M 30, 5' 8.5", at 181 lbs. Looking for some critiques and advice as I begin my 28 week journey towards my OCB Men's Classic Debut

[moni079]

Looking for a check in critique. I'm currently 28 weeks out from an OCB show where I intend to make my Men's Classic debut. I'm in the process leaning out and trying to dial in my physique because I am afraid of getting behind schedule on conditioning after spending the last 6ish months on a moderate bulk. Anyhow, I've never been near stage lean before, so I have no idea how my chest, abs, and legs are going to come in (sorry for not having any great leg shots). I have posted a link with 4 mandatory poses below.

In any case, I'm looking for feedback on my physique and posing as it pertains to a Classic Physique. I'm mildly worried about my asymmetry between my right and left. I've always had a slightly lower and internally rotated right shoulder, and I feel like that morphological difference is pretty obvious in my posing and musculature. Any thoughts or pointers to help improve this would be greatly appreciated.

I'm also thinking my stage weight should probably be around the low 160s, but I'm not sure. If anyone has a decent idea of what a reasonable stage weight for me might be, that would be incredibly helpful as well.

https://imgur.com/a/Jtcdg2z

 

[dawn16]

@moni079 No advice here. Just commenting to say your shoulders from the back look insssane

 

[moni079]

@dawn16 Thanks for the vote of confidence man. Yeah, for whatever reason my back poses are significantly more impressive than anything on my front. I have a really deep rib cage, so I think that my body fat really hurts my front poses and doesn't really affect my back as much.

Any ideas on how to improve the front aesthetics aside from leaning out and seeing what it actually looks like at a lower BF%?

 

[dawn16]

@moni079 It's just how it be man. I've got big shoulders myself (they don't pop as well as yours), massive traps but my lats ain't that great. We've all got our strong points. You're nailing back. Arms looking decent too.

My two cents in posing aren't worth anything but since you asked I think you could work more on getting the chest out on side pose. People would get a better idea of your muscularity too if you hit the most muscular pose from the front.

 

[moni079]

@dawn16 Good points! Thanks. I'll definitely add a most muscular for next time and include the wheels. I'll continue working on getting the chest to pop more too, because I agree with you: it looks undersized.

With any luck I'll start looking significantly more aesthetic as I lean out. Definitely a little on the chonky side right now.

 

[jankhurram]

@moni079 What I see (doing first show Ocb-LV in may)

Chest is lacking and core too

Definitely need to get a posing coach especially with the asymmetry issues.

Lats and shoulders are nutty plus your lower back right side has a fucking london broil sized muscle wow

 

[moni079]

@jankhurram Thanks for the feedback man.

I honestly think that the fat and loose skin is screwing up my front poses. I'd guess that I'm probably around 15% BF right now, but it's predominantly located around my belly and my upper thighs and around my glutes.

Do you think that it's possible that the "lack of development" could simply be an issue of leanness and posing? I only ask because my numbers are more developed on my chest than they are on my back or legs, but my chest definitely appears to be the most lacking (that first pic looks like shit, I agree). I actually feel awful about how my front looks right now. I also have a REALLY deep rib cage, which could be exacerbating the fluffy look.

Any tips or tricks that you can recommend to help would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you have any ideas on how to find a legit posing coach, I'd love to find a good one.

 

[imnotjokingwellnotmostly]

@moni079 I think it would benefit your frame if you start posing vacuums every day and learn to hit front poses with a vacuum, if you have a blocky rib cage and are able to get a tiny waist and build some nice lats on those ribs it accentuates that v taper even more with how wide your shoulders already are. Also for chest poses in the front try to go Arnold or Cbum style showing off the traps and doing like a crab style with flexed biceps a as well and as you bring your hands in front and bring the upper shoulder into it it hides most of what is happening in the mid section.

 

[mac64]

@moni079 Chest and abs appear lacking. Maybe its the angle but the shoulders in the front totally dominate the view. A most muscular might help because the frontal you look like your leaning back and shrugging instead on contracting the chest and abs.

 

[moni079]

@mac64 Yeah, that pose is a total bitch and looks awful. It's supposed to be a front lat spread with a bit of a vacuum, but I struggle to get the spread right without fucking up everything else. I'll definitely grab a most muscular shot for my next update.