Your First Bodybuilding Competition: Where to Start

Choosing a federation

The first split is between drug-tested (natural) and untested federations. Tested federations check competitors for banned substances, and some also use a polygraph (lie detector) test: in a study of competitors at a British Natural Bodybuilding Federation (BNBF) final, everyone was polygraph-tested before the show (Chappell, Simper and Barker, 2018, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition).

Then read the rulebook, because the details differ even within the same division. In bikini, for example, the IFBB's finals use an "I-walk", where you hold four poses of your choice at centre stage, while the NPC uses a "model walk" to the back of the stage and back. The IFBB's bikini rules also limit heels to 12 cm (4.7 in) with a sole no thicker than 1 cm. The rules in this article are from the IFBB's rulebook and the NPC's published rules, as of 2026. None of this is fixed: check your federation's current rules before you enter, not a forum post from five years ago.

Other things to weigh up:

• Where and when its shows are. A show you can reach without a long journey or an overnight stay is one less thing to manage in a hard week.
• Whether it runs classes for first-timers or novices. If it does, they are a sensible place to start.
• The banned list, if you choose a tested federation. If you take a prescribed medicine, ask the federation how it is handled and speak to your doctor. Never stop or change a prescribed medicine to compete.

Picking a realistic date

The date decides how hard the diet has to be. Too close, and you diet faster at the very end, when muscle loss and fatigue are at their highest.

What the research shows about prep length:

• Natural bodybuilders at a UK final prepared for 22 weeks on average, give or take 9 weeks (Chappell and colleagues, 2018; 51 competitors).
• A 2023 review of published case studies of competitors preparing for a show (Schoenfeld and colleagues, Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology) found preps lasting 14 to 32 weeks.
• A 2014 review on natural contest prep by Helms, Aragon and Fitschen notes that bodybuilders traditionally diet for two to four months, and suggests that a longer diet, losing about 0.5 to 1% of body weight a week, may hold on to more muscle.

To work out your own date, estimate how much weight you need to lose, divide it by a sensible weekly rate, then add 2 to 4 spare weeks for stalls, illness and life. For example, if you weigh 80 kg (176 lb) and need to lose about 8 kg (18 lb), losing 0.5 to 0.7% of your body weight a week works out at roughly 15 to 21 weeks of dieting, so about 17 to 25 weeks with the spare weeks. The free contest prep calculator does this sum for you from your show date.

If you are not sure how lean you need to get, assume it is leaner than you think, and choose the later show.

What to sort out before prep starts

These jobs are easy at the start and stressful at the end.

• Posing. Get your division's poses and turns from the rulebook and start practising early. Film yourself from the judges' angle. Posing is a skill, and holding poses on a low-calorie diet is surprisingly tiring.
• Your outfit. Trunks, board shorts or a bikini and heels must meet your federation's rules. Order early, and practise in them, especially heels.
• Tan. Federations set rules here too. The IFBB, for example, bans tans that wipe off, glitter and metallic or gold-coloured products, and allows professional spray tans. Find out what your show allows and book early if it uses a tanning service.
• Registration. Check whether you need to join the federation before entering, when entries close, and what happens on registration day.
• Time off. Book leave for the show and the day after it. If you work full time, see contest prep with a full-time job.
• Your health. If you have a health condition, or a history of disordered eating, speak to your doctor before starting a long, hard diet.

What a coach does (and what nobody can promise)

A good prep coach plans backwards from your show date, writes your training and nutrition, reviews your progress every week, including photos, and adjusts the plan when your body tells them to. They also act as an outside eye at a time when your own judgement of how you look becomes unreliable.

What a coach cannot do is promise a placing. Judging is subjective, and you are compared with whoever else turns up on the day. The honest goal for a first show is to arrive in the best condition you can, present it well, and learn what to improve next time. For the stages of a prep, see contest prep: what the weeks before a show look like.

After the show

Plan this part as carefully as the rest. In a 1995 study of drug-free male bodybuilders (Andersen and colleagues, International Journal of Eating Disorders), 46% reported episodes of binge eating after competitions.

Recovery also takes time. In a 2017 study of 27 women preparing for bikini, body fitness or fitness shows (Hulmi and colleagues, Frontiers in Physiology), two hormones, thyroid hormone (T3) and testosterone, were still below their starting levels three to four months after the show.

A sensible plan brings calories back up gradually (reverse dieting covers how), expects your weight to rise, and sets your next goal before the show, not after it.

How coaching helps with your first show

With one-to-one contest prep coaching from CoachAk, your training program and nutrition targets (calories, macros, steps and any cardio) are written for you in a private app and updated as your body responds. Each week you send a check-in of about three minutes covering your weight, training and nutrition adherence, steps, sleep, energy, hunger, stress, and optional body measurements and progress photos, which can be compared side by side. CoachAk replies with written feedback on what went well, what changes next week and why. You can message your coach directly, with photos and voice notes, and send form-check videos for feedback.

If you are planning your first show, apply for coaching. CoachAk reads every application personally and will tell you honestly whether coaching is the right fit. You can also read more about contest prep coaching.