IFBB has a World Classic Bodybuilding Championships, that is why there are classic classes at the Canadian Natural Physique Championships and at the Natural Ontarios.
It would be a good idea to have a qualifier for the Natural Ontarios. I think it would improve the quality of athletes competing at the Natural Ontarios.
Now that would be a good idea IMO.Originally Posted by steve_d
2010 CBBF National Champion
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How though? The OPA took a step in the right direction by cutting the amount of regional shows and getting rid of the 3 level system. I think by adding more than even just 1 extra qualifier for a natural provincials will basically be taking a step in the opposite direction again. More shows is not necessarily better - it just makes individual shows smaller, which hurts promoters, etc.
I do agree that having at least 1 natural show, or even 2 per year will help promote the sport to those who aren't game to take on the larger guys at a non-tested show. But the really good natural guys are able to hold their own in a non-tested show, so having more shows may not necessarily help the "quality" of the athletes going to a provincial natural show.
But it MAY help the prestige of making it to that show.
A first time competitor (I'm not saying all of them because you have the exceptional ones) doesn't always have the experience to compete provincially until they get more competitions under their belt. Say they make top 5 because there are only 5 competitors in their class then their very next competition is the Canadian Naturals.
And yes it would be better to have more drug tested shows to bring back those athletes leaving the OPA to do other natural federations. When you only have one drug tested show in an organization it doesn't give them many chances to get experience. Some people also like to compete more often and with only 1 show it doesn't give them much choice but to go to other organizations. It's not taking a step back for OPA.
When I first started competing with OPA I was disappointed to only have one natural show to compete it. I wanted to compete more so I did try other organizations.
Yes, the really good natural competitors can hold their own, but not everyone can so giving them more shows to compete in would be beneficial and give newer competitors more experience.
doing more shows per year, particularly for a natural competitor might give them more experience on stage, but also gives them less off-season time. I think this is the most important thing a novice should know. It's too easy to get "addicted" to being on stage, and in the long run hinder your gains.
I for one have first hand experience with this. When first started out, all I wanted to do was compete. But it wasn't until I finally stopped competing for a bit that I put on some muscle.
Trust me, I've had the same experience!! But for the natural stream basically it's the Natural Ontarios, Natural Canadians and then IFBB Worlds. Rarely you get guys who can do 3 shows and go to the IFBB Worlds for their 3rd show and have the experience they need. Like I said there are exceptions and Worlds is a totally different game. It wouldn't hurt to have one other show to qualify for the Natural Ontarios. They could always do a qualifer to the natural Ontarios then the natural Ontarios and take the rest of the year off to grow and be ready for the Natural Canadians and Worlds.
If you want to compete at Worlds you have to compete in the same year you have qualified at the Natural Canadians. So as a natural competitor you have no choice but to do 2 shows if you want to go to Worlds. You can't wait and go the next year. CBBF selects a team, either you go that year or wait and have to requalify the next year again.
Enough said, it's just my opinion, I'm not looking for a debate here or anything. That's just how I feel about it. Just looking at this year's Natural Ontarios photos, I could definitely tell there were a lot of first time competitors. They wouldn't do well at the Canadians. There just seems to be such a big gap from the Natural Ontarios to the Canadians.
There are a lot of great points being made here no doubt. I think that for one the good natural guys should be able to hold there own in a non tested event but it also depends on the category that they enter.
Having more shows might not be the best idea but having a qualifier may not be a bad idea either. I think having it at a non drug tested event might be a great idea. It would make the event larger and would draw more of a crowd. This would also allow to have more events. The only thing that I would hate would be to compete against myself. At the Natural Ontarios this year there were only 2 people in my class. That means that at a qualifying event I would be the only one. That is brutal.
Maria may be right though. If there were more natural events this may bring more people back to the OPA from the IDFA FAME etc. It would be nice to have more people though. The other point she made was experience. Your second show be Nationals. I don't think you have to know how on stage to be able to compete with those more experienced then yourself after your 1st ever event.
Last edited by A.C.P.; 05-10-2010 at 09:26 AM. Reason: Addition
I like the debate. Good points, but I still believe that adding another show for the argument of looking ahead at worlds isn't really a strong argument. There is maybe 1 or 2 guys at the WQ each year that likely has the potential to even bother going to worlds. Those guys aren't good because they had another tier to work up. They are good because likely they were winning the first show they ever entered.
Adding another tier is just that, adding another show. In the non-tested stream, its the same thing. When I lived in NS, there was only the 1 show per year. And basically the only guys that went to Nationals were the ones who felt ready. Same thing should apply to the ontario show. There is no harm competing at the same "level" year after year until you are ready to go to the next level. People like climbing steps too much when the steps mean nothing. I'd rather treat the steps as coming 3rd, 2nd, then 1st each progressive year, rather than winning in a diluted contest of 2 competitors called "level 1" than winning a level 2 show, etc...Winning is meaningless, and even more meaningless when the shows are so small that you don't really know what you've actually won.
If the guys at the ontario show this year stand no chance at the WQ, then compete at the ontario show again next year.
From bolded above: exactly. Its bad enough as it is at the ontarios to have a small class, this would just be even worse by dividing it into a qualifier to be one of those 2 guys. More experience, but experience against no one is not really good experience...How do you know what to improve when you are the winner every time you compete?
The ONLY reason I see having another natural show in ontario as being a good idea is as above, bringing people away from the other federations. Some people like competing in the fall, others in the spring...So if the 1 OPA show is always in the fall, where are the spring people going to go - elsewhere.
But really, the 1 reason that the natural shows are without strong competitors is because the sport is not very appealing to natural athletes. Bigger and harder is better. As vain as the sport is, and the type of individual it takes to be successful, are likely going to take it to the next level - therefore the guys that truly would do great as a natural, aren't natural long enough.
Very true. Not like I haven't given it alot of thought myself but I prefer that not so muscular look. I mean you can get fairly big without having that huge bodybuilder physique. That is why I compete in the Classic Division. I think I am going to go into the Light Heavy Weight Category as well and see if I can hold my own. I love competing. I think it gives you something to work towards and better yourself but if they did not have natural or classic bodybuilding I think I would be on a different route to compete with the bigger boys. I am going to be hopefully sitting at around 190-195lbs on stage this week so hopefully this will be enough. Personally this is a big as I ever want to get so the rest of the time I would be working on symmetry, posing etc.
suits
Hello,
Little off the current topic but can anyone tell me if figure is going to keep both the two and the one peice division and the black two peice? or are we going to follow the states and take out the one peice round? Just looking at future shows and dont want to spend more on bling bling then if needed!
Thanks ahead!
MzFit
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