Female Bodybuilding Now a Big Hit

Male bodybuilding competitions can be traced back all the way to the early 1900s, but female competitions have only gained recognition in the past 35 years.

The first U.S. Women’s National Physique Championship, held in Ohio in 1978, is often referred to as the first “true” bodybuilding contest for females. In the 1980s, the sport began to take off for women with the inception of competitions such as the Worlds Couples Championship and the Ms. Olympia competition. As years have gone by, the sport’s popularity among females has grown exponentially.

Women’s bodybuilding competitions are generally separated into a bodybuilding category, fitness category and figure category. While the term bodybuilding itself often refers to a muscle size competition, many females are flocking to the sport for the fitness and figure competitions which focus more on muscle tone and female beauty.

In a fitness competition, participants show off their physiques while performing in front of a panel of judges in a both a swimsuit round and an aerobic round. Competitors in the fitness competition typically have lean physiques, as overall muscle tone is judged instead of bulky muscle size.

The swimsuit round requires competitors to walk across the stage for judges while wearing two-piece bathing suits and high heeled shoes. There are strict stipulations as to how much of a participants’s body is covered by any bikini worn on stage.

The routine round of the fitness contest requires women to perform a physical activity on stage, such as a dance or gymnastic routine.

Many women who compete in fitness contests are often seen competing in figure competitions due to a similar focus on toned female physiques.

Figure competition are commonly separated into two rounds. A symmetry round sees women judged in one-piece bathing suits next to other competitors on stage. They are graded on body symmetry as well as hair style, makeup application, skin tone and overall style.

The second found in figure competitions brings individual contestants back to the stage in two-piece bathing suits for a more in-depth judgement of how feminine and toned their bodies look.