From the writings of Aristotle and Plato, there is today little dispute over the fact that ancient Olympians were fully cognizant about physical training and dietary techniques.  Indeed, Socrates himself coined the phrase 'mens sana in corpore sano' - 'a sound mind in a sound body' .

The great strongman Eugen Sandow is credited with organizing the first 'physique' competition at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, in 1901 - with none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as one of the judges.

With the formation of the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) in 1946, by brothers Joe and Ben Weider, modern bodybuilding was born.  Today, the IFBB numbers 173 National Affiliates and the sport of bodybuilding is practiced by millions worldwide.

Like many other sports, competition day is but the culmination of many months and years of 'behind the scenes' training.  Athletes compete by bodyweight - six categories for men; three for women. A bodybuilding competition consists of two events: Prejudging and Finals.

At Prejudging, each category presents onstage before a panel of nine judges.  During this presentation, the competitors are compared against each other while performing relaxed turns and compulsory poses - seven for men; five for women.  Each judge must award each competitor a placing, from first to last, giving no two or more competitors the same placing.  Two high and two low placings are then discarded.  The remaining five placings are summed to produce a Prejudging 'subscore' and 'place'.  Ties are immediately broken.

During Prejudging, the competitors are compared for muscularity (size and density), definition (cuts), proportion (shape) and symmetry (balance).

At Finals, the top six competitors from Prejudging are judged again by the same panel of judges.  Each competitor is called onstage to perform his or her individual posing routine to music - 60 seconds for men; 90 seconds for women.  This is followed by a final comparison of the compulsory poses and a posedown.  Again, each judge must award each competitor a placing, from first to last, giving no two or more competitors the same placing.  Two high and two low placings are then discarded.  The remaining five placings are summed to produce a Finals 'subscore' .  This 'subscore' is added to the Prejudging 'subscore' to produce a Finals 'score' and 'place' .  Ties are immediately broken.  The competitor with the lowest score is awarded first place.

Competition, at World, Continental and National levels, is also open in Junior Men and Women, Master Men and Women, and Mixed-Pairs categories.

The top finalists are drug tested, strictly following the Olympic Movement Anti-Doping Code and using only IOC accredited laboratories.

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