pictures. Now the reason they look different is because fat from that area is leaving on both knees, and you can actually see the visible progress there. Look down further and it does look a little tighter on the calf muscles, they are slightly smaller. What is even more interesting is that the ankles themselves are different in size, that means that there is probably fat loss there as well.
Overall Meri has changed a lot more than we first thought, but if you were just to look at her waist without the lines there you really wouldn’t see as much. So if you follow my eyes you can see it for yourself.

Now you can see how subtle the differences can be, and how easy it is to compare one picture with another.

I think you are now ready to practice- so that by November all of you will be very competant with your judging.

Judging Part 1

Judging Part 1 will familiarize you with the judging standards that the IPC developed in 1981specifically for natural or non-drug users. Although prior to this the AAU did have judging standards for the “Sport of Physique” we felt that drug-free competitors deserved standards befitting their unique status. The following is an edited excerpt from the handbook and an introduction to judging the physique.

 

FOREWORD 

This Handbook will introduce you to the art/sport of Natural Physique competition and the CBA Inc. The mission of the CBA is to promote Natural bodybuilding and restore the dignity and respect that the sport of  bodybuilding deserves and once had when it was considered Physical Culture.

Physique competition is not a new sport, but since some in bodybuilding have become involved with the use of chemicals and drugs to enhance the physical performance and/or appearance the CBA was formed and has become a forerunner in promoting Natural bodybuilding competitions. Since there were no enforced guidelines or rules for Natural contests, the CBA now offers its own official handbook of regulations, with a complete set of rules for competition and judging. This Handbook is intended to be a ready reference manual for natural athletes, judges, promoters, administrators and spectators.

The CBA was formed in November of 1979 and has since advocated and promoted Natural bodybuilding and Natural bodybuilding competitions through its outreach magazine, POWER. Yet, because of untested competitions it became apparent that Natural bodybuilding would be in a class of its own, and in October of 1981 the Executive Board of Directors formed the International Physique Council whose first task was to develop guidelines and rules for Natural competition and judging.

The Council’s mission is to encourage drug-free competition at all levels and in all classes, therefore we trust that this Handbook will aid the interested promoter and natural athlete in presenting better caliber contests and at the same time enable the spectator to understand and gain a better appreciation of this art/sport.

Copyright 1982 Carlos DeJesus Chairman, CBA International Physique Council

 

II. JUDGING THE COMPETITION

The catagories to be considered in judging men are:

1. Muscle Balance (Symmetry)

2. Size and Shape

3. Separation and Definition

4. Presentation

A. Muscle Balance (Symmetry)

1. Includes the overall balance of body parts and muscle groups. (Comparing right and left sides)

2. Muscle groups should show equal development and harmony both within the groups and among the parts of the body.

3. Upper body muscularity in proportion, lower body muscularity proportionate, and a balance in upper and lower body development.

B. Shape and Size

1. Skeletal structure is usually a factor in size, as development has to be related to the potential for development.

2. Size and shape would be the best possible combination of muscular mass or volume and muscle form or contour.

C. Separation and Definition

1. Seperation would constitute the clear border line between adjoining muscles.

2. A distinct visible separation between muscles or what is commonly known as “cuts”.

3. Definition would refer to the distinct muscular detail within each muscle group which would appear in strands, fibers and striations, or what is referred to as the “ripped” look.

D. Presentation

1. Presentation would encompass all other physical charecteristics not included in the other catagories; grooming, posture, projection, and above all-display,which includes the choice of poses, (are they fitting for the athlete?) their sequence, execution, transition (or the flow from one pose to the next)

2. The ability of the athlete to display and project his physique to its best advantage.

Does the judging panel have any questions?