Bikini Judging Criteria – In-Depth
This post is part of The Ultimate Bikini Prep Guide – check out the full guide for more!
Bikini Judging Isn’t As Random As You Might Think
With this article, I’m going to lay bare the details of judging and get to some hard truths. Some people may be offended but hey, I’m just the messenger here – don’t shoot me!
Anyone who’s delved into the world of competitive bodybuilding has likely heard plenty of stories about judging standards – how they don’t make sense, aren’t followed, are arbitrarily applied, how political decisions influence them, and are completely opaque as far as how things are scored and presented to the audience.
All of this is, in some way and some practice, true.
There are also very clearly stated guidelines we can use to get started, and then see how these things get applied at shows.
Let’s dig in.
The Published Standards and Guidelines
Let’s start straight with the guidelines as they are written and presented by the 2 largest amateur organizations in the US.
National Physique Committee (NPC) – https://npcnewsonline.com/bikini-rules/
Bikini athletes should display-
- A foundation of muscle which gives shape to the female body
- Full round glutes with a slight separation between the hamstring and glute area
- Small amount of roundness in the delts
- Conditioned Core
- Overall look- hair, makeup, suit, and tan
Bikini athletes should NOT display –
- Muscular density seen in a figure physique
- Squared glutes
- Muscle separation seen in figure competitors
- Graininess
- Striations anywhere
Organization of Competition Bodies (OCB) – https://ocbonline.com/bikini/
The Bikini desired look is achieved by presenting a lightly muscled and not overly lean or hard appearing physique as compared to Figure, Wellness, or Women’s Physique. Bikini judging is based on an overall healthy, toned body with good symmetry, fullness, balance, shape and proportion.
Bikini competitors should not display deep muscle separation, muscle striations or an abundance of muscle size. Excessive muscularity, striations and vascularity will be marked down. A bikini physique should display some fullness and roundness in the deltoids, some development with some fullness in the quadriceps and hamstrings and full, round, firm glutes. The abdominal region should show some muscularity but not a deeply etched or vascular appearance. The back should show development without being overly dense or wide.
Competitors should be able to walk in heels and perform proper posing while exhibiting poise and confidence.
Bikini Symmetry: An hourglass physique balanced from top to bottom.
Definition: Toned, displaying some splits between the major muscle groups, but no inner detail. For example, there might be a split between the quads and hamstrings, but no detail with in hamstrings, glutes or quadricep lines. Abdominal definition is acceptable, but there should not be vascularity or a deeply etched 6-pack.
Size: Bikini competitors should have an athletic build and look like they train with weights. They should show some shoulder development and back muscularity without excessive density. Legs should have muscle in the glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves, but should not be overly developed or muscular. Glutes should be firm, full, and round.
Ok, it’s a bit of a word salad there. This is where things start to be a bit of a double-edged sword.
Notice how criteria consistently reference other categories when trying to define the standard? That language exists in the criteria for those other guidelines, which means by definition it’s all relative and there is no absolute written or visual standard.
What does a “small amount of roundness in the delts” look like? Completely a matter of subjective opinion. And with physiques, you can’t just say “like this” and show someone, because their look is based HUGELY on their genetic structure and not just on their development. I might have “small delts” but if I have a wide clavicle (which I can’t control) my delts will look bigger in comparison to everything else. Possibly a genetic disadvantage here.
Basically, my general thinking is this. Know what Fit Model looks like. Know what Wellness looks like. Place yourself in the middle. Not exactly a great “plan” but in practical terms it’s the best we can do. Do a show or 3, get feedback from judges, and determine if a different category might make more sense (or work with your coach to decide this).
Unless you fit the prototypical mold for one of the categories, this is something a lot of female competitors do – category exploration, or at least constant second guessing of their category.
Muscular Development — Enough, But Not Too Much
I would say very generally that THIS criteria is the one with the least amount of confusion. You need to have some muscle, but not look crazy. Most women can train their asses off and not build enough muscle to shoot past what’s appropriate for bikini, at least not naturally (again, genetic differences here will create a huge variety of potentials).
Being a bit “too big” or maybe lacking in size isn’t a huge problem in bikini at the amateur level – your conditioning, presentation and overall look are critically important here, every bit as much as how much muscle you have (or don’t have) on your frame.
You can very easily (well, not EASILY but it’s possible and common) win a show while missing the mark a bit here on this criteria if you nail everything else. That’s less true for the other criteria.
Conditioning — Lean, But Not Extreme
This one is a bit of a trick. The conditioning target is a fine line that has to be danced with.
Again it is VERY common to not be lean enough. A huge majority of female competitors will never have to worry about getting too lean, but it does happen.
What “Stage Lean” Means in Bikini
The crux of the issue here is that the human body rarely leans out in a symmetrical fashion.
In bikini, this often means your upper body looks absolutely ripped while your legs still look a little soft.
When in doubt, keep leaning out.
You can’t FAKE being lean, but you can do some things to soften up your upper body a bit if you need to, so if you need to be overly lean up top to get the legs where they need to be, do it. And don’t hesitate.
Let’s talk about the difference between separation and striations. This confuses most people.
Separation is when you can clearly see the differences between muscle groups.
Striated is when you can see differences between muscle fibers or bundles (illustrating this with a physique competitor)
The former is rewarded in bikini as long as it’s mild and enhances the visual flow of the physique. The latter is most definitely NOT rewards in bikini.
You also want to be a bit leaner than maybe you think is ideal prior to the show, as the spray tan + lights makes everyone look a bit softer.
There’s also a huge misconception around “drying out”, which is a discussion to save for peak week but it’s worth mentioning here that being “dry” isn’t desired. You want to be holding on to an appropriate amount of total body fluids. Being “dry” just means you’re going to look flat and unimpressive on stage, and is 100% NOT the aesthetic for bikini.
The Line Where Conditioning Starts to Hurt the Look
Everyone in prep is obsessed with getting lean and rightfully so – it’s important. I would add that of equal importance in categories, but especially bikini, is retaining muscle while in a deficit.
You’re going to be “flat” throughout much of prep likely, which just means glycogen stores are trending towards empty and that ‘pop’ or ‘fullness’ will be largely absent, and your pumps will suck (relatively).
This is a feature, not a bug. And ideally, you’ll be “lean enough” a week or two out so you can properly focus on filling back out and looking less depleted on stage.
That depleted look shows on your face too – more on this later.
Presentation — The Multiplier Most People Underestimate
“Presentation wins shows” in bikini, it’s true – but what does that mean.
Poise, confidence, posing, and the ‘beauty aspects’ as well: tan/hair/makeup. In bikini especially, these are need to be flawless.
Confidence That Looks Relaxed, Not Forced
Bikini is a bit bipolar – there’s an undeserved reputation that building muscle for bikini is ‘easy’; for most people it absolutely is not. You need to work like a beast in the gym, but THEN flip that switch and turn into someone with the grace and poise of a runway model on stage.
It’s quite a U-turn.
Posing Precision Without Looking Mechanical
Another trick is really perfecting your posing, which means practicing your moves to death until they become automatic, but WITHOUT it looking like a mechanical routine that you’ve practiced 1000 times.
Thread that needle. It’s tough!
I see this all the time on social media, people posting their posing practice routines and it’s just painfully obvious that they do it this way every. single. time.
It needs to be rehearsed and automatic while still looking fresh and spontaneous.
The Role of Glamour in the Division
This is the polarizing part. For a lot of women, this is their favorite part of the experience of competing. Others see it as overtly sexist because this expectation doesn’t exist at all for the men. Both can be right, which one wins out depends on your own opinion and perspective.
My goal here isn’t to judge WHY the system is the way it is, just to inform.
And the fact is that for bikini, your presentation – meaning your overall beauty aesthetic – is absolutely critical.
If you aren’t comfortable doing stage makeup and fancy hair, plan on paying to have the professional service providers at the show do it – and register early enough to make sure you make it into their schedule, which CAN fill up. It’s usually just 1 or 2 people, so resources and appointment slots are limited.
Suit matters also, as well as bling. You don’t have to overdo it on either or be super extravagant, but make decisions that are aligned with the aesthetic that you want to present on stage (suit color is a huge factor here).
What Judges Are Not Scoring
Basically if you can’t see it on stage, no one cares. This means (but is not limited to): weight. Body fat percentage (judges can infer, but don’t know it or care). How hard your prep was. What challenges you dealt with along the way. How hungry you are (or have been). If your digestion is all messed up and you feel ‘off’ on show day.
How do you look on stage?
Anything that influences that in a negative way is a problem to be solved, nothing more.
If you have a hard prep and suffer more, your physique might look better but can we SEE that suffering on your face? If we CAN, it’s not a good look.
This is where a new skill enters the chat: acting.
If you don’t feel amazing, fake that shit. Make it look like you feel amazing. And keep in mind how easy it is to spot a fake smile. You’ve got to feel it in a genuine way.
When an actor is performing an emotional scene, they aren’t thinking about how to act that way. They’re putting themselves inside that emotional state and embodying it – you need to do the same thing on stage, regardless of how you feel.
Why Understanding the Criteria Changes Your Entire Prep
Knowing what the criteria is helps inform the end goal, but you don’t really KNOW what that means for you until you do your whole prep and assess the results afterwards. You’re still guessing as to a possible stage weight if you’ve never been down to that level before.
Example: you make an educated guess that 116lbs is a good stage weight. You diet down to that level, get on stage and do the damn thing, then evaluate the stage photos afterwards to see how close that guess was. This is where having a 2nd set of eyes can be super helpful as it can be very hard to see yourself fairly.
From there it’s much easier to make an even more informed estimate as to where your stage weight SHOULD be next time (whether higher or lower). If you then have plans for a growth phase, you need to be realistic about how much muscle you might put on and how that might impact your revised projection for stage weight the next time around.
Judging Is Consistent — Even If Placings Aren’t
Yes, judging IS in fact consistent – in that judges are always referencing back to that original (relative) criteria. Poorly worded and ill-defined though it may be, it IS the standard and unfortunately that’s why judging can feel so random.
Ask any judge and they’ll tell you – we can only judge what’s on stage. If no one REALLY fits the criteria, someone is still going to win, and it’s about how that person looks relative to everyone else there. So someone may be way, WAY too lean for bikini – but if all other things (development, presentation) are equal and no one else has a decent level of conditioning, the overly-shredded woman is probably going to win. It’s not an endorsement of over conditioning, just the reality of how judging gets implemented in the real world.
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