Tip: Are Men's Physique Competitors Juiced? Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Alpha LifePharmaSex & Hormones Tip Are Men s Physique Competitors Juiced They wear funny shorts and they' re not as big as the bodybuilders Must be natural right Well not so fast by Christian Thibaudeau July 8, 2018June 8, 2021 Tags Living Better, Pharma, Tips, TRT Men's physique and "classic" physique don't require as much muscle as the traditional bodybuilding classes, so surely you can do them naturally, right? Maybe. At the lowest, local level. And you won't win. The fact of the matter is that you need a helluva lot more muscle than you think to compete in these sports. In classic physique for example, if you're 5'6" then your weight limit is 170 pounds. At 5'10" your weight limit is 192 pounds and at 6'1" your weight limit is 232 pounds. Now, this might not seem like that much but understand that Arnold was around 225 pounds at 6'2" in contest shape, and he wasn't as lean as people are getting at now. So a 6'1" guy would actually have to have more muscle than Arnold to exceed his class limit. We all can be bigger than Arnold naturally, right? Frank Zane was 185 pounds in contest shape at 5'10", almost 10 pounds under the classic physique limit. We can all be 10 pounds larger than Frank Zane without drugs, right? The issue is that the average gym-goer grossly underestimates how much fat he'd need to lose to be in contest shape. A guy walks in, he's 220, has a small amount of abdominal definition and maybe a biceps vein. In his mind he's 20 pounds away from contest shape. Well, from my experience, when a normal guy has a full six pack (or full abdominal definition) he still has about 20 pounds to lose to look ready for the stage. So our 220 guy would most likely need to drop down to 175 to be contest ready. An IFBB pro friend of mine competes in the 212 class and at 235 he has full abs and drop down to about 208 in contest shape. What I'm saying here is that decent physique guys are much bigger than you think. Yes, it's more likely that you could be competitive as a drug-free contestant, but it would still be the exception. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Sex & Hormones 10 Amazing Facts About Testosterone Our favorite hormone has a long list of physiological peculiarities and a swashbuckling, character-filled history. Testicle transplants, anyone? Living Better, Pharma, Testosterone Optimization, TRT TC Luoma August 7 Alpha Life Tip The 7 Deadly Sins of Personal Training Here's a list of the worst practices of bad personal trainers, according to T Nation readers. Opinion, Strong Words, Tips Chris Shugart June 17 Sex & Hormones Testosterone & Sex Everything You Need to Know Boost your sexual health, with or without a doctor's prescription. Here's how. TC Luoma October 4 Alpha Life Tip 2 Ways to Fight Sitting Disease Forced to sit four or more hours a day? It doesn't matter how much you exercise, it'll still hurt you. Here are 3 practical solutions. Health & Longevity, Living Better, Tips Mike Sheridan October 17