Inspired by... Pump It Up

It's always nice to know that someone is reading my musings, and even nicer when they actually bother to share their thoughts and/or reach out a mutually female muscle appreciating hand. So, this week on FMS, for some of the lovely readers who have been in touch (whether by email or the comment box), a whole post inspired by them as a way of saying thank you for supporting the blog.

I hope they, and you, will enjoy them.

Last but certainly not least this week, a tribute to the UK's (possibly the world's) longest-running female muscle fan blog, the legendary PumpItUp's Female Muscle.

I've never made any secret of my admiration for this incredible archive of female muscle, nor how it provided so much of the inspiration for me to start Female Muscle Slave. PumpItUp himself was one of the first readers to contact me after FMS began, and it has been an honour and a pleasure to share my love of female muscle with him.

Eight years of blogging, more or less continuously since December 2005. Truly amazing. 'How to pay tribute?' I wondered. In the end, I decided on this...

A HISTORY OF PUMPITUP IN 100 IMAGES

2005


Dame Kelly Holmes leads the applause for PumpItUp at 8


2006

THEMES ESTABLISHED


Abs and fitness: Sarah De Herdt and Larissa Reis

Early PumpItUp was characterised by the use of screencaps, often from UK TV


Shelley Beattie on Sky Three (!!!)


Spice Girl Mel C armwrestling


This looks like Mz Devious, but 2006?! Surely not!


2007



PumpItUp is a celebration of female muscle in ALL its forms


Acrobatic muscle, May 2007



So many women, and iconic images, seen first on PumpItUp


Erica Cordie, December 2007




2008



It's all there on PumpItUp: abs, calves, biceps and backs; the new and the old;
from the unknown 'Girl Next Door' to the well-known female muscle face






















2009


Jamie Costa and Nena Cortes got 2009 off to a hot start


Anne Freitas on the brink of greatness; Maria Kuzmina, Russian NABBA goddess

Like a sweet shop of female muscle, there's allsorts (sorry!) to enjoy





The beautiful Pauline Nordin, a PumpItUp staple




Macey Boudreau pumps it up


2010

PumpItUp kicks off 2010 in style with abs and hammies to die for, and by officially giving Sarah Hayes 'the right to bear arms' and calling Oksana a 'Modern Venus'...






The Malacarne triplets!






PumpItUp favourites like Lisa Moordigan (above) are never over-featured,
but when they are, he makes sure the images are memorable








left: 'Lean and Mean'; right: 'The Quad Squad'



PumpItUp reduces your amount of 'Guess Who? time. He not only almost always knows who it is, but he also bothers to tell you. That's Suzy Kellner right there.


2011





'Stunning abdominal landscapes': Popa (above) and Landolt


'How to Stop Traffic. And everything else!'

UK mainstream media muscle rarely escapes PumpItUp's beady eye









2012

In which year PumpItUp brought us abs...



... FMS got inspiration for Ts of the Day...



... more media, more Crossfit...



... and more abs




2013

PumpItUp is, in this reader's opinion anyway, better than ever. Daily posting resumes. The man's archive is seemingly endless, and if you don't have time or inclination to scour the web for images, there's no better place to get your female muscle fix.





Female muscle fantasies...




... and old favourites and new finds


It'll never be the Twix advert, more's the pity


Amy Sibcy, and some other great legs 'Just Going for a Stroll'



Some of the most beautiful women in the world


Lisa Marie Sanders: progress


Karina Akmens, x3

And a final snapshot - all posted in the last couple of weeks










Of course, this 100-image tribute is only a tiny fraction of the hundreds and thousands of images you can find on PumpItUp, and on and on it goes, with a new image (at least) per day, into its eighth year. Happy 8th Birthday, and may PumpItUp continue to go strong through 2014 and for many many years' beyond...

Merry Christmas, my friend!