Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Article from NPC Texas

Hey guys...

Monday, Tuesday, Wed - NUTS. But saw the below article on www.hardbody.com today and HAD to post. I promise more tomorrow.

Have a great rest of the week!!
Jess

NPC Figure Letter Clarification

isaac | News, misc | Wednesday, 21 May 2008

A letter went out after JR USA to the NPC competitors in Texas. See the letter below:

Greeting All TX NPC Figure Competitors,

This update is specifically for you as it pertains to the new judging criteria we at the NPC are judging. For the past year you have been hearing rumors or directly from me that judging will move toward a softer athletic look in figure instead of the muscular, lean look. Well, we kicked off the national competition year with the Jr. USA in Charleston and true to our word we set the stage for local and national level judging. The look is soft and athletic. I suggest that you go on-line to examine pictures of this past weekends competition.

With the exception of Figure Class D as it was too lean and hard, but we didn’t have anything else to judge in that class. But all others are representative of the new look.

We look forward to seeing you in the near future.

Train hard and demonstrate sportsmanship always,

Lee Thompson
N.P.C . Texas District Chairman/IFBB Judge

This has caused quite a stir on a few message boards and I checked in with J.M. Manion, who updates npcnewsonline.com, to get clarification. J.M informed me that this IS NOT a letter from the NPC National Office. If there is an official letter, you will get it from him or the NPC National Office & it will be posted on NPC News Online.

My two cents… A good reference what figure should look like see the top 6 at the IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Figure. You’ll notice how different Amy Fry looked from the Arnold to Pittsburgh. Many women are thinking that by the words “soft” that they can slack on the diet. This is simply not true. You need to still show a muscularity, symmetry HEALTHY and athletic look. Women will be marked down for separated quads and looking “too hard”. That means your level of conditioning is the dry, hardened look that works for male bodybuilders but not the females. This usually happens when a competitor is training with a trainer who doesn’t know what he or she is doing. Don’t overdue the contest prep but at the same time don’t think this is an excuse not to diet and train. Women should pay attention to their entire presentation. Hair, makeup, suit cut and color, shoes - it’s the entire package. Lenay Hernandez won the JR USA because she possessed that. Some women are bitter and feel that they are loosing out to a better looking woman. You choose to participate in figure, no one is holding a gun to your head. Don’t hate on the women who possess the healthy, attractive, feminine look that is going to help the industry.

4 comments:

Cathy said...

Hats off to you Chica! You know how I feel about this!
She is beautiful and another example that Figure isn't just about packing on the muscle.
Her physique just flows.......and her presentation is stunning.......what a Figure athlete is supposed to look like!

Krissa said...

I had to go check out her pics. She is beautiful! I thought Amy Fry looked much better (healthier and more feminine---for hair and makeup reasons too)--at the Pittsburgh. I love looking at all those contest pics. Makes me want to attempt it again. :)

I was going to ask you if you thought that Tracey Gallo reminded you of Jenny Lynn at all. As I watch these videos, I really see a brunette Jenny Lynn in that room!

Have a good day!

Anonymous said...

oooh I too loved looking at all those picts! The figure girls were awesome then I ventured to the bodybuilding ones~holy roids~and I'm talking about the women!!!!!!...even their faces look masculine. For the life of me I can't figure out why they want to look like that. To each there own yes, but~yowzers!

Visionquester said...

When I am not hanging out on the blogs.. you can find me hanging out in the contest galleries of MD.

For Amy Fry, It's just a matter of leaving in the water and not flexing as hard.

~C.