Posing/Presentation – Posing/Presentation refers to how well the competitor presents herself and displays their physique on stage as well as adherence to USBF posing guidelines. Competitors should present themselves with poise, good posture and confidence and should utilize posing that enhances their physique (i.e. no overly pointed elbows, arms too far from midline of body, or inability to display symmetry (i.e. flaring the lats). Competitors should be able to quickly and smoothly transition between poses. Other factors that can affect overall presentation score are skin tone, complexion and suit fit.

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Symmetry – Symmetry refers to the evenness of development of the competitor’s physique and how well the parts of the physique flow together. It includes the balance and proportion of the competitor from side to side, top to bottom and front to back. Symmetry is a measurement of evenness of development between all muscle groups and proportion when viewed from all sides. No body part or muscle group should stand out from the rest.

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Muscularity – Muscularity refers to muscle size and development relative to the competitor’s frame, including shape and size. The level of muscularity is determined by the extent of development in relation to the size of the competitor’s skeletal structure. Also to be considered is the shape and contour of the developed muscle and muscle groups. Men’s Physique competitors should display:

• A significant level of muscularity; however excessive muscularity that would qualify as bodybuilding will be scored down accordingly.

• Well-defined muscles that flow evenly throughout the physique.

• Rounded delts that flow into the biceps and triceps.

• A taper in the lats flowing into the oblique with lines that flow evenly to the upper thigh.

 

Conditioning – Conditioning refers to the level of differentiation between adjacent muscles delineating sections or fibers within the same muscle group and the degree of firmness (hardness) of muscle tone.  Leanness is important but an overly dieted appearance is neither advantageous nor desirable. Men’s Physique competitors should display: 

• In general, the men’s physique competitor should demonstrate visible muscle separation and conditioning without striations.

• Visible ab separation.

• Visible separation between delts, biceps and triceps

• These words can be helpful to assess what should not be descriptive to the physiques being judged in this division: Ripped, shredded, peeled, striated, dry, diced, hard, vascular, grainy, massive, thick, dense, etc.

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Men's Physique competitors need to wear board shorts (shorts must be just above the knee in length and can be one inch below the belly button) with no logos on them (other than manufacture logo).

Round 1: Quarter Turns

Round 2: Individual Presentation
Competitors walk out to music of their choice and perform a “T” walk (amateurs are allowed up to 60 seconds while Pros are allowed up to 90 seconds). A T-walk consists of walking out to rear center stage and pausing briefly in a pose of choice. Competitors then walk up to front center stage to pose briefly, then walk to stage left and pose briefly, then walk to stage right and pose briefly, then walk to the front center of the stage and pose briefly, and finally walk off stage diagonally to the side (as instructed by staff). The walk resembles a “T”, which is how it got its name. 

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USBF Judging panel may ask for the following poses if the class is close:​

• Side Chest of choice

• Side Tricep of choice

• Side Intercostal of choice

• Abdominal Pose

• Favorite Physique Pose

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