45: 10 Tips For Your First Prep Part 1: Picking The Right Category

Welcome back to the show! Today I’m starting a new series where I share 10 tips to help you better prepare for your first competition. The first tip I'm sharing today is to pick the right category. I break down each of the categories in detail to help you better understand what they are, the goal of each of the categories, and help you better determine which one fits you best.

Want to chat about the episodes and be a part of our weekly podcast group gatherings? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” And come join the conversation.

Additional Resources:
-Want to learn how to pose for NPC, OCB, or Fitness Universe? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at http://www.learntopose.com
-Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com
-NEW weekly posing class called “Posing Mechanics for all men and women divisions” now available on Sundays! http://www.weeklyposing.com
-FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com
-FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com
-Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com
-Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com

Key Takeaways:
*The Bikini Category (3:15)
*The Men’s Physique Category (4:30)
*The Wellness Category (5:50)
*The Figure Category (7:52)
*The Women’s Physique Category (9:21)
*The Classic Physique Category (12:30)
*The Bodybuilding Category (16:05)
*Pageant style shows and their categories (16:20)

Welcome back guys! Just me here on the mic again today with a new podcast series I’m doing that breaks down my top 10 tips for all you new people thinking about doing shows. This is also a great refresher for you veterans too. A lot of you new people probably stumbled across this podcast after a lot of bumps and bruises while combing through all the nonsense out there trying to figure out this thing called bodybuilding.  My federation is better than yours. Our federation is better because we are natural. My federation is the most prestigious. My federation is the most glamourous. You will hear me say over and over that the best federation is the best option for YOU. This is the most exciting and one of the most expensive hobbies you will ever take part in. So regardless of which federation you choose, today, I’m going to talk about the first of my 10 tips to help you better prepare and feel more confident for your first prep.

Starting with the different divisions. There are so many to choose from it can get confusing. You’ve got bikini, wellness, men’s physique, figure, classic physique, open bodybuilding, women’s physique, and then you have other divisions that are more glammy like fitness model, model, muscle model, and so on. Knowing where you best fit is important because it can be discouraging to spend all the time an money preparing for a show only to place really low in a category for no reason except your body was better suited for a different category. 

So let’s start with the bikini, men’s physique, and the wellness divisions. Bikini is looking for an athletic amount of muscle and a proportionate physique. The amount of muscle required in the bikini division is the least amount you are going to see on a bodybuilding stage. This is usually where people start when they are new to training and bodybuilding, and especially after a weight loss transformation. You will see the bikini competitors in non drug tested federations leaner and more muscular than drug tested federations so if you are brand brand new you might want to make note of this. It can get confusing when you start looking at pictures. In fact, I saw a social media post recently of a side by side competitor photo from a coach who only works with clients training for NPC and IFBB shows, which are not drug tested. The “before” photo of his competitor looked like the “after” photos of what many new competitors look like when competing for the first time on drug tested bikini stages.  So this might help you put things into perspective when I say the look of bikini is different in drug tested versus non drug tested organizations, but it’s still the least amount of muscle required among all the different categories.

Men’s physique is the entry level division for the men’s categories and requires the least amount of muscle compared to the bodybuilding division, so this is a perfect starting place for men who have had a significant weight loss or those who are somewhat new to training and are hitting a stride with their workouts. The biggest stand out with men’s physique is the tight abs and a dramatic shoulder to waist ratio, so make sure your 6 pack is showing and you know how to flare those lats. There has been a dramatic upswing in the amount of men’s physique competitors coming to me to learn how to pose and who are over 50 and looking to do their first show. It’s a perfect division for you!  My over 50 men’s physique posing clients start off a little shy at first.  In a private session I asked one of my students to do something with hit foot and his initial response was, “I feel like a ballerina.”  I took a screen shot of him and pulled it up for him to see what he looked like with the foot position change and compared it to a screen shot I took of him without the adjustment. His response was not only did he not look like a ballerina, he looked pretty freaking good.  And slowly the confidence blossomed. So, men, you can look strong, athletic, powerful, and artistic at the same time.  Just freaking let go and watch the magic happen.  I won’t let you look like a ballerina, ok?

Wellness is probably the division that confuses people the most. Wellness isn’t an out of shape bikini competitor. Or a soft and thick bikini competitor. Wellness is a division that rewards a very specific body shape and appearance. Wellness is for women with trained physiques that are structurally lower body dominant. Many women are confusing this category because they are assessing their body when they are carrying excess body fat and thinking that this is their structure. Remember, I said wellness is looking for a trained physique. In layman’s terms, you need to be muscular. So assessing your physique when you are leaner is important. For example, me, I’m nowhere near contest shape right now and am loving lifting heavy and getting stronger. I have a boootay right now. And some thick legs too. If I wear shorts I got a little SWISH going on with my quads as they sweep past each other with every step.  My fat distribution is lower body dominant at the current moment. But if I drop 20lbs and show my trained physique this is not the case. Structurally I am quite symmetrical. When I drop weight the symmetry shows. So you can’t be analyzing your body in the off season when it’s not looking as trained and detailed.  I’m seeing a lot of symmetrical bikini girls thinking they are wellness and doing some super squatty posing to create more lower body dominance. I don’t advise doing this. I advise you get an honest assessment on your structure and best category from the beginning so you can start posing and learning better stage presence for the category you want to score your best in.  Feel free to post in my Everything Else in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders group on Facebook and ask more questions on this.  It’s a free group where we have conversations on all of these episodes and all things bodybuilding.     

Moving on to the more muscular categories like Figure, Women’s Physique, Classic Physique, and Bodybuilding.

Starting with Figure. Figure is looking for a trained, symmetrical, physique.  Figure was designed originally to provide another option for Fitness competitors who were required to do an athletic performance as part of their scoring.  Many fitness competitors didn’t want to have to do the routine that included things like strength holds, flexibility, gymnastic tumbling, dance, and more. Many suffered injuries.  So figure was born and it was meant to look a fitness competitor. Over the years it has evolved into being a division that looks for a very specific style structure. A wide shoulder to waist ratio. Very trained physique with visual cuts in the quads and detail in the hamstrings. Broad shoulders with dense caps to them. And of course tight abs and a small waistline. You don’t develop this type of physique with 2 years of training. So the figure division is for very athletic women who have many years of training under their belt and are symmetrical, not lower body dominant. But don’t be scared by the description of capped shoulders and quad cuts. The posing that is required for the figure division is meant to dramatize these features on you. The poses are not shapes we stand in in everyday life. In fact, I remember my friend Shelley calling me a “sleeper” because when I stood normal I look unassuming and small. But when I flared my lats and flexed, poof, I look like a completely different person, and joked that I looked like a flying squirrel. So don’t be intimidated by this division. It’s a great option for those who have developed and carry more muscle.

Women’s physique is a relatively new division that was started because the bodybuilding division in the non drug tested federations evolved into having an extreme amount of muscle, yet women still loved the concept of bodybuilding poses. I started in the bodybuilding division.  My foundation is bodybuilding. And I will always love bodybuilding poses and I love teaching all of it to men and women in my weekly virtual posing classes and 1 on 1s.

But with the evolution to an extreme look in the bodybuilding division in non drug tested federations, popularity decreased and there was even a time that the women’s bodybuilding division was removed completely from the Olympia competition, which is the largest bodybuilding competition the world, until die hard women’s bodybuilding fan Jake Wood bought the show and brought it back.  Women’s physique became widely popular when it first started and Dana Lynn Bailey won the first Olympia in 2013. She has since gone on to become a mega star. The distinct difference between women’s physique and the bodybuilding division is the amount of muscle and definition of the competitors, although over the years, since about 2017, this line has blurred in the non drug tested federations, and if you ask me, women’s physique is barley recognizable from when it first started.   It’s super super lean and very muscular now.. 

The posing is also distinctly different with women’s physique competitors being required to do muscularity poses with open hands rather than with closed fists. Both divisions do not require women to wear the high heels like you have to wear in the figure divisions. 

Since it’s inception, drug tested federations have adopted the women’s physique category and over time its popularity trumped the popularity of the women’s bodybuilding division and now some federations don’t even have women’s bodybuilding anymore and their most muscular division stops with women’s physique. This is not the case everywhere though. Some drug tested federations don’t have women’s physique at all and still have bodybuilding, because again, the initial adoption of the division was because there was a need for it in non drug tested federations where the jump in muscle from figure to bodybuilding was significant.  This is not the case in the drug tested -  also called - natural bodybuilding. The evolution in the natural bodybuilding federations that added the division was based on popularity of the look with the open hands and style of posing.

In addition there are federations that have physique style posing where they do require you to do them in high heels, which can be super fun. So there is merge of the concepts in some places as well.  I love teaching the posing for these divisions. In fact I have a weekly virtual posing class every Wednesday night at 6pm EDT for women’s physique, bodybuilding, classic physique, men’s physique, and the division with heels called Fit body.  Come learn to flex and look like a badass ladies!  Go to weeklyposing.com for more info.

Next up the men’s classic physique division. The reason for the creation of this division is similar to the story I just shared about women’s physique and bodybuilding. The open men’s bodybuilders in the non drug tested federations became what is called “mass monsters.” These competitors are still hitting 300lbs in their off season!  Not every one wants to carry this amount of size or do what is required to obtain this amount of size.

People starting comparing the look of Arnold and the guys from the golden area of bodybuilding and saying how aesthetic bodybuilding used to be.  From this was born the classic physique division and the first Olympia was in 2016 with Danny Hester claiming the first title. Although since then the current champion Chris Bumstead has gone on to be debatably the most popular bodybuilder in the world right now. 

The natural organizations have different opinions on this division. Some natural organizations say that classic physique IS natural bodybuilding and don’t see a need to adopt it. And other natural organizations have included the division because of its popularity all over the world and created their own distinct judging requirements for this division that separates it from the bodybuilding division.  It’s a very fun division because the posing styles are more artistic. I’m seeing a rise in popularity of this division among the young bodybuilders who love the posing style. Plus you wear classic style shorts and not the banana hammock you need to wear in the bodybuilding division. So if you are a proportioned, trained athlete who loves bodybuilding poses, this is a great option for you. My best suggestion for you guys is to have an honest conversation with yourself about your best angles, shapes, and really focus your posing your body to accentuate all of this. I work on this a lot in my weekly group virtual classes too. In fact there is such a desire for this division from OCB competitors that I had to create a whole separate class.  This class runs on Sundays at 12pm eastern. Go to learntopose.com and scroll down to the ocb class to find out more info.

Ok so let me summarize all of this for you. A quick way to choose the right division is to assess how much muscle you have.  Bikini and men’s physique are for those who are new or newer to training with a couple years under their belt; however, in the non drug tested federations this is still true but you might need a few more years of training to build the muscle that they tend to reward there.   

Figure and wellness are for those with more trained physiques and with more years of building muscle under your belt. Wellness is just as trained as Figure except where you carry your muscle is more lower body dominant than in the figure division.

Men’s classic physique and women’s physique are spin offs of the bodybuilding division and have gained popularity over the years for their uniqueness in posing styles and the celebrity of athletes like Chris Bumstead and Dana Linn Bailey who really helped expand the popularity of these divisions worldwide. These divisions require more muscle and more leanness in body fat compared to the bikini, figure, wellness, and men’s physique categories, but not as much as the bodybuilding divisions.  So if you have been training for quite a long time and love the idea of muscularity poses, classic physique and women’s physique are great options. 

And the bodybuilding division, is the most extreme of all divisions, and requires your body fat to get down to extreme levels to showcase all of your muscle and detail.

Besides all of these bodybuilding options are organizations that provide a completely different style of competition that is more pageant like than what you get with a standard bodybuilding show. You might really enjoy lifting and want a fun goal.  Or you have had an incredible weight loss transformation and you want to be judged more on your uniqueness not how well you fit within a specific bucket of criteria, or how tight your glutes are, or how lean you are.   You want to celebrate and showcase your uniqueness on stage and be scored on that. You want more stage time and not be spun around in a circle 1 or 2 times and then shuttled off stage. You want to wear costumes and design something fun that showcases your personality and style. You want more focus on how glamorous the stage looks and the best lighting for your moment on stage.  If this is you, there are options for you. 

Fitness Universe and Musclemania are the longest running organizations for this style of show. It was originally a television show that was on mainstream ESPN back in the day. The men’s options include physique, classic, and Model. The women’s options include Model, bikini, and figure. The judges are modeling agencies, actors, choreographers, and other industry experts. You are 100% scored on your uniqueness. And the look is not extreme.  You don’t have to have the most etched glute and hamstring tightness on stage to win.  This is a perfect option for those who want a fun fitness goal without the extremeness of a bodybuilding show. Come to one of my official virtual posing clinics to learn more about the categories. More info at learntopose.com and scroll to the clinic section

The WBFF is also more of a fitness meets fashion show but they are under a lot of heat lately for their judging and financial practices. They just made a huge announcement about many changes happening in 2024 with their scoring and judging practices.  They have a bikini, fitness model, wellness, and the figure category for the women and a male model and muscle model categories for the men.  Similar to bodybuilding organizations, the amount of muscle rewarded in the categories is what makes each of them distinctly different. What makes the organization unique is there is more than just a swimsuit round for most of the divisions.  Theme wear or evening wear are required as well, which can be super fun for people.  They do reward a more muscular physique so this is definitely a glamorous organization but you have to have some muscle too.  The bikini girls aren’t ripped but they do have full round quads. The fitness model girls have cuts in their quads. The figure girls are super jacked.  The men’s categories are lean too with the muscle model being simply just more muscular than the model category.  The biggest difference between this organization and a regular bodybuilding organization is you better be able to work a stage.

There are also theme wear divisions like this in the INBA/PNBA and the OCB even has a glamour division they just added to a couple of their shows too. These divisions are an add on to the bodybuilding style shows so the show experience isn’t like a tv show like the Fitness Universe and Musclemania, but the divisions are still super fun for those looking for more than just a standard bodybuilding experience.

So as you can see there is something for everyone.  If you love to perform and the idea of theme wear excites you, there are options for you. If you would rather stick a needle in your eye than wear a costume, there are more traditional options for you too.

But for the most part, even if you are competing in a pageant type show or a traditional bodybuilding show the difference between the categories is….yup, you guess it…. The amount of muscle you carry and how lean you need to get to be competitive.  The difference in the categories from federation to federation is their interpretation of acceptable muscle and level of leanness for each category with the drug tested federations rewarding less muscle and leanness than non drug tested organizations.

Ok guys I hope this help you weed through all the different options there are out there. Share this with your friends that are competitors or thinking about competing. Help spread the word and even consider leaving a review!  If you want to continue the conversation in our private group, come join the everything else in bodybuilding insiders Facebook group. Also, I have upcoming virtual posing clinics for competitors preparing for NPC, OCB, and brand new clinics for the Fitness Universe organization coming up. You can find out more info on all of them and my weekly virtual posing classes by going to learntopose.com I’ll be back later this week with another weekly discussion episode with my husband Vassilios. Talk to you then!