Comp Prep Guide

Joanna Rohlf breaks down how much it really costs to compete in a bikini competition, from the shoes, suit, coach and everything in between.

In this video I’ll be talking to you about what it really costs to compete. Regardless of the Federation you compete in, its going to require money, so if you're thinking about competing, perhaps as a first-time competitor, whether it's bikini, Figure or whatever category you want to compete in make sure you know that you can afford it because it is an expensive hobby.

Let’s start with the basics. The very first thing is going to be the bikini competition suit. I bought my suit from Angel Competition Bikinis. They make both competition bikinis and figure suits. I highly recommend them if you're looking to get a suit for the first time. 

You can expect that be most basic suit that you're going to get is going to start off at USD$200 and can go all the way up to about $1000 depending on how fancy you want them to be in terms of the crystals and decoration on them.

If you want it to be looking completely original you can of course do the jeweling yourself. You can look up a bunch of tutorials online on how to do the beading yourself. 

Jewelry - So Angel Competition Bikinis allow you to get a free jewelry set if you use any one of their athlete codes which is what I did. Otherwise, you can get any type of jewelry from like Charming Charlie. The jewelry can range around or up to $50 depending on where you get it from. 

The next thing is shoes. I buy all my shoes from The Shoe Fairy. When I went to the LA Fit Expo there are different types of shoes that you can choose from. I chose one of the most basic that they had, but expect your shoes to range around $75 or more depending on what kind of shoe you get. 

The next thing to consider is your gym membership. You're training for a bodybuilding show so you have to work out and lift weights. That will depend on the Gym. The cheapest you could probably get a gym membership for it maybe $20. However, consider the fact that if you're going to be in prep for around 12 weeks that is already an automatic $60 that you're going to be paying for just gym membership alone. Gym memberships can get expensive, around $200 which i think is ridiculous but that’s the range you have for gym membership.

The other most basic thing to consider is of course the food that you're going to be eating. This can really be a huge range depending on where you shop for your groceries but expect that you're going to be going at least twice a week to the grocery store.

The reason I say that is because you may run out of fish or you may run out of asparagus or you may run out of egg whites and you don't expect that until you get in to prep and you find yourself going to the grocery store more than once a week.

Even your first trip alone if you're starting to prep could bury between $50 to $100 in just one trip If you put 12 weeks into the equation that definitely adds up. Of course everything that you're going to be eating on prep is necessary.

Now we're going to go into the extras. If you want to get into competing but you don't know anything about the workout you should be doing or the nutrition aspect then you're going to want to invest in a coach. 

The cost of coaching definitely varies depending on who you ask to coach you. The most affordable plans I think I've ever heard for coaching was about 12 weeks for around $300 and the reason that its so expensive is because this person is telling you how to train and what to eat in order to get stage lean.

So definitely don't expect that it's going to be something that is cheap because this person is literally working to get you to look a certain way. The other thing to consider is that if you continue to work with that person and do more shows.

The next ‘extra’ thing to consider in Supplements and the vitamins that you're going to be taking. So if you're working with a coach they're going to probably advise you to take certain supplements during your prep process. 

Some examples of supplements that you could be taking are CLA, BCAAs, glutamine. Different supplements like that that you can get from any vitamin shop or GNC. Vitamins could be things that range from fish oil to vitamin B to vitamin C. It may not seem like it's something that’s very necessary but believe me it is. 

It does make a huge difference in how your body is going to continue to perform especially on a bikini prep when your calories are getting cut more and more over time.

The next ‘extra’ thing to consider is a posing coach if your current comp prep coach does not offer posing, say for instance if they are a guy, perhaps you might feel more comfortable working with a woman as a posing coach. Perhaps you may find a husband-and-wife team. But if you have a coach does not offer posing and you do not know anything about posing then this is something you may want to consider. 

Just make sure that when you go on stage you want to look like you know how to hit your posing routine and how to hit your poses that look best on your body.

General Comp Prep Cost Prep Guide For Beginners