Masters bodybuilding is competition in age classes, starting at 35 and stepping up through 40, 45, 50 and beyond, judged on exactly the same criteria as the open classes. The classes exist because ambition does not expire with a birthday. In 2006, Bob Cicherillo walked into Madison Square Garden and won the IFBB Masters Pro World Championship at 40, the same year he was joking at a birthday party that his friend Shawn Ray, born the same year, was retired, out of shape and finished. That story, told in Shawn Ray's own words in Fitness After 40, is the honest picture of the masters field: real titles, real stages, and real competitors in their forties and beyond. This article covers how masters classes work, how preparation changes with age, and how to choose your first masters show.
What masters bodybuilding actually is
A masters class is an age bracket inside an existing division, not a division of its own. Masters Men's Bodybuilding is Men's Bodybuilding for competitors above an age line. Masters Figure is Figure above an age line. The judging criteria, the posing requirements and the scoring are identical to the parent division; the only thing that changes is who stands in the lineup. For what those parent divisions are and how they are judged, the guide to bodybuilding divisions covers the men's side and the guide to women's divisions covers the women's side.
At professional level, the IFBB Pro League runs Masters Pro divisions with their own titles. The Masters Pro World Championship that Bob Cicherillo won in 2006 is that level: professionals competing against professionals, inside an age bracket. Cicherillo, whose voice now carries the Mr. Olympia broadcasts, earned that title on a Madison Square Garden stage at an age when most of his open-class rivals had retired.
How the age classes and eligibility work
In the NPC, the amateur federation most American competitors start in, masters classes are offered at 35 and over, 40 and over, 45 and over, 50 and over, and 60 and over, with some contests adding higher brackets. Three rules govern entry. The competitor must have reached the minimum age of the class on the day of the contest, and proof of age with government-issued ID is checked at registration. A competitor may enter more than one masters class at the same contest, so a 47-year-old can stand in both the over-35 and the over-45 lineups. And masters competitors can cross over to the Open class if they meet its requirements, which many do, competing against their own age group in one lineup and the whole field in the next.
That crossover option matters more than it looks. It means masters is not a consolation bracket. It is an additional way to compete, and the competitor who places in masters and holds their own in Open gets an honest read on where their physique actually stands.
Preparing to compete as a master
The preparation for a masters class is the same discipline as at any age, run with wider margins. The body that steps on stage at 45 responds to the same training and the same nutrition as the body at 25; it simply recovers more slowly and forgives less. Shawn Ray puts a concrete number on the difference in Fitness After 40: during his competition years he trained six days a week, sometimes twice a day, and when he rebuilt his physique at 41 he trained four times a week, because that was what an older body could recover from. The audiobook walks through what changes after 40, hormones, joints, recovery windows and the training adjustments that follow, and it is the natural companion to a masters prep.
The contest-specific work is unchanged by age. A stage physique is still judged on the parts the mirror ignores, conditioning still takes the months it takes, and posing still has to be rehearsed until it looks like the competitor has been there before. Shawn Ray covers that side, prep, peak week and the stage itself, in On Competing, and the principles apply to a masters lineup exactly as they do to an open one.
Choosing your first masters show
Three things are worth checking before entering. First, which masters brackets the contest actually offers, because smaller shows sometimes run 35 and over as a single class while larger ones split the brackets, and the difference decides who you stand next to. Second, whether the show is a national qualifier, which matters only if the ambition runs past the local stage. Third, the calendar: a first prep deserves a date far enough out to be done properly, and picking the show four to six months ahead is part of the preparation, not a detail after it.
The masters field runs all the way up to contests built around it. The Shawn Ray Pro Am Hawaiian Classic, the contest Shawn Ray owns and runs, stages IFBB Pro League Masters Pro divisions alongside its NPC amateur classes, which says something about where the sport itself sees the masters field: on the same stage as everyone else.
What changes on stage after 40, and what does not
What changes is the margin for error. Recovery between the final depletion workouts is slower, skin and conditioning ask for a longer runway, and the prep that could be improvised at 25 has to be planned at 45. What does not change is the standard. The judges score the physique in front of them against the criteria of the division, and a masters lineup at a serious show is conditioned, practiced and competitive. The lifter who arrives assuming the age bracket lowers the bar discovers on stage that it does not.
The honest version of competing over 40 is therefore neither the myth that it is too late nor the promise that age is just a number. It is a field with real standards, entered by people who prepared properly for it, in a body that demands more care than it used to. That is also why it is worth doing.
Frequently asked questions about masters bodybuilding
What age is masters in bodybuilding?
Masters classes in the NPC start at 35 and step up through 40, 45, 50 and 60 and over, with some contests adding higher brackets. The competitor must have reached the minimum age of the class on the day of the contest, and proof of age is required at check-in. A competitor can enter more than one masters class at the same contest, and can cross over to the Open class as well.
What age do bodybuilders peak?
Most elite bodybuilders reach their competitive peak somewhere between their late twenties and late thirties, when years of accumulated muscle meet a body that still recovers quickly. Shawn Ray competed at the highest level of the sport across nearly two decades and retired from the Olympia stage in 2001 at 36. But a peak is not an expiry date: masters classes exist because a lifter in their forties or fifties can still present a stage-worthy physique against their own age group, judged on the same criteria as everyone else.
Can you start competing in bodybuilding at 40?
Yes. Masters classes from 35 and over exist for exactly this, and many masters competitors stand on a stage for the first time in their forties. The preparation is the same discipline as at any age, run with wider recovery margins: fewer weekly sessions, stricter form, and more attention to joints and sleep. What matters is not the birth year but the willingness to prepare properly, which takes the same number of months at 45 as it does at 25.
Are masters bodybuilders judged differently?
No. A masters class is an age bracket inside a division, not a separate standard. Masters Men's Physique is judged on the Men's Physique criteria, masters Bikini on the Bikini criteria, and so on. What changes is the lineup, not the scorecard: the competitor is compared against their own age group instead of the open field.
Where to go deeper
For the training, nutrition and recovery side of an older body, Fitness After 40 is the dedicated title, built on what Shawn Ray learned rebuilding his own physique at 41; the training principles behind it are also covered in building muscle after 40. For the competition craft itself, prep, posing, peak week and show day, On Competing is Shawn Ray's complete audiobook on the subject. The full catalog is organized by goal into the learning tracks on the BuildWithPros Education page.
About the source
This article is published by BuildWithPros, the official store and education platform of IFBB Hall of Famer Shawn Ray: 13-time Mr. Olympia competitor with 12 consecutive top-five finishes from 1990 to 2001, Mr. Olympia runner-up in 1994 and 1996, and 1991 Arnold Classic champion. The Bob Cicherillo account is told in Shawn Ray's own words in Fitness After 40. Masters age classes and eligibility rules are drawn from published NPC contest rules and verified as of August 2026; individual contests can vary in which brackets they offer, so the entry form of the specific show is always the final word.
Disclaimer
This article is educational and informational content only. It is not medical, nutritional, or training advice and not a substitute for professional care from a qualified physician or registered dietitian. Consult a qualified physician before starting contest preparation or a new training or nutrition program, particularly after 40 or with a diagnosed medical condition or prescription medications.
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