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Female bodybuilding

Pro female bodybuilder Nikki Fuller performs a side chest pose.

Main article: Female bodybuilding

Women’s bodybuilding began to wane in popularity when the industry magazines began to cut back on their coverage of the women. The evolution of muscle was also moving at an accelerated rate. Plus, there was the drug element. Much of the reason the sport was so popular in the early years was because it was so new and different. There was a strong curiosity—even from the mainstream population—about women who were challenging their physicality on a stage where the criteria and judging had to do with a muscularly developed physique, not a beauty contest. Female bodybuilding is one of the most controversial sports in the world. The history of female bodybuilding is controversial in itself, even the very beginning of "strong women" is disputed. As a general rule, strong and aggressive women are hard to come by in history. The idea of women showing strength and aggression can be seen in the Minoan civilizations of ancient Greece.  Many women worry that weight training will somehow transform them into Hulk-ettes, so they spend hours doing cardio in order to maintain their "feminine" figure. The truth is, women just don't have the hormonal support to gain muscle mass like men.The more muscle you have, the more calories your body will burn. The more calories you burn, the leaner you'll get. Increased muscle mass will also add shape to your arms, take inches from your tummy, and even add some roundness to your booty. The nature of bodybuilding dictates that when genetically talented people do the right kind of exercises with enough intensity and consistency over a long enough period of time, they’re going to continue to develop bigger and bigger muscles

There are four main categories of female bodybuilding:

           1. Bikini: "A softer look" that's more focused on the traditional female body shape.

           2. Figure: "Still looks very feminine but emphasizes muscle definition and symmetry," Steve says.

           3. Physique: This category is more about muscle size and development.

4. Body Building: This is the heavily muscled/low body fat look most people usually think of.

Bikini, specifically, was introduced to appeal to women who didn't want an excessively muscled body; judges in that category look for a physique that "is realistically toned, that a stay-at-home mother could attain and maintain. Athletes are split into groups based on height and judged on features like small waists, toned shoulders, lean abs, and good posture.

1980 would become a watershed year for women’s bodybuilding with events such as the United States Championships, the American Championships, and the Ms. Olympia. By 1981 the IFBB held its first European Championships with women from nine countries taking part. In addition, professional contests offering prize money became available to the top competitors. The “Best in World’ competition in 1979, the Zane Women’s Invitational, and the Ms. Olympia in 1980 served as additional motivation to encourage more women to enter the competitive scene. The first U.S. Women's National Physique Championship, promoted by Henry McGhee and held in Canton, Ohio in 1978, is generally regarded as the first true female bodybuilding contest – that is, the first contest where the entrants were judged solely on muscularity. In 1980 the first Ms. Olympia (initially known as the "Miss" Olympia), the most prestigious contest for professionals, was held. The first winner was Rachel McLish who had also won the NPC's USA Championship earlier in the year. The contest was a major turning point for the sport of women's bodybuilding. McLish inspired many future competitors to start training and competing. In 1985, a movie called Pumping Iron II: The Women was released. This film documented the preparation of several women for the 1983 Caesars Palace World Cup Championship. Competitors prominently featured in the film were Kris Alexander, Lori Bowen, Lydia Cheng, Carla Dunlap, Bev Francis, and Rachel McLish. At the time, Francis was actually a powerlifter, though she soon made a successful transition to bodybuilding, becoming one of the leading competitors of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The 1991 Ms. Olympia was the first to be televised live. 1992 Ms. Olympia changes in response to the increased size displayed by Murray and Francis at the previous Ms. Olympia, the IFBB made an attempt to “feminize” the sport. The IFBB, led by Ben Weider had created a series of “femininity” rules; one line into the judging rules said that competitors should not be “too big”. Lenda Murray barely edged out Bev Francis, a former Australian power lifter, by a single point that year. Lenda Murray faced a serious challenge from Denise Rutkowski in 1993, and some argue that Rutkowski, not Murray, should have won that year. Kim Chizevsky won the IFBB Ms. Olympia competition in 1996 (and for the next three years as well), defeating six-time champion Lenda Murray. Kim was simply too big for Lenda, who had been “protecting her lead” for years by concentrating on getting in her best competition shape each year but not getting any bigger or more muscular.

Women’s bodybuilding is still going strong today, but many aren’t aware of that fact. The IFBB amateur division holds massively successful contests worldwide. The IFBB World Women’s Bodybuilding Championship has produced recent successful pro competitors such as Brigita Brezovac from Slovenia and Alina Popa from Romania, both Ms. Olympia contenders. But sponsors have become convinced there is no interest in the women, the magazines (with the exception of MUSCLE INSIDER, of course!) largely ignore them, and the fact that there are huge audiences for all levels of women’s physique competition at the Ms. Olympia, at the Ms. International, and (especially) on the Internet, seems to go largely ignored. Women’s bodybuilding is something new and represents a massive shift in our culture. As such, it’s going to encounter a huge amount of opposition before it becomes widely accepted and respected. As Mark Twain once said, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” The same can be said for bodybuilding for women. In recent years, the related areas of fitness and figure competition have gained in popularity, surpassing that of female bodybuilding, and have provided an alternative for women who choose not to develop the level of muscularity necessary for bodybuilding. Rachel McLish would closely resemble what is thought of today as a fitness and figure competitor instead of what is now considered a female bodybuilder. Fitness competitions also have a gymnastic element to them.

A recent study by the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine has found that female bodybuilders who are taking Anabolic Steroids are more likely to have qualified for substance-dependence disorder and have been diagnosed with a psychiatric illness and have a history of sexual abuse.