For Fitness and Figure comps, the cutoff is now 15%. The judges still want a feminine look to competitors. For competitive bodybuilding men and women, it will usually be 4%-7%.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

well, over all the judges are looking for lean and defined muscle bellies through out your body. If you have a layer of fat over your thighs or your belly, and only there, but are cut everywhere else, you are not really ready for figure. All of the body should be lean, not just most of it, before you get on stage.

Many women find that getting cut everywhere but one spot (that problem area) is something they have to work extremely hard to over come - this is normal. You may be extremely lean everywhere else. But that does not mean that you are competition ready! Make sure you have clearly defined muscle bellies in every portion of your body! Back, butt, legs, abs, arms.

Take pictures of yourself from every angle and in every type of light to uncover those problem areas.

Also make sure you are proportional! Reshape muscles as necessary to balance your body out. Too much muscle on the bottom? That means upping your upper body mass with allot of lat, pec. and shoulder work. Not enough booty? That means upping the deadlifts, plyo and hamstring muscle lifting!

Happy training!

I agree with this, when I was cut down to under 14% I still didn't look like the pictures I see of the women in many of the figure comps. Niner, they won't let you figure under 15%?

I doubt that they measure for body fat, but some of the figure females starting coming in at the conditioning of a female bodybuilder without the mass. Lol, go figure because back in the days of Rachel McLish, that would have been the norm of female body builders before steroids became the norm for them.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

My trainer has said 12-14% and how low you need to be is based on how you look. For example, I hold alot of weight in my stomach so even though I'm b/w 14 and 15 now I will probably have to drop to like 12% to get the right look.

Is it possible to lose 5% body fat in two months?

good question, anyone?

my last show I was at 17% I would like to be at least 15 for next year but im working on building from here on out. (for Bikini)