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Sassy69
New member
Hey girl - the one thing I'm going to say in light of your experience with this one show -- don't set your goals around what you saw here. It sounds like it was a rather lame example of a real competition. I have to say that with the arrival and establishment of the Figure category, it is going to become harder & harder for women's BB and possibly even fitness to continue to thrive. BB, especially -- I see the numbers of girls competing in shows dwindling and the general trend is away sort of in a backlash response to the freakiness that it escalated to as a sport since the mid 90s. You are not going to see the mostrously large women like Yaxeni Oriquen winning the Ms O anymore. Yaxeni is essentially the last of the "Old School". The IFBB announced this year that they wanted all FBBs to come in 20% "softer" this year in an attempt to move away from the Amazonian look of past yrs. Well you take a 5'8", 170 lb shredded competitor and tell them to be 20% softer -- they are going to end up mostly looking fat. And then there goes your whole sport. The smaller girls were able to soften up a little and still maintain an excellent show of muscle, but Yaxeni -- eh,... the sport is changing. Further, you see fewer and fewer opportunities for FBBs to make money in the sport, including promotion opportunities, etc. THe only place left for them to make a living is almost literally off of "muscle porn".
Fitness - I'm also seeing a shrinkage in the number of fitness competitors. Fitness requires not only a lot of muscle & leanness but also a lot of endurance and a background in gymnastics - this alone makes the barriers to entry fairly high. Also the demand on professional competitors to maintain this sort of performance level long enough to establish themselves as names in the sport is very hard. I've heard that one of the reasons the Figure category was created was so "retired' fitness competitors had a place to go.
So now, enter the Figure category. The barriers to entry are significantly lower than BB or fitness (and I'm not dissing Figure competitors, but it doesn't require years of hard training and prep to compete & do well in a figure show -- just no comparison, except maybe at the national / pro level). The diets aren't as extreme and the look is much more "aesthetically pleasing" so there are a wider variety of people who are willing to pursue. In BB, there was always controversy as to just how much muscle was "attractive", which of course, skewed the attraction of FBB as a sport. How are women supposed to be judged on the same attributes as men -- muscle, symmetry, size, thickness, leanness, etc. -- when the judges and most of the audience is sitting there saying that the women aren't attractive. "Attractive" isn't a judging criteria for men so why is it for women? Just the nature of the beast I guess. So most women aren't going to be interested in subjecting themselves to that sort of social commentary just to do the sport. Figure, on the other hand, is designed specifically for "attractive", with some, but still a lesser emphasis on symmetry, muscle, leanness, etc. But given this very small set of criteria and the judging being done on the basis of doing 4 qtr turns in 2 different posing suits means that essentially those who look the most like "Barbie" will win. You can't expect to go to pro level in figure if you 1) arent' photogenic, 2) don't have a boob job 3) dont' have capped delts 4) have a big butt 5) have overly developed quads.
OK .. but to keep this discussion in perspective, lots of ladies pursue competition, especially their first, as a hobby, as a validation for having reached a fitness goal, a chance to put on the fancy suits & big hair & makeup, for personal satisfaction, etc. And at higher levels, a chance to get into fitness modeling, a supplement to a certified trainer / nutritionist / something in the fitness industry job, etc. There are lots of places to go from Figure so it is generally more attractive to the pool of competitors, easier to do compared to BB or fitness and is generally more acceptable to the general populous.
Ok now, returning from my musings - do I think you can go into BB - probably very easily. If FBBs in general are now required to be "softer", you don't HAVE to get deeply involved in steroids and become a beast to compete. Do I think you should envision a long and illustrious career in BB, no. I think women's BB is goign to continue to suffer and lose audience to things like Figure. From my own experience, I *REALLY* enjoy the posing aspect of FBB. I find figure to be very unsatisfying as far as an opportunity to show of my muscle development and include somer sort of "personality" in the comeptition. But that's just me. Again, not dissing the figure competitors in any way. FBB is definitely a different focus so there just isnt' a comparison, but I personally really enjoy posing & the opportunity for some self-expression.
Fitness - I think if you have the skills and interest, you should check out some better shows and see if you want to continue in that. And as you found out, fitness also overlaps figure w/ the 1- & 2- piece suits and the qtr turns.
I would continue to go see shows, maybe compete in a better fitness competition than the one you experienced so you can make a better decision going forward for the amount of effort it all requires. I certainly don't think that pursuing BB would hurt you -- its a great base to go from if you choose later to follow figure -- noting that you'll have to reshape your body. And if you get into BB now, it still has a little life in it that you can tap into. I just wouldn't look to it for a long career though.
Fitness - I'm also seeing a shrinkage in the number of fitness competitors. Fitness requires not only a lot of muscle & leanness but also a lot of endurance and a background in gymnastics - this alone makes the barriers to entry fairly high. Also the demand on professional competitors to maintain this sort of performance level long enough to establish themselves as names in the sport is very hard. I've heard that one of the reasons the Figure category was created was so "retired' fitness competitors had a place to go.
So now, enter the Figure category. The barriers to entry are significantly lower than BB or fitness (and I'm not dissing Figure competitors, but it doesn't require years of hard training and prep to compete & do well in a figure show -- just no comparison, except maybe at the national / pro level). The diets aren't as extreme and the look is much more "aesthetically pleasing" so there are a wider variety of people who are willing to pursue. In BB, there was always controversy as to just how much muscle was "attractive", which of course, skewed the attraction of FBB as a sport. How are women supposed to be judged on the same attributes as men -- muscle, symmetry, size, thickness, leanness, etc. -- when the judges and most of the audience is sitting there saying that the women aren't attractive. "Attractive" isn't a judging criteria for men so why is it for women? Just the nature of the beast I guess. So most women aren't going to be interested in subjecting themselves to that sort of social commentary just to do the sport. Figure, on the other hand, is designed specifically for "attractive", with some, but still a lesser emphasis on symmetry, muscle, leanness, etc. But given this very small set of criteria and the judging being done on the basis of doing 4 qtr turns in 2 different posing suits means that essentially those who look the most like "Barbie" will win. You can't expect to go to pro level in figure if you 1) arent' photogenic, 2) don't have a boob job 3) dont' have capped delts 4) have a big butt 5) have overly developed quads.
OK .. but to keep this discussion in perspective, lots of ladies pursue competition, especially their first, as a hobby, as a validation for having reached a fitness goal, a chance to put on the fancy suits & big hair & makeup, for personal satisfaction, etc. And at higher levels, a chance to get into fitness modeling, a supplement to a certified trainer / nutritionist / something in the fitness industry job, etc. There are lots of places to go from Figure so it is generally more attractive to the pool of competitors, easier to do compared to BB or fitness and is generally more acceptable to the general populous.
Ok now, returning from my musings - do I think you can go into BB - probably very easily. If FBBs in general are now required to be "softer", you don't HAVE to get deeply involved in steroids and become a beast to compete. Do I think you should envision a long and illustrious career in BB, no. I think women's BB is goign to continue to suffer and lose audience to things like Figure. From my own experience, I *REALLY* enjoy the posing aspect of FBB. I find figure to be very unsatisfying as far as an opportunity to show of my muscle development and include somer sort of "personality" in the comeptition. But that's just me. Again, not dissing the figure competitors in any way. FBB is definitely a different focus so there just isnt' a comparison, but I personally really enjoy posing & the opportunity for some self-expression.
Fitness - I think if you have the skills and interest, you should check out some better shows and see if you want to continue in that. And as you found out, fitness also overlaps figure w/ the 1- & 2- piece suits and the qtr turns.
I would continue to go see shows, maybe compete in a better fitness competition than the one you experienced so you can make a better decision going forward for the amount of effort it all requires. I certainly don't think that pursuing BB would hurt you -- its a great base to go from if you choose later to follow figure -- noting that you'll have to reshape your body. And if you get into BB now, it still has a little life in it that you can tap into. I just wouldn't look to it for a long career though.
