Are Female Bodybuilders Going Extinct?

Women's bodybuilding. This is a subject I've been thinking a lot about, and it's sparked a lot of great conversations with fellow competitors, many of whom seem to agree on a recent trend: It seems as if female bodybuilders are a dying breed. Think of the last couple shows you've been to- how many ladies were enrolled in the figure, bikini or fitness classes? Now how big were the ladies' bodybuilding classes? I'm willing to bet that at most shows, the figure and or bikini girls way outnumbered the bodybuilders. After seeing the growth of all sports, including bodybuilding federations and competitions as a whole, it's surprising to see this branch of it seeming to wither away, or at least not keep up with the growth the rest of the sport is enjoying. I took to the internet to see what others were saying and if they felt the same. I found an entry on Bodybuilding.com from a male competitor in Florida that echoed what many of my friends have also said in recent seasons:

“Just enter and you’ll be the champion… You wanna know why I am so sure you’re gonna win? Because there are no women entered in the competition! I went to a show recently- the largest bodybuilding competition in Florida, over 200 competitors, and not one single woman bodybuilder.  The past 3 years I have competed in or attended 22 amateur bodybuilding competitions where there are sometimes none or maybe 1 or 2 bodybuilding women per show. They win by default. 1st & overall title just by being there."

While I'm sure those ladies don't totally mind being able to say they took first in their class, and the overall- I know that they must still feel that much of their effort to prepare for that show was pointless.  Imagine not having to diet so hard, or getting away with little or even no cardio and still winning first in your class. Pretty sweet right? But it's a hollow victory when it's not earned against a challenging class of competitors. The thing pushing most of us to sacrifice and push past our limits is knowing that our competition is out there, persevering when we're giving up. But what if there is no competition?

While I'm always glad to see women getting into competition and training on any level, it saddens me to see that bodybuilding in most federations, natural or not, is seemingly forgotten at so many shows. So many forget, that there was a time when figure classes didn't even exist. It was not that long ago when there was simply men's bodybuilding, and women's bodybuilding. There may have been female 'fitness models', but they were more along the lines of a bikini class, toned and in shape, but necessarily lean or muscular by any means. It was as recently as 2002-2004 that most federations even added figure at an amateur level, and it wasn't until a season or two later that the first professional figure competitions took place. So figure is really still only about 7-8 years old at best, where as women's bodybuilding has been around for far longer. For for us ladies, it's where it all started and originated. In a way, it best represents the core values and roots of the natural sport: To celebrate the what the human body, male or female, is capable of in the most pure and untainted manner, no holds barred.


In 2011 new and seasoned female competitors have so many options: Bodybuilding, Figure, Fit Body, Fitness, Bikini. And while the addition of many of those classes seems to have drawn new and growing attention to the sport, it has been at the loss of female bodybuilding. While other parts of the sport seem to evolve, women's bodybuilding seems to have either stayed behind, or regressed and be on the borderline of going extinct altogether at some shows. But there's no reason for this branch to be dying, when more so than ever the natural federations are thriving and growing.  It's not that ladies with the potential to excel in bodybuilding no longer exist, it's that many are opting for figure instead.

As women we have so many opportunities to dominate in different branches of the sport it's ridiculous. All men get is bodybuilding, and occasionally the male fitness model class. A woman can start off in bikini when we first start working out, then venture into figure as we get more muscular, and when we really get a handle on our diet and master getting lean enough, we can crossover into bodybuilding as well. That's a lot of potential hardware, and a great resume. So why limit yourself. Choosing bodybuilding isn't a permanent change. You can do both figure and bodybuilding within the same season, or even at the same show if you're up for the challenge and the quick-change of posing suits backstage. Shoot, getting one pro-card may be nice, but imagine being a double pro-card holder in figure and bodybuilding. Now that's pretty badass.

To those of you ladies out there who are competitors in the natural federations, I ask you - what is stopping you from considering bodybuilding? You do the same workouts, you eat the same foods, you follow the same rules. What is it about bodybuilding that makes you feel not good enough, or like you don't measure up to the ideal standards?  So many natural federations claim that an ideal figure competitor should not be as lean or striated as their bodybuilding counterparts, yet I'm very consistently seeing that the winners are often some of the leanest in their class, and could easily cross over to bodybuilding in the same show and place towards the top if not win that as well. Hell, because of the lack of number of bodybuilders at each show, I notice often the figure competitors in general are leaner overall than some of the bodybuilders.  So you can hardly tell me that there's even much difference come show day aside from footwear and bedazzled suits, at least at the amateur level.  Shoot - if I knew that I would do just as well in BB as figure, and could save the extra $300 of Swarovski Crystals, you'd better believe I will be going barefoot- Or at least cross over and get double the hardware.



My friend Jody brought up a good point, that I definitely think is worth discussing.  We're losing potential female bodybuilders to figure before they even step on stage thanks to the stigma attached to our non-natural counterparts, and lack of attention for the natural ladies. People get the idea that natural or not, female bodybuilders are going to be 160lb+, altered freaks with low voices and jaw lines.  But this could not be more wrong. Most natural female bodybuilders are between 115 and 140lbs, with most of them falling at the lower end of the range in the 120's. This is not very far off from the average figure competitor who will average from 105-125 on show day. And regardless of show weight, in street clothes these women appear no bigger than the average size 4-6 woman. Some of them I would bet are even a size two. The only thing largely separating these women from their figure counterparts is that they are about 2-3% leaner, maybe an issue of 3-5lbs, than the figure girls. Other than that, side by side there is little visible difference in size.

But who can blame these ladies for being confused on what would be expected of them as a natural bodybuilder. When I did a Google image search for images for this blog for 'female bodybuilders' I got one picture after another of some very altered, very non-feminine, very not natural athletes. Even when I added the word natural, the results weren't too enlightening. Still mostly IFBB pros, and no Yorton winners, or WNBF Pros. A good indicator that as far as natural bodybuilding may have come in the last 10 years, we still have work to do to educate the masses.

I feel like there's so much I can say on this topic, and so much I wish I said better. I know it's not like as if by writing this, I will inspire masses of ladies to make the switch. All I can say is that if you're an active competitor, or someone who will be competing in the near future, I would hope that you will consider what I have said.  Don't underestimate yourself and what you're capable of. Figure is very competitive and challenging, but the opportunity to compete as a bodybuilder as well is an avenue you should not close yourself off to in the future. And if you find you still need some convincing, I refer you to the video below. If she can do it at 73, I'm pretty certain any other competitor can.