SEMINAR

INTERNATIONAL JUDGES AND TRAINERS SEMINAR IN KLAIPEDA. WHEN BODYBUILDING BECAME JUST ABOUT MUSCLES: WHERE DID THE ART OF POSING GO?

Bodybuilding was once about much more than displaying muscles. It was about the stage, music, movement, artistry, and the ability to turn one’s physique into a true stage performance. Today, much of that has disappeared. Has bodybuilding become too simplistic?

This question will be discussed on September 27, 2026, in Klaipėda, Lithuania, at an international seminar for coaches and judges, organized by the World WFF-WBBF Federation and the International Sport University (ISU).

One of the main topics of the seminar will be the art of posing, its importance in competition, new categories and judging principles, as well as the future development of bodybuilding.

There Was a Time When Muscles Alone Were Not Enough

There was a period in bodybuilding history when an athlete had to be more than physically well prepared. He had to know how to present his physique.

In 1987, during the establishment of the USSR Bodybuilding Federation, a series of specialized seminars was organized. One of them was conducted by Vitalijus Asovskis, then head of the Vilnius School of Bodybuilding.

Together with Česlavas Tamulevičius, the founder of the Vilnius School of Bodybuilding, and drawing on their practical experience and years of work with athletes, he developed a classification of the main bodybuilding poses.

This was not merely technical work. Posing was understood as a special language through which an athlete told the story of his physique on stage.

On Stage, It Was Not Enough to Be Strong — You Had to Know How to Show It

At that time, the free posing routine played a particularly important role.

An athlete did not simply perform the mandatory poses. He created his own performance: choosing the music, arranging the sequence of poses, transitions and movements, and creating a complete stage presentation.

Judges evaluated the overall impression of the routine, artistry, stage presence, musicality, posing technique and the athlete’s ability to move smoothly from one pose to another.

This forced athletes to develop far beyond the gym.

Lifting weights alone was not enough to become a stage virtuoso. Athletes had to learn how to control their bodies, understand music, use the stage, connect with the audience and present themselves to the judges.

Anyone can lift a barbell. Far fewer can command a stage.

As a result, there were occasions when a physically outstanding athlete lost to a competitor who was better able to present his physique on stage.

This judging philosophy encouraged bodybuilders to work harder and develop not only their physiques, but also their stagecraft.

The Vilnius School Created Not Only Physiques, but Stage Art

Specialists of the Vilnius School of Bodybuilding carefully studied the experience of other sports. They analyzed routines from artistic gymnastics and figure skating, examining their structure, artistry, musicality and judging principles.

This experience was then adapted to bodybuilding.

As a result, Lithuania produced an entire generation of athletes for whom the stage was just as important as the training hall.

Among them were Pranas Murauskas, Jevgenijus Gorelikas, Jevgenijus Žurcevas, Rišardas Krinickis, Vytautas Pleckevičius, Saulius Misevičius, Vladas Kapcevičius, Viačeslavas Chleborodovas and many other athletes of that era.

Their performances were not simply demonstrations of poses.

They were performances.

What Happened to Bodybuilding Today?

Today, free posing routines are no longer evaluated in many bodybuilding competitions.

And this creates one of the fundamental problems.

If posing skill has no impact on the final result, why should an athlete spend hundreds of hours developing it?

Perfecting posing requires time. It requires coaching, specialized knowledge, stage experience, musical awareness and countless rehearsals.

As a result, athletes naturally focus on the elements that directly influence their competitive results.

The result is increasing uniformity.

The same movements. The same poses. The same stage solutions.

The athlete walks onto the stage, displays his physique and walks off.

But where has the individuality gone? Where is the personality of the performance? Where is the moment when spectators are waiting not only to see what kind of physique an athlete has brought to the competition, but how he will present it?

Is Bodybuilding Losing Its Stage Identity?

Bodybuilding has always been unique because it brought together sport and stage performance.

Muscle was only one part of the equation.

The other was the ability to present it.

When the artistic component disappears from the judging system, competitions become increasingly uniform. And the more uniform they become, the fewer reasons spectators have to look forward to the next athlete’s performance.

Perhaps this is why it is time to look again at something that was once considered an essential part of bodybuilding.

2027 Could Become a Year of Change

The WFF-WBBF Federation has announced plans to reintroduce the evaluation of free posing routines for professional bodybuilders starting in 2027.

This would represent an attempt to bring back an element that once encouraged athletes to become not only physically powerful, but also true stage performers.

Will this change bodybuilding?

The answer will depend on how the judging criteria are formulated and how the idea is received by athletes, coaches and judges.

But one thing is clear:

Bodybuilding cannot be reduced to a display of muscles.

An athlete on stage should not simply stand there.

He should perform.

This will be one of the key subjects discussed on September 27, 2026, in Klaipėda at the International Seminar for Coaches and Judges.

Perhaps it is time to remember that bodybuilding does not begin when an athlete steps onto the stage.

It begins when an athlete learns how to tell the story of his physique on stage.

More information about the seminar: www.worldfitness.lt