Figure competition workouts build a lean, fit and muscular feminine body perfect for sexy posing suits, stunning heels, sparkles… Let’s face it, figure athletes posing on stage look nothing short of amazing. However, to achieve such muscle density and definition you have to implement some high-intensity figure competition workouts.
The Secrets To Building The Perfect Package Are Effective Off-Season And Pre-Contest Training
The Anatomy of a Figure Competitor is Composed of:
- Muscle density
- Muscle definition
- Proportion
- Symmetry
But, these are just the baseline qualities you need. In addition to the physical aspect, to compete in a figure contest you also need posing skills and stage presentation along with the right skin color through tanning and skin dyes, hair and makeup done, posing suit, posing heels, etc.
What The Judges Are Looking For (And What You Need To Train For)
To even get on stage you need to build a great physique, and this is done through figure competition workouts that stimulate all the targeted muscles with maximum intensity for the chosen body part.
As a figure competitor you will need to display a full chest with deep cleavage, wide shoulders with nice caps, well-built and defined arms, a wide back with a v-taper, balanced legs showing muscularity and separation, proportioned calves along with a small waist displaying well-defined abs.
Building A Figure Body (Something To Be Proud Of)
To be a figure athlete you need to build a strong and muscular body through weight training and high-quality nutrition. To get on stage and compete in a figure contest you need to sculpt the muscle you built through diet, cardio, and training.
If you don’t take the time, AT LEAST 8-12 months, to build a solid foundation to prep on, you’ll end up small and soft on contest day. Part of your prep 
homework is doing the work required months in advance, and that’s building the base. The building phase is known as the off-season.
I’ve coached THOUSANDS of women online over the past 15 years. I get a few who want to compete but have only been working out for about 6 months. One of my duties as a figure coach is to be honest, and let them know that they need more muscle-building time, and that they should wait until the next year, and let them know the reasons why. Nine out of ten will tell me they understand but want to do a figure contest in 3 months anyway.
Okay, once they know the facts and have still decided to proceed, it’s my job to do the best with the hand I was dealt. While I can get them on stage and have them quite lean, they will e-mail me after the show telling me that yes, they should have waited and spent 8-12 months building muscle. Hey, no problem. It’s a learning process. At least you had the experience, you have knowledge under your belt to move forward and become better in your next show.
Figure Competition Workouts (The Find Details)
The difference between off-season and pre-contest is, in the off-season you need to eat a little more of the same healthy diet so your body can actually b
uild muscle. Also, you can eat a higher percentage of carbs to support heavy training. You can still do cardio in the off-season, but you just don’t need as much.
Basically, off-season provides an environment for muscle development, and pre-contest figure prep provides an environment for fat loss. Let’s go over a few figure training workout plans.
What Some Off-Season Workout Programs Can Look Like:
Training 3 Days a Week
Monday – Legs and Calves
Tuesday – Rest and Recovery
Wednesday – Back, Chest, and Abs
Thursday – Rest and Recovery
Friday – Arms and Calves
Saturday – Rest and Recovery
Sunday – Rest and Recovery
Training 4 Days a Week
Monday – Legs and Calves
Tuesday – Chest, Triceps, and Abs
Wednesday – Rest and Recovery
Thursday – Back, Biceps, and Calves
Friday – Shoulders and Abs
Saturday – Rest and Recovery
Sunday – Rest and Recovery
Training 5 Days a Week
Monday – Chest and Abs
Tuesday – Legs and Calves
Wednesday – Reset and Recovery
Thursday – Back and Calves
Friday – Triceps, Biceps, and Abs
Saturday – Shoulders and Calves
Sunday- Rest and Recovery
Remember, the above is off-season figure training. Ideally, you want to shoot for 8-10 reps to failure to ensure you are targeting the growth fibers. Rest between sets should be about 2 minutes. This amount of time allows for optimal muscle recovery so you can put just as much anaerobic intensity into the next set.
I believe 5 days a week muscle-building in the off-season is pushing it, but if you eat enough and supplement with creatine and glutamine you should be fine.
To ensure satisfactory muscle development in the off-season it’s really good to keep a training log. Your goal is to make strength improvements every week. If you can do one more rep than the previous week, that’s improvement.
What a Pre-Contest Figure Workout Program Can Look Like 12 Weeks Out
Training 4 Days a Week
|
Monday – Legs and Calves |
| Legs |
| Squats – 5 sets – 12 reps |
| Romanian Deadlifts – 5 sets 15 reps |
| Hack Squats – 5 sets – 12 reps |
| Leg Curls – 5 sets – 15 reps |
| Leg Extensions – 5 sets – 20 reps |
| Calves |
| Standing Calves – 4 sets – 15 reps |
|
Tuesday – Chest, Triceps, and Abs |
| Chest |
| Incline BB Press – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Flat BB Press – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Pec Deck – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Triceps |
| EZ Overhead Ext – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Decline Skulls – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| V-Bar Pushdown – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Abs |
| Cable Crunches – 4 sets – 20 reps |
| Reverse Crunches – 4 sets – 20 reps |
Wednesday – Rest and Recovery
|
Thursday – Back, Biceps, and Calves |
| Back |
| Deadlifts – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Pulldowns – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Seated Row – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Biceps |
| Barbell Curls – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Alt DB Curls – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Hammer Curls – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Calves |
| Seated Calves – 6 sets – 30 reps |
|
Friday – Shoulders and Abs |
| Shoulders |
| Barbell Press – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Arnold Press – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Bentover Lat Raises – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Upright Rows – 4 sets – 12 reps |
| Abs |
| Swiss Ball Crunches – 4 sets – 20 reps |
| Jackknife – 4 sets – 20 reps |
Saturday – Rest and Recovery
Sunday – Rest and Recovery
Get Access to 12 Weeks of Figure Prep Training
What a Pre-Contest Workout Programs Can Look Like 6 Weeks Out
Training 5 Days a Week
|
Monday – Chest, Triceps, and Abs |
| Chest |
| Incline DB Press – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Flat DB press – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Incline DB fly – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Triceps |
| DB Overhead Ext – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Incline Skulls – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Bench Dips – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Abs |
| Cable Crunches – 4 sets – 20 reps |
| Elbow-to-Knee – 4 sets – 20 reps |
|
Tuesday – Hams and Calves |
| Hams |
| DB SLDL – 5 sets – 20 reps |
| DB Walking Lunges – 5 sets 30 reps |
| Leg Curls – 5 sets – 20 reps |
| Ham/Glute Raises – 5 sets – 20 reps |
| Box Step-Ups – 5 sets – 20 reps |
| Calves |
| Donkey Calves – 4 sets – 15 reps |
Wednesday – Rest and Recovery
|
Thursday – Back, Biceps, and Abs |
| Back |
| Deadlifts – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Chins – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Bentover DB Row – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Biceps |
| EZ Bar Curls – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Hammer Curls – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Preacher Curls – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Abs |
| Swiss Ball Crunches – 4 sets – 20 reps |
| Decline Crunches – 4 sets – 20 reps |
|
Friday – Quads and Calves |
| Legs |
| Leg Press – 5 sets – 20 |
| DB Walking Lunges – 5 sets 30 reps |
| Front Squats – 5 sets – 15 reps |
| Leg Extensions – 5 sets – 25 reps |
| Calves |
| Seated Calves – 6 sets – 40 reps |
|
Saturday – Shoulders and Abs |
| Shoulders |
| DB Press – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Rev. Pec Deck – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Front Raises – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Lat Raises – 4 sets – 15 reps |
| Abs |
| Frog Crunches – 6 sets – 50 reps |
Sunday – Rest and Recovery
Since your strength will drop some due to dieting and added cardio, it’s typical to increase reps in prep training. To increase the aerobic intensity of the workout drop your rest time between sets to 1 minute in the first phase and 30 seconds the second phase. Less rest time between sets doesn’t increase muscle
development, but it does help with fat loss. Also, this is a great time to toss in some high-intensity training principles to further zone-in on your targeted fat loss goal.
It’s highly recommend that you supplement with BCAAs, Protein Powders, and Glutamine. Creatine is fine, but it needs to be omitted close to contest time.
Ensure Continue Progress (Secret Insider Tip)
Okay, that’s a rough rundown of how figure competition workouts can progress from off-season training to pre-contest training. The trick is to be consistent on your workouts and always try to progress it in some form in the off-season. When you get to the 12-14 contest prep stretch begin to crank-up the intensity by adding an extra day, extra sets or reps, or even an exercise or two here or there.
You can get Figure Competition Workout Programs sent straight to your inbox so you have new and fresh training workouts to implement. These workouts are specifically designed and coordinated to take you from point A to point B in 12 weeks. If you want the full figure prep program and 12 weeks worth of training outlines, download Figure Competition Secrets from the right sidebar.
Karen Sessions – Figure Coach
(Article, Figure Competition Workouts, Written by Karen Sessions)
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