Contra Costa Bodybuilding Championships

Here is a link to the photos from the Contra Costa Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure and Bikini Championships.

You can click on the first photo to enlarge it then click on next to view through them. There does not appear to be any comparisons online yet.

Then there are the score sheets Masters Figure 45+

You can scroll through to Open Figure C for the results of the unlimited group. I enter both divisions, the Masters and then the Unlimited (also called open) as this gives me more opportunities. The Open division is separated by height classes, but not age group, its open to all women 18 years and older.

These score sheets detail where each judge felt you should be placed, you are aiming for a low score, preferably 1.

They add all of the scores up, then throw out the highest and lowest (when you look at my scores for "C", one judge gave me a 10, the rest gave me 6, 7 and 8 so they threw out the 10 and a 6 to arrive at my score of 35. Then they rank, lowest score to highest and that's how they arrive at the end result.

Its all very subjective and its hard to determine exactly what the judges will find to be the "best" physique on any given day. It is all dependent on who shows up at that particular event, and what everyone looks like.

Although there is a set of criteria that is required, I still cannot always see what they see. Here is what the National Physique Committee (NPC) states is the desired Figure competitor:

When judging a figure competition the judges shall assess the athleticism of the physique. This is not a bodybuilding contest. A SMALL DEGREE OF MUSCULARITY WITH SEPARATION IS DESIRED, WITH NO VISIBLE STRIATIONS. The muscle tone should appear firm and round with a small amount of body fat over the muscle, and no excessive leanness. The figure competitions provide alternatives for athletic women who (a) Train. (b) Do not wish to gain muscle size and vascularity and (c) do not have a strong gymnastic / dance background. All Figure and Fitness competitors must have reached their eighteenth (18) birthday by the day of the contest.

So who determines what "a small amount of body fat" is??? Who determines what "no excessive leanness" is?? I think that a couple ounces of body fat is excessive, my friend thinks I am a nut and a couple pounds is excessive.

So as you can see, you have to take all of the women lumped together to first arrive at what is the desired look, so it changes at every event.

Me? I plan to get add more muscle, get harder and come in the way I like to look now. It may not win any trophies, but it's the look I like best. Heck, maybe I will try bodybuilding if I can get my quads big enough!