Bodybuilding poses - Why you should learn them

There are 8 mandatory bodybuilding poses in a bodybuilding competition. Suppose you want to analyze your progress visually. In that case, learning and performing these bodybuilding poses while taking photos of your physique is the best visual feedback you can get on your body.

Introduction

I remember when I started my fitness journey back in my teens and how I started doing pushups, crunches, and bodyweight shoulder presses from the comfort of my bedroom.

My focus back then was to get six-pack abs, a V-taper, and a shredded physique. Little did I know what it takes to get such a physique, but after every set, I remember posing in front of my mirror to see whether my muscles looked pumped.

I imitated the poses I saw in fitness magazines (yes, real magazines made from paper... this is 1997-2001 we're talking about, haha) where really muscular, professional bodybuilders were covered. I remember thinking, "If I keep working out for a year or two, I'll look just like that!".

And as I got hyped for that goal, I exercised harder and posed as much as possible to 'mire' my physique. Little did I know, of course, about what it takes to be as big as those pro bodybuilders.

Of course, I never achieved that teenage goal in just two years, haha (although I did exercise for mass according to the things I read in those magazines), but what I did see the benefit of, was the 'posing' aspect of bodybuilding. I quickly realized that posing allows you to judge your progress and physique accurately, as long as you do the same poses consistently, at the same time of the day, and in the same lighting.

But back then, I just did one or two poses that I knew of, and I thought bodybuilding was a competition where bodybuilders just did random poses.

Well... fortunately, that's not the case. There are some rules in a bodybuilding competition. One of these rules is that there are 8 mandatory poses bodybuilders need to do during a Men's Bodybuilding competition, and these poses are precisely what I will discuss below.

I won't delve into all of the rules and the how-to of a Men's Bodybuilding competition since that is not the focus of this article. Instead, the primary goal is to name the 8 mandatory bodybuilding poses and give you a short set of tips on performing each of these poses. They're not tricky poses to learn, but they can be hard to execute perfectly.

Don't let that shy you away from learning these poses because even if you do not aspire to be a professional bodybuilder, there are benefits in learning these poses, no matter your fitness level or how much experience resistance training you have. You'll find out why you should know these poses right after we discuss the 8 poses.

The 8 mandatory poses

In a bodybuilding show, bodybuilders will be judged on their physique, and the one with the best body wins. For their physiques to be judged under the same circumstances, each competitor has to do 8 mandatory poses (although there is room for doing poses to their liking, in addition to the mandatory poses).

Let's see what these 8 mandatory poses are.

1. Front double biceps

The front double biceps pose may be the most famous pose involving holding your arms out to the side of your body and bending them at your elbows to flex your biceps as hard as possible.

At the same time, you spread your lats, keep your abs tight and flex your quads. This pose highlights your biceps and the size of your front deltoids since you also need to flex those.

It's a great pose to judge the symmetry of your physique and to see whether one side of particularly your arms has the same amount of mass as the other side. Another aspect that can be judged in this pose is whether the inserts of your muscles and ligaments at both sides of your arms are equal. For example, you may have the same mass on your biceps, but your left bicep may be 'shorter' than the right one. This also affects symmetry.

You do have control over the amount of mass in each arm, though; for example, if your left arm is smaller than your right, you need to target your left arm during training more than your right and combine that with an optimal nutrition plan.

On the other hand, since those are defined genetically, you do not have control over certain aspects of your body and muscles, such as their shape, form, and the insertions of your tendons.

2. Front lat spread

The front lat spread is similar to the front double biceps but focuses on your lats. In this pose, you face front again and must showcase your latissimus dorsi muscles, or your 'wings,' while you put your hands on your sides and push your elbows to the front.

See it as if you're 'spreading' yourself out, making yourself look as wide as possible.

At the same time you're spreading and flexing your lats, you make sure you:

• Keep your feet slightly less than shoulder-width apart.
• Keep one foot slightly in front of the other.
• Slightly rotate your legs out from your hips and keep your knees locked.
• Flex your quads as hard as you can.

The above is to make your quads and leg muscles appear as wide as possible, together with your lats.

Now, if you analyze this pose, you'll realize that if you look at your body's silhouette while in this pose, you'll have:

• A wide lower body (i.e., your legs are 'wide' due to how you position your legs and flex your quads).
• A small and narrow waist.
• A wide upper body (due to the lat spread).

Do you see what you've got? It's the beloved X shape. And that's precisely what this pose shows about your body.

3. Side chest

The 'Side Chest' pose is the ideal pose that showcases your chest muscles and your biceps. You can do this pose from your body's left or right side.

Although it's called the side chest pose, your upper body is rotated at a 45-degree angle to the front, so someone standing before you sees your upper body from a 45-degree angle.

You do this pose by turning 90 degrees to the side, keeping your feet close together, and turning your upper body about 45-60 degrees back to the front. Keep your shoulders to the back, and raise the wrist of your front-facing arm next to your body until it's slightly lower than your chest. Point the elbow of your front-facing arm to the back.

Next, with the hand of your back-facing arm, grab the wrist of your front-facing arm, and contract your biceps of your front-facing arm.

Keep your front-facing shoulder to the back, but raise the back-facing shoulder out and up to make your upper body as wide as possible.

For your legs, you need to bend your knees slightly and press both upper legs together as hard as possible so the front-facing leg appears as thick as possible. Stand on the ball of your front-facing foot and contract your front-facing calf muscles as hard as you can. Also, contract your front-facing upper leg muscles (quadriceps and hamstrings) as hard as possible.

This way, all of the muscles of your front-facing leg appear as thick and massive as possible.

Now, squeeze and contract your chest muscles as hard as you can.

As you see, the 'Side Chest' pose involves a lot more to nail than just flexing your chest muscles, which is true for all the other poses.

4. Back double biceps

The back double biceps is similar to the front double biceps, but it provides a view of your back (who would've thought that, huh? :p). It showcases several muscle groups, such as your:

• Biceps
• Posterior deltoids
• Upper back muscles (including Trapezius, Levator scapulae, and Rhomboids)
• Latissimus dorsi (your ‘lats’).
• Gluteus medius
• Hamstrings
• Calfs (Gastrocnemius, Soleus, and Fibularis longus)

When doing the 'Back double biceps,' you step back with one foot, lift your arms to the side and contract your biceps as hard as you can while 'pulling' your fists to the back. At the same time, you need to widen your lats to make your back appear as wide as possible while simultaneously slightly tilting your upper body to the back.

Your elbows should point outwards, and the imaginary line from your left elbow to the right should be straight and parallel to the floor.

Stand on the ball of the foot of your back-facing leg and contract your calf muscles and hamstrings to showcase the definition of your posterior leg muscles.

Finally, remember to contract your glutes and lower back muscles.

5. Back lat spread

If you ever want to show the size of your back muscles or keep track of improvements in the width of your lats, then this pose is what you need to practice.

Doing this pose is simple to learn, but just like all other poses, it's hard to master. It's very similar to the 'Back double biceps' pose, but the difference is that you place your hands at your sides and keep your elbows flared out. Then you 'spread' your lats and make your back look wide.

Again, like the 'Back double biceps,' slightly tilt your upper body to the back, contract your lower back muscles and position your feet and legs as described in the previous pose (i.e., one leg to the back, standing on the ball of the foot of that leg, and contracting your calves, hamstrings, and glutes).

6. Side triceps

This is another very iconic pose that genuinely shows the beauty of the human physique. It showcases your body from the side, emphasizing your arms in particular. You can do this pose from either the left or right side of your body.

Suppose you want to do this pose and show your left arm triceps. To perform this pose:

• Make a quarter turn to the right.
• Keep your feet close together and make a slight dip by slightly bending your knees.
• Hold your left arm close to your body, and using your right hand, reach from the back to grab your left hand. You can either 'interlock' your fingers or hold the back of your left hand. Refrain from grabbing your left arm by the wrist since that will make it harder to fully flex your left arm.
• Turn your upper body slightly to the left so your body makes a 45-degree angle.
• For your legs, keep your right foot flat on the ground, and stand on the ball of your left foot, because you are also going to need to flex your left calf muscles.
• Squeeze your thighs together and contract your upper leg muscles of your left leg. Squeezing your thighs makes your upper body look fuller and more prominent.
• Squeeze your abs, keep your shoulders to the back, and then contract your left arm triceps as hard as you can by fully extending your left arm, and simultaneously pull your left arm as close to your body as you can, using your right hand (you remember you're using that hand to hold your left hand, right?). Pulling your left arm with your right hand also squeezes your upper arm muscles, making them look even fuller and more prominent.

7. Abdominals and thighs

The 'Abdominals and thighs' pose involves facing front, holding your hands behind your back, and flexing your abs and upper leg muscles.

Ensure that you don't arch your back resulting in your upper body rounding forward as you flex your abs. That's a prevalent mistake people make when flexing their abs (and this mistake is made even when someone is simply flexing their abs, not per se, during this bodybuilding pose).

At the same time, point your feet slightly out and 'rotate' your legs from your hip joint out so your thighs appear wider, as seen from the front. Remember to flex your upper leg muscles as well.

8. Most muscular

The final mandatory pose, the 'Most muscular' pose, is, as its name suggests, one that highlights most of your muscles as you flex them. In this pose, you face straight forward, bend your upper body slightly forward and bring your arms together to flex your chest and shoulder muscles as hard as possible. You simultaneously flex your biceps, your quads, and your abs.

As you can read, you're flexing all of the major muscles at the front side of your body.

FAQ

Why should I learn and practice bodybuilding poses?

I will be honest with you: you don't necessarily have to learn these poses if you don't want to compete in bodybuilding. But, and there is a BIG 'but' here:

Most tracking of your progress will probably be made by quantitative analysis, i.e., tracking your physique and progress in numbers, such as the weights you can push or pull, your body fat percentage, your body weight, the size of your muscles in circumference, etc.

But an invaluable tool that's often overlooked is taking pictures of yourself. These pictures allow for visual feedback of your progress, and this type of feedback shows details and provides cues about your progress that are difficult to find with only quantitative analysis.

To make optimal use of visual feedback using pictures, you can't just take pictures anywhere or anytime you'd like for accurate comparison (do take pictures in random situations though, as that has its own uses, but taking random pictures isn't ideal if you want to compare and analyze your physique as accurately as possible).

Instead, making all variables equal every time you take photos would be best. Think of a controlled laboratory setting. What this concretely means for you is that you have to take pictures, preferably:

• at the same time of the day,
• in the same lighting,
• and wearing nothing other than underwear.

And now comes the most important aspect: you also need to do the same poses for your pictures to allow for comparison over time. And the best poses that will enable you to have the most excellent analysis and judgment of your physique are the 8 bodybuilding poses mentioned above.

Hence, even if you don't plan on competing in bodybuilding and your goals are less extreme than competitive bodybuilders' goals, learning bodybuilding poses and analyzing your physique based on pictures of you doing these poses is the best way to track your progress visually. Visual feedback also works wonders for your motivation because, as Arnold Schwarzenegger said:

And that's the primary reason I advise everybody who sets up a fitness goal for themselves to learn to pose as a bodybuilder and to take pictures in addition to tracking their progress quantitatively.

Are there only 8 poses in bodybuilding?

Although these 8 poses are the mandatory bodybuilding poses that need to be performed during a bodybuilding competition, there are many variations on these poses and countless other unique poses. You can even think of your own poses.

In fact, during a bodybuilding competition, there is room to perform your favorite (unique) poses in addition to the 8 mandatory poses discussed above.

Conclusion

The 8 poses mentioned above are the mandatory poses that must be performed during a Men's bodybuilding competition. A Women's bodybuilding competition also includes these poses, except for the 'Most muscular' pose, which is omitted in that competition.

Although these poses are simple, nailing them perfectly is quite challenging and requires lots of practice in front of the mirror.

Practice these poses in front of a mirror, but also take pictures of yourself every now and then while you're doing these poses. Looking at your physique in a photo gives a slightly different view due to the lens's zoom than when you look at your body via the mirror with your own eyes. This allows you to see your physique and how you pose from a slightly different perspective, which may expose minor flaws in how you've developed your muscles you'd miss otherwise.

For example, suppose you're on a mass muscle building program, you're bulking to maximize your muscle gains and working out 5 to 6 days a week. As you gain mass and become bigger, you might develop small asymmetries in your left and right body parts if you're not training both sides equally as intensely.

Suppose you regularly take pictures of yourself doing specific bodybuilding poses. In that case, you'll be able to catch these flaws early on and adjust your workouts accordingly to compensate for the asymmetry differences.

Finally, nothing beats having a coach who judges your posing technique and gives you direct cues and feedback on your poses. If you're serious about competing in fitness, bodybuilding, or any other physique contest that requires posing for judges, then not only will you need an incredible physique and be in excellent shape, but you also need to nail your posing technique to perfection. And that's where a personal coach will give you the edge over others.

I hope you found this helpful article and have learned a thing or two about bodybuilding poses. If you've got any questions, please let me know.

Do you ever pose as a bodybuilder? Better yet, do you have a picture of you doing your favorite bodybuilding pose? I'd be happy to see those and give you my feedback!