Brazilian Thunder I

One country, or more accurately the women of one country, seem to embody the fantasies of female muscle heads everywhere for a world where thick muscular legs are the norm, rather than the exception. This country is, of course, Brazil. And throughout this month, as we celebrate muscular legs, we'll be visiting regularly.



Personally, I've never been to Brazil (it's on my to-do list though), but I imagine our collective fantasy of arriving in Brazil to find ourselves surrounded by legs like these is probably not entirely accurate. However, there does seem to be a real culture of beauty through fitness. Evidence of a booming fitness culture has been found by the FMS research team. One example of many would be a report that since 1994, the Brazilian market for fitness equipment has grown very fast. In the last three years [2004-2007], this industry grew at a rate of 10-15%. Despite all of the economic crises faced by Brazil in recent years, the fitness industry did not suffer much.



Another example, in 2011, the New York Times reported that the country’s health and wellness industries are booming with more than 18,000 health clubs, second worldwide only to the number in the United States, according to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association. The number has more than doubled in the past four years.



Of course, this fitness boom may not be completely down to more women going to the gym, but rather the population as a whole. One source the research team found claimed the Brazilian fitness market is very successful since there is a significant cultural shift towards being athletically fit. However, last year, I was alerted to a Brazilian TV report about 'Pumped Women' like Gracyanne Barbosa 'replacing' the traditional ideal body shape with a more toned, muscular one. It's all in Portuguese, but the images speak for themselves. Check it out here.



If my understanding of the report is correct and Brazil really is becoming a country where the ideal woman is a woman with at least some degree of muscularity, then there's a very real possibility of it becoming some kind of 'Female Muscle Promised Land', a place of 'Female Muscle Pilgrimage'. I wonder whether female muscle heads who are planning to visit Brazil next year, when the country hosts the World Cup, or in 2016, when it hosts the Olympic Games, will simply never return from the 'Female Muscle Paradise' they have found!



Far-fetched? Maybe. But check out an extract from an article by an American who moved to Rio. In my Brazilian gym the average female was slightly over 30. But these were the hottest 30 and over women I’ve ever seen in my life, even if a fifth of them had fake breasts. Not only do they have the means and motivation to look good, but they are working with the foundation of Brazilian genes which gives them that legendary ass. If they had it, they definitely showed it. It goes on. And clearly this is one man who is in no hurry to get back to his homeland. Right now my calves are the biggest they’ve ever been in my life, he writes.



When I thought of the title of 'Brazilian Thunder', I was thinking of the (not very original) image of these Brazilian women's big, booming, thunderous steps as their Amazonian thighs shook the very ground they walked upon. Now I'm thinking that perhaps the thunder isn't coming from Brazil at all, but is instead the sound of the hordes of female muscle brethren running through their local airports clutching their boarding passes for Rio and São Paulo!



And, as our final image of the day shows, it's good to know that it's not just us non-Brazilian guys who get that slightly mournful 'If only...' expression when faced with a pair of those Brazilian thighs...



Enjoy! More thunder to come this month...