Natural Open Physique Competitions For The Beginner

Natural Open Physique Competitions For The Beginner

Natural Open Physique Competitions For The Beginner

Natural open physique competitions are a perfect opportunity to get into the competitive scene in bodybuilding.

There are amateur competitions if you’re competing for the first time, or if you are a teen you can even compete in the novice and teen divisions.

The natural open physique competitions would be a great choice for you if you are in good shape and have had a fair amount of training. These types of competitions don’t require you to be huge, and your body doesn’t have to be of a massive size. The natural open is for those that have built their muscles naturally without steroid enhancements.

Both men and women who compete in natural open physique competitions for the first time will likely be pretty terrified to get up in front of the judges and the crowd. However, the following guidelines will help you along the way and you should feel more confident and should do very well in the competition.

The most important elements in doing well in the competition have to do with percentage off body fat and posing. You’ll want to make sure that your body fat percentage is in the single digits. Of course the lower the better.

There are several books and publications on the subject of natural bodybuilding and there are several gurus that can offer you advice on how to train. However, here are a few guidelines you can follow:

Natural Open Physique1. MEN’S PHYSIQUE:

MENS PHYSIQUE DIVISION RULES
Muscularity and Body Condition – Judges will be looking for fit contestants who display proper shape and symmetry combined with muscularity and overall condition. This is not a bodybuilding contest so extreme muscularity should be marked down.

Stage Presence and Personality – Contestants will be asked to walk in board shorts (shorts must be just above the knee in length and can be one inch below the belly button, no spandex and no logos are permitted on the board shorts however a manufacturer’s logo such as Nike symbol or Billabongs are acceptable.) Competitors will enter the stage without a shirt and barefoot. No lewd acts allowed for example the moon pose. Judges are looking for the contestant with the best stage presence and poise who can successfully convey his personality to the audience.

MENS PHYSIQUE COMPETITION PRE-JUDGING
Presentation – Competitors will walk to the center of the stage alone and perform front and back turns with optional pose of hand on hip or hand in pocket, finishing facing the judges as directed then proceed to the side of the stage.

Comparison Round – The competitors will be brought back out in a group and directed to do turns. Judges will have the opportunity to compare competitors against each other in the group turns.

MENS PHYSIQUE COMPETITION FINALS
Presentation – Competitors will be introduced by the MC and then will walk to the center of the rear stage, and then walk forward to the “X” on the stage and perform front and back turns with optional pose of hand on hip or hand in pocket, upon finishing face the judges, and then exit the stage.

Women's Physique2: WOMEN’S PHYSIQUE:

WOMEN’S PHYSIQUE DIVISION RULES
A. Judging Criteria
The judges are looking for: Symmetry, Shape, Proportion, Muscle Tone, Poise, Beauty

Physique comparisons will take place during prejudging. Women’s Physique Division is for women who enjoy weight lifting and competing. Athletes should display a tone, athletic physique showcasing femininity and muscle tone.

What’s NOT being looked for in women’s physique are: Shredded, Striated, Vascular, Massive Muscle
All types of physiques will be considered when it comes down to height, weight, structure, etc. striations and excessive muscularity will be scored down accordingly.

B. JUDGING FORMAT
Prejudging
Quarter turns
Mandatory posing comparisons and callouts:
Front double biceps/open hands, no flat footed full front pose-front twisting pose
Back double bicep/open hands
Side chest with arms extended
Side triceps with leg extended
Front abs /thigh

Finals
Individual posing routine:
Finals routine will be a maximum 60 seconds in length, performed to music of the athlete’s choice following the rules set forth by the NGA. Music containing profanity or explicit language will not be allowed and may result in being disqualified from contest. Therefore, the Women’s Physique competitor, like the Mens and Womens Bodybuilders are responsible to provide a CD of the their posing music (Audio tape only, No I-tunes, or MP3, or other formats, and they homemade CD must be finalized, or it will only play on the deck that it was made. Please make sure that you try your music CD out on several other decks prior to the event day to make sure that the CD will actually play on decks other than the one you made it on. Also, please prepare a CD with no other music on it (other your posing music).

C. ATTIRE
Suits worn by women’s physique athletes for prejudging must be a two piece. Suits do not need to be a solid color the bottom of the suit must be v-shaped absolutely no thongs are permitted. All suits must be in good taste. No heels may be worn or props will be used at any time during competition and judging of women’s physique.

D. HEIGHT CLASSES
Promoters can choose how many height classes or one.

General Notes about Training, Cardio and Eating 

Train for maximum amount of strength. There are two phases of strength training. The first type of training will be with heavy weights to stimulate the muscle and promote maximum size and density to occur while the second type will be training in volume to stimulate metabolic enhancement.

Aerobic and cardio training. Many physique competitors make the mistake of thinking that cardio doesn’t matter when training for building muscle. What aerobic training will do for you is to help that excess body fat to disappear. This can be in the form of HIIT cardio or running sprints or even a class, such as cardio kick-boxing.

Eating right and getting plenty of rest. This should go without saying, however many people think that since they are training so hard they don’t need to worry about calorie intake. It’s imperative to have the proper healthy balance of carbs and protein and fats during the original training phase, and then ultimately a few weeks before the actual competition the carbs get cut and that allows the body to get down to its final competition shape, eliminating that last final fat percentage.

Whether you have the gift of genetics on your side and have the natural ability to build muscle easily and have very little fat content, or if it takes a bit longer and harder work for you, truly anyone can train and compete in the natural open physique competitions.