Bikini Federation Comparisons (Choosing the Right Lane)
This post is part of The Ultimate Bikini Prep Guide – check out the full guide for more!
Helping people find the right show is a big part of my job as a prep coach. Understanding why some shows are better (or more/less preferred) than others is key, also understanding the importance of timing, distance, and other factors is key. I already wrote about things to know before selecting your first show, and you can read that article here:
Today we’re going to talk about the organizations more generally, rather than specific shows.
Federation Choice Shapes Your Entire Competitive Experience
The organization is the umbrella under which the show is run. It’s the sanctioning body that determined all the rules and procedures for everything that happens on stage.
While every show is different, you can expect some level of continuity (generally) among shows that are all put on by the same sanctioning organization.
These organizations all take their own pound of flesh; you have to pay for membership (annually) to be able to pay the entry fee and compete in a show. It’s another expense but it’s non-negotiable. This typically runs from $50-150 per year, and if you do multiple shows in a year with that organization you only pay that fee once (registration for each individual show is separate).
All shows have their own unique character and feel – kinda like how you can get the general vibe of a Marvel movie vs. a DC movie. My life likes to get my goat by intentionally mixing up Star Wars and Star Trek (it’s a shock we’re still married after all I’ve endured on that front), same thing. There are differences, but also similarities (except for Wars vs. Trek – they are really nothing alike at all and please don’t get me started. One is in the future, one is in the past – let’s just stop there).
Judging standards vary, but not as much as you think.
“Oh this organization like their bikini competitors leaner than this other organization”
Well, maybe they did on a specific day at a particular show, but I have found that – more broadly – sweeping generalizations like that don’t hold up. Generally everyone tends to look for largely the same things.
Posing differences are more dramatic between certain organizations for sure.
Judging Standards Are Not Identical
Yeah they’re not identical, but again they’re pretty close.
I certainly would NEVER make a decision about what organization to compete in based on what I perceive to be judging standard differences between it and another. Those standards are going to change with the wind depending on who’s on a judging panel at a given show and who shows up on stage that day.
Conditioning Expectations
If you look at the judging standards for bikini between the OCB and NPC, you’ll see a lot of similar language that largely describes the same thing. If you look at photo results, you’ll see more similarities than differences. You’ll find women on the softer AND leaner sides winning shows in both organizations.
The NPC might typically have an overall lineup that’s slightly leaner just due to PED usage in non-tested shows.
Muscular Development and Proportion
As with conditioning, the differences here are subtle and inconsistent. Again, non-tested shows will be likely to reward more size (per division guidelines).
However – if you show up with a lot of muscle in bikini in a drug-tested organization (and can pass said drug test), it’s unlikely to hurt you if you balance your posing and overall presentation to cater to the expectations for the category.
Drug-Tested vs Untested — The Top-Level Decision
The first decision to make is simple: tested vs. untested.
If you can’t pass a drug test, don’t try to compete in a tested show. It’s a shitty, low-character thing to do. We’re all better than that.
If that’s the case, NPC is your best option. GBO is also an option though their reach is very limited. Mostly Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, with one show in Utah and possibly others to come.
https://www.globalbodybuildingorganization.com/
The NPC is the largest amateur bodybuilding organization in the world and has shows everywhere. Be mindful that a show called the “NPC Natural Blah Blah Blah” is a drug-tested show. Most NPC shows are NOT tested.
The Alphabet Soup of Natural Bodybuilding
Let’s be clear, there are a LOT of drug-tested organizations. There is a healthy dose of skepticism out there, people wondering “which drug-tested shows are ACTUALLY drug-tested” and the answer is all of them. While testing specifics can vary, they don’t vary much.
Most of the skepticism comes from people just not having an understanding of what’s possible on a natural level, and people mistaking “lean and shredded” for “too big to be natural”. That classic physique guy who looks huge on stage? Probably 160lbs. Hardly outside of the scope of what can be accomplished naturally.
The Big One
Let’s start with the natural organizations that have broad reach, geographically speaking. For sake of brevity we’ll confine this conversation to North America, other regions of the world have their own organizations with limited reach and go beyond the scope of what we can cover here practically (ICN for Australia/India, for example).
OCB – https://ocbonline.com/
The OCB is a large organization with shows everywhere and they tend to run good events in decent venues. When finding shows for my natural clients, this is where I like to start because I know we’ll find options. It’s not where I stop, but it’s where I start because I know we’ll get something here.
The Lower Tier
These are not necessarily bad or small organizations, but ones with a less broad reach, as you’ll see below.
INBA – https://naturalbodybuilding.com/events-schedule/
The INBA has a lot of shows, but their reach isn’t quite as wide. They are heavily centralized on the west coast (California specifically) and while they have shows that span the country, there are large swaths of almost nothing. If you live in North Carolina for example, you’ve got 1, maybe 2 shows that would be options for the entire year. After checking the OCB calendar, I would move here next to see if a net run through the INBA picks up any additional viable options.
WNBF – https://worldnaturalbb.com/usa-events/
The WNBF has shows all over the country, but only like 20 of them for the year. So again it’s very easy to find yourself in a position where the nearest show is 500 miles away, 5 months away from when you want to compete, or both.
UFE – https://ufeshows.com/find-an-event/
More Canadian than America, the have a show in IL, NY, and that’s it for the states. I have had clients compete in the Illinois show and it was a good time, but limited opportunities here and no real upward mobility for advancement.
NGA – https://www.nationalgym.com/national-gym-amateur-schedule.html
Same issue as with the others really – shows all over but not many of them and wide geographic areas with no coverage.
Generally speaking, start with the OCB and find your best 2-3 options there, assuming you won’t find others (unless you’re in CA or FL, in which case INBA and NGA offer a lot of flexibility). If you do happen to come up with some additional possibilities from the other organizations, great – that’s a bonus!
Part of the rationale here is dollars and cents – if you want to do multiple shows, it pays to do them all under the umbrella of the same organization (easier to get repeat faces on the judging panel that way also, who get to know you better).
Geography Matters More Than People Admit
Personally, when it comes to selecting a show for me the only things that matter are geography (driving distance) and date (personal conflicts).
If I was looking to compete in the WNBF but couldn’t find a show nearby when I needed it, I have zero qualms about doing an OCB show instead (or vice versa, either way).
Think also: if you do want to compete in a specific organization, why? Often this is because you might know someone who had a good/bad experience with a particular organization. This is just a result of who you talk to. Plenty of people out there have good and bad things to say about all of these organizations.
Someone who says “I didn’t like that OCB show, it wasn’t well run” probably hasn’t been to a lot of bodybuilding shows because they are almost ALL poorly run. Some are more efficient than others, which can be something as simple as how caffeinated the expeditors were on a particular day.
Generally speaking I don’t really find a huge difference in quality of show between organizations.
I will say that by virtue of historic reputation, the INBA and WNBF tend to attract more serious competitors who REALLY bring great conditioning. This is not to say it doesn’t happen everywhere (it does), but I think it’s more an expected standard in those organizations.
Long-Term Goals Should Guide the Lane You Choose
Think as well about what you want to do in bodybuilding long-term. If the goal is a pro card, look at the pro calendar for the organization (OCB is a pro/am organization – INBA is amateur but feeds into PNBA pro status, both shows are on the same site).
If you want the coveted “IFBB Pro Card” the path to that only exists via the NPC, as that is the amateur feeder organization into the IFBB.
Local Experience vs National/Pro Aspirations
Understand the path to advancing in each organization as well. In some of these (the OCB, for example) you can become a pro after your FIRST show if things play out well – which I think is fairly ridiculous but it’s how they’re structured there (the thought that you can be a pro after doing anything once I think is insane).
I have coached people to OCB pro status who were still learning the basics of how to be a bodybuilder – I think easily attained pro cards cheapen the status of it for everyone. Call me a gatekeeper but I think gatekeeping something intended to signify elite status is fair and valid.
In the NPC you have to compete locally to become qualified to compete nationally. You then have to compete at a national level show and win (more or less) to earn your pro status. THAT is a hard-earned path, and it’s also clearly defined and not ambiguous.
In the OCB and other organizations, they don’t differentiate between local/national shows. You can earn your pro status at any amateur event where qualifications are met, then you have to compete as a pro and the options as a pro will always be fewer and further between.
This Isn’t About the “Easiest” Federation
If you want the easiest path to a pro card, that’s a conversation we can have – but if that’s the goal, ask yourself why? Being a pro and having that status bestowed upon you isn’t an automatic ticket to anything, other than having fewer/harder/more expensive competitive options in front of you from there on.
I have a natural client who has earned both an OCB and INBA pro card, who now competes mostly in the NPC just because the pro options in those organizations are geographically very inconvenient.
All shows are going to be hard and competitive. There’s no “easy path” but there may be “luckier paths” where you just have less stiff competition at your specific show based on who was there that day.
As far as things you can actually control, the differences are very minimal once you get on stage.
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