For Cody Lischka, almost four straight months of hard training, strict dieting and rigorous preparation paid off on the weekend of June 8-9. He took part in his first bodybuilding competition in Regina at the Regina Regional Sask Classic at Casino Regina, and although it was his first such event he still managed to come home with some new additions to his trophy case.

"It went well," Lischka said. "I took home two second places in novice classic physique and class B classic physique. I've been wanting to do this for quite a while so I put my mind to it and just did it."   

Lischka modestly made it sound simple, but the process of becoming stage ready was anything but. For 16 weeks, he observed a harsh two-per-day workout schedule and a strict diet. By the time he was within six weeks of the event, even cheat meals were no longer allowed.

"It's a lot of work," he said, "the meal prepping and everything. It's not just going to the gym and lifting weights. A lot of it's your nutrition and counting your macros. A lot of work goes into it."

With over 60 other bodybuilders from all over Saskatchewan vying for the judges accolades, Lischka had his work cut out for him. The judges looked the competitors over twice: once before the main show in the evening, and once during the show itself, looking for everything from proper muscle definition to posing technique. 

"The biggest thing is your posing, and your smiling on stage, just putting on a good show and having your routine down pat," he said. "When you first go out you do your pre-judging in the morning, and then in the evening show you do your presentation. So they base their scoring on the pre-judging and you don't find out until you do your end presentation."

With every muscle closely scrutinized, Lischka was still confident going in. "For my first time going out I wasn't too bad. I wasn't really shaky or anything. I did pretty well."

And if he has his way, it won't be his last competition, or even his best. But he was pleased with the pair of second place finishes.    

"It feels pretty good for my first show, for sure," he said. "I'm going to do it again next year. I'm just going to keep progressing and getting better."