241

Anyone else remember the Wrigley's Double Mint ad from the '80s? "A double pleasure's waiting for you..." I think the jingle went. Well, this week on FMS there's LOTS of double pleasures are going to be waiting for you, as we explore the particular delights of what we're going to call the '241' female muscle image.



Later in the week we'll be broadening the definition out a little and taking a look at images where the same woman appears twice (241 selfies, you might call them), as well as tipping our hats in the direction of a legendary female muscle blogger with a special talent for finding 'before and after' pictures, and then combining them into 241 transformations so jaw-dropping it's easy to imagine you are actually looking at two completely different women. And as if that wasn't enough, this week we'll also be 241ing with two pairs of female bodybuilding sisters from very different eras.



But today, a selection of images, some new and some not so new, in the 'classic' 241 style. They might feature women we all know and love, or women we might be seeing for the first time. But there's plenty of fine female muscle in every one, and in our opinion at least, they all do that 'double your pleasure' thing so well.



It could be a pair of fitness women or a pair of big big female bodybuilders. They could still be sweating from their workout or all glammed up. It could be a candid, a selfie, or a professional photographer's take on our collective 241 fantasy, as in Brandi and Marina above right. It seems to this female muscle head, that every single one's a winner. As with most things, a 241 deal on female muscle is impossible to resist.



Remember this selfie nugget starring Sexy Sophie Arvebrink and Adriana Kuhl? We've posted it before, in October last year to be precise. I doubt those who have since made the pilgrimage to the photo's location need any reminding at all. But if you do, have a quick look back at the post, Selfies of the Day Bare Backs Special, and you'll probably find 'What Happened Next...' is familiar after all.



What to think? Tara 'Big Tinah' Silzer and Aleesha Young look well-matched (left), but is it just that Iris Kyle is covered-up, or maybe the angle at which she's standing? Or is it, in fact, that Simone de Oliveira really is that huge?!



Lada Plihalova and Emery Miller pose for anyone with a wide-angle lens in one of those glamour-candid scenarios that cause female muscle heads all over the world to wish it was them who was standing behind the camera and consequently resolve to visit Columbus, Ohio or Las Vegas, Nevada 'this year'. Beautiful.



(left): Jennifer Abshire and Sarah Hayes back in 2010 when Jennifer was still Scarpetta and Sarah was the rising star of female bodybuilding. Check out their respective leg development for a clue as to why it is, in fact, Jen (I've spent so much virtual time with her I feel I can call her 'Jen') whose star burns brighter now. Then feel your pulse rise as you take in Larissa Reis and Michelle Lewin (middle) and Sara Butler and Katrinka Danielson (right). I heard a rumour that one of Sara and Katrinka - honestly, I can't recall which it was - stole the other's man. Not saying it's true, just saying IMAGINE BEING THAT GUY!!!



Leanna Carr (squatting) and Charlie Brooke (flexing) want me to stop gossiping and focus on the bonds that weight training forges between women. In Strong and Hard Women (see FMS passim), author Tanya Bunsell reports that female bodybuilders are drawn to one another, not necessarily a sexual attraction (although this is a little more common than on average). It's more about having a mutual appreciation and understanding of each others' journeys, displayed in their physiques, strengthened perhaps by their status as social outsiders. Charlie's even wearing a chain as a metaphor for the 'iron sisterhood'. Thank you, Charlie.



South Korea's 2013 Arnold Classic Europe physique winner Yeon Woo-Jhi and reigning IFBB Worlds bodybuilding champ Olga Belyakova provide the kind of image that I wish I'd had with me all those times I'd overheard a non-female muscle head say that muscular women 'look like men'. Oh, really? I'd say, producing this pic as I forcefully poked the hater in the chest. I suppose you think female bodybuilders don't have any curves, either. I'd thrust the image at him. Well, what do you think of this, sir... And he'd reply, What is that guy in the background doing exactly?



I'm sure I've dreamt about this scenario. Not Klaudia Larson (and her wowcep) and Lisa Moordigan (and her bicep) particularly (although they will most definitely suffice), but I'm sure I've had a dream about being accosted by a beautiful, elegantly-dressed female bodybuilder at a party who demands I worship her, and that a whole queue of muscular beauties appear out of the darkness, all equally glammed up and wanting the same thing from me. Maybe you've had the same dream?

241 all week on FMS. Fill your boots!