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When a bodybuilder does a bodybuilding
posing exhibition, he just goes out onstage and does his routine. But to
learn how to pose effectively in a contest, you need to understand
something about how The International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB)
bodybuilding competitions are organized and conducted.
The International Federation of
Bodybuilders (IFBB) sanctions international amateur competition and all
authorized professional events. In amateur events, competitors are
divided into weight classes:
- bantamweight
- lightweight
- middleweight
- light heavyweight
- heavyweight
- super heavyweight
In professional contests, there are no
weight classes. All bodybuilding competitors are put in one class,
regardless of size. In the past, height was used rather than weight to
determine which bodybuilding competitor was placed in which class.
However, over time it was realized that using weight classes created a
much more closely matched group of bodybuilding competitors, with much
greater similarity of development, than did separating them by height.
Until 1980, IFBB pro events were
conducted in two weight classes, with 200 pounds being the dividing
line, and the winners of each class would compete against each other in
a posedown for the overall title. However, for an event as important as
the Mr. Olympia, this meant the judges would have all the time they
needed to compare bodybuilding competitors in each class but only a few
minutes to determine which of the class winners should take the coveted
Mr. Olympia title. Having all the competitors, regardless of size,
compete in one class may seem to put the smaller bodybuilders at a
greater disadvantage, but this is not necessarily the case. When the
judges compare bodybuilders of different sizes over an extended period
of time, they are better able to look at the actual quality of the
various physiques onstage, to examine them in detail and to notice any
superiority of development displayed by the smaller competitors. On the
other hand, when bodybuilders of different sizes compete in different
classes and the overall winner is chosen in a brief posedown, the judges
have to make their decision much more quickly, and the larger
bodybuilder, who can make a greater impression in a short time, has a
clear advantage.
IFBB contests today are divided into
two parts and four rounds. The first part is the prejudging, Prejudging
is clinical and technical, highly interesting to bodybuilding fans, but
not that entertaining for those who don't know what they're looking at.
Prejudging consists of two rounds.
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