My First Contest: The Untold Story

And Advice for Anyone Thinking of Competing

Peter McGough and others have written about my first contest, the 1985 EFBB West Coast, where I won the novice class and was hastily convinced by EFBB officials to represent Britain as a heavyweight the following weekend at the IFBB World Games. But the truth is, that wasn’t the first time I got onstage. That actually happened a year before at an unsanctioned event in Birmingham that was really just a local event the city’s gyms sent their best guys to for bragging rights. I was 21 and had only been training for six months at that point, at a place called Martin’s Gym on Temple Street that I went on to buy and rename Temple Gym. Martin Tierney was the owner, and he asked me to do the event, which was being held across the street at— wait for it— Temple Hotel. I really wasn’t interested, because I didn’t feel I was ready yet for even an event as small as this. But as luck would have it, I got sick with something like the flu and dropped a few pounds. Looking in the mirror once I started feeling better, I had sharpened up considerably. Considering I was naturally lean anyway, now it seemed like I could probably enter the contest, now a week away, and do pretty well. I let Martin know I was in.

I wasn’t totally naive about contests. I had been to the EFBB British Championships, and I think also a NABBA Mr. Universe already. So I knew the mandatory poses pretty well, and I also knew you had to have some artificial color. We didn’t have Pro Tan or Jan Tana or any of that back then, so I picked up a bottle of Sudden Tan, this mousse-type stuff that came in a spray bottle and you applied with a sponge. My future wife, Debbie, was my girlfriend at the time, and I had her help me put a coat on. Since I was naturally quite pale and never had a tan before in my life, I looked in the mirror once that was on and thought I was as black as if I’d just come back from a holiday in Spain. Little did I realize that under the stage lighting, I would look white as a ghost. I also didn’t shave quite as low down the groin as I should have, as there was a bit of hair peeking over the top of my trunks. But I had practiced my compulsory poses and put a 60-second routine together to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.” It wasn’t the type of music I listened to, but it had a good beat and energy to it. Because I didn’t feel like I was really ready and this was such a small show, I didn’t want any of my friends there to see me, not even Debbie.

There ended up being about a dozen guys in my novice class. Since I had never been up in front of people like that and I was a shy kid, I had worried that I would be terribly nervous. Oddly enough, I wasn’t and it felt pretty natural. I won at 198 pounds, and I felt proud up there holding my first-place trophy. Since I’d never played organized sports, this was the first time I ever won anything. The thought of entering the open never occurred to me, because the guy who won that had already competed at the Brits and I wasn’t there yet. After this, I knew I wanted to compete again. That had been my intent anyway when I started training. The EFBB was, and still is, the British amateur arm of the IFBB, and I knew that’s where I ultimately wanted to be since it had the Mr. Olympia contest.

Advice for Anyone Thinking About Competing

I’ve been to many amateur shows over the years, and they all had at least one person who was sorely out of place for any number or reasons. Some were carrying far too much body fat. Others had no tan or hadn’t shaved their bodies, or wore underwear instead of actual posing trunks. Often they had no idea how to hit the poses. It’s always embarrassing to watch, and you can’t help but feel sorry for them. That’s why I strongly suggest that anyone contemplating competition needs to attend at least one or two contests and pay attention to everything going on. You will see the standards of development and condition for physiques, how the judging is run and which poses are hit, and in general what it’s all about.

Assuming you have enough muscle mass to compete in bodybuilding, you will need to get properly lean. You can hire a diet coach if he or she has a good track record (beware of the many frauds online these days), or you can do your own research and manage your own diet. I always did that, because I wanted to be the one calling the shots and didn’t want to leave that up to someone else.

Spend time practicing the compulsory poses— a lot of time. There’s a lot more to it than most people realize, and the best competitors make subtle alterations to most poses to play up their own particular strengths and take attention away from any weaknesses or flaws. When you put your posing routine together, find the poses that look best for you. It’s common for novice bodybuilders to copy the signature poses of their favorite pro, but that only works well if you happen to be built just like they are! The same goes for your music selection. If you’re 140 pounds, it’s going to look silly if you come out and pose to a powerful song like “O Fortuna” from the movie “Excalibur” that was used by guys who were 250 pounds or more like me and Lee Haney (I used a house remix; he used the original from the soundtrack).

Finally, get your color right. That was something that took me a few shows to master, and even at my pro debut at the 1990 Night of Champions, I had a bit of a greenish tint to my tan. If you don’t have anyone who can apply your color and do a good job, they now offer spray tanning for competitors at most contests. Just be sure to book your appointment well in advance.

So that’s it, the untold story of my first contest— and a few tips for any of you guys who are thinking about getting up onstage yourselves.

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