Female Bodybuilding – origins and other interesting facts

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Though female bodybuilding has its roots in the 1960′s those contests were mainly women showing up and showing off in bikinis. However it did give way to the earliest true female bodybuilding contests in the late 1970′s that were for bodybuilders. These contests were much like male contests, however, contestants couldn’t show in traditionally male poses like the crab, lat spread and double biceps.

Over the years, these female bodybuilding contests have grown and so has the support from women and men alike. There have been numerous strides made to make the sport more competitive and also to allow women the same opportunities that men have, but 1980 held the biggest changes. In 1980, the Ms. Olympia contest was conceived along with the first couples challenge.

The 1980′s in general saw the modernization and mainstreaming of the female bodybuilding sport and some competitors even posed for Playboy and its counterparts; also earning them a one year suspension. However, it proved to be popular and even on standard broadcast television competitions were aired.

Through the 1990′s attempts were made by IFBB (the female bodybuilding governing agency) to “feminize” the sport by choosing winners who still retained most of their female characteristics. This met with some backlash from fans who believed they were simply trying to market the sport and not choosing the best muscular physique. This led to at least two controversial decisions by the judges in favor of smaller, more traditionally feminine women. Since then there has been a struggle between competitors and IFBB about what should be allowed and many compromises have been made by competitors to stay in competitions.

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Female Bodybuilding Growing Popularity

Filed under: Female Bodybuilding - 25 Aug 2011  | Spread the word !

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When it comes to bodybuilding, there are numerous facts that should be mentioned. Female bodybuilding is nowadays more than a simple showing off contest. And we can surely say that female bodybuilding has also reached a higher level of popularity. That reality is also linked to the changing image on this type of contest. First female bodybuilding contest is known to have taken place in the 1960s, so after all the sport is not that new. Although female bodybuilding contests were initially considered to be less important, starting with the 1970s their importance grew and they began to be seen as more than just simple shows in which women showed off their bodies, being considered similar to bikini contests.

Well, starting with the 1970s women were allowed to take part in bodybuilding competitions. Anyway, the first real female bodybuilding contest took place in 1978 in Canton, Ohio. This contest is believed to be the first true bodybuilding competition, as for the first time women were judged on muscularity and not general looks. As you can probably imagine, beginning with the next year more contests started to take place all over the country. Anyway, an element that keeps being criticized now, regarding female bodybuilding contests in their early stages is given by the fact that during these contests, women wore high heels. That was an element which is thought to have made them different from the regular competitions which were held for men. However, in 1980s that particular element changed and female bodybuilding contests started being seen the way we know them today.

Natural female bodybuilding is highly important when talking about such contests. Individuals who plan on attending female bodybuilding contests need to work extremely hard for many years to be able to achieve the body shape that will allow them to enter such a competition and muscles are very important from this point of view. Regarding the rules associated to female bodybuilding contests, you need to know that they have changed during the years, but there still is a very important aspect that needs to be kept under consideration. Natural female bodybuilding is needed for all those contestants who want to have a chance in winning such a competition.

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