Last week the president of the NPC announced a new division in bodybuilding premiering next year. Classic Physique will be a new division at a handful of NPC and IFBB shows in 2016. There will be three classes of the division based on height and weight. The division will be open to any current IFBB Pro to make the switch, and a similar qualification process for amateurs as Men’s Physique when it was introduced in 2011. This new division will also be a part of the Mr. Olympia show in 2016.
The goal of Classic Physique is to bridge the gap from the board short-wearing Men’s Physique and the mass monsters that dominate the 212 and normal Bodybuilding divisions. In the new division, there will be five compulsory poses including one classic-era pose, and a one-minute posing routine. The contestants will wear posing trunks similar to the styles worn in the '60s and '70s by the Classic Era greats. Judging will be based on muscle density, symmetry, and proportions.
The NPC/IFBB have been under harsh scrutiny for months after the legend Arnold Schwarzenegger commented on the state of current bodybuilding at his own show the Arnold Classic. The greatest bodybuilder of all time was quoted saying:
“... unless we change the judging procedure … unless we stop picking the guys with the biggest legs, and the biggest muscles but not look as pleasing … the judges need to look at everything … it doesn’t look right anymore.”
Classic Physique is the first attempt for bodybuilding’s governing bodies to make a division that appeals to a higher number of spectators. Bodybuilding is a very niche sport as it is, and in order for the sport to stay alive, its audience must grow. It is also an attempt to scale down the size of the current top-level Men’s Physique competitors. Humans have a propensity to take things to the extreme, and this is especially true with bodybuilders. The size of the top Men’s Physique contestants now is comparable to the top Tall Category bodybuilders of the '60s and '70s like Schwarzenegger, Zane, Nubret, and others.
This new division has been welcomed by most, but the move has drawn harsh criticism from others. Some think that the move is too little too late. The 280 lb plus behemoths that take the stage in the top bodybuilding division have become unrelatable, and off-putting to most. The amount of artificial chemicals that the top contestants must take to stay that large and that lean is unnatural. The goal of bodybuilding used to be to have the best looking physique. In the past few decades, the emphasis on judging has gone from symmetry and definition to sheer mass. This has further isolated the sport from the mainstream, which has hurt bodybuilding in the long run.
I think that this new division is the first step in the right direction for the NPC/IFBB to expand bodybuilding to a wider audience and increase publicity of the sport. Many of the larger Men’s Physique competitors can make a seamless transition to Classic Physique and continue to dominate. The vacancy created in the Men’s Physique division will also allow smaller contestants to place better, and open up the sport to people that may otherwise decide not to compete. As for the 212 and normal Bodybuilding category, I think we will see a slow decline in the size of the competitors and a return to more of a balance between size, symmetry, and definition that dominated the Golden Age of Bodybuilding in the '70s.
