Figure Competition Prep Guide

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The one and only Leslie Stafano. Leslies onstage presentation is second to none.

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FIGURE BOOK. Learn to pose, peak, tan, choose suits, and more for winning Figure Contests. As seen in Oxygen Magazine.

1. HOW YOU ARE JUDGED:

There are 2 rounds to a FIGURE contest. A 1 piece bathing suit round and 2 piece suit round. You are judged by your look in these two outfits. You are judged on body shape, muscle shape, conditioning, grooming, beauty, and presentation. It is a beauty contest and you have to act beautiful. Big smiles and walking like you own the world is the way it is done.

OFFICIAL RULES:

COMPETITION ROUNDS & RULES Ð WOMEN'S OPEN, TEEN & MASTERS (WOMEN OVER 30,40 & 50) FIGURE ROUND 1/SWIMSUIT: The contestants will present quarter turns with other contestants wearing high heels and a 2 piece swimsuit of their choice. No thong swimsuits will be permitted. Jewelry may be worn in this round. No oil may be worn.

ROUND 2/FINAL ASSESSMENT: The contestants will present quarter turns with other contestants wearing their 1 piece swimsuit of their choice and high heels. Each round is scored separately and worth 1Ú2 of the total score. In the Women's Open Figure, the winners of Class A, B. C & D will be brought back on stage and compared in their one- piece swimsuit and heels for judging of the overall winner.

THE HIGHT CLASSES:

CLASS A (to 5'2")

CLASS B (over 5'2" to 5'4")

CLASS C (Over 5'4" to 5'6")

CLASS D (Over 5'6")

2. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU COMPETE:

First you register or check-in, usually the morning of the contest or the night before. You are put into your appropriate Figure category according to height classes. All contestants are measured.

There is a morning show called the prejudging this is where you are compared to the other competitors. In the evening of the same day is the night show when the awards are given out. You have to be present for both the morning prejudging and the evening "night" show.

THE PREJUDGING: You will go out on stage twice. Once in your 1 piece suit and once in your 2 piece suit. Both times you will be compared to the other women in your group. Before you are compared, you will walk on-stage alone and present yourself center stage to the judges by doing a series of smooth quarter turn s.. At night you go out twice as well, in your 1 piece and 2 piece out fit, but there are no comparison's at the night show.

The contest begins: You go back stage and get in your 2 piece suit. There are weights back stage and you can pump up your muscles and apply your oil so you look shiny on stage. Many women have their hair and make up done at this time as well. The expediter will call your class and then it is time to line up and get ready to go on stage You will each have a number and line up according to your number.

ROUND ONE: 2 piece suit

The judges will call your class and the expediter will file each person onto the stage.

PRESENTING YOURSELF ALONE:
When your class is first called, each athlete (will go out alone) will walk on stage, to the center of the stage, pause, smile, and turn to the side, and pause then turn to the back, pause, show your back, then turn again, show your other side, Then turn back to the front.

The goal here is to look as polished as possible. You look relaxed (or at least you are supposed to) but are in fact tensing your muscles the entire time you are on-stage

You stand for a moment, big smile, then move to the side of the stage and remain on stage standing off to one side while the other competitors do their walk and turns. While standing you have to stand so you look cool. See the photos below ( Individual presentation A and B). These girls are presenting themselves alone while the other competitors line up to the side on the stage.
Check out this photograph as well."STANDING TO THE FRONT Picture 1" below this paragraph. See the women in the center of the picture? That is Leslie overall winner of the DKC 2004 Figure. See her in the black one piece outfit? She is standing like a winner.

PICTURED ABOVE: Individual presentation (pic A).

PICTURED ABOVE: Individual presentation (pic B).
COMPARISONS:
Once everyone has presented themselves alone and lined up to the side, everyone is relined up in the center of the stage and with heels together you are compared to all the other athletes in your class. Here are some good pictures of this round.

All the competitors are lined up (heels together now) and compared in 4 poses. On stage as group they turn and do the following "poses":

Standing to the front.

Standing to the right side.

Standing to the rear.

Standing to the left side.

Standing to the front.

Standing in the line up. Not a pose but it counts. Remember..You are competing the entire time you are on stage. The entire time you are on stage you have to stand and pose. You can't rest, not for a second.

You leave the stage, change into your one piece suit and come back out and do it all over again.

ROUND TWO: 1 piece suit

The judges will call your class and the expediter will file each person onto the stage.

You stand for a moment, big smile, then move to the side of the stage and remain on stage standing off to one side while the other competitors do their walk and turns. While standing you have to stand so you look cool. Check out "STANDING TO THE FRONT Picture 1" below this paragraph. See the women in the center of the picture? In the black one piece outfit? She is standing like a winner.

Next all the competitors are lined up and compared in 4 poses. On stage as group they turn and do the following "poses":

Standing to the front.

Standing to the right side.

Standing to the rear.

Standing to the left side.

Standing to the front.

Standing in the line up. Not a pose but it counts. Remember..You are competing the entire time you are on stage. The entire time you are on stage you have to stand and pose and look as good as you can. You can't rest, not for a second.

NOTE: When standing in the line up...Rather than standing with your heels together (as you must do when being compared) you can stand anyway you want. Again check out the picture, "STANDING TO THE FRONT Picture 1" below this paragraph. See how she brought her right leg across her left leg, and pushed her hip out to accentuate her taper? She also has her hand "casually" on her hip with her shoulders tensed. This is the way you want to look when just "standing" in the line up. Practice this over and over till it looks natural on you.

THE NIGHT SHOW:

You return to the contest site about an hour before the show begins to get ready. At night you come out on-stage in your 2 piece outfit and again later, in your 1 piece outfit. After that the awards are presented.

No matter if you win or lose stay calm and keep smiling. Do not cause a fuss if you feel you should have placed higher. If you are upset--hide it! If you cause a scene and display poor sportsmanship you will be banned from competing in the future.

Beauty is subjective. You may lose the contest but still be gorgeous. Don't panic or get upset. Just resolve to do better next time. Often small changes (like a deep natural tan) can turn a loser into a winner at the next contest. Ask people for feedback. Ask the judges. They will tell you what you need to do to improve.

OVERALL CHAMPION

IF YOU WIN YOUR CLASS:
YOU WILL GO BACK ON-STAGE AND COMPETE FOR THE OVERALL TITLE against the other class winners. You will do a series of turns as a group, then the winner is announced. The winner is given an award for best FIGURE OVERALL.

3. WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO COMPETE:

A great body dieted to a lean condition.
A deep tan. Visit a booth or lay outside and get a real tan. Then before you compete use tanning dyes or Tanning Salon to make yourself super dark. Beware of tanning dyes without a real base tan, you might look green or orange. DREAM TAN works well and is a product applied right before you go on stage
2 bathing suits. a one piece and a 2 piece. You will need competition suits, not just normal off the rack suits. These suits are expensive. $100 or more.
High heel shoes. Here is site that sells them. They should match your outfits if possible. Avoid "hooker" shoes (the NPC doesn't like them).Choose a classy shoe. 3 to 4 inch heels will work best.
Oil for your skin when on stage Baby oil, pam cooking spray, anything to help you look shiny. Lee Apperson, who has produced several grrat Figure champions...says no baby oil and no DREAM TAN. All he suggests is Pro-Tan. He feels baby oil makes you too shiny and dream tan blurs definition. I personally use pro-tan for 3 days and Dream Tan the day of the show.
A hair and make up person. You need to look your best. Sometimes an expert can help.
STICK EM. or BIKINI BYTE. This is a non hazardous body glue that sticks your suit to your butt and chest so you don't get any embarrassing slipping.
Register for the show well in advance. Get directions and instructions weeks before the event.

The Fantastic 2004 DKC Overall Figure Champion: Leslie Stefano.

STANDING TO THE FRONT. Picture 1. ABOVE: Notice Leslie Stafano in the black suit in the center. She is standing relaxed. But she is not really relaxed. It's a beautiful illusion. Her legs are crossed and tense, her right hip is out, her arms and shoulders are flared, her face and hands relaxed. When you stand in the line up, especially when not being compared directly, this is how you want to look.

STANDING TO THE REAR 1. Examine the picture above. The first women has her shoulders hunched up and arms pulled back. The second women is doing better but her hands are too tense. They need to be relaxed. The third women on the far right is doing well, her arms could be slightly more flared.

STANDING TO THE REAR 2. Examine the picture above. All of the women are standing nearly perfect. Lats flared, leg's and butt tense, butt and lower back arched. Delts tense, arms flared but not too much and hands relaxed. A great group.

You will compete in a special competition 1 piece and 2 piece suit.

POSING

You will win or lose based on how well you can present your physique.

Tensing the muscles while standing "relaxed" is hard. Look at the picture below (PHOTO CC LINK). See the girl on the far left? We have her circled. That is Leslie Stafano again, doing everything right. Her back is tense, and arms flared, legs and butt tense, heels together. And yet her hands are relaxed. A beautiful pose by a real pro.

Practicing your posing is very important. Start months in advance. Get someone to coach you. Practice practice practice.

Go watch a contest BEFORE you compete so you know what to expect.

Here is what you need to practice:

Walking. You need to walk in high heels and present yourself as best as possible. Choose shoes that fit well and practice walking in them. You don't want to walk unnaturally or stumble around on stage, so practice walking.

Turning. When you compete you turn 4 times (1. to the side, 2. to the rear, 3. to the side, 4. to the front again) and show your physique to the judges. How you turn and where you stop when you finish turning is very important. Practice your turns till they are second nature.

You don't have to keep your heels together when you are alone on-stage presenting yourself, so you can twist your torso and bring one leg in front of the other (to name a few of the "tricks") in order to accentuate your body. Look at these pictures at the bottom of the training section page. Perfect examples of displaying yourself when you don't have to have your heels together.

When you are compared to the other athletes you have to stand with your heels together. So practice the following:

Standing to the front, heels together.

Standing to the side, heels together.

Standing to the rear heels together.

Standing to the other side, heels together.

STANDING RELAXED. Practice just standing there. See the photo above: STANDING TO THE FRONT. Picture 1. Leslie in her black one piece is standing "relaxed" perfectly. Practice standing like this.

BREAKING IT DOWN:

Competing and posing (all with a big smile) is hard. It's exhausting.

When you first begin learning to pose, don't flex too hard. Break yourself in slowly. Work on tensing just your abs, then do just the legs. When they get tired practice tensing the back and butt (Standing to the rear heels together.). The butt and back might be hard to "feel" and feel quite awkward. That is okay, just keep practicing.

You need to be able to flex and tense on command. Practice flaring your arms and tensing your shoulders. Once you can do each part alone well (it takes a few weeks) practice flexing everything all at once (Standing to the front, heels together.). Breaking it down into body parts helps you get control over an individual muscle group.

I find tensing the legs (or any body part) for about 10 minutes all by themselves, every other day, a great way to gain control over that part and increase separation in the quads. Flex the abs daily.

POSING MISTAKES TO AVOID:
Don't hold your hands in an unattractive (stiff or claw like or like a paddle) way.
They should seem relaxed.

PHOTO JAMES POTTER

Check out the photo above. A perfect arm pose. Shoulders tense, arms flared and hands relaxed. Perfect arm!

Standing to the front. Look at those legs!

PHOTO CC (BELOW)
Figure Champion Leslie Stafano looking great!

Standing in the line up. Here we see the 2 piece comparison round. You need to able to stand like this for at least 20 minutes at a time so practice! Heels together, arms and diets flared, quads and abs tense--big smile.

PRACTICE YOUR TURNS: Presenting yourself onstage, so you look your best, takes practice. Here is nice shot of side quarter turn as she pauses in mid turn. Notice the knees tilted together, the front right leg bent and posed, the right hip pulled up (to accentuate the hip and butt curve) the right arm pulled back, the left hand on hip and pulled forward (to accentuate the chest and left shoulder) the deltoid and arm are tense, hands and face relaxed. Nice pose and beautiful grooming as well.

GROOMING:
You have to look beautiful. Your hair should be clean and attractive as possible. Make up should be on the heavy or theatrical side as you are on-stage under bright lights and will look washed out if you are not careful. Some people use body glitter. Tasteful jewelry is allowed in the evening show, but not in the morning prejudging. If you have a belly button piercing you may leave that jewelry in to compete.

Your suit should fit like a glove. If you can afford it, have one made for you. It should be cut to make you look your best.

Your skin should be dark and covered with a light coating of oil. Get a deep tan. Be careful about instant tanning products, especially if you use them without a base tan. They can make you look green or orange.

Dream Tan is a wonderful instant tanning product that is applied right before going on-stage (about 30 minutes) and then showered or wiped off like body make up. Dream Tan gives the illusion of a deep tan. I use it on top of my base tan.

TWO CHAMPIONS AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME! WOW!

EXCELLENT GROOMING

Standing to the front and side. Beautiful.

EXCELLENT GROOMING

Pictured above: Two great athletes in the back comparison round. Both of these women are holding the pose perfectly. Study this photo carefully. This is HOW YOU WANT TO DO IT!

DOING THE COMPARISONS:

above and below...STANDING TO THE SIDE..Check out Leslie below.

LEARN ABOUT THE 2005 DEBBIE KRUCK CLASSIC

http://www.debbiekruckclassiconlinemagazine.com/

PART 1 DIETING

PART 2 TRAINING

PART 3 COMPETITION

CONTACT DAN BURKE

DAN BURKE AUTHOR OF THE FIGURE GUIDE. July 2005.