NPC figure vs. fitness physiques

[Dingo12]

I was in a figure contest last year and a physique girl placed higher than me, she was obvious;y physique and the girl who placed 2nd was soft and had the 'droopy' breasts already described here. The winner was figure class but these other 2 certainly were not. I also hated having to wear the heels.

 

[Sassy69]

I agree w/ new -- the definition of what exactly "figure" is is not clear. I think many of the competitors were "told" the judges didnt' want the bb look -- not as big, not as ripped, etc. Bullshit! The girls who won the figure shows I've seen (some with 30-40 figure competitors in "short" and "tall" groups) were ripped as shit, but still had the boobs and the beauty pageant look. Many of the girls had great quad definition, excellent upper body, but kinda saggy buns. Sort of like "half" an effort for a bb comp. Strange. A few bb trainers I know won't even take on figure clients because they dont' know what the hell they are training for. I think until its clear what exactly they are looking for, they voice that to the competitors and stick to that in judging, then there will be lots of confusion and frustration. Unfortunately I don't even see any consistency in what judges are looking for in women's bb. (Let's not even discuss the local politics of shows either....)

 

[wilson6]

Train them all the same. The difference is diet, supplementation and genetics. There is too much emphasis on different types of training. The way I see it, a good physique has a symmetrical bodybuilding base to it whether its figure, fitness or bodybuilding. I trained New@ like a bodybuilder, same routine I used for the client I just posted pics of. New@ was figure, the other bodybuilder. Both won overall in their respective shows.

Saggy asses are a function of trainers that think figure or fitness shouldn't squat. They spend all their time with lunges and other light mechanical loading type exercises. You won't get an ass from that type of workload unless you're born with one.

The show I saw this weekend; in my opinion both fitness and figure lacked good legs and glutes as a whole. A few were OK, but most were lacking in that area because many of them train the same way. Too much light aerobic based shit and not enough basic lifting.

Some of these girls think that oxandrolone is a substitute for squats. And.......while I'm on that one, some of these girls tell people that they don't use steroids, just anavar........... Hmmmm..........and I always thought anavar was a steroid. Learn something new every day.

W6

 

[supergirl]

They pranced them around, and instead of a trophy or plate, like everyone else got, they recieved a crown and flowers.

you have got to be kidding me.. that i have never seen.. was it an NPC show?? Because they give really nice trophies at NPC

anyway.. i spoke with 2 sanctioned judges today.. and what it boils down to is this... they have no fucking idea what the constraints are and what they are looking for LOL typical!!! But they did say that most of the competitors when they get to national level are low bodyfat ~11-12%, muscularity without striations, but perfect shape and tone.. and most are relatively pretty. So i guess that helps a little NOT LOL seems like what we are all thinking goes... it is a fitness show, minus the routine.

 

[Amhum]

I am getting ready for a figure show and what I am learning and what is frsutrating is what wins at one show could get killed at another. It is subjective to what the judges like? Whether they like a lot of muscle or a little, whether they like big girls or little girls; what one judge finds attractive another judge may not. In bodybuilding if a woman is ripped and hard there is no denying it, it is a fact. In figure, it just depends on what a particluar set of judges is looking for that night. I just went to a National Qualifier in Ohio this past weekend and these girls had a lot of muscle and were tight. None of them looked like they just walked off the street and put on a bikini. I would say they were under 10% BF. So, I think the confusion and frustration is there is not really any consistency. My trainer told me the NPC just sent out a letter clearly stating what they are looking for in figure. The problem is that I don't think they sent them out to competitors, only NPC officials. I think it would help if they sent them to competitors so we would know exactly how to prepare. Just me $0.02

 

[Sassy69]

the NPC just sent out a letter clearly stating what they are looking for in figure. The problem is that I don't think they sent them out to competitors, only NPC officials.

That's what they do to enhance the competition... In bb, you do the posing routine, in fitness you do the fitness routine, for figure you get to guess what the judges think they want!

I think anything that judges women on how they look will have an annoyingly inconsistent subjective element to it. For guys they look at symmetry, thickness, leanness, proportion, etc. For women, they look at all of that AND THEN add in whether or not they would "do that chick" or think this or that one "looks like she's probably a bitch" LOL! You know, the same shit that all women ultimately get judged on.

 

[MS]

In my country we have had figure class for around 6 years now, so maybe I can give a little perspective of where things are heading. The first 2 years the figure chicks looked just like fitness chicks, but out of that group the leanest and most muscular woman usually took first (unless she was over the top physique look). But the judging was all over the place. After that the trend has been towards increasing muscularity and leaness along the lines of pro females of the eighties. Hardly anyone competes in fitness anymore, the prejudging takes far too long since there are short and tall novice, junior, open, masters and international classes for figure alone. Also, almost nobody competes in physique anymore. Figure has basically become the only female class with a decent number of competitors but every year the bar gets raised higher in terms of muscularity and leaness. As a spin-off of the success of figure there is now a NABBA class for men called 'athletic' and it too has become more popular in that federation than physique. But again the bar gets raised higher every year so the men are coming in bigger and leaner to win. So enjoy the fitness look while you can get away with it, but as Wilson6 said, you've got to train like a physique competitor if you want to place well. And of course have the genetics etc.....(or a good plastic surgeon).

 

[Super Girl 22]

figure is fitness without the routines. it gives girls with a fitness-framed body the chance to compete without the routine. its almost the same as bodybuilding except the judges dont want to see that much muscle. they want toned & defined...not thick. my friend is competing in Nov in NYC & Georgia for the NPC easterns...she will be competing in fitness (which is what she originally started in) and she will also be competing in the fitness division. http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/contests/competitor.cfm?ID=595 This is what she looked like last year competing in the fitness division (this pic is posted on another thread as well). I think the figure division is great for anyone who does not have the gymnastics background but has the build for competing.

sg22

 

[Sassy69]

MS -- if the trend is toward more lean & muscular, do you see a convergence between figure and bb now? The general trend for women's bb has been away from the "man" look, so will there always be a dividing line between these two or will they become one do you think?

 

[MS]

I think the lack of sponsorship and public support for the huge. masculine look on a female has pretty much killed that sport as it exists now. The IFBB judges have been explicitly told to mark down female physique competitors that exhibit 'excessive muscularity' or that 'lack femininity'. So yes I see a convergence of sorts. The physique competitors getting less muscular and the fitness competitors getting more muscular. The last show I went to, the winner of the open short figure female was more muscular than than the women who took the open physique. This was mainly because there was only one competitor in open physique, versus 14 in the figure class! (small local show).