Back Pose































Different organizations:
Some organizations stress flaring (flexing) the lats more than others. The important things are:
  1) don’t over flex
  2) don’t under flex

Over-flexing and under flexing - Judges don’t want you to look like a bodybuilder (although you are bodybuilders). They are looking for a more natural and softer look. Depending on what organization you compete in – you may be told not to flex at all! My only advice in this situation is that if you are standing onstage with your arms straight down to your sides (like you're in line at the grocery store) and everyone else in posing, then you will look silly.

Stay relaxed - When you first begin competing, it’s hard to be relaxed. Most competitors just get up there and squeeze hard and try to smile while wondering if the audience can see how much they are shaking. Unless you practice a lot, this will happen to you your first few times onstage. You must practice being relaxed and smiling everyday if you
are going to do it right the first time.

How To Practice 

  1) Stand in front of a mirror in a front pose
  2) Take your arms out away from your body (not too far… having your 
      hands out further does not make your back look any bigger or waist
      smaller). Palms should face thighs.
  3) Relax your arm muscles – once you learn to flex your lats, then you
     can practice
      flexing your arms at the same time, but for now you ONLY
      want to focus on flexing the lats.
  4) Concentrate on trying to flex your lats so that you can see them under         your arm. This may take a week or two before you can really get a   
      good contraction.
  5) You may be able to get a good contraaction by raising your arms in 
      the air and then trying to squeeze your lats. As you lower your arms   
      into your front pose it will become difficult to hold the contraction.
      Keep practicing until you can hold the contraction the entire time

CORRECT:  Lats are properly flared (contracted) under her arms
WRONG: Hands to rigid and unnatural
CORRECT: Shoulders are down and straight across and not hunched
1
1
1
2
2
3
3
3
WRONG: arms are too wide
4
4
4
The reason I am showing the front pose is because when you are practicing alone you will not be able to see your back. If you can master the front pose then you know that your back pose will be perfect because they are basically the same pose!
Other Points:

Stand tall and stick your butt out: this will give your glutes and hamstrings a tighter look. Having your back arched will be uncomfortable but it is necessary to achieve the look you want) Don’t neglect this – it definitely makes a difference.

Whenever your back is facing the judges place a little more weight on the balls of your feet to flex the calves.

Don’t just stand there and squeeze: constantly re-assess whether or not everything is right. You should be saying to yourself:
  1) Are my shoulders straight across and not hunched?
  2) Are my arms tight?
  3) Are my lats contracted and flared?
  4) Is my butt out?
  5) Are my calves tight?
  6) Am I smiling?

You should constantly repeat these statements to yourself the entire time you are onstage because as you get more exhausted YOU WILL START TO LOSE FORM:
  A) your shoulders may hunch
  B) you may round your back (as opposed to keeping it arched)
  C) your muscles start to go soft (the last thing you want is to look soft when the judges   
       are comparing you to the other competitors)
  D) you may start shaking (this can be prevented by practicing holding your poses for   
       1- 2 minutes at a time)

Hands and arms:
  - keep your hands relaxed, you don’t want to look rigid and stiff onstage
  - flex your back before your tighten your arms… flexing your arms first may make it  
    difficult to flare your lats because you’re focus too much on the arms

The back is by far the most difficult pose to master. I see women who have competed for years still not do it correctly. The idea is to widen your back. You do this by contracting your lats. This does two things:

1) makes your shoulders 
    appear wider
2) makes you waist 
    appear smaller

This combination gives you the much sought
after v-taper.
I see countless women training their butts off, dieting hard and sacrificing important things in their lives… but they don’t  practice posing enough which means they don’t get to show off their hard work to the fullest – what a shame!
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The Lat Pulldown is one of the best exercises for creating a v-taper

If you are having trouble flaring your lats, the pulldown can help you get a feel for it:

    A) Perform the pulldown with a lighter than usual weight

   B) Slowly lower the bar and attempt to contract your lats on the way down - you should feel you
        lats contract under your arm. This is the feeling you should have when trying to pose the lats.              I sometimes start competitors in this position because It's easier to squeeze the lats with 
        you arms in this position (up) as opposed to having your hands down by your sides.
Still having trouble?
by Terry Stokes
The back pose can be very frustrating to learn. Just keep practicing and eventually you will learn to control your lat muscles.

When doing back poses in competition listen to what the judges will be looking for (in the competitor meeting)... they often will focus on how they expect the back pose to be executed
by Terry Stokes
                HardBodyFigure.com

                                  Figure Competition Coach/Personal Training
                                   Advanced Fat Loss For Women
                                 Buffalo N.Y.

                                  Terry Stokes
                            Personaltrainer1024@hotmail.com