Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitions
Natural bodybuilding and fitness competitions are becoming ever more popular due to the increasing awareness of the value of a healthy body. Athletes are not as willing to take the performance enchancing drugs.
The athletes that attend these competitions must have passed a drug screening test within the last two months or they are not allowed to compete. If they fail a test then they are not allowed to compete for five years for a first offense. Second offenses, for failing a drug test result in being banned from natural competitions for life.
Poses For the Showdown
In natural bodybuilding and fitness competitions, athletes compete according to their different age classes and sex. Each athlete is required to do a series of different poses and routine to show off the muscles of their body. The uniforms that are worn during the competition are bikini trunks for men of any color but devoid of any other markings or ornamentation. For women, a two piece bathing suit is worn, also of any color but without ornamentation.
At the beginning of the natural bodybuilding and fitness competition, the athletes of an age class will come out in a group and stand in line in front of the judges. During this part of the competition, they stand in a semi-relaxed state and turn to the right a quarter turn each time the judges ask them to do so. The judges will ask them to turn until they have seen each side of the body and looked for the symmetry, musculature and definition in each competitor's body.
Mandatory Poses
The next stage in a natural bodybuilding and fitness competition is for the athletes to perform the ten mandatory poses that show off the muscles of all parts of the body. There are specific ways the poses must be held in order to best show the musculature of the contestant's body. The first nine both men and women do but the tenth is sex specific, with the men performing the most muscular pose or 'crab shot' and the women performing the most symmetrical pose. The other poses are the front double biceps, front lat spread, abdominal pose, side chest, side triceps, rear double triceps, rear double biceps, rear lat spread, quadriceps, and hands on hips most muscular.
Free Form Posing
The routine stage of the competition is last. This is where the competitors get ninety seconds to show off their stuff in a more free form approach. They can use music and demonstrate some fo their other talents like karate or gymnastics during this phase. This is the time when they can let their personality show through in the competition.
