The Best Professional Body Building Poses to Amaze the Competition

During contests, the muscle bulk, definition and skin tone are important factors that help determine who ultimately holds the prize and crown. But perhaps the second most important determiner of championship success is the posing ability, second only to the physique's muscle mass itself. Posing is an important part of competing in body building and over the years the poses have become conventionalized to an almost standard assortment.

Professional body builders train their poses as hard as they train their muscles. During the contest, men have seven compulsory poses for the first round. These include a front double bicep followed by the side chest. The third pose is always the side triceps followed by both the back double bicep and the front abdominal and thigh poses. The sixth and seventh poses are always the front lat spread and the back lat spread consecutively.

In the second round of male body builder championships, the contestants have to 60 seconds each for freestyle poses that showcase individual body builders in their most creative best. During this round each body builder gets an opportunity to showcase their physique's muscle development in the best styles they can. There is a conventional requirement to include such poses as displays the front and back muscles. The round greatly encourages creativity, innovative and personal taste. Props are however not allowed in conventional body building circles.

Whoever is chosen by the judges to make the finalists list of three progresses to the third round while the others head back to the gym to prepare for the next stage in future contests. As such, in most body building championships, the third round is purely dedicated to the three finalists who get another chance to pose and impress the panel. The round involves 30 to 60 seconds of freestyle posing where each individual presents his very best poses. In this round, a good sportsmanship is always encouraged although pushing and shoving are strictly prohibited.

On the other hand, women body building contests feature the three rounds in a similar convention although with slight variations. To begin with, the first round of all conventional bodybuilding contests has five compulsory poses as compared to the seven poses of their compatriot male body builders. The five poses include the front double bicep followed by the side chest pose. The third pose is the side tricep closely followed by the back double bicep pose. The final pose in the first round of female body building contests is the front abdominal and thigh pose.

The second round constitutes 60 seconds of freestyle posing routines where each individual female body builder gets an opportunity to showcase her physique's muscle development to the best of her ability. This round also requires that the female body builder includes some poses that allow the display of the back and front muscle groups. Once again, creativity in the posing style and muscle display is greatly encouraged although props are not allowed just like in male body building contests.

The three finalists are given an opportunity to pose again for at least 30 seconds and a maximum 60 seconds. During this final round the female body builders are required to display their best poses in the most creative way possible. Again, good sportsmanship is encouraged although pushing and shoving are strictly prohibited as part of the displays.

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals.