The Men’s Physique exhibition at the Senior Championships on August 2 was such a smash hit that the Guyana Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (GABBFF) has decided to add the category to their upcoming competitions.
Unlike the exhibition however, the Men’s Physique competitors will be doing battle for hardware and a chance to represent Guyana at the annual CAC championships.
This should come as good news for hardgainers and for guys who are not shredded with chunks of striated muscle but who are athletic and aesthetic.
“We are going to bring it on stream as a regular part of the competition from next year Novices straight into Senior’s” president of the GABBFF, Keavon Bess told Stabroek Sport recently.
“That will be a fixture because as I explained at the Senior’s, a lot of persons who cannot necessarily meet the requirements of a bodybuilder per se can do the Men’s Physique because you are not required to have a lot of muscularity,” Bess added.
For those who are not in the know, Men’s Physique is a new class that burst on to the international bodybuilding scene in 2011, some are even calling it the new bodybuilding.
According to ifbb.com, Men’s Physique is defined as a category aimed at men who prefer to develop a less muscular, yet athletic and aesthetically pleasing physique.
For a Men’s Physique competition, judges look for a fit contestant who displays proper shape and symmetry combined with muscularity and overall condition. Aesthetics is key unlike hardcore bodybuilding where extreme muscularity and mass are advantageous.
Unlike the bodybuilding shows where you see competitors wearing posing briefs, in Men’s Physique, the athletes don board shorts just above the knee in length and one inch below the belly button.
Bess said that “A lot of persons who are not as big as Kerwin (Clarke) or (Godfrey) Stoby but think that they look good can be onstage, because a lot of guys at the gym look really good but they don’t have all that bulk and vascularity to win a bodybuilding event.
“We definitely want to make it a yearly fixture and I think we will get athletes to go on stage, it’s an interesting addition to the categories and without a doubt Men’s Physique is now a big thing internationally.”
The addition of the category will create more followers locally and will also pave the way for more athletes to garner pro cards.
