5 Things You Must Know Before Entering a Bikini Competition

Are you considering competing in a Bikini Competition?  I have worked with 1000’s of bikini competitors since the bikini competiton category was first established in 2009 and over the years I have seen many women reach their personal best, some have even turned pro and made a career out of this.  The sport of bikini is a great way to get into amazing physical condition, to test you limits and determination while making clean eating and hard training a part of your overall healthy lifestyle.  The bikini show itself can be an amazing experience where you get to show off all of your hard work and meet like-minded fitness women.  Bikini will test your limits in ways that you cannot imagine when you first begin, but for those ready to put in the work, a bikini competition can be incredibly rewarding.

Below is my checklist of 5 things to consider before taking on a bikini competition. 

Personality?  This is a physique competition, right?  What does personality have to do with a bikini show?  Well, the truth is to be a successful bikini competitor, you MUST put personality and individual flair into your posing.  Your bikini posing and presentation rely on personality and all of the most successful bikini competitors take the stage with confidence and style.  If you are naturally shy or more timid, a bikini show may push you too far outside of your comfort zone.  As you walk on stage, it is critical that you draw the eyes of the judges and the audience.  No matter how great your conditioning is, lacking confidence and not putting personality into your bikini presentation will cost you placings.  

Having a larger chest can indeed be helpful, but it is not critical for a bikini competition.  You fill out the bikini suit top better and have better overall balance and symmetry if you have average to larger breasts.  Women with small chests can still can do well in bikini shows though.  You just need to be sure that when you step on stage, the look you have achieved is balanced, athletic and sexy.   If you have a smaller chest and are concerned, you do not need to resort to implants though.  Most bikini competitors use inserts that you can find at stores like Victoria Secret (Check out their Shaping Inserts) or your local fabric store to help fill out the top.  This can be especially helpful as you lose body fat as the first thing to go for many of us is our breasts which consist mainly of fatty tissue.  

Keep in mind… showing off comically large breasts or not having enough coverage/support in your bikini suit top is actually a huge negative.  Remember, you are trying to achieve a sexy but balanced look for your bikini competition and being top heavy will make you stand out in a negative way.  I do not recommend women get breast implants for a bikini show.  This is something that some women may choose to do for many reasons in their lives, but breast implantation is a serious medical procedure that comes with risks.  A bikini show alone is no reason to take that kind of risk.

For most women, bikini competitions are a wonderful hobby and a great way to get into the best shape of their lives.  Knowing what the bikini show expenses will be ahead of time helps you keep costs under control and let’s you know what to expect.  

In my First Time Bikini Competitors Guide I line out the specific costs associated with competing.  Depending on how long you need to prep for the show and what your current conditioning is, there may be other costs you need to take into account.  Keep in mind, you can save money in lots of places for your bikini competition with a little creativity!

Let’s face it… for most women, competing in bikini is an expensive hobby.  Even most of the Pro’s are not making their livings as bikini competitors.  Yes, it is incredibly rewarding, but very, very few women actually make any money to speak of as a professional bikini competitor.  If you are exceptionally talented and you turn pro (which means that you were good enough at the sport to win not only large national qualifying bikini shows, but also HUGE national bikini competitions beating out 100’s of women) that still does not mean you will actual make money at this sport.

Yes, as a professional bikini competitor you can win prize money, the typical pro bikini show payout is $3500 split between the top 3 placers.  So, if you win a bikini show as a professional, you usually win $2000.  Keep in mind, you still had to pay for your plane ticket to the event, your hotel, tanning, makeup, suit, professional organization fees, etc…   Generally, only the first place winner at a pro bikini event breaks even.  All of the other pro competitors end up out quite a bit of money every time they compete in a bikini show.  At larger events like the Olympia and the Arnold Classic, the prize money is higher, but then you are talking about the top 0.01% of all bikini competitors.

That is not to say that you cannot make money as a bikini competitor though.  The business say woman can find many ways to turn fitness into a career if that is her passion.  While magazine articles for fitness models rarely pay the models (the most I ever received for a photo shoot was $800) the exposure can help you secure clientele and make you stand out from the crowd.  If you are a fitness professional and have built a career around helping people achieve a certain look, notoriety from coverage as a fitness model can help you grow your business and can open other doors.  

Many bikini competitors also seek sponsorships from supplement or other fitness related companies, but those sponsorships are usually for free product or minimal amounts of money unless you are at the very top of the industry.  I don’t say this to scare you away, but to be realistic.  Compete in bikini shows because you love it, not because you want to make a career out of it unless you have a serious game plan and business sense.

Even the very best competition tan for a bikini show is crazy dark and feels sticky and tacky until it is thoroughly dried.  Then it will look great but still smell.  And you can’t wear deodorant – that can turn your tan green.  Yes, you need to be really, really dark to enhance your muscle definition and so that you are not washed out by the bikini competition stage lighting, but seriously this takes it to a whole new level.  If you have the money to get a high quality airbrush tan, you will be standing naked in a tent in a private room having a tanning professionally airbrush your whole body with tanning product.  When I have my competition tan on, even though I am a super pale white girl, I wear the same color foundation as Oprah.  Yes…that dark.  The tans indicator coat will wash partially off after your bikini show when you shower , but the rest will just fade away over the next few weeks as your skin naturally sheds.  If you have dry or pale skin, the ‘fading away’ will be blotchy and peeling.

I would love to help you get into the best possible shape for your bikini competition.  I work with women around the world in my FITBODY ONLINE COMPETITION TRAINING program and let me take you through step by step what it takes to reach your goals.