Sparky

The picture look pretty good... I was disappointed that they took my rear double bicep shot while I was in a transition into the final pose (you first squeeze your middle back then roll out your back wide -- that's my best or second best pose). My pictures are on page 10-11. The link below gets you to page 10.


Okay.. they must have been editing ... I updated the link.. try this one
http://www.photoreflect.com/scripts/...start=0144&r=0

If that doesn't work...
1) Go to www.eathans.com
2) Click on the Photo Reflect Galleries Link
3) Click on 2004 Natural Colo. BB
4) Select Men's Novice
5) Go to page 10 (I'm also on 11 and 13).



Tell me what you think.. here's what I think...
1) Not bad for my first show
2) Could have been leaner
3) Could have been a bit dryer
4) Not on my legs during some of the poses .... grrrrr....
5) My abs are better than my ab/thigh pose shows... need to work on that!

Overall, not bad... but I will be better next time : )

I'm the bald guy (#48)

Sparky

Ken "Skip" Hill

First, I think the guy after you is having problems passing something. Holy shit.

As for your pics, I would agree with your assessment of needing to be leaner and drier. You may have gotten the water control right but when you aren't lean enough, you will never truly know for sure.

There are some very good shots in the bunch, though. I like the close up of the most-muscular.

You only look to be off about 5-8 pounds or so. I think 10 would be too much. I also think that you did very well holding your size while dieting by taking the weight loss very controlled and slow. It was your first show and I think you did very well for yourself, bro.

Onward and upward. I hope to see you continue to compete and progress.

Skip

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Sparky

Skip,

I will definitely give it another go. I had such a good time! My goals will be a bit loftier this time... Now that I have some experience, hopefully I can take it up a notch.

Thanks for the good feedback.

Spark

BigWilly

don't see your pics bro...

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BW

ski

Spark,the link says it`s expired or something...can`t see your photos bro.

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iamcanman33

I'm guessing ....

Most sites that let you post photos for free (like yahoo, etc) only let so many views or so much bandwidth and then they don't work. I know that if too many people look at your yahoo pictures it will just come up with the expired and then its fine the next day. I could be wrong, but this is what I'm guessing.

GerryT

Very good effort for a first show, Sparky. Skip is the guru and can't add a thing to what he said.

Posing isn't bad and will get better with practice. All poses should be positioned from the legs up. Judges are looking at the entire physique in each pose. I coach
competitors in their posing no charge, so holler if you'd like advice for next time.

Luck and success in the future.

Sparky

Updated the link folks.. I think it should work now.. see the original post if this link is still bad... it gives you a step by step to navigate to the site...

http://www.photoreflect.com/scripts/...start=0144&r=0

Creator_11

Nice work sparky,

I hope the contest was a lot of fun. What was your placing?
How long have you been dieting for this show?

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Sparky

Thanks very much... it's funny.. the competitor in me grows more and more disatisfied with the outcome. But one side of me says that I did absolutely everything I knew to do AND I was in the best shape I've ever been in.

I competed in the Men's Novice middleweight. In that group I came in 3rd place. The weight division was 165-187 and I weighed 170.5 the night before the show. The two guys that beat me would normally have been light heavyweights. They looked awesome.

I also competed in the Men's Open Middleweight. The guys in that group were really awesome. The weight class was more typical -- 165-176.25. These guys looked so much bigger to me that 176.25! There were 11 quality competitors in that group and I ended up at 7th. I feel like I wasn't far from the top 5, but these guys knew what they were doing, and I'm truly a novice!

I had a great time as did my family. However, I really want to step it up for the next show. I think I need to.. 1) add 8-10 lbs muscle, 2) come in leaner 3) improve my stage presentation (relaxed and mandatory poses).

Thanks for the response!

Spark

Crimson Ghost

You did great man!

Like I told you before, nothing you did on stage jumped out as being horrible or bad. You looked like you had been up there before so you did great. At you next show I'll pay closer attention to give you better feedback.

Sparky

Ghost,

Thanks man. For my first show, I think I did fairly well.

I really appreciate the help I got along the way. Skip gave me some good pointers and encouragement. Several of the folks here had good advice that I applied. I hope to take what I've learned and step it up next show.

When I look at my pics I see the good and the not so good. I noticed that I wasn't on my legs for my side poses (side tricep and side chest). I also think my ab/thigh pose showed that I was still carrying a bit too much body fat OR I was doing the pose incorrectly. I am a bit of a perfectionist so I'll always find fault.

Spark

Sparky

Oh, Creator asked how long I dieted for the show...
I believe I started to cut around 12 weeks out. I was at 195 (must of been carrying some water) and quickly dropped to 188. From there it was really slow going. I lost between 1 and 2.5 lbs per week. My weight the day before the show was 170.5.

I think that slow weight loss really helped me keep my mass up.

Spark

blown

You looked great!

I'm no expert, but I've been to a few NPC contests in TX and my buddy is a judge, so I hear a lot of of the critiques from him and the other judges. You looked a LOT better than a LOT of the other guys' first contests, older or younger.

Great work!

Sparky

Thanks very much. I am already thinking about the next time I compete. I saw a t-shirt that inspired me. It said, "Champions are made in the offseason." That's been my mantra since then.

Spark

Sparky

Okay... based on my pics, what should I improve on in terms of my physique for the next show. What are my weakest areas?

Spark

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Future

Hey, I am not about to critique you but DAMN you look awesome in your avatar! Nice job. Congrats on your show.

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Creator_11

I am certainly no expert here or have experience as far as competing but I just say keep hammering away and pack on as much muscle mass as you can before your next show and I am sure you'll do well.

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