This paper in an introduction to the judgment in bodybuilding. Judging in bodybuilding consists of a ranking of 2 to 15 athletes established by a panel of 3 to 9 judges, depending on the competition. These judges express a preference influenced by several objective but also subjective criteria. We explain here how the ranking is performed in such a way that objectivity is preserved as much as possible. The method is based on the so called "deviation method" and the visual analysis of cycles characterizing the divergences between different rankings. It results in a method to evaluate a particular judge, as a whole panel of judges as well.
