A relatively new type of female bodybuilding is the fitness bikini category. It combines both the natural data of the participants, their grace and plasticity, and working on their body in the gym in combination with proper nutrition and caring for the body and hair.
What is a fitness bikini?
Until quite recently, many people associated women's iron sport with ladies with huge muscles and masculine features, a complete lack of femininity. The International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness (IFBB) decided to correct this by introducing a new sports discipline called fitness bikini in 2010.
It was assumed that fitness bikini would be a separate direction in the field of fitness, at competitions in which girls would demonstrate their excellent athletic physical shape combined with a model appearance in special costumes - bikini swimsuits. Hence the name of the discipline. That is, such performances are something between female bodybuilding and a beauty contest. However, bikinists (as the participants are called) need to put in a lot of effort in the gym and at home in order to count on a prize.
History of development
The word “bodybuilding” was introduced into use by Evgeniy Sandov at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1904 he wrote the book Bodybuilding: Man in Action. In addition, he is considered the first representative of this direction in history.
Being a circus strength athlete, in between strength routines he demonstrated the beauty of his physically developed body, taking various static poses. No strongman had ever done this before.
The statuette, which is awarded as a reward at the most prestigious competition among professional bodybuilders, Mr. Olympia, is made in the image of Evgeniy Sandow.
In a number of European countries the term “bodybuilding” is also used. This is the French equivalent of the word bodybuilding.
Its real boom began in the 60s of the last century.
Among European countries, England was considered the leader in bodybuilding. France and Germany also developed in this direction. But the United States was considered the world center of bodybuilding, and it gained particular popularity in the state of California.
Most athletes sought to move to the United States to train and compete with top athletes.
This is exactly what the Austrian Arnold Schwarzenegger did, who became a bodybuilding icon for many decades. This happened thanks to the support of brothers Joe and Ben Weider.
In 1946, the Vaders created their own bodybuilding federation, the IFBB. And in 1965, the Mr. Olympia competition was established.
In England in 1948, the main competitor of the Vaders appeared - the NABBA federation. The Mister Universe tournament has a long history, as it began to be held from the first year of the founding of the federation.
Over time, other federations appeared and disappeared. But the leading positions in this sport are still retained by the two already mentioned players.
At the present stage of development of bodybuilding, in addition to IFBB and NABBA, there are a number of less significant federations:
- WABBA
- WBBF
- WFF
- NAC
They also hold competitions to promote bodybuilding.
Fitness bikini options
In order to participate in such competitions, a girl must have a certain fitness bikini figure, which is assessed by:
- General harmonious correct natural proportions of the body. Many women cannot do anything with this most important point, because short legs or too long arms automatically exclude the participant from the competition.
- Stately correct posture.
- Pronounced body muscles and general muscle tone, light relief while maintaining femininity and attractiveness. The main characteristics are narrow hips with rounded buttocks, a flat stomach. The growth of muscle mass should not contradict genetic laws, so bikinists achieve this form without pharmacological intervention. At the same time, to demonstrate excellent physical shape, a minimum percentage of body fat, about 8-10%, is very important.
- The ideal weight of participants in this category is often easy to determine using the formula: height in centimeters minus 112-114.
Women's body fitness What is it. Old Myths
Con Myth No. 1: Female bodybuilders look like men.
To be fair, I will say that this also happens. But this is a separate story about steroids with the title: “Make a person with a known IQ pray to God...”. But how do things go for the most part?
As you know, everything in the world strives for harmony and naturalness. Lyrics of course, but fact. And women's bodybuilding is no exception. The majority of women engage in bodybuilding naturally and do not take steroids.
This means that it will be physiologically impossible for a woman to acquire a male body type.
The hormone testosterone is responsible for the development of male muscles; in men it is hundreds (!) times more than in women. To lose the femininity of a muscle corset, you need to spoil yours for a long time and tediously throughout your life. You're not going to do that, are you?
At least remember how it all began. Rachel McLeish, the first Miss Olympia winner, is a living motivation. Her photos are really nice to look at. She studied only for herself; initially she did not even plan to participate in the competition.
Afterwards there were the same beautiful and healthy beauty participants. For example, the famous Lisa Lyon. Times change, unfortunately, and now she would be considered insufficiently pumped up.
Con Myth #2: Female bodybuilding causes infertility.
Body-building? Doesn't call. Madness and fanaticism? This is already more likely.
Disastrous consequences can occur if a woman takes chemicals (including anabolic hormonal drugs) or craves iron to the point of breaking a sweat and volvulus. Therefore, the golden rule about moderation should always be kept in mind.
Myth “con” number 3: if you have to stop exercising, fat will appear instead of muscles.
Fat will not appear instead of muscle in the same way that milk will not appear instead of water. It’s another matter if you stop exercising, but out of habit you eat the same amount. Less energy is spent, and the rest may well be deposited in fat on the muscles. They, in turn, will decay over time in any case, and if you completely abandon training, then this process will no longer be slowed down. This is all natural and physiological, and bodybuilding has nothing to do with it.
There are older people who constantly maintain their body in normal condition. And even in old age they look incomparable.
Myth “con” number 4: bodybuilding is expensive.
Special equipment, sports nutrition, subscriptions, a trainer, enhanced meals six times a day - all this is very expensive for the average resident of Russia.
But wait. All the clothes you need: a simple tracksuit made of breathable fabric, sneakers with non-slip, flat soles no thicker than 2 cm, without any shock-absorbing or springy bells and whistles. Gloves and a special belt for weightlifting training will also come in handy. A gym can be found in a budget option (lucky for those who have everything they need at home). But a coach is needed only at first. As you can see, it’s not such an expensive hobby.
Myth "pro" number 1: bodybuilding will increase breast size.
Unfortunately no. Breasts are mammary gland and fat. And the essence of bodybuilding, especially competitive bodybuilding, is to reduce fat mass and increase muscle mass. The contestants there have beautiful breasts and they don’t smell, they just melt.
Another thing is all sorts of modern branches of bodybuilding: body fitness and fitness bikini. I will tell you more about the types. The breasts are no longer destroyed here, the shape is simply corrected due to toned muscles.
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Myth “for” number 2: you can eat anyhow - iron will handle it on its own.
Probably, the first ones who think so confuse powerlifting and bodybuilding. In powerlifting, you can eat unhealthy food a couple of times a week - this is a kind of psychological release. That's what Dwayne Johnson does, by the way. Here, for the most part, the fat layer doesn’t matter. Strength and power are the main thing.
In our case, food should be rationed. Fat tends to a minimum, and this is impossible without appropriate nutrition.
Fitness bikini categories
Initially, this trend in fitness had only two categories. In current competitions, contestants are divided by height into 8 main categories:
- class A
over 158 cm; - class B
over 160 cm; - class C
over 162 cm; - class D
over 164 cm; - class E
over 166 cm; - class F
over 169 cm; - class G
over 172 cm; - class H
above 172 cm.
More modern fitness models are classified by age, height and level of physical training into:
- Juniors
, that is, girls from 16 to 23 years old with a height of less than 160 cm, from 160 to 166 cm and above. - Masters
, that is, women over 35 years old and over 40 years old, whose height is up to or over 163 cm.
Men's categories (disciplines) in bodybuilding [edit | edit code ]
Men's bodybuilding competition
There are weight categories:
- up to 70 kg inclusive;
- up to 75 kg inclusive;
- up to 80 kg inclusive;
- up to 85kg inclusive;
- up to 90 kg inclusive;
- up to 95 kg inclusive;
- up to 100 kg inclusive;
- over 100kg
There are also weight categories at IFBB International Competitions:
In competitions among junior men bodybuilding
there are two categories:
- Juniors under 23 years old – up to 80 kg;
- Juniors under 23 years old – over 80 kg.
There are two categories at IFBB International Competitions:
- Juniors under 23 years old – up to 75kg;
- Juniors under 23 years old – over 75kg.
In competitions among male masters
(veteran bodybuilding) over 40 years old there is one absolute category.
At IFBB International Competitions there are categories:
- Veterans 40-49 years old: up to 70kg, up to 80kg, up to 90kg, over 90kg;
- Veterans 50-59 years old: up to 80kg, over 80kg;
- Veterans over 60 years of age are one absolute category.
Fitness [edit | edit code ]
men's fitness competitions
There is one absolute category, according to the rules:
- up to 170 cm (inclusive) Max. weight = height – 100 (permissible excess +1 kg)
- up to 175 cm (inclusive) Max. weight = height – 100 (permissible excess +2 kg)
- up to 180 cm (inclusive) Max. weight = height – 100 (permissible excess +3 kg)
- up to 190 cm (inclusive) Max. weight = height – 100 (permissible excess +4 kg)
- up to 198 cm (inclusive) Max. weight = height – 100 (permissible excess +4.5 kg)
- over 198 cm (inclusive) Max. weight = height – 100 (permissible excess +5 kg)
At International IFBB competitions there is another category: juniors under 21 years old - absolute category (according to the same IFBB rules)
In women's bodybuilding competitions, there is one absolute category.
There are also categories at IFBB International Competitions:
- Juniors – up to 23 years old – absolute category
- Veterans – over 35 years old – absolute category
How to become a fitness bikini?
In order for bikini fitness classes to be not just a hobby, but to have a serious claim to success in competitions, it is necessary:
- Have harmonious natural characteristics. At the same time, any fitness trainer who has experience in training contestants can determine whether a girl can perform in competitions.
- Intensively engage in sports according to a special program for the natural increase in muscle mass and the creation of pronounced relief.
- An important element of how to prepare for a fitness bikini is proper nutrition for athletes, which consists of several stages: weight gain and the so-called “drying”, that is, reducing the amount of fat in the body.
- At competitions, judges also evaluate the condition of bikini athletes’ skin and hair, which are important to care for in preparation for competitions.
- The competitions themselves take place using a special costume, shoes, hairstyle and makeup.
- Training in posing and the ability to present oneself will also not be superfluous.
Nutrition fitness bikini
It will be impossible to achieve a beautiful healthy body without following the general principles of proper nutrition and some specialized diet features:
- When preparing for competitions, bikini athletes eat split meals: 5-7 times a day for a high-quality gain of muscle mass.
- At the same time, the fitness bikini menu contains only high-quality and healthy products: meat, fish, dairy products, complex carbohydrates in the form of cereals, eggs and nuts, a large amount of vegetables, herbs and fruits.
- Girls try to avoid sugar, alcohol, trans fats and fast food.
- Athletes drink at least 1.5-2.5 liters of clean water every day.
- A few months before the competition, bikini athletes begin the so-called “drying”. This is a low-carbohydrate diet aimed at reducing the amount of subcutaneous fat and creating muscle definition.
Fitness bikini program
Standard fitness bikini workouts are built according to the following algorithm:
- To participate in competitions, girls visit the gym 5-6 times a week.
- Every strength workout involves using light weights for high reps in a circuit or superset fashion.
- After performing strength exercises, cardio exercise is required for at least 20 minutes.
- Every day, participants load different muscle groups: shoulders, back and biceps, chest and shoulders, legs, back and triceps.
- It is better to perform isolated exercises under the guidance of an experienced trainer to eliminate microtraumas, sprains, neuralgia and other consequences of improper use of sports equipment or adherence to a training regimen.
Body fitness What is it for women. Body fitness: basic principles, nutrition, exercises
Today we will talk about body fitness. Body fitness is a type of fitness. The main feature of body fitness is the proportional development of the body, the correct development of all muscle groups. During body fitness training, much attention is paid to strength training, thanks to such exercises a correct and beautiful muscle relief is created, and with the help of these exercises you can improve your figure and posture in general.
It should be noted that in body fitness great attention is paid to nutrition. Since proper diet is the main component of body fitness. The diet must contain large quantities of amino acids, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals. In addition to natural nutrition in body fitness, it is desirable to use special supplements. It should be taken into account that with the correct use of supplements, muscle growth occurs many times faster, and recovery after training does not take so long. With regular body fitness training, the result is an ideal figure, this happens in both women and men.
Nutrition during body fitness classes
In this article we will introduce you to the general concepts of proper nutrition, and after that you can create your own personal diet. When they come to the gym, most girls and women have the goal of losing weight. Yes, indeed body fitness can help with this, but everything would be fine if such ladies were not tormented by dreams. They want “everything at once,” and if they lose weight, then in two to three weeks. They want to achieve the ideal of beauty in just a week or maximum in a month. Any trainer will say that this is impossible and they are disappointed when leaving the gym. Strict diets can help you lose weight quickly, but you shouldn’t consider them in the long term, since in this way they slow down your metabolism, and after a diet, your diet naturally increases, which ultimately leads to inevitable weight gain. That is, we lead to the fact that to practice body fitness, you do not need to starve and limit yourself in food. First you need to change your metabolism. You just need to make some changes to your diet, while keeping the calorie content at the same level. This seemingly inconspicuous advice can really bring you noticeable results, and at the same time you don’t have to exhaust yourself with a hunger strike. The advantage of this technique is that you don’t have to completely give up your favorite sweets and cookies. Naturally, you won’t be able to absorb as much food as you did before, but still you don’t give up on goodies.
Preparing for fitness bikini
Having understood that this is a fitness bikini, beginners understand that participation in competitions involves not only training in the gym and proper nutrition, but also:
- Work on posing in front of judges, the ability to carry yourself on stage, smile pleasantly and make a good impression without a touch of vulgarity.
- Preparing a special costume: a special swimsuit, shoes and jewelry.
- Any injections and implants to increase or correct body proportions, with the exception of breasts, are strictly prohibited.
- Creating a stage look, which includes beautiful makeup for a fitness bikini, hair styling and applying special long-lasting makeup to the entire body with a tanning effect, which maximally emphasizes the participant’s figure.
Fitness bikini posing
Before the competition, girls learn special fitness bikini poses that they will demonstrate to the judges:
- Loose frontal pose facing the judges with one hand on the hip while the other one is held nicely near the leg.
- Turn to the right 90° demonstrating the left side, right hand on the hip.
- Turn 90° to the right into a free frontal position with your back to the judges, demonstrating the relief of the back of your legs, buttocks and back.
- Turn to the right 90° demonstrating the right side, left hand on the hip.
Fitness bikini swimsuit
On stage, fitness bikini girls parade in specialized swimsuits:
- It should be a two-piece bikini with a V-shaped bottom. Thongs are prohibited.
- Often girls have a suit made to order according to individual measurements.
- For a spectacular appearance on stage, the fabric often contains sparkles, rhinestones, beads, beads and other appropriate decorative elements.
- It is not forbidden to combine a swimsuit with certain jewelry: bracelets and wedding rings, earrings that match the style and color scheme with the image of the contestant.
- In this case, the girl’s shoes should be open with stiletto heels 8-12 cm high. The platform is allowed no more than 1 cm.
Fitness bikini competition
The International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness has created a competition in the fitness bikini category that is as accessible as possible to the general population, so to participate in such a competition you only need to submit an application and pay a symbolic membership fee of $14-30. After this, the contestants arrive at the venue on the day of the competition and prepare for the performance.
The championship itself takes place in one round, consisting of two stages:
- The first is called "presentation"
. In it, each participant walks to the center of the stage in front of the jury with the “gait of a model” and demonstrates the main poses: facing, with her back to the jury with her hands on her hips, walking away beautifully. Each athlete is given only 10 seconds. - The second is called “comparison”
. In this part of the competition, athletes go on stage in groups and, at the command of one of the judges, perform four 90° turns to the right. The jury compares bikini athletes with each other, choosing girls with the optimal balance of all the required parameters. After which the winners are announced.
