Skin Care and Preparation for Contest Day

Overview
Welcome to the world of professional competitive bodybuilding. Now really grooming and personal appearance is not supposed to count for, or against, your final score. In reality it does! Why do you think so many people experiment to find the 'right' tan or 'correct' posing suit. Because standing onstage with streaky gravy browning covering your muscles and a pair of Y-fronts is not going to win you any points when you can hardly muster a smile because you are wasted from months of dieting hard. More often than not, the bodybuilder who looks the healthiest, has the right skin color and tone, and who wears a posing suit color that compliments their hair and skin color will get the higher marks. Any 'physique judge' will happily tell you that aside from symmetry, muscularity and the confidence to succeed, your tan and oil preparation mark the final quality touches that make the difference on stage.

This may come as a complete surprise to you. The largest organ in your body is your skin and then your liver comes in second. What does this mean? Your skin is what the judges and everyone else sees of you. Sounds stupid, but in fact it is obvious! Humans mostly rely very heavily on their visual senses - especially when observing and judging something before them It is therefore very good advice to take a little extra time out to make sure that you have a flattering skin tone and color during the competition, whilst making your skin look healthy and vibrant.

You must first take steps to improve the appearance and condition of your skin. To do this, it's vital that one determine his skin type. For example, dry skin feels taut and drawn and sometimes has a flaky feel or look. On the other hand, if one's skin is oily - or is a combination dry and oily - grease marks will appear on tissue paper blotted against the skin. As a matter of fact, this reaction can be noted within an hour after washing one's face as the forehead, nose and chin are particularly susceptible to oily build-up. Naturally, those blessed with normal skin have one less problem to worry about.

As advice goes, this is applicable to both bodybuilding and at any other time of the year - for anyone. Good skin care is possible at any time to make you look healthy, vibrant and well. And there's actually quite a few things you can do to improve your appearance in this area. One of the biggest sources of blotchy skin or a bad complexion is junk food and chocolate. With being a competitive bodybuilder you will probably discover that this type of thing is not an issue as you will be well versed in eating healthy, dieting down and getting cut up for a show. You should be very aware however, that your diet is extremely important to your skin and overall health in the long run. It's highly recommended that you eat at least 5-6 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Also, make sure your body is getting all the vitamins and minerals it needs with a good multivitamin/mineral supplement. This will keep your skin and body healthy and looking good.

One of the fundamental musts is to wash morning and night, especially after working out, in order to remove all traces of the day's debris - using a cleaner to achieve this ultra sanitary state. Wash and rinse thoroughly in lukewarm water. Never use overly hot water, as this will open the pores, "tripping the switch" for moisture loss.

Of course, maintaining the skin's moisture is also crucial. However, those with oily skin should avoid most moisturizing lotions due to the fact that the extra oil may contribute to skin breakouts. Naturally, those with normal, dry or combination skin should apply a moisturizer or re-hydrating cream daily after the bath or shower.

One of the biggest problems that appears to plague the bodybuilder is the infamous stretch marks. This can simply be avoided if you make sure you don't massively bulk up during the off-season. Instead go for the cut look, eat right, and gain about 10 lbs. Vitamin E lotion will keep your skin moisturized, soft, and without as many scars or wrinkles. Try and get some good quality but limited real sunlight exposure for your body.

In terms of bodybuilding though, when we talk about your skin looking good, we tend to mostly mean in terms of your tan. Unless you have naturally dark skin, you will want your skin to have a deep tan for the competition. Darker skin shows the striations in your muscles better and looks better than pale skin. This is obvious, and compounded under the intensely bright lights on stage.

The big question is of course - how do you develop an all over, even and quality deep tan safely? Well, you can take the more permanent natural approach...sun tanning and tanning beds...or you can use a route that is becoming more and more popular...tanless lotions and creams, pigment pills, or a combination of both. We'll look at both possibilities and remember that they can be combined.

First of all, a natural sun-derived tan looks good and is more permanent. Great if you live in California but Manchester? The only drawback with natural sun tanning is that if you lie out too long and get burnt, you increase your chance for melanoma (cancer of the skin) - especially if you have fair skin. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer. In this year alone, more than 44,000 cases will be diagnosed. Those who are at the highest risk expose themselves to the sun for intense, short periods of time. Which is what many, many bodybuilders try to do in order to build up a fast natural tan. It is not wise. And it is why sunscreen is very important. No matter how dark you are, you should at least put on a light amount of sunscreen. Obviously the lighter you are, the stronger your sunscreen must be. This way you will block most of the harmful rays that burn and let in rays that tan. The rays that burn are not helpful to changing the pigmet in your skin anyway so any myths you have heard that a sun screen will limit or hinder your tan is nonsense and dangerous.

Secondly, another popular method for tanning in recent years, has been tanning beds. Used correctly and sensibly they can be a great tool. Abused and they are as deadly, if not more deadly, than the sun itself. What happens with tanning beds is that the ultraviolet lights allow minimal burning rays to touch your skin, while mainly tanning. Fair skin tanners should go only 15 minutes max with maybe even a little sunscreen on sensitive areas like the nose. The longest duration anyone should tan in a bed is 30 minutes. Keep to this advise. And no more than once or twice per week. Start early and be sensible. It's no good competing for the sake of developing skin cancer now is it?!

Finally, the most popular and controllable method and the choice of nearly every bodybuilder these days, is the perfect tan-in-a-bottle aproach. More and more people are deciding to stay out of the harmful sun and "put on the tan". Both sensible and safer. Now tanning lotions can be a truly effective and successful method for competing bodybuilders to create the perfect stage tan. Many years ago the false tan products would leave skin looking yellow or orange...not natural looking at all. However since then there have been numerous advances in false tan products. With Jan Tana, Pro Tan, and others have come out with revolutionary tanning products that work and look just as well, if not even better than a natural tan in some cases. There are also tanning pigmet tablets that one can take that contain canthaxin as a base. These products use the natural food substance called canthaxin to darken the pigment in your skin safe and effectively from the inside out. Rather than the outside in!

You will generally find that many bodybuilders find a combination of tanning options to be effective, such as tanning in beds with Competition Tan. Or Canthaxanthin with Bronzer. Choose the tanning method that is safest and most effective for you. And always, at all times, think of your health and safety first!

Nearly all (if not all) bodybuilders oil up before the competition to highlight and give definition to their muscularity. Some of the most popular products are Jan Tana's Posing OIL and Pro Tan's Muscle Juice Pro Posing Oil. Either way...remember how important it is for your skin to look healthy and tan at the competition.

Exfoliation
Regularly removing dirt, oil, grease and dead skin cells is a must for healthy tanned skin. You should use a very high quality skin exfoliator regularly, especially for a number of days before applying your false tan, to ensure even and quality application.

Removing Body Hair
You will notice that to show off quality muscle separation and striations, virtually all competing bodybuilders shave off all body hair prior to the competition to show off their muscles. So many people love to compete but seemingly hate the fact that they have to remove their bodyhair from their physique o show their muscles. You definitely don't want to hide them behind a layer of hair. Remember that also, your skin will be able to put on a better natural tan without the hair. There are a few methods for the successful removal of your body hair.

Typically a lot of bodybuilders will use a razor and shaving cream to shave it all off 2-3 months before their competition, then keep it off by re-shaving weekly. It takes a bit of practice, you don't want to nick yourself before the show. And it can be time consuming and razor blunting to do your entire body for the first time. Often having a partner help to get to the spots you cannot reach is ideal. It also depends on how muscular and flexible you are in order to reach all the bits you will need to reach. It is advised that you shave down in the following manner. Get a package or two of triple edge blades, and some shaving gel. The Gel type much better than the traditional shaving cream. You will undoubtedly use a package of these razors or more depending upon the amount of bodyhair present. Do your initial shaving with a "beard trimmer" type of shaver, then jump into the shower or bath, and finish up. Shaving in the water is much easier. Be very careful around sensitive areas like the shins, joints, and especially the nipples. Take your time, and afterwards check your handiwork out in a brightly lit area to see any spots you might have missed. You will have to get someone to help you with your back, and possibly the back of your legs. Start shaving weeks, or even months before the event, to insure that your skin get's accustomed to it, as it can also cause a rash, irritation,or razor bumps. Once you're into shaving for some length of time, you will very seldom experience these things at all again. More hirsute gentlemen, may have to use hedge clippers,or a power saw , and replace blades several times, for best results!

Another quick and easy method for getting rid of unwanted hair is Jan Tana Hair Remover, or some other form of hair removal cream/gel. These products smooth on, safely removing all the hair, then simply washes off. A few bodybuilders are allergic to this, but just to be sure try a small patch and see. This is the fastest, easiest and most pain free method.

Be sure to give yourself enough time to experiment either with Jan Tana Hair Remover or regular shaving before the competition.

There are other methods such as plucking and waxing. Mostly these are for the sado's amongst us, and they will probably need little advise anyway so we will not go there.

Putting On The Tan
The ages of competitive bodybuilding have changed. Many years ago, during and prior to the Pumping Iron era, bodybuilder's were seen on stage with a naturally dark tan, provided by natural sunlight only. You will find that these days - this is typically no longer good enough. The reason being that the majority of contests in the past simply had a single light fixture, hanging above the contestant. In contrast, today's contests have extra bright, hot lighting, all across, above, and at the foot of most stages. This is serious on stage lighting that is similar to that at a rock stadium! Now, this lighting tends to wipe out most of your definition and muscularity, much more so than normal daylight and thus requires that you have as dark and deep a skin color as possible. This is to show the physique to it's best advantage. For best results, most bodybuilders have found a combination approach works well. So get a good base tan in a tanning booth. The standing tanning booths are exceptional for all round, all over tanning. This tanning will vary from contestant to contestant according to how well you tan in the first place. Start early, and get a good dark tan. Your aim is to be as even and as dark a natural tan as possible, whilst minimising any unexposed areas (often left behind on tiny sun beds - too small for some bodybuilding athletes).

Once you have achieved this rich deep tan, from their you are going to go for a look and appearance that suits you the best. On stage you will see much of the variations in tanning lotions - from the actual bronze statue look, to the deepest natural sun look. Mainly, there are three or four good tanning agents used by most competitors to get the much sought after bronze look. The one that appears the most popular is called Pro-Tan, followed by Dream Tan. To be honest you should experiment with lots of different products to find the ideal look that suits you best and your skin type.

Jan-Tana Competition Color
Pro-Tan
Dream Tan

These are three of the most popular choices in tanning products.

Taking Pro-Tan as an example - this is the best way to apply it to your skin. Pro Tan has been described by many as the easiest product to apply.

Most competition are on a weekend. Normally they fall on a Saturday. If this is the case you would start to apply your tan around Wednesday - so we're talking three to four days before. With most tans, you will need 3 - 4 coats as a minimum for the very best results. Pro-Tan comes in a plastic spray bottle with an applicator attached. Most competitors are seen, however, disposing of this and sticking to a more manually controllable method, whereby you should pour a small amounts at a time into a bowl, and use a bigger sponge for faster, more even, results. You most definitely want to be careful around the hands, feet, and joints of the body, as the solution will make these areas appear darker than the rest of the body. Please be aware that your elbows and knee joints are naturally darker than the rest of your skin initially and your hands and feet are porous while the rest of your skin is not.

Wearing rubber gloves, and old clothes, while putting on the solution, is advisable simply because the agent will stain anything it touches. Normally it will all come out in the wash but be careful. Be sure to give each coat ample time to dry, as a buildup of the color will occur if you don't. You are going to apply your second coat on the Thursday morning and another on the Thursday afternoon. Your final application will in fact be on the Friday morning. You are going to be very careful and pay attention to touching up, and evening out any built up areas, or streaky sections. You are never going to get this perfect - it is not possible. With you wearing clothes on Friday will remove any excess on the skin. And on the final day of the competition, from the distance of the audience you will look absolutely fantastic. You are not trying to achieve perfection - just make sure it is even.

Now on the actual day of the contest (or even the night before) you will want to spray a little on the sections of your face - so use the applicator for this to even it all out. There is nothing worse than a guy with a really deep, dark and quality tan and a jaundice face! Facing the general public now will cause a number of funny stares and comments, but that's what you signed up for in terms of bodybuilding. It is just one day - so shrug off their comments. They are unlikely to ever be able to achieve the miraculous transformation that you have undergone over the past twelve weeks or more. Not even in an entire lifetime if they tried!!! Once you are at the show you will fit right in with the rest of them.

Hair Styling
Nearly as important as your competition tan and skin preparation is to plan ahead and think about hair styling. Make sure you don't have a bad hair day at the big competition. You'll probably want to get a trim or cut close to the competition but it never looks right if you leave to the day before. You need a few days to get used to your new style. Now again, none of this is supposed to count but in reality it certainly does. You will notice that many competitive bodybuilders get round all of this by simply shaving their head completely bald. That makes it very easy to style! You will generally look fantastic with a lean, slim face, and fresh hair cut.

It's usually best to get a fresh haircut and have your hair styled before the competition. It's really worth the extra few bucks. Clean cut is usually the best way to go. You don't won't to hide your massive delts or upper back muscularity with long hair. Put on a lot of hair spray to make sure your style holds throughout the show if necessary.

Facial hair is generally not a problem. You will find that beards and mustaches are welcome at the competition and won't affect your ranking. Within reason at all times.

Posing Suit Choice
Now this is critical. You don't just want to go for plain old boring black! You don't want day glow orange either if you can't pull it off. When you where a suit that compliments your skin color/tone more specifically and your hair, you will look FAR better. Its recommended that you follow the color chart below for some great suggestions.

 

Posing Trunks COLOR Chart
	Lightly Tanned	Darkly Tanned	Brown	Black
Red Hair	Medium Blue, Medium -to- Dark Green	Gold, Yellow
Blond Hair	Red, Royal Blue, Black	Burgundy, Red, Medium Blue, Orange
Brown Hair	Black, Navy Blue	Burgundy, Brown, Purple, Teal	Black, Yellow, Chocolate Brown
Black Hair	Black, Navy Blue, Chocolate Brown	Yellow, Red, Gold, Orange, White	Lime Green, Kelly Green, Baby Blue	Bright Red, White, Red-Orange, Purple, Fusia

 

Remember as well that it is a very good idea to have an extra posing suit, because, it's not uncommon to get oil on your suit sometime throughout the posing. You'll also want to try on a few different cuts and styles to find one that fits you right and looks good. At the highest levels of the sport, you'll often see professional bodybuilders usually sticking with the same color show after show. Once you find something that works there is no need to keep changing it!

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