GETTING ready for summer is taking on a new look with a nearly sold-out bodybuilding event set for Launceston.
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The Princess Theatre is the venue for the Tasmanian natural physique championships on September 15.
Tickets are selling fast and about 100 competitors are expected.
Run by the International Natural Bodybuilding Association, the competition has several divisions, including the entry-level bikini (for females) and athletic male model section, up to elite levels.
Association Tasmanian president Don Macdonald said competitors signed a drug-free agreement and were tested at the event.
He said the competition was split between traditional bodybuilding and athletic modelling, both male and female.
These athletics models were the sort of person seen on the cover of fitness magazines.
A new category this year is the bikini momma division, for mothers.
Mr Macdonald said the drug-free status, along with entry level categories, meant spectators could identify with competitors and aspire to emulate them.
This connection meant spectator interest in bodybuilding and athletic modelling had grown strongly in recent years.
``They are seeing people that have nice, muscular bodies that are more attainable by the normal person,'' he said.
``Many people could look like that if they trained hard and had good nutrition.
``It is a very healthy sport.''