This is a living sticky by the various members of our board and sport to help people in getting information to pose correctly. This can be beneficial to our members pictures section for giving baseline methods for taking pictures and when asking for critiqueness.


Here is a start:

The various stages of competition poses

Round One: The Seven Compulsory Poses
*Front Double Biceps
*Front Lat Spread
*Side Chest
*Back Double Biceps
*Back Lat Spread
*Side Triceps
*Front Abdominal-Thigh Isolation

Round Two: Relaxed Poses


Round Three: Free-Posing


The Posedown (The Top 5)


Please feel free to list anything related to Posing such as how-to's, advice, tips and tricks. If you have links to other sites, authors, or pictures you would like to add then go for it.

GD

How 'bout you get your wife to take pics of you doing the 7 compulsory poses so we'll all have an example to follow?

Mark Tilden
Competitive Bodybuilder has videos and articles on how to hit all mandatory poses.


Alissa Carpio
Learn and practice the poses required for a fitness or figure contest is one of the most important aspects of competition preparation.

That's ok, I will leave it up to the pro's. The only pose I have down is the Relaxed Front Quadruple Beer Gut.



Hopefully we can get Rich55 or one of the other natural competitors to give us some pics.

Time to post useful info to this thread.

How to prepare for your member picture section photo shoot:

Source: http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/pictures.html

Whether you are male or female, the following techniques will assure that your photographs show you in your best form:

Preparation and Posing

* Muscles can be seen better if body hair is removed by trimming with
electric clippers or by shaving.

* Take the picture before eating so that the stomach is not distended from food.

* A short workout before taking the picture will bring more blood into the
muscles and increase their volume.

* Apply a light coating of baby oil or cooking oil to the arms, torso, and legs
to create highlights that emphasize the curvature of the muscles.

* Keep your back straight or arch slightly backwards to stretch out the stomach
and display a trimmer figure.

* Suck in your stomach, inhale deeply, and tense the muscles of the arms, chest, stomach, and legs to make them bulkier when the picture is taken.

* Smile to make it all look effortless. :-)

Camera and lighting

* Put the camera on a tripod or steady surface to avoid blurry pictures.

* Strong lighting from the top will create shadows on the bottom portions of
the muscles and produce better contrast.

* Don't use front flash because it will wash out the shadows.

* It may take several tries to get a satisfactory pose and lighting conditions,
specially if you are using a self-timer and have to hurry to pose after clicking
the shutter.

Good websites with basic pose description and pics:

http://www.gettinglean.com/posing.htm

http://www.cbbf.net/info/mandatory_mens_bb.htm

If you could choose 1 pose for your front torso, 1 pose for your rear torso, and 1 pose for your legs

Which would they be, and why?

(Note: Upper body poses should include arms)

Posing Tips
http://www.exrx.net/Bodybuilding.html

Front Semi-relaxed

* Slight lat spread
* Elbows bent and slightly out (accentuates arms)
* Slightly flex wrist
* Hands clasped
* Lift chest
* Thighs turned out slightly (quad sweep)
* Keep feet close together (calves will appear larger)
* Knees slightly bent, further apart than ankles
* Abduct hips (brings out cuts on upper quads)

Rear Poses

* Turn head (brings out upper traps)
* Squeeze glutes, hams, and calves
* flex abdomen (brings out low back muscularity)

Side Poses

* Pull in abdomen or flex
* Squeeze thighs together to push out hamstrings
* Chest high
* Flex far pec (shows cut of inner chest)
* Consider elbows slightly back without exposing space behind back (add thickness)
* Slight twist toward audience.
* Bend elbow slightly
* Flex Triceps

Biceps Poses

* Position fist above biceps (complimentary shapes)
* Position elbow shoulder height or slightly higher
* Consider placing thumb in fist (less detracting)

Lat Spread

* Grasp back of hips with thumbs and fist
* Slide so knuckles are into sides, not back or front
* Top of hands should be horizontal
* Elbow further forward than abdomen
* Chest high
* Keep shoulders from rising, or shrugging

Hmm, I just NOW saw the request for me to post some pics for reference Maybe I'll post up some pics after my shows in March. I hope to have better photos. Here is an article on BN that I find most useful:

Layne's Posing Tips

Anyway, I originally came here to post some links to what I feel are some VERY impressive posing routines. If you notice, their is commonality with their physiques. They are all considered to have good aesthetics. These guys, while massive, did not sacrifice shape and flow for mass. Enjoy!

Milos Sarcev

Melvin Anthony

Bob Paris

Lee Labrada

Stan McQuay

damn those posing routines that rich posted makes me more motivated to become a competitive bodybuilder.

melvin anthony had an extremely nice flow throughout his entire routine