Bodybuilding has a decades-long following. Many enter contests to pursue a private health purpose, however some need to attain the game’s final stage: the Olympia.
Whether or not you’re checking off one thing on a bucket checklist, aspiring to show professional, or are a brand new fan within the sport, we now have the “101” entry-level course to get educated on the ins and outs of bodybuilding competitions, focusing particularly on the IFBB Skilled League.
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Bodybuilding Divisions
If a brand new fan regarded up bodybuilding and noticed footage of Ronnie Coleman or Jay Cutler, there could also be some concern about whether or not they might compete.
Bodybuilding has many various classes for women and men. The IFBB Skilled League has 11 professional divisions, with a twelfth that began on the newbie stage in 2025 and is predicted to be added in 2026. The divisions are under; be taught extra about how every class is judged here.
- Males’s Open
- Males’s 212 Bodybuilding
- Males’s Traditional Physique
- Males’s Physique
- Males’s Wheelchair
- Girls’s Bodybuilding
- Girls’s Physique
- Health
- Determine
- Bikini
- Wellness
- Match Mannequin (New in 2026)
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The Fit Model division is a brand new class added to the NPC starting in 2025. There are professional qualifiers for this class, however professional exhibits won’t be held till the 2026 season. These athletes are solely eligible to enter the Match Mannequin contests. They can’t crossover into different divisions.
The way to Earn a Professional Card
The highway to changing into a professional could seem easy, however it’s not simple. The newbie stage of the IFBB Skilled League is the Nationwide Physique Committee (NPC) and NPC Worldwide for worldwide exhibits.
Amateurs enter native or regional contests just by signing up for an NPC membership and paying the entry payment for the smaller exhibits. They need to win native or smaller exhibits to qualify for the pro-qualifying stage.
From there, amateurs should win a pro-qualifying occasion (or place second in some circumstances) to be eligible to enter IFBB Skilled League exhibits. The professional card is a membership that comes with a yearly price. There are quite a few pro-qualifying occasions worldwide, however among the greatest annual contests are:
- Beginner Olympia (U.S. and Worldwide)
- NPC USA Championships (U.S. Solely)
- NPC Nationwide Championships (U.S. Solely)
- North American Championships (U.S., Canada, Mexico)
- Arnold Beginner (U.S. and Worldwide)
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Some exhibits function newbie contests that award professional standing to the winners, who’re then eligible to enter the professional present on the next day. There have been circumstances when an newbie entered a professional qualifier and left that contest with an Olympia qualification that weekend.
The way to Qualify for a Professional Present
As soon as professional standing is earned, the subsequent step to the Olympia is profitable a professional present. Athletes can enter any professional contest they like (aside from the Arnold Classic and the Olympia) by contacting the promoter and signing a contract to compete. They’ll enter as many exhibits as they select.
The IFBB Skilled League has nicely over 100 contests each season throughout all 11 divisions in many various nations on six continents. A lot of these contests function a number of divisions. All professional exhibits for Open rivals (execs below 40 years of age) are Olympia qualifiers.
The Arnold Traditional is the one non-Olympia present with a distinct course of. Athletes should apply to compete and obtain invitations to take part of their contests. The Arnold is an Olympia-qualifying occasion.
Notable Professional Bodybuilding Competitions
There are not any official tiers in bodybuilding, however there are some exhibits which have better historic significance than others due to their longevity and checklist of winners. These are exhibits that many rivals need to win to validate themselves as contenders for the Olympia. A number of the extra notable bodybuilding competitions on the schedule embrace:
*The Pittsburgh Professional used to have a Males’s Open visitor posing occasion, however they are going to have a full Men’s Open contest beginning in 2025.
The way to Qualify for the Olympia
The game’s greatest stage is the Olympia, which crowns world champions in all 11 professional divisions. The rivals who stroll on the Olympia stage are thought of the perfect on the planet for that 12 months inside their division.
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There are 4 methods to qualify for the Olympia:
- A competitor can win any professional present all through the Olympia qualifying season. One win, they usually’re in. Even when that competitor had been to lose one other present they entered, they can’t lose their qualifying spot on the Olympia stage. Nonetheless, they will solely compete inside the division during which they earned their qualification.
- Athletes are eligible to compete in a number of divisions all through the season, they usually could win a contest in a second class. If this happens, the athlete should select one division to signify on the Olympia. No crossovers are allowed.
- If an athlete finishes within the prime three on the Olympia, they’re robotically certified for the next 12 months’s Olympia. They don’t must compete once more however can with out risking the qualification they earned.
- Olympia champions have the best path of all. As soon as a competitor wins the Olympia, they grow to be eligible to compete of their class on the Olympia for all times.
- There’s a caveat with this eligibility, although. If 5 years have handed since that champion’s final Olympia win, they need to request permission to compete with the IFBB Skilled League or win a present to stroll on the Olympia stage. Olympia champions are eligible to enter every other professional present they select.
The one different strategy to the Olympia is by particular invitation of both the Olympia promoters or the IFBB Skilled League. This invitation is never issued. Latest particular invitations to the Olympia embrace when Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay was invited to compete on the 2021 Mr. Olympia competitors after being unable to qualify because of problems from the pandemic. He went on to win the title that year.
The opposite latest particular invite went to Derek Lunford to compete within the Males’s Open on the Olympia in 2022. On the time, he was the reigning 212 Olympia champion. He ranked runner-up to Hadi Choopan in 2022 however gained the Mr. Olympia title in 2023 to grow to be the primary and solely athlete to ever win Olympia titles in multiple division.
How A lot Cash Do Bodybuilders Make?
Prize cash has developed over time, however it’s onerous for a bodybuilder to make a dwelling by competing alone. Many rivals have full-time jobs, whereas the most important stars make a dwelling by means of sponsorships to allow them to afford to compete. There are some exhibits that provide immense purses for the Males’s Open division, which is taken into account the highest division within the sport. The largest prizes on the professional circuit (as of 2025) for the Males’s Open are under.
- Olympia — $600,000 (as of 2024)
- Arnold Traditional — $500,000 (as of 2025)
- Pittsburgh Professional — $100,000 (as of 2025)
Some exhibits have vital first-place purses that vary from $20,000 to $50,000. All professional exhibits that host Males’s Open occasions should reward their champions with at the very least $15,000.
Prize cash for different divisions varies from present to point out. The Rising Phoenix is the second main present for Girls’s Bodybuilding, providing $50,000 to its champion yearly. They’ve additionally awarded automobiles in earlier years. Normally, the smaller exhibits award the next prizes for the highest three in every class:
- 1st — $5,000
- 2nd — $3,500
- third — $2,500
Some exhibits supply prizes for fourth and fifth place.
Followers new to bodybuilding could not know the highway a competitor should take to succeed on the highest stage. A bodybuilder’s journey is exclusive and depends upon how profitable the competitor is on the newbie stage and whether or not they can win an Olympia qualifier as soon as they grow to be skilled.
Every athlete’s profession is exclusive and might encourage followers to start their very own journeys, which is how the game continues to maneuver ahead and develop.
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