Also included in this issue was an article I wrote regarding confidence vs. cockiness in bodybuilding.
Think Highly of Yourself? Think Again - by Brian Whitacre
I have never understood some people’s need to boast. Whether it’s professionally, in the gym, or in a social environment, someone bragging about their accomplishments – or worse yet, something they haven’t done yet but feel sure they WILL accomplish – is an immediate turnoff. It remains unclear to me what these people hope to achieve by speaking highly of themselves. Do they hope to positively influence others’ opinions of them? Do they hope to be seen as someone to look up to? Do they hope to intimidate other people? Does it make them feel better about themselves to know that others are aware of the things they have done? Regardless of the reason, speaking highly of yourself does little more than make you come across as arrogant, self-important, and egotistical.
In the world of competitive bodybuilding, this trait is not only irritating but it can be detrimental to your overall growth in the sport. Many competitors new to bodybuilding become fixated on any outstanding body parts or poses they might have. “Man, my quads are gigantic.” “No one can touch my front double biceps!” That may well be true, but focusing on your strengths only gets you so far in this sport. Once you get to a higher level, winners are determined by a lack of weaknesses, not by a particularly outstanding component. Consider each of the past 5 WNBF Worlds Overall winners: Harris, Cordova, Greenwood, McGill, and Daniels. Sure, they have some good individual bodyparts, but their lack of weaknesses is amazing. THAT is what sets these guys apart from the rest of the pack. If you spend most of your posing practice admiring your best poses and not working quite as hard on your sub-par ones, you’re going to fall short of the upper echelons of the WNBF. So the next time you think a certain body part looks great, remind yourself that someone else out there is focusing on their weaknesses instead - and they may very well beat you because of it.
I will agree that there is a place for confidence, but not cockiness, in bodybuilding. If you have no confidence in yourself, the odds are dramatically against you – regardless of whether you’re standing in front of a new personal record in the deadlift or if you are standing onstage amidst 12 other competitors. What is the difference between confidence and cockiness in these instances? One simple answer is verbalization. Confident people think about what they will accomplish, while cocky people feel the need to speak it out loud. If you are confident you will get that deadlift, tell yourself that in your head, crush the lift, and give yourself a congratulatory head nod when done. If you are cocky, you will yell “light weight!” at the top of your lungs, complete the lift while screaming, and then go tell anyone who may have managed to miss it. Similarly, it is relatively easy to pick out the confident competitor on stage – they stand tall with a smile and exude a belief in themselves. While it is rare to get a competitor so cocky that they actually talk while onstage (although I have seen it happen), in today’s era the verbalization of an egotistical competitor usually comes through commentary on Internet forums. Comments like “This show is mine!” or “No one will touch my conditioning” or “I’m bringing that overall title home” are little more than tough talk that frankly will make you look silly if the result doesn’t come out quite as you thought.
In general the Internet is a great source of information for both neophyte and experienced bodybuilders, and “contest prep” threads can be very useful. Unfortunately a lot of people seem to want to use these forums as a source of ego-building instead of a way to obtain any useful feedback. As nice as they are to hear, any bodybuilder who truthfully wants to improve has little use for any positive comments on their physique. The most beneficial comments are the constructive ones that suggest what body parts need to be brought up, discuss innovative training techniques that might provide a needed improvement, or propose posing tweaks that could better suit your physique. Personally I prefer to use a trusted group of friends to critique my progress pictures, simply because I know they won’t waste my time with complimentary fluff.
I have had the opportunity to interact with two groups of individuals widely known for their egotism – academics and bodybuilders. It has been my experience that the best in both fields have no need to boast. They simply do their best, every day, and let the accolades fall to them. They are confident in their abilities, but are receptive to critiques and always keep an open mind about how to improve in the future. So the next time you feel the need to brag about your physique or your lifting accomplishments, take a second and reconsider. Focusing your attention on ways to train that lagging bodypart instead might be much more productive in the long run.