Experienced bikini competitor Dani Krshka runs through a heap of costs you'll encounter when you prepare for and compete at a bikini competition.
Hey guys, I'm Dani Krshka and today I'm going to talk to you about what it costs financially to compete as a bikini competitor on stage.
The question I get all the time is 'How much should I expect to be paying if I want to get on stage for the first time?'.
Well, I think one of the biggest misconceptions about this sport is just how inexpensive it is. There are so many little details that go into it that you don't think off. Of course people know about the suits, those can be very expensive and people obviously know there's the coaching cost. In fact, the coaching is probably the most expensive aspect of it all. If you are traveling to your show this also adds up and it would just blow your mind how much it can add up to.
So, if you're a first-time competitor and you are thinking about doing a bikini competition the best thing you can do for yourself is to pick a show that is local to you so you don't have to travel. All those travel expenses are going to add up, including the hotel, the flights, the gas if you're driving there, parking fees for the hotels and Uber rides. The best thing you can do for yourself to create less expenses and to create the least amount of stress is to pick a show that is local to you.
If you're not traveling the most expensive aspect of this sport is likely to be the coaching. The price is going to vary per coach. Some people actually do it without a coach which I do not recommend for your first time but it's going to depend on if your coach is doing your workouts or not or if they're just doing your macros.
The cost of a coach is going to vary based on their experience, knowledge and how long they've been in the industry. I'm going to say it could cost anywhere from USD$150 to $300 per month.
The other thing you have to consider is that you have to prep before the prep. So if you want to actually take this seriously you have to give it everything you've got, which I think you should if you're going to choose an extreme sport. If you do then you're going to have that coach longer than just those 12, 16, 20 weeks leading up to the show. You're gonna need to spend a decent amount of time working with that coach in the improvement season to make sure that you are ready to go onto the diet. Therefore, coaching can cost anywhere from $150 to $300 a month depending on if they do your workouts or not.
The next expensive item would be the bikini which will vary per different companies. I would estimate on spending at least $250 on that but if you want the ones that are really sparkly that are completely dazzled out, you can expect to spend at least $500 if not more.
There was this one year where I chose to bedazzle my own suit. I bought the base suit from Ravish Sands which was around $80 and then I went and bought the Swarovski crystals myself, that cost a little bit of money and I had to put the time and effort into bedazzling the suit myself. It ended up costing me somewhere around $250 to $280.
It was great, I loved that suit. I love the color, how it fits and everything. However, at the end of it all, with as much time as I spent on it, I probably won't do it again. I'd rather just pay someone to do it for me because when you're in prep your time is limited.
Aside from the suit, you have the standard costs which is; your NPC membership card. This is a membership that you have to renew annually. It's $125.
Along with that you have your show entry fees so depending on how many different categories that you enter the cost is going to vary.
You have multiple different divisions or categories you can enter within your division. They have True Novice which means you've never competed before - this is your first time. There's Novice, which means you've never won your class. There's Open which is open category for everybody. It’s the only one that you can qualify to go to Nationals. Then there's the Masters category for competitors above the age of 35 or 40 or 50 - all the different masters categories.
In my opinion, if you're going to take this amount of time and effort and dedication into this sport you'll want to enter as many categories as possible to make the most out of it, get the most stage time as possible. So with that being said that's a lot of different divisions or categories that you're going to enter and that's all going to add up.
Each show’s cost varies, what they'll do is if its your first category you enter is $100 and any category after that maybe an additional $50 per division. You could spend anywhere from $100 to $300 just to be in the show and again that does not include your NPC membership card which is about $125.
