Posing the Extra-ordinary Way

A friend of mine who doesn’t live in the bodybuilding world and who generally giggles at the pictures in this magazine was visiting the other day. She spotted the cover photo of “Posing the Extra-ordinary Way,” Russ Testo’s one-on-one video seminar on the art of looking good on stage, and picked it up, announcing, “Now, that guy’s got a great body!”

And so he does. Posing artist extraordinaire Testo is the proud possessor of one of America’s finest natural physiques, and he was in phenomenal shape when he shot this 90-minute series of lectures/demonstrations. All the better to see his muscles moving as he tells you everything you need to know about the posing aspect of competitive bodybuilding from the preliminary judging to the posedown.

Testo is a professional guest poser, and, as anyone who has ever caught his act can attest, he knows how to make every fraction of a movement look great. His approach to the activities of the prejudging is to apply that same grace and style to everything, even something as simple as taking quarter turns to the right.

Reader’s of Testo’s Posing Platform in IRONMAN know that RUss believes in starting at the beginning and working up step by step, which, in terms of hitting a bodybuilding pose, means flexing from the calves up. In terms of discussing physique-contest judging, he starts with round 1, the symmetry round, and takes you through those four aforementioned quarter turns with techniques that keep you in control of every angle the judges see. Did you know, for example, that how you point your toes affects the silhouette of your quads? Or that you can cheat your upper body forward on side stances to make your chest look a little fuller?

Next comes the muscularity round and Testo’s coverage of the seven mandatory poses plus most-muscular shots. These are expanded versions of of last year’s “Posing Platform” discussions, but Russ and the camera really bring them to life, with plenty of closeups of his well-honed muscles working as he demonstrates how small differences in movement can bring out or hide definition or emphasize a strong bodypart and conceal a weak one. There are also variations for muscular physiques vs. the more aesthetic bodies and suggestions for women competitors.

The same attention to detail goes into the lecture on optional poses; that is, the poses and variation on the mandatories that make up basic free-posing routines. This is where the master elaborates on the importance of transitional movement and the act of getting gracefully from shot to shot, and by the end of the segment he has somehow transitioned gracefully to show you how he has just put together a simple posing routine.

From there it’s a logical progression to visualizing yourself doing the routine on stage and then a hop, step and a quarter turn to the right to the segment he calls posing exercises. These are three good methods of using the posing movements that will get your heart pumping and help etch definition, as well as sharpen your posing skills. The next thing you know Russ has you picking out a piece of music, finding the beat and working through that simple routine in progressively faster rhythms.

Testo believes that posing is “the communication or interpretation of an idea using the human physique as the medium.” His discussions of the free posing round include how to explore the music and find the right poses; special effects like robot moves and the moon walk; and how to exaggerate your movements for the stage. The only thing this program lacks is a demonstration of how he puts it all together into a polished, not-so-simple performance—but maybe he’s saving that for the sequel.

“Posing the Extra-ordinary Way!” is best when it shows you Russ’ muscles in motion as he tells you how to do the poses, stances and transitions, and for that alone it’s must viewing for any bodybuilder who’s even thinking about entering a competition—not to mention a few unnamed pros who could use some help in the posing arts. There’s so much detailed instruction that you’ll want to study the different segments one at a time so you won’t miss a muscle. At your next contest, you’ll be glad you did.