Dave Draper’s Musclebuilding Q&A

I’m planning to enter a bodybuilding contest and have a few questions. First, I don’t know how to deal with the stage.

Nothing to it. It’s like jumping off a cliff. Once you’re in midair it becomes fun and you forget the fright and the audience becomes your friend. They want to like you. Help them by liking them. Let that be evident in your expressions, your aura, your spirits, your posing through which you speak. Be happy you’re there, on stage with them for the joy of it. Doubt and fear and dread have an odor about them… they turn an audience off… be prepared.

- Is waxing as dreadful and painful as it looks?

Probably, and expensive and sort of embarrassing.

I never knew anyone who waxed in my day. Shave with a barber’s electric clippers for the bulk of the body hair and use a safety razor or average electric shaver to get very close shave. I use a barber’s electric clippers with fine cutting teeth… Perfect.

What can I do to “ignore” the crowd and perform my posing routine at the stage without feeling shy?

You want to choose your exercises wisely — those that accentuate your strong points and hide your weak points — and you want to practice them often with a purposeful mind and discovered enjoyment. Have a pal whom you can trust and who has an eye for muscle and performance help you, assess and encourage you. Practice, practice, practice, so the poses are alive and enthusiastic, automatic but not robotic; so they flow and complement each other, never halted, never doubtful. You are entertaining the audience; work and smile and be real — with real excitement and confidence (not arrogance).

While you rehearse and prepare your posing routine, visualize, imagine, your backstage moments prior to your stage appearance, your name being announced and your appearance. And, too, visualize your routine before the crowd. Always up, always successful, never unsure or dispirited. Purposeful visualizing will put you there before you get there and it’s good, it’s great. Don’t become breathless backstage, be warmed up, lightly oiled and relaxed as possible — certain as possible. Three deep breaths and you’re on your way when they call out your name and favorite gym location.

- What did you do to keep focused in your training and diet when things got tough?

Be strong. That’s the easy part. Never give in. Never, never, never give in.

- What is it like to be Mr. Universe? That’s just what I want to be.

There’s a lot of work and compromise and challenge in preparation and you hope that in itself is a worthy investment in your character and spirit. To win is exciting, confusing, noisy and uplifting to a tired body, mind and soul. The greatest thing about winning is not losing.

There’s more to it than that: gratifying, fulfilling, stunning, cool, large… That was in my day 42 years ago.

Have fun… Hoist the iron… Godspeed