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Athlete Insider

Domenic Mauro B.A., IFBB Press Commission

Having worked the health and fitness industry for well over 25 years, Domenic is known by many for signing and working with some of the top athletes, celebrities and models in the health and fitness industry. He’s worked with well over 300 athletes including major league professionals, IFBB Pros, Mr./Ms. Olympias, Celebrity Trainers, Actors, WWE Stars, Professional MMA Fighters and some of the industry’s top name brand companies. In addition to working with the top supplement companies in the world, he has had the privilege of working on the sales and marketing of world class events as the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, the PGA Tour and CTV Olympic Games Broadcast.

In 2011, Domenic was appointed to the IFBB Press Commission to overlook media operations in North America. A few years later in 2014, he was honored with the distinguished IFBB Silver Medal of Achievement for outstanding contributions towards the promotion of Sport, Fitness and a Healthy Lifestyle. In 2015, the IFBB bestowed an Honorary Master’s Degree in Bodybuilding and Fitness Methods. And in 2019, the industry honored Domenic with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Reserved for industry leaders and accomplished athletes, this honor recognizes an individual(s) whose career and leadership has greatly impacted and contributed to the growth, advancement and promotion of the health and fitness industry.

Domenic studied Kinesiology and Health Sciences while attending York University in Toronto and graduated with a degree in Human Psychology.

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Women's Physique Category

QUESTION: I still haven't quite figured out how to become a "Physique" competitor. Do you have a list of shows and Qualifiers that could point me in the right direction? 

Thanks,

Dusty Sage

ANSWER: I went straight to one of the most knowledgeable and insightful people on the sport to get the answer. Garry Bartlett is the President of the New Brunswick Physique and Figure Association and a judge. Garry, who has been one of Canada’s most prolific writers and photographers of the sport of Bodybuilding and Fitness and has been in the “know” for about 30 years answers the question and gives us some insight on the new IFBB Women’s Physique Category.

Here's what Garry had to say:

Hi thanks for your interest in competing in the newly created women's physique. With this category being so new, there is a lot of confusion as to how it is going to be accepted and judged. Unfortunately, there will be no women's physique competition scheduled by the CBBF at their nationals for this year. However, the NPC have added them to their US events for 2011 including the North American Championships (September 2 – 3, 2011), which is open to Canadian competitors. As President of the New Brunswick Association I am going to introduce a physique category to our Atlantic Championships as a test run on May 14th, 2011.

The big question on everyone’s mind is what is the difference between women's bodybuilding, figure and physique? The main reason why the women's physique category was created was to allow less muscular women who wanted to compete in bodybuilding but didn't want to have to gain the excessive muscle size, density, and striated muscularity to be competitive in this division. In reality how many women could ever build the kind of muscle as the incredible current Ms Olympia Iris Kyle? With the trend in Figure competitions switching towards a curvier less muscular look, there is a gap created for women athletes who possess nice shape, balance and moderate conditioning. That is why women's Classic physique was added. A good example that really hit home for me for the creation of this division came a couple of years ago at the Arnold Amateur in the Figure categories. I was awestruck by the incredible conditions and nicely muscled girls from Europe. They sported more muscle and than our North American competitors. A lot of these athletes scored very high in IFBB World Championships but failed to finish very high at the Arnold as the judges went with a less muscular look. With the new Women's Physique category these girls now would have a division which would fit their development. Hopefully, once this new category catches on, we will be treated to some amazing athletic and beautiful women. It is also a positive step to discourage women from having to take male steroids to gain what they think is the massive bulk now required to compete in women's bodybuilding.

Thank you Garry. There you have it Dusty! I hope this answers your question and then some.