Female physique athletes often choose between competing in the fitness or bodybuilding divisions based on their builds and fitness goals. Fitness competitors stress muscular but feminine bodies that can demonstrate athletic prowess through dance and tumbling. Female bodybuilders, on the other hand, emphasize muscle size and body fat levels below 10 percent to showcase muscle definition.
Muscle Quantity
The biggest difference between female fitness and bodybuilder competitors is the amount of muscle mass each carries. Fitness competitors strive to create an athletic and aesthetic physique that emphasizes leanness over muscle. The primary goal of female bodybuilders is adding muscular bulk to their physique. The more muscle a bodybuilder can have, the better her chances at winning the competition.
Training
Fitness competitors typically stay in competition shape year-round. To maintain their athletic physiques, they often employ explosive weight lifting, circuit training and high-intensity cardio that increases energy expenditure while sparing muscle mass.
Since female bodybuilders must focus on building muscle mass, they will often have on- and off-seasons throughout the year. During the off-season, they will focus on building muscle through heavy weight-lifting and no cardio. They will then incorporate low-intensity cardio and more strict dieting to shed the body fat that came with the mass gains during the on-season as they prepare for competition.
Diet
The eating strategies for fitness competitors and bodybuilders are quiet similar throughout the year. Each uses a nutritional strategy that provides adequate protein for building and maintaining muscle as well as keeping body fat as low as possible. This will range from 1 to 1.5 g of protein per pound of body weight. Based on the athlete's preference, the remaining macronutrients (carbohydrates and fat) will be high fat/low carb, low fat/high carb or balanced fat/carb. Bodybuilders, however, will dramatically increase the number of calories consumed during off-season training to increase their muscle mass and then cut those calories to cut body fat as they approach a competition.
Competition
A female fitness competition requires the athlete to perform a variety of fluid poses set to music that incorporate gymnastics, dance and other moves designed to showcase their physiques and athleticism. Fitness competitors must also compete in a swimsuit round.
Female bodybuilders will perform a required list of poses designed to allow judges to directly compare one bodybuilder's muscle mass and muscle definition to that of another competitor. These poses are done in one spot on the stage and may or may not be set to music.
References
- "Physique: An Intimate Portrait of the Female Fitness Athlete;" Paul B. Goode; 1997
- "The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding;" Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Dobbins; 1998
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