This week I wanted to share with you a posing strategy I like to employ for helping clients hide loose skin in their abdominal area. Whether it’s due to age, pregnancy, weight loss, etc., loose skin is an imperfection that some competitors have to deal with. Below is my client Kyle. Kyle had a very successful weight loss journey and is now competing in the NPC in classic physique.
The Challenge of Loose Skin
Part of his weight loss success, Kyle does have some loose skin around his lower abdominals. In the first image, you can see the loose skin is very visible. Here he is executing a traditional two-arm overhead abdominal and thigh pose, and the skin reduces the quality of the pose. The first thing I did was have Kyle perform the vacuum pose, and as you can see, the loose skin is no longer present.
All fixed, right? Wrong!
We still need to fulfill the criteria of the pose, which is to display the abdominals in their most tightly concentrically contracted position.
The Trick of the Trade
What we did next was more of a sleight of hand than anything else. I had Kyle assume the alternate single-arm overhead pose to allow him the opportunity to showcase his abdominals to the judges. What you don’t see, and the sleight of hand, is what Kyle is doing with his down hand. Here I have him pulling and stretching the loose skin down with his hand to hide it.
Nailing it on Stage
By doing this, we have not only fulfilled the judging criteria of the pose, but we have elevated the pose tenfold. On show day, Kyle will execute the pose in the following manner.
Vacuum-transition-single arm overhead abdominal and thigh.
Don’t get discouraged with loose skin and think it’s a hopeless battle. Utilize your posing coach to aid you in finding the pose that can hide weaknesses and highlight strengths.
If you are looking for great posing resources please see below:
1-on-1 Posing Session with me: https://j3uposing.as.me/schedule.php?calendarID=9565304
Free J3U Course: https://j3university.com/free/
See you on Stage!
Daniel Coffeen, J3U Posing Coach
