The 8 Mandatory Bodybuilding Poses: A Complete Guide

Mastering the mandatory bodybuilding poses is the key to showcasing the physique you’ve worked so hard to build.

This is the only guide you need to learn the essential poses every competitor must perfect to own the stage.

Introduction

You don’t have to step on a stage to call yourself a bodybuilder. But if you’re ready for the competitive part of bodybuilding, you need to learn how to pose like one.

You can’t just flex everything and hope for the best.

I’ve followed bodybuilding since the 1980s and watched the sport evolve into what it is today. While I don’t agree with all the changes that have happened over the decades, one thing remains the same: a good physique can turn into a great one if you know how to pose.

So, if you’ve moved mountains of iron, eaten more chicken and rice than you care to admit, and you finally have a physique you want to show the rest of the world, this article is for you.

Here, you’ll find the most detailed guide to the mandatory bodybuilding poses outside of hiring a posing coach. You’ll get step-by-step instructions on how to execute them, tips for perfection, and some interesting facts along the way.

Because all that hard work you put in under the weights means nothing if you can’t show it.

Mandatory Bodybuilding Poses

In competitive bodybuilding, like the IFBB (International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness), the NPC (National Physique Committee, the U.S. amateur federation that feeds into the IFBB Pro League), and other federations, every athlete is required to perform a set of mandatory poses during prejudging and finals so judges can get a good look at their muscularity, symmetry, proportion, and conditioning.

Here are the mandatory bodybuilding poses (for men’s open bodybuilding), in the order you’d perform them on stage.

1. Front Double Biceps
   • Facing the judges, both arms raised and flexed, showing biceps, lats, quads, and abs.
2. Front Lat Spread
   • Arms flared out to the sides, expanding the lats to show width and V-taper.
3. Side Chest
   • Turned sideways, chest flexed with one arm across the torso, showing chest thickness, shoulder and arm size, and quad/hamstring separation.
4. Rear Double Biceps
   • Back to the judges, arms up and flexed, showing biceps, lats, traps, spinal erectors, glutes, hamstrings, and calves.
5. Rear Lat Spread
   • Same as the front version but from the back, emphasizing width, density, and taper.
6. Side Triceps
   • Side stance with one arm extended down and the triceps flexed, showing arm detail, obliques, and hamstrings.
7. Abdominal and Thigh
   • Facing forward, hands behind head, abs flexed, one leg forward to highlight quadriceps and abdominal definition.
8. Most Muscular (men only in most federations)
   • An “everything flexed” pose, usually performed as a final, powerful crowd-pleaser.

Note: The above order is for IFBB competitions. Other federations might use a different one. NABBA, for example, uses the same poses but in a different order, starting with the abdominal and thigh pose.

The women’s divisions are mostly similar, but there are a few important changes depending on whether we’re talking bodybuilding or fitness.

Pose	Men’s Bodybuilding	Women’s Bodybuilding	Women’s Physique
Front Double Biceps	✅ Fists closed	✅ Fists closed	✅ Open hands
Front Lat Spread	✅	✅	❌
Side Chest	✅	✅	✅
Rear Double Biceps	✅ Fists closed	✅ Fists closed	✅ Open hands
Rear Lat Spread	✅	✅	❌
Side Triceps	✅	✅	✅
Abdominal and Thigh	✅	✅	✅
Most Muscular	✅	✅	❌ (replaced by “Favorite Classic Pose”)
Favorite Classic Pose	❌	❌	✅

Now, let’s take a close look at each of the above bodybuilding poses.

I’m going to go through how to perform each in great detail, split into Lower Body, Upper Body, Arms & Hands, and Expression & Flow categories to make it easier to follow. Of course, when you are actually posing, you want to flow into each movement, not finish one and move on to the next. I’ll give tips on how to do that as well.

Front Double Biceps

The front double biceps is perhaps the most iconic bodybuilding pose. When someone says “bodybuilder,” this is probably the first image that pops into their head. But it is also one of the most unforgiving.

When the head judge calls “Front Double Biceps,” you’re going to showcase the entire front of your physique in one shot. The arms are the centerpiece, but the pose will be judged as a complete package: arms, lats, chest, abs, quads, and even your calves.

If you don’t nail it all, it doesn’t matter how good your biceps look.

You can’t talk about this pose without mentioning Arnold Schwarzenegger, but if I had to pick one bodybuilder for the perfect front double biceps, it’d be Robby Robinson.

Here’s how to do a front double biceps:

Setup

Usually you’ll set your feet first: a slight stagger or both feet square, whichever brings out your quads and symmetry (or hides your symmetry flaws!) the best.

The Lower Body

A common newbie mistake is to forget the legs because they focus only on the arms.

Flex through your hip, turn your knees out slightly, and push your quads forward without locking your knees, contracting the vastus medialis (the teardrop muscle) to bring out the separation. You’ll show your sweep and (if you’re lean enough) feathering.

Everything needs to be tight, including your calves; flex your calves and press your toes into the floor to keep tension all the way from hip to ankle, even though you’re facing forward. That’s something many inexperienced guys forget, and it makes the legs look flat.

The Arms

Now, raise your arms up. Smoothly, not in jerks. Your elbows come up to about shoulder height or just a little above. Play around with elbow height as you practice your posing. A little higher can create a better bicep peak, but too high and you look awkward. Too low and you lose your wingspan.

You want both the peak and the fullness, so turn your wrists out and keep tension through your forearms. Your triceps should pop underneath, with your delts tying the whole arm into your torso. If you only think “biceps,” your arms will look deflated. If you think “whole arms,” the pose fills out.

The Upper Body

Your chest has to stay open, so you don’t want to collapse forward. Lift your ribcage and expand the lats to get maximum width: spreading your wings while flexing your guns. If you throw your arms up but forget your lats, you’ll look narrow. Look at a pro bodybuilder who knows how to pose, and you’ll see how they create an illusion of a bigger V-taper than reality: broad shoulders and lats, tight waist.

Your abs must be tight, but you don’t need to crunch down too hard. That makes you look short and boxy. Core braced, draw your belly button in a little, and let your abs show naturally.

Expression & Flow

You want to look like a Greek statue, but that doesn’t mean you should hit the pose like a statue. The judges want to see confidence and charisma.

Hit the pose and squeeze every muscle you have, but keep your face calm and try not to grimace or strain too much. Some bodybuilders make it their trademark to grimace as much as they can, but that’s not automatically going to work for you. Staying neutral-faced is harder than it looks, so practice, practice, and practice some more before the show, in front of a mirror or a camera.

Common Mistakes

• Shrugging your shoulders makes you look short-armed and nervous. Keep your traps relaxed.
• Arms too far back looks awkward and closes your chest.
• Leaning forward kills your V-taper and makes you look smaller. Keep your chest up and open.
• Dead legs: if you don’t remember to flex your quads and/or calves, it looks like half a pose.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here are quick, general, step-by-step instructions for the front double biceps pose. Follow the tips above to adapt them and look your best.

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes pointing slightly out.
2. Plant your feet firmly and flex your quadriceps.
3. Raise your arms out to your sides and bend your elbows, bringing your fists toward your head.
4. Your upper arms should be slightly higher than parallel to the floor.
5. Curl your fists inward to peak your biceps.
6. Flare your lats as wide as possible to create a V-taper, and contract your abs.
7. Hold the pose.

Front Lat Spread

The front lat spread is the second of the eight mandatory poses in a bodybuilding competition, so you’re still setting the initial impression for the judges. The goal of the pose is to create a V-shape from the shoulders to the waist, showing off your wide back and narrow waist.

There have been so many impressive lat spreads over the decades, but if you want a combination of mass and conditioning with the pose done right, you can’t go wrong with one of the first real mass monsters, 6-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates.

Let’s walk it through the same way as I did with the front double biceps.

Setup

The judge calls for the front lat spread, and you’re about to show the illusion of maximum width and density: wide lats, full chest, small waist, thick quads.

Lower Body

First, plant your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly narrower, depending on how your quads flare best (as usual, practice before the mirror or the camera).

Lock your stance. You don’t want to shuffle around once you start moving your upper body. Twist your knees slightly outward and tighten your quads to show the separation all the way to the teardrop.

Don’t let your legs fade at any point. Flex your quads, push the outer sweep toward the judges, and keep your calves tight. A slight bend in the knees helps keep the legs “alive”, and you won’t look rigid and stiff like a board. Calves flexed, like with the front double biceps.

Arms & Hands

Next, bring your fists to your waist, but not just anywhere. Most competitors hook their thumbs into their obliques or just a little above the hips, curling the fingers forward. You want to rest your knuckles lightly against your waistline, at an angle that flares your elbows outward.

They (your elbows) are arguably your most important tools in this pose; drive them forward and out to the sides. You open up your shoulder blades and force your lats wide. Think the mantra “push elbows out, push chest up, spread wings”: like trying to pry your ribcage apart.

Upper Body

Here’s the money shot. You’re not just going to flex your lats. You’re going to create width and thickness simultaneously.

Lift your ribcage and expand the chest. Don’t hunch forward, or you’ll look flat. Imagine you’re pressing your shoulder blades away from your spine. Your lats don’t flare when you flex them like a bicep but when you separate your shoulder blades.

Keep it tight. Bodybuilding competitions are like a magic show, and you want to create the most convincing illusion. In the front lat spread, the illusion is the contrast between wide lats and a narrow midsection. If you lose control of your waistline and let your stomach push out, you lose the taper poof like that.

Your delts cap off the X-frame you’re trying to present. Keep them down; shrugging will take away from the illusion of width.

Expression & Flow

When you flare your lats, don’t rush it. Make it look like a controlled expansion, like you’re growing in width before the judges’ eyes, again with a calm, confident face or a smile.

If you’re posing in front of a mirror, a slight lean back might make you look wider and improve the dramatic effect, but (and this is important) it’s not going to work on stage. The judges will be sitting below you, so you want to tilt just a hair forward to give them a better view (not too much or you’ll collapse your upper body; film yourself from below to see how it will look from their POV).

Common Mistakes

• Hunching forward flattens your chest and makes you look smaller, not wider.
• Elbows too far back collapse your lats and chest. Keep them forward and out.
• Losing control of your waist makes even the best lat spread look sloppy. Keep your gut tight.
• Forgetting about your quads and calves ruins the bottom half of the entire pose.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here are quick, general, step-by-step instructions for the front lat spread. Follow the tips above to adapt them and look your best.

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes pointed slightly out.
2. Place your hands on your sides, slightly above your hips.
3. Spread your lats by driving your elbows forward and out to the sides.
4. Simultaneously with step 4, pull your shoulders down and forward.
5. Expand your chest and keep your abs tight.
6. Hold the pose.

Side Chest

If the two bodybuilding poses from the front above display width, the side chest shows thickness from the side.

A textbook side chest shows a round, full, striated pec framed by biceps, triceps, and delt thickness. Ribcage lifted, waistline and obliques tight, with quads, hams, and calves flexed.

Arnold is widely considered to have one of the best side chest poses in bodybuilding history, but I’d like to point your attention to one of my favorites of the 80s, Joe Bucci. Classic look, fantastic arm development, and an impressive chest.

Here’s how to do the side chest pose:

Setup

When “Side Chest” is called, you’ll turn sideways to the judges. The choice of which side to display is up to you, so pick your stronger side, whichever has more chest fullness or better hamstrings and glutes.

Lower Body

The lower body is where many competitors separate themselves. A good side chest ties the entire side chain of your body together.

Feet placement comes first: your front leg is bent slightly at the knee, with the foot flat, pressing into the floor, and your back leg tucked behind. That leg positioning creates tension in your hamstring and glute, which you’ll want the judges to see.

With your front leg, flex your quad, hamstring, and calf, and squeeze your legs together to create the illusion of an even bigger sweep than you really have. At the same time, dig the toes of your back leg into the stage, flexing your hamstring and glute.

Arms & Hands

When you start the pose, your front arm (the one closest to the judges) hangs down naturally at first. Now, bring your back arm forward, then lock your hands together by grabbing the front wrist or hand.

From there, create tension by pulling your arms slightly apart against each other. This part of the pose makes your chest fibers visibly explode. Don’t just flex your pec in isolation. Instead, physically push it into maximum contraction.

Your biceps and triceps should also be alive here. Press and flex your front arm against your torso to show biceps, and triceps thickness while you flare the rear delt and triceps with your back arm.

Upper Body

The pose is called the side chest, but it’s framed by your delts and arms.

Lift your ribcage, roll your shoulders slightly back, and squeeze your pecs forward so they look round and striated. If you keep your shoulder blades tight, your rear delt, traps, and upper lats will pop and add even more thickness to your silhouette.

In addition, you don’t want to forget your midsection. Flex the obliques on the judges’ side tight. Your abs aren’t the focus, but keeping your waistline tight cleans up the lines of the pose.

Expression & Flow

Flow into the lock smoothly: pivot, set your feet, grab your wrist, expand. Don’t jerk or rush the pose; the judges and the audience should see you inflate into the pose.

Once you’ve nailed the pose, sell it by smiling or at least looking confident.

Common Mistakes

• Collapsing the chest makes your pecs look flat. Expand your ribcage!
• A loose back arm: out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind. If you don’t flex it, you miss 25% of the pose (OK, I pulled that number out of my behind, but a significant part!)
• Forgetting the legs ruins the balance; your hamstring and glute should be tight.
• Shrugging the traps makes your chest look smaller and throws off your entire symmetry.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here are quick, general, step-by-step instructions for the side chest pose. Follow the tips above to adapt them and look your best.

1. Turn to your chosen side, with your front foot planted firmly and your rear foot on its toes.
2. Bend your front leg and flex your quadriceps and calf.
3. Your rear leg should be slightly bent, with the hamstring tensed.
4. Bend your front arm to a 90-degree angle and bring it across your body.
5. Grasp your front wrist with your other hand.
6. Push your front arm against your body to contract your chest.
7. Lift your ribcage and keep your abs tight.
8. Hold the pose.

Rear Double Biceps

Bodybuilding competitions are often won from the back, and the rear double biceps is the number one pose to show almost every muscle group in the posterior chain: from the calves up through the hamstrings, glutes, and spinal erectors to the lats, traps, rear delts, and of course, the biceps themselves.

The pose is also called the back double biceps, but the IFBB (International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness) rulebook and the NPC (National Physique Committee, the U.S. amateur federation that feeds into the IFBB Pro League) rules use “rear.”

Who’s the GOAT of the rear double biceps? For me, it’s 1983 Samir Bannout. It doesn’t get better than that: perfect combination of mass, symmetry, and definition.

Here’s how to do the rear double biceps pose:

Setup

When the head judge calls “Rear Double Biceps,” you’ll turn around to face away from them. Don’t even think about your arms yet. Set your legs and glutes first, because that’s where many competitors lose the pose.

Lower Body

From the judges’ view, your hamstrings, glutes, and calves are the first things they see.

Step one foot back and flex the calf. If the judges tell you which calf to show, follow their direction; if not, choose the side that feels most natural.

Angle your knees outward just a bit and keep them slightly bent. Press your feet into the floor like you’re trying to pull them backward to bring out hamstring details. Flex your glutes tightly, not only to show off your conditioning, but also to keep your waistline tight and prevent your lower back from looking soft.

Upper Body

Now comes the real showpiece: your back. Here’s where the pose either takes flight or falls apart.

Raise your arms into a double biceps position, elbows flared wide but not so high that your traps dominate. Spread your lats like you’re pulling the shoulder blades apart. At the same time, arch your lower back slightly to open your ribcage and add to the illusion of more depth. Flex your spinal erectors to show the Christmas tree in the lower back if your conditioning is on point.

Keep your core tight. If you relax here, your silhouette breaks. It’s especially important if you have a thicker waist; you need every bit of taper you can get.

Arms & Hands

As you hold the pose, keep your upper arms in a straight line from elbow to elbow, perhaps rotated just slightly backward. Don’t pull them forward or your rear delts will relax, and if they drift backward too much, you’ll close off your back and make your biceps look smaller. Film yourself to find a balance where you look the best.

If your triceps are weaker than your biceps, angle your forearms forward to show them better. Conversely, with biceps weaker than triceps, angle your forearms backward.

Keep your upper arms about parallel to the floor or a little bit higher. Remember to flex your forearms, and hide your thumbs inside your hands.

Expression & Flow

Don’t snap into the pose like a robot. Set your legs, rise into the back flare, then bring your arms up.

To show off your V-taper, you’ll want to lean back slightly from your upper back to make your waist appear smaller.

Your facial expression doesn’t really matter since you’re showing the judges your back, but practice keeping a confident look or a smile anyway for consistency.

Common Mistakes

• Forgetting the lower body: many bodybuilders hit the back and arm flex and forget their calves or glutes. But the judges notice immediately.
• Shrugging your traps narrows your back and kills your V-taper. Keep them flexed and tight but be sure your lats stay wide.
• If you don’t brace your core, you’ll lose your stomach. When you practice the pose, taking controlled shallow breaths will make it easier to keep your gut tight.
• Leaning too far back: a slight lean is great, but don’t overdo it, or the pose will look sloppy.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here are quick, general, step-by-step instructions for the rear double biceps. Follow the tips above to adapt them and look your best.

1. Turn your back to the judges.
2. Step back with one leg and plant the ball of that foot on the floor and flex your calf.
3. Flex your hamstrings and glutes.
4. Raise your arms to the sides and bend your elbows, similar to the front double biceps pose.
5. Contract all the muscles of your back and flare your lats as wide as possible.
6. Slightly arch your back to display the lower back definition.
7. Hold the pose.

Rear Lat Spread

The posterior equivalent of the front lat spread, the rear lat spread displays the results of endless pulldowns and rows. More than any other, this pose tells the judges if you’ve got the width, thickness, and conditioning to step off the stage with a trophy in your hands.

For a bodybuilder to showcase the rear lat spread, I’m going with Franco Columbu, whose low insertions gave him a unique look, especially for the time.

Let’s walk through this pose step by step.

Setup

When “Rear Lat Spread” is called, you’ll already have your back to the judges, as this pose follows directly upon the back double biceps.

Lower Body

The rear lat spread is a back pose, but your legs are just as important here as the back.

Plant your feet about shoulder-width apart. Like in the rear double biceps, you’ll show one calf flexed with the heel raised and the other foot flat on the floor to show both thickness and separation.

Squeeze your glutes as hard as you can. The judges will look for conditioning and striations. Any softness stands out. Bend your knees slightly and keep your hamstrings tight to show sweep and separation.

No relaxing; both hamstrings and glutes have to be tight from the get-go because the judges’ eyes will lock onto them right away.

Arms & Hands

Once you have your lower body in position, bring your hands to your waist or slightly above your hips, with your fingers or thumbs pushing into your obliques. Your elbows flare wide to the sides and slightly forward.

That elbow placement is the most important part of the pose. If they drift back, your lats flatten out, and if you let them come too far forward, you’ll look hunched. That means practice before a camera until you find the sweet spot.

You also want to keep your arms flexed to frame the lats. Your delts should stay round and full, tying your arms into the back.

Upper Body

Now comes the main act: spreading your lats. You want to look like you’re unfolding a giant cape.

Pull your elbows out and forward, trying to push your shoulder blades apart from each other. Keep your ribcage up and open up your back for maximum width.

Flex your traps and rear delts as hard as you can; you can’t contract them maximally in this pose, but you want them tense and full to frame the top of your lats and add density to your entire back.

Keep your waist tight. A loose midsection from the rear will kill your taper. Your abs won’t be visible to the judges, but your waistline very much contributes to the illusion of back width.

When you’ve got the pose locked in, your upper body should look like a massive triangle, wide at the shoulders and lats and tapering to flexed glutes.

Expression & Flow

The judges should see you hitting the pose like you’re expanding into it, growing wider as your arms come into place.

Keep your chin neutral or even raised a little. Even though the judges can’t see your face, your body language should show confidence. Don’t hunch over, chin into chest.

Common Mistakes

• Arms pulled too far back make your lats disappear.
• Hunching forward ruins your chest lift and makes the pose look awkward.
• Relaxed glutes or hams are instantly obvious from the judges’ table.
• Forgetting your calves makes them look soft and throws your entire physique out of whack.
• Losing waist control, even from the back, ruins your taper and makes your back look less wide than it is.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here are quick, general, step-by-step instructions for the rear lat spread. Follow the tips above to adapt them and look your best.

1. Stand with your back to the judges.
2. Place one foot back with the ball of the foot on the floor to flex the calf.
3. Place your hands on your sides, slightly above your hips.
4. Bring your elbows forward to the point where you spread your lats as much as possible.
5. Slightly round your upper back to maximize the spread.
6. Tense your glutes and hamstrings.
7. Hold the pose.

Side Triceps

Next up is the side triceps, one of the trickiest mandatories (perhaps surprisingly) to nail perfectly.

In addition to your triceps, the judges will be looking at the size and separation of your shoulder, the thickness of your chest, and the definition in your obliques and legs. They will be looking directly at your entire side chain, and it’s very hard to hide any flaws.

Check out Danny Padilla to see how it’s done.

Here’s how I’d coach you through it.

Setup

Like the side chest, you’ll choose your stronger side and turn it toward the judges.

Lower Body

Press your hamstrings together and lock your legs at the knees so there’s no daylight between them. You’ll make your hamstrings and quads fuller and give the latter the illusion of a better sweep.

Drive your calves down into the floor, and squeeze your glutes. Everything should be tight from the stage floor up. Some knee bend will help you bring out leg separation, but don’t overdo it.

Arms & Hands

Once you feel stable, bring the arm closer to the judges down tight against your torso. Reach across behind your back to clasp your rear hand. Some bodybuilders clasp their fingers; others hook wrist-to-wrist. You can do it how you prefer, so choose what gives you the most leverage without looking forced.

Instead of just yanking your arm into place, tighten and rotate your shoulder until you force the triceps outward and down. Flex it as hard as possible, but don’t 1) let your elbow flare away from your body or 2) press too hard against it, or you’ll flatten the muscle instead of making it pop.

Note that you can also place your front hand on your hip and press your tricep against it instead of going through the entire reach-behind-your-back rigamarole if you’re too stiff (or too big!) to pull the classic variant off.

Upper Body

The triceps are the highlight of the pose, but you can’t forget the rest of your upper body.

Your torso should be tall and slightly rotated toward the judges: chest up, lats expanded. You might feel like you want to hunch forward to “crunch” your triceps, but resist that temptation, or you’ll cave your chest and ruin the balance of the pose instead.

Instead of crunching, pull your ribcage high and twist just enough to show your pecs, ab lines, and serratus detail. Your rear shoulder should be rolled back to open your chest, while your forward shoulder drives forward just a little to keep your arm lock and your triceps in maximum horseshoe mode.

Lastly, one of the hardest parts: you’ve got to pull the stomach in tight while tensing almost every other muscle in the body at the same time and flexing your obliques. You can try a controlled “vacuum”; not sucking your gut in dramatically, but enough to cinch your waist.

Expression & Flow

Ease into the pose in seamless steps: plant your feet, lock your hands, pull your triceps in, tighten your waist. Don’t rush the waist control; yes, you need it for the locked-in pose, but if you start with it, you won’t be able to hit the other steps with as much oomph.

Hit the final position of the pose with a boom, not like you stumbled into it. Breathe out slowly once you’re locked, because holding your breath too long will bloat your midsection.

Common Mistakes

• Loose waist: if your stomach spills out, you lose the entire pose.
• Smashing your triceps too hard flattens the arm instead of making it pop.
• Crunching forward and collapsing your chest ruins a lot of your thickness and symmetry.
• Forgetting to flex your quads, hams, or calves makes you look top-heavy and smooths out your lower body.
• If you let your elbow drift too far forward or back into an awkward angle, you lose the clean triceps line.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here are quick, general, step-by-step instructions for the side triceps pose. Follow the tips above to adapt them and look your best.

1. Stand sideways to the judges.
2. Place your front leg slightly forward and flex it.
3. Reach your rear arm behind your back and grab the wrist of the arm facing the judges.
4. Pull that arm down tightly against your body to press the triceps.
5. Straighten and lock the arm facing the judges to show your triceps.
6. Keep your chest up, abs tight, and legs flexed.
7. Hold the pose.

Abdominal and Thigh

The next-to-last of the mandatory bodybuilding poses, the abdominal and thigh, brings the focus back to the front of the body: the midsection and the quadriceps, to be more exact.

No other pose shows if your conditioning is on point like this one.

Still one of the most impressive abdominal and thigh poses of all time: Rich Gaspari (in his first pro show, I believe).

Setup

When you hear “abdominals and thighs” called, you step forward and set your feet shoulder-width apart. The stance should let your quads flare and your abs tighten naturally.

Lower Body

Most competitors place one foot forward (the leg with the better sweep or separation) and dig the toes into the stage. That way, it’s easy to flex the quads, make the teardrop pop, and show the separation between your quad muscles. Some athletes add a stomp or flex to bring out the striations.

Keep your rear leg locked in a supportive position and hold the quad and calf tight. It’s a fairly common mistake to let the back leg go, but it should still show all the fullness and conditioning you’ve got, even if the focus is on your lead thigh.

Arms & Hands

Bring your arms overhead with your elbows slightly outward and interlock or overlap your hands behind your head. It should both feel and look natural, and your elbows should come forward just enough to the point where you flare your lats. Not too wide (you’ll stretch your abs flat) and not too narrow (you’ll compress your torso).

When you then crunch your abs down at the same time, you create a V-taper that makes your waist smaller than it really is.

Again, film yourself doing the pose until you get the positioning right.

The classic version has both hands clasped behind the head, but there are variations, like hands overhead, one hand behind the head, or hands pulling outward at the sides. I suggest you start with “hands behind head,” at least until you make the pose your own.

Upper Body

Now, with your arms up, the rib cage will automatically lift. Breathe out while you crunch to show your abs. It looks best if you do it slowly and with control to get a flat and tight stomach without collapsing your posture, the way emptying your lungs in one massive whoosh might.

Your obliques should be flexed without twisting your torso. Depending on your structure, you might also want to roll your shoulders forward a little to show off your serratus and intercostals even more.

Keep your chest up as much as possible and your lats flared while you crunch down. It’s a balance that can take some practice to get right.

Expression & Flow

This pose is one of the hardest to avoid looking like you’re suffering. You’ve already completed a lot of demanding poses, you’re holding your breath, and you’re flexing almost every muscle in your body. But do your best to keep your face relaxed.

You want to step into the leg, lift your arms in one smooth motion, and crunch into the abs gradually without slamming forward. Let the judges see that you’re in control.

Common Mistakes

• Don’t over-flex your abs. You want them to pop, but if you crunch too hard and compress your torso too much, you’ll shorten it and look awkward.
• Neglecting the rear leg ruins balance and symmetry.
• Gasping for air or letting your midsection relax after you’ve breathed out makes your stomach pop out, and you’ll find it hard to impossible to regain the pose.
• Pulling your head down with your hands makes the entire pose look sloppy and breaks your posture.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here are quick, general, step-by-step instructions for the abdominal and thigh pose. Follow the tips above to adapt them and look your best.

1. Stand facing the judges with your feet together or staggered, whichever you prefer (your best leg forward is a good idea for most).
2. Place your hands behind your head, with your fingers interlocked.
3. Extend one leg slightly forward and flex your quad and calf.
4. Exhale all the air from your lungs and crunch down on your abs, flexing them as hard as you can.
5. Keep your lats flared to maintain a V-taper.
6. Hold the pose.

Most Muscular

The most muscular is not a mandatory pose in every federation (it is an official mandatory only in men’s open bodybuilding), but it’s one of the most recognized bodybuilding poses, a real crowd-pleaser, and a staple of the posedown at the end of a competition. It allows you to show off your mass and conditioning in the most powerful way possible.

The most muscular pose was popularized by Harold Poole. He’s not that well recognized anymore, so let’s give him the credit he deserves.

Setup

Step forward, feet about shoulder-width apart, and settle your weight. Before locking it in, exhale slightly to tighten your midsection and prepare to pull everything you’ve got together.

Lower Body

The legs can make or break the most muscular. It’s easy to forget about them because the upper body draws the eyes of the audience, but the judges will notice if your quads and calves go soft.

Flex your quads as hard as you can to bring out separation from hip to knee. Bend your knees slightly if it helps you pop the sweep and striations.

Push the balls of your feet into the ground to fire your calves, and lock your glutes and hamstrings in. Squeeze from your hips down so your lower body matches the aggression of your upper body.

Arms & Hands

There are several variations of the most muscular:

• The Crab: You clench both fists and bring your arms inward like you’re squeezing your entire torso. This is the most aggressive and freaky most muscular, and makes your traps, delts, pecs, and arms all blow up.
• Hands on Hips: A slightly more classic-looking version where you place your hands on your hips and flex everything you’ve got.
• Hands Clasped: Both hands clasped in front, crunching down to explode the chest, shoulders, and arms. A favorite of bodybuilding great Kevin Levrone.

Choose the one that looks the best for your physique and displays what you’re going for.

Upper Body

The upper body should be like a compressed spring: everything pulled in and flexed.

Drive your chest upward and squeeze as if you’re hugging a barrel, turning your pecs into bunches of striated slabs.

Round your shoulders forward a bit to balloon out your delts, and lift and contract your traps into a bull neck look.

And, as usual, keep your midsection tight. A blown-out stomach ruins the effect.

Expression & Flow

This is the pose where you can go aggressive. Your facial expression should match the energy you’re going for, fit your personality, and look good with your pose. A snarl fits a crab better than a classic hands on hips most muscular.

Common Mistakes

• Crunching forward too far makes you look smaller and cramped, not full like you want.
• Forgetting your legs makes your quads flatten out and the pose top-heavy.
• A loose midsection ruins the illusion of power.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here are quick, general, step-by-step instructions for the most muscular (crab variation). Follow the tips above to adapt them and look your best.

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, one leg slightly forward.
2. Hinge forward slightly at the waist.
3. Bring your arms across your body and clench your fists.
4. Flex your traps, shoulders, chest, and arms as hard as you possibly can.
5. Don’t forget to flex your legs too.
6. Hold the pose.

What Is the Difference Between the Mandatory Bodybuilding Poses and a Posing Routine?

It’s easy to get these two mixed up, but they’re pretty different parts of a bodybuilding competition, each with its own purpose.

The mandatory posing round is when every competitor in a category has to hit the same set of required poses. The judges can make a direct, apples-to-apples comparison of everyone’s physique.

After the judges have made their comparisons with the mandatory poses, the competitors get to present their posing routine. It’s a choreographed sequence of poses set to music you choose yourself. Some bodybuilders choose to tell a “story” with an advanced set of artistic poses, while others blow through their best poses to some heavy metal and end with a crab.

Competitors can be creative and choose freely between poses that best show their strengths and hide any weaknesses. You’ll often see both mandatory poses and poses that a bodybuilder has made their signature.

Routines are short, usually lasting between 60 and 90 seconds, so every moment counts. This is different from back in the day, when posing routines could last four, five minutes, or longer.

Check out master poser Ed Corney showing how it’s done in 1984:

Bodybuilding Poses Beyond the Mandatory

The mandatory poses are the bread and butter of a bodybuilding competition, but there are a bunch of other poses competitors use to show their physique.

You’ll see these poses during individual posing routines and the posedown at the end of a competition.

Here are a few of the most famous non-mandatory poses:

Vacuum Pose

The vacuum pose is a classic from the golden era of bodybuilding. You breathe out all the air in your lungs and suck in your stomach to create a deep hollow.

It makes your V-taper more dramatic. Frank Zane was legendary for his vacuum pose. Today, many of the pro guys are too big or have too distended midsections to pull their gut in for a proper vacuum.

Crucifix Pose

To make a crucifix pose, you stand with your arms straight out to the sides in a T shape while flexing your chest, shoulders, and arms.

The most famous crucifix pose was when Kal Szkalak landed 5th overall behind Zane, Robinson, Callender, and Coe at the 1978 Mr. Olympia. He stretched both arms straight out, tilted his head, and closed his eyes in a “crucifixion” pose to suggest he’d been cheated by the judges (and the powers that be, including the Weider camp he had clashed with leading up to the show).

Victory Pose

The victory pose was a hallmark of the legendary Sergio Oliva, one of the few bodybuilding champions to beat Arnold. To do it, you raise your arms overhead in a V-shape, with your fists clenched.

Lee Priest is a modern-day bodybuilder who also made it his signature pose. To pull it off, you have to have really big guns.

Archer Pose

As the name suggests, the archer pose looks like drawing a bow and arrow, ending up with one arm flexed and the other extended. It highlights the serratus anterior (the muscles on the side of the ribs), back, and arms from a unique angle.

Here’s Mike Mentzer combining the archer pose with a stomach vacuum.

Mantis Pose

Another golden era favorite, the mantis pose involves one arm bent in a bicep flex with the other extended down and across the body.

It creates a cool, asymmetrical look and has been done by many top bodybuilders, including Arnold and Mentzer. I don’t know who originated it, but here’s an early shot of Dave Draper doing it, perhaps in the early 1970s.

More Bodybuilding

Want more bodybuilding? Check out our fantastic resources:

• Bodybuilding: The Ultimate Guide: Everything you need to know about bodybuilding, from workout routines to supplements to contest prep.
• Bodybuilding for Beginners: Learn the basics, the training, the nutrition, the supplements, and everything else to help you get started on your bodybuilding journey.
• Best Bodybuilding Programs, Beginner to Advanced: Find the right bodybuilding routine for you. Fifteen of the best, all available in StrengthLog.

Or take a look at this list of all our bodybuilding programs and workouts.

The best way to track your bodybuilding training is with our workout log app, StrengthLog. It’s 100% free with no ads and comes with dozens of proven bodybuilding training plans, plus the option to make your own.

Download StrengthLog and start tracking your gains today.

Final Rep

When the weights have been lifted, the cardio completed, and the diet meticulously followed, you can’t let that hard work go unappreciated by stepping on stage and calling it a day after a few uncoordinated poses and a most muscular.

Treat your posing practice like your training, with progressive overload. Schedule it, perform it with perfect form, and try to improve a little every session. Record yourself, get feedback, and study great posers with a similar style to yours.

Because on show day, when you’re standing next to someone who has worked just as hard as you, your competitive advantage is how well you can display your physique.

Want more?

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get notified of new articles, and get weekly training tips!

Leave this field empty if you’re human:

Last reviewed: 2025-10-08