Teen contest - what do they look for??

[pinkbunny55]

My daughter wants to get into the body building. She has asked me to see what is available for her to compete in - BUT she does not know if she should train for the "fitness" look or the huge "man like look" or what the judges will look for.
AND on top of it all - we cant find anything for females to compete in teen comps?!?!?!

Thanks
Bunny

 

[Freak Show]

Several of my friends have done teen division. I've seen a ton of em myself. Just like drug tested shows, they go for conditioning. I'm sorry, but I've never once seen a female competitor in the teen division. I don't know the rules. If she's good, you may have no other choice but to throw her in the "open" division or look for a NOVICE bb show with a women's division. Hope this helps.

 

[Sassy69]

Bunny:

There was a 16 year old girl in my first comp last summer - we were both in the Novice middle weight (made me feel old...) But anyway, she had good posing (her parents own the gym that hosted the show), but she didn't have much of anything to show. Kind of annoying for those of us who did. It is also hard your first time around to figure out what the judges are looking for. I would suggest you and your daughter go see a couple of shows with some women competing. See what the judges look for and how the girls pose. You could probably talk to some of the competitors or even the judges to see what they want. Esp. in novice they are a little more forgiving. See if your daughter is comparable to what you see on among the competitors. If not, keep training. No reason to rush into it. Many of the female competitors I have seen are in their late 20s thru 40's. Seems muscle gets better w/ maturity. There was even a 72 year old woman in the last comp I did. And 2 guys in the "Over 80" category! They were so cute. Kinda sad - none of them could hear the pose calls....

For natural competition (god I hope she isn't into AS yet...), most women simply can't look like men - get that big, etc. Frankly I had more mass than most of the women in my comp - but they were leaned out like crazy - I'd say they looked more "fitness" than "bodybuilder" just because of the lack of size like the professionals (non-steroid), if I had to describe it. I would also note that the diet, especially the last week of depletion, is brutal so at a young age, I would watch your daughter's diet before AND after the target competition because its pretty easy to think you're all done and time to party (e.g. eat all the junk food you can get your hands on). NOPE. You can eat anything you want that night after the competition, but you better get back on a clean diet if you don't want to rebound.

Hope that helps. I found that bb competition is definitely a life style, not just something you do because you "got big" lifting. Oh yea, and I don't know where you are with the posing portion of competition. If she wants to do a competition, find someone who can show you how to pose. Nothing looks sillier on stage than someone who can't pose the "right" way. And, no men's posing is not the same as women's posing....

Good luck!

~ sassy