Healthier For The Body: Natural Bodybuilding

Natural bodybuilding and fitness techniques utilize the way the body works naturally in addition to herbal supplements which aid the body rather than add toxicity to it. Natural bodybuilding organizations not only help to give athletes tips and training advice, but they also help to oversee competitions to make sure that athletes abide by the natural bodybuilding rules. The American Bodybuilding Association, or ABA, and the other governing organizations test their athletes in order for them to be eligible to compete. These tests are in the form of a polygraph, blood tests or urine tests, depending on the organization. Usually the test results will be valid for two months before additional testing is required.

Judging

Judging in natural bodybuilding competitions are based on certain criteria which are examined when the participants show their different required poses. One of the judging criteria in natural bodybuilding is symmetry where the judges compare different parts of the body with each other to see if the muscle proportion balances out. For instance, they will compare the width of the chest to the width of the thighs, the deltoid muscles to the calves and the hips to the sweep of the back.

Presentation is also judged in natural bodybuilding competitions where the judges look at how the athlete moves from pose to pose as well as how they do the poses. Athletes should hold the poses so that it shows their muscles to their best advantage. The size and shape of the muscles, checking the size against the bone structure of the individual as well as whether the muscles are pleasing to the eye and uniformly developed. Finally, the separation and definition of the muscles is judged in natural bodybuilding competitions. This means that there should be clear cuts in between the muscles and between the muscle groups.

The poses for the athletes usually start with all the athletes coming out and standing in front of the judges. In this part of the competition, the athletes will stand semi-relaxed and turn to the right until the judges have seen all sides of the person's body. After that, athletes do their poses individually as the judges ask them to perform them, executing the ten mandatory poses that show all the muscle groups of the body. The final part of the natural bodybuilding competition is the routine section where the athlete shows a ninety second routine that shows off any talents they might have, endurance level and physique.