Balint Hirling | PHOTOGRAPHER

Backstage, competitors apply suntan cream and apply different oils to their skin to highlight the details of the muscles

On the day of the competition they drink only a little amount of water and eat some low-calorie abonetts. Preparing for a competition means months of strict diet and years of hard work in the gym. A final step before the show is the difficult warm-up to fill the muscles with blood and to further increase their size

Backstage, you can smell the stress is in the air before the show. Bodybuilders are concentrating on their own unique performances

In prejudging, competitors do a series of compulsory poses – the front lat spread, the rear lat spread, the front double biceps, the back double biceps, the side chest, the side triceps and the thigh-abdominal pose. Each competitor performs a routine pose displaying the physique as well

The hall is always loud of supporters and relatives encouraging their favourite competitors and giving them advices

A posedown is usually held at the end of a posing round, while judges are finishing their scoring. Bodybuilders spend a lot of time practising their posing in the gym and also at home, since they are judged on it

The jury scores the muscle amount, the symmetry, muscle ratio and the muscular development