Shannon Courtney: Countdown to Omaha

April 7th: 9 weeks out
#youknowimkillinIT #imcoming4U #OmahaPro2014


It's been eight months since the 2013 Ms Olympia. Eight long months, but the wait is almost over. Tonight, FINALLY, IFBB pro female bodybuilding returns in Toronto. And it's definitely feast after famine because in just seven days from now, there will be some more pro female bodybuilding to enjoy, at the brand new Omaha Pro Show.

I am, of course, pant-wettingly excited about the line-up for Toronto, as I'm sure you are too. But at the same time there's one rather good reason to be even more excited about the Omaha contest. And the name of the reason is Shannon Courtney.

April 9th
Guess what day it is... LEG DAY


April 10th
#ChESTdAY #8.5weeksout


It's incredible to think that it's only a little over two years ago that the same Shannon Courtney was a seemingly unremarkable physique competitor finishing down in 11th place at the NPC California Governor's Cup. Later in 2012, a bodybuilder now, she came 3rd in her class at the NPC USAs, and then returned to the same show last year and won, not the overall title, but the lightweight class, and was awarded her pro card.

April 12th
Off too shoot #hdPhysiques #tanyafitness




She competed in her first pro show in Tampa, just two weeks after the USAs last year, and finished a very creditable 7th in a line-up that was big on muscle and pro experience. And then there was all that humming and harring about whether she would stay a bodybuilder or go back to being a physique competitor (see FMS passim).

May 16th
love this shit ;) #nofilter


YOU should always be your number one motivation


Looking at her now, it hardly seems credible that she ever had a second thought about her future. Her decision made, she has gone hell for leather and is building a physique that gets bigger and bigger and more and more impressive with every passing week. The girth of her legs makes me weak at the knees. The size and definition of her upper body leaves me breathless. She is power, drenched in muscle from head to toe.

May 19th
#bangbang #PoW


And there's an arrogance too. It's there in the way she embraces and revels in her freakishness. It's there in the selfies like the shoulder and tricep shot below - she knows her pumped up body can thrill, she knows full well how muscle sexy she is, and she knows full well she has the power to leave us fans completely and utterly #speechless.

May 21st
##########


Seven days to go. Without wishing to put the mockers on her, it seems to me that every time she has competed as a bodybuilder she has absolutely nailed the prep and has always looked the best she can on stage, so there's no reason to think "The Gem of the Sport" will look anything less than spectacular this time next week in Omaha.

May 24th
Just some #beastly shit ya know ;)


"Get Hard Stay Hard" says the vest (and you can make your own crude joke there, I'm not doing it for you) and Shannon seems to live that mantra, attacking the weights, growing muscle on muscle. She is, in the parlance of the weights room, a bona fide beast. Of course, there are other women as big or even bigger than her. One or more of them will be on that stage in Omaha along with her. But there are very few women in the history of the sport that have managed to combine that kind of beast package with the innate femininity and beauty that Shannon possesses. And that combination, it seems to me, is what makes Shannon on stage again such a thrilling prospect.

May 25th


I'm sure she can't wait. I'm excited. Are you?

Enjoy!

NEWSFLASH!!!
Shannon Courtney is no more. On her Facebook and Instagram pages she is now using her maiden name of Peters. So, I guess we should say how sorry we are that her marriage didn't work out (sparing a thought for Mr. Courtney, who got her into lifting, I mean really, imagine what it must be like...). We remain pant-wettingly excited at the prospect of Shannon Peters strutting her considerable stuff once more. YES!

Ts of the Day: Faves

You Can't Buy These Pythons At A Pet Store

And you can't buy a split bicep like that full stop.

(left): Love My Fans Kiss Me Abs
Not the best bit of English you'll ever read, but hey, if Victoria Lomba's T was in her own mother tongue, I'm guessing not too many of you would be able to understand it. Here, though the grammar might be iffy, the message is crystal clear: she loves it when her fans kiss her abs. Or perhaps she's telling us her fans love it when she kisses her own abs? Mmmm. I can see how both scenarios would be winners.

(right): I Am Only Helpless While My Nail Polish Is Wet
FMS readers' favourite Singaporean Melissa Wee reminds us that the fact that she is dripping in juicy sexy muscle these days, doesn't mean that she isn't still a girly-girl deep down. However, although to me and you there is nothing unfeminine about her, Melissa says, I get a lot of persecution because of how I look and my physique is considered somewhat unacceptable by my country's society. Melissa confided recently on her Instagram that consequently she's seriously thinking about moving away from her beloved home. I am thinking of going to France next year as my younger sister is doing her Master's there, she says. Chanceux France!

Built Stronger To Last Longer

Magic! A slogan intended for something else altogether proves wonderfully apt for a lean and sexy muscle babe. One of my first cars was an old metallic blue Ford Fiesta. If the temperature was a few degrees above freezing or colder, you had as much chance of making it start as England have of winning the World Cup. I imagine the muscular marvel modelling this T would be A LOT more reliable in the cold.

Squats Make It Hot!

This is probably my favourite of all from this week's selection, although I have to admit, it did take me a while to realise there was more than one mantra in this pic. Just me or were you also drawn to that hot hard bicep, the "Stay Strong" tat and, wonderful though they both are, hypnotised by the way she's looking at it and that arrogant hint of a smile? ID of this stunning woman required. URGENTLY!

Earned

Finally, a little plug for a new line brought to you in part and modelled here by Swell's crush of the month, Quebec's Emmanuelle Ethier. According to her Instagram last week the line "will be launching in a few days". Want one for the wife. And I really want her to look as good in it as EE does. Hey, why not? A man can dream...

Enjoy!

Ts of the Day: Dos and Don'ts

KA-BOAM! Train Past The Pain

Fitness pro, "professional dork" (her words, not mine) and total dreamgirl (my words, not hers), Jodi Boam will (if all goes to plan) return to the stage in 2014, determined that her one and only Olympia appearance (2012) won't be her last. Follow her ever-impressive progress on her website, her Instagram or her Facebook page.

Don't Wish For It Work For It

I think it is fair to say, on the evidence before us, that this (almost inconceivably) unknown vision of muscular beauty has been working for it. Hard. And for some considerable time. Hard work has, as they say, its rewards. In this case one split, lean, rock hard and oh so very very sexy bicep - the other one's probably not too shabby either. And whoever she is, she looks to be (quite rightly) rather proud of what all her hard work has achieved. Calling all ID specialists. We need to know!

Don't Just Win Dominate

OK OK, I know this is not a T-shirt, and nor is it a vest, but Shayla "The Specimen" Turcotte's cap is surely available as a T/vest, it's just we can't find a picture of it! And anyway, look at her. Look at that arm, that shoulder, that pout! Still want to pick hairs? No, didn't think so. Shayla will be competing in Physique at the Canadian Nationals in July. You probably want to follow her progress on her Instagram (where she posts plenty of bare back selfies - just thought I'd throw that in there in case you were wavering). I've never really wanted to be on the receiving end of some female muscle domination, but Shayla might be able to change my mind...

Enjoy!

Ts of the Day: On Her Back(side)

Crossfit women wear their slogans on their backs. Probably because they've just run (or walked on their hands) past you, so a front-facing slogan would be a waste of time.

(left): Tracy O'Donnell did qualify for the North East Regional (she finished joint 18th place after The Open), but she isn't listed among the starters on the leaderboard, so I guess this 27-year-old Bad Ass Beauty from Massachusetts won't be competing. Shame, because she really is bad ass. And she really really is a beauty.

(right): Most definitely competing in her Regional, 20-year-old Lauren Fisher must have Grown Strong, because she finished 3rd overall and has therefore qualified for The Games later in the year. It's impressive enough that she is still very young to have achieved that feat, even more so when you consider her Southern California region is one of the most competitive of all. But on top of that, her Regional was her very first experience of Crossfit competition as an individual athlete. Definitely one to watch for the future (and it won't be a chore to do so). Why not join me at her Instagram?

This Is Why I Squat

Not a Crossfitter, but physique pro Cydney Gillon was a collegiate sprint hurdler, so it's hardly surprising her message for you is on her back. Or her backside, to be exact. And given that it's the kind of backside that one reader called "unnaturally small, petite and muscular", what we have here is a walking, talking, flexing advertisement for the beloved squat. But I wonder, dear reader, if you're thinking what I'm thinking: if only that vest were a touch shorter, and those shorts were a touch tighter, then it would be the best possible advertisement of all!

Enjoy!

Ts of the Day: Phone Girls

They don't all come with messages on their Ts and vests, but the women you can find on the regularly-updated Phone Muscle Girls certainly have got muscles. And phones.

You Can't Flex Cardio

Indeed you can't. But you can flex that peak you are so proud of. You can flex it, get a good pic, and upload it. Get yourself some admirers. Who knows? It might even end up on one of those female muscle forums, or better still, one of those great female muscle blogs. Fan boys and girls all over will be dying to know who you are, dying to connect with you and tell you how sexy you and your peaks are. That you can do.

Like A Boss

Perhaps like "a" boss, but not much like any boss I've ever had. More's the pity because I can feel my productivity rising just looking at this future muscle goddess. I'd be employee of the week every week if the reward was a little of this.

This Is My Gym Shirt

An ingenious solution to the modern woman's problem of arriving at the gym with her best work top accidentally packed in her bag. The company makes a whole range of similarly easily identifiable fashion items, ranging from "These Are My Jim Jams" to "This Is The Dress I Wear When I Want Everybody To Look At My Muscles".

Booo I'm A Scary F*cking Ghost

The FMS jury is still out about whether this vest is nothing more than a Halloween leftover rescued and put to good use as a sweat receptacle, or whether this really is as surreal (and therefore as genius) as it appears at first glance. Either way, that is one very lickable bicep she has got for herself there. Just imagine that she is a ghost, imagine she comes a-haunting you, demanding you worship her young muscle body. Trouble is, when you reach out to touch her muscles, you feel nothing. Torture!

Enjoy! And don't forget to send your favourite muscle girl T-shirt and vest shots in to 6ft1swell@gmail.com. We will publish them along with all our faves on Friday.

Ts of the Day: (A) MuscleMaria

If you're looking for "fitness friendship" in Texas, you'll be wanting another Musclemaria, but if it's big and sexy Jamaican-Canadian amateur female muscle you're after, then this is the only MuscleMaria for you. An exceptionally beautiful physique competitor from Calgary, Maria attended, according to her Facebook profile, a high school with the ridiculously appropriate name of Push Iron (I kid you not!).



The profile also tells us that she's married (sorry to break that to you). Surely the least the lucky fella can do is to make sure Maria's fed appropriately and promptly, although her gym vest in the black & whites above suggest that might not always be the case.



As well as her own Facebook, she has a Facebook fan page. You can also gorge yourself on Maria's curvy muscular beauty via her Instagram, and if that isn't enough for you (and I wouldn't at all be surprised if that were the case) you can find her camming on MuscleGirlzLive, where (no surprise again) she is a Top Ten performer.

Maria says, Bodybuilding Has Me On Fire, Baby!!! I Feel Soooo Sexy!!!

Enjoy!

Ts of the Day: Toronto Bound

Like London buses, these days you have to wait forever for an IFBB pro female bodybuilding contest and then two come along at once. On the first weekend in June the brand new Omaha Pro will take place (Shannon Courtney fellas!) but before that, next weekend the big girls will be back at the Toronto Pro Show.

Two of the women who'll be pumping up in Toronto model today's Ts.

left: FMS fave Gillian Kovack posted this to her Facebook back at the end of March, calling it her "badder ass look". She has also revealed she's pretty pleased with "the roundness/shape my shoulders & overall frame is taking this year." Hard to disagree on this evidence. I am curious about whether there used to be a question mark under the WHAT, but the thought of seeing Gillian flexing on stage again all ripped and oiled somehow makes that seem, well, rather an unimportant issue right now.



right: Lisa Giesbrecht was a deserved winner in Toronto back in 2012, and consequently qualified for the Olympia, but she took a break from competing last year, so her return is another welcome one. Meanwhile, it seems Lisa has been gaining quite a reputation for her coaching techniques in her native British Columbia...

And if Gillian and Lisa don't whet your appetite for Toronto, other confirmed competitors as of May 21st were Nancy Clark, Roxanne Edwards, Aurelia Grozajova, Margie Martin, Britain's Wendy McCready, Tananarive McGowan, Joanne Williams, Melody Spetko, Alana Shipp, Sherri Gray, Christine Envall, Tonia Moore, Simone Oliveira and Virginia Sanchez. It's gonna be BIG!!! Just seven days to go...

Ts of the Day: It's Christmas!

This week, FMS' always popular Ts of the Day theme returns. Send in your favourite pics of muscle women in their T-shirts or vests and we'll post the lot of them at the end of the week. You can use the comment box below or just email 6ft1swell@gmail.com.



And we begin the week with our readers' favourite (see Hot and Hard 100, #48) Crossfitter/NASCAR pit crew member, and top predator: Christmas Abbott.



Enjoy!

FMS vs Ryan Takahashi: The Conversation I

Today, Female Muscle Slave and The Adventures of Ryan Takahashi are posting, simultaneously, the first of a series of Q&A 'conversations' had between the authors which explore different aspects of our mutual love of female muscle...

So, I guess we should begin at the beginning. Who was your first female bodybuilder? And how did you react?

FMS: For me it was Carolyn Cheshire. She was the first female bodybuilder I ever saw. I must have been 13 or 14 maybe – it’s funny I really can’t remember exactly when it was, but I can recall every detail of ‘the experience’! Carolyn was making an appearance on a popular science show, a show I watched every week just out of interest (and in those days we had only 3 or 4 channels in the UK, so there wasn’t much choice). So, I’m watching as usual and this week it’s about how muscles work or something, and suddenly it’s ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, Carolyn Cheshire…’



She comes onto the set through the audience in an orange posing suit, and I was immediately – and I MEAN immediately – transfixed. I remember how bronzed she was, tanned to absolute perfection and glistening with oil. And she had muscles. And she clearly liked her muscles because she didn’t stop flexing them until the applause died down and the presenter introduced her properly. And after the introduction, she did a lot more flexing.



How did I react? Well, let’s just say Carolyn was by far the most ‘exciting’ woman I had ever seen. I was 100% excited, yeah. She was beautiful, glamorous in a kind of American (ie. exotic!) way, and she radiated vitality and, above all, confidence. And I had never seen a woman with a body like hers. So strong, and so so sexy. Definitely ‘not normal’. But she was showing it off, pretty much all of it, in a studio full of strangers - not to mention the whole country’s living rooms – with total self-assurance.



My excitement quickly turned to utter intoxication. I hear my heart pounding. I feel the throb between my legs. I get a huge rush of adrenaline. And even if I wanted to, I couldn’t stop watching her. I can’t stop looking at her muscles. For the first time, I was feeling what I call ‘The Madness’.

RT: My first ever memory of seeing a female bodybuilder was opening up the 1999 issue of the Guinness Book of World Records and seeing a full color photo of Cory Everson. The picture wasn’t the most sexually appealing of her because it was a contest photo, but that image just burned into my 12-year-old memory. She looked freakish, unhuman and completely different from any woman I’d ever seen before. Like all pre-teen boys, traditional underwear and bikini models – in all their bony, skinny glory – caught my attention. But Cory Everson totally altered my paradigm. My perspective of the aesthetic diversity available within the human female form radically changed for good.

My reaction was a mixture of awe and mild disgust. Her oiled physique, bulging muscles and vascular body slightly repulsed me because I’d never seen anything like that before. But my eyes could not turn away. I intrinsically knew that although I didn’t exactly find her “attractive” in the traditional sense, I knew I had stumbled upon something special, something that would make me look at women differently. I always found myself sneaking peeks from that book and looking at that photo years and years later. There was something about Ms. Everson that burned into my mind. Her body was grotesque, but so damn appealing. Today, I don’t find bodies like that gross anymore. Of course not! But at a very tender pubescent age, my hormone-charged brain struggled to process the unique sexuality Ms. Everson exuded from that singular image.

What is your favorite female muscle-related fantasy? And why do you think you find this so appealing?

RT: Like most female muscle fans, we have many fantasies about our lovely ladies. For me personally, my favorite consists of me and a small army of strong female muscle warriors fighting alongside (in either a post-apocalyptic world or a nondescript medieval kingdom) against a vicious enemy. This enemy could be zombies, other muscular warriors (both male and female), interplanetary space aliens, killer cyborgs attempting to take over the world, dinosaurs, etc. The exact circumstances change, but I can’t stop fantasizing about me and my legion of gorgeous muscular Amazons battling in action.



Many men who love strong women have fantasies related to domination and submission. Not me. While I don’t knock that sort of thing as being “ridiculous” or “just not my thing,” my personal female muscle fantasies don’t have anything to do with me being dominated or me doing the dominating. Instead, I value these strong women as allies and, more or less, equals. Besides, after a long, epic battle to save the human race from total destruction, how else will I and my hundreds of beautiful Amazonian warriors pass the time?



I’ll let you fill in the rest! But rest assured, it would be pretty amazing!

FMS: I'm going to seem like the smart arse who gets granted a wish by the genie and his first wish is to have an unlimited number of wishes! I totally agree about having a lot of fantasies, and I guess my favourite fantasy is I get to have them all, simple as that.



I want to be a muscle woman's man. The whole thing. Train with her, eat with her, just be with her.



And the sex. Yes, I imagine, I fantasise there would be a lot of it. In my mind muscle women are the horniest women alive. So there would be more than I've ever had with any other woman I've known, and I have had a bit. There would be a lot more in fact. Yes, of course I want to worship her, to submit to her, but not only that. She's a woman, sometimes she'll want me to be a man, to be dominant and strong with her too. All in all, I want us to explore both our sexualities as fully as possible.



I want her to compete, so I get the whole contest prep deal too, watching her body change, the muscles emerging as she diets, watching her get more defined, more perfect every day. I want to be there for her, through that incredibly demanding process. And I want to be there to witness her moment in the spotlight. Give her all the help she needs, be it practical, emotional or anything else. And when she's got herself that trophy, I want to give her a night worthy of her achievements, a night to remember.



When we're out in public, I'd watch people react to her. I'd defend her if they were rude, but mostly I'd revel in the admiration they gave MY hot and sexy muscle woman.



I'm greedy, I want it all. Holidays, body hair, mood swings, aggression, self-doubt, self-love, sweat, the chicken breasts, the protein shake farts, watching her muscles swell, feeling her muscles swell, massages, the things in the fridge that are not legal, the single-minded determination...

And best of all would be if I was her man BEFORE she got into it. And you might have read on my blog that the wife IS getting into lifting. Lately I've been pinching myself to check it's really happening. Suddenly, I'm faced with the prospect that (at least some of) my fantasy is actually happening!

to be continued...

What's your answer to the above questions? Comment below if you care to share. Or perhaps you have a question you would like to pose the authors? Again, comment box below or email either 6ft1swell@gmail.com or ryantakahashi87@yahoo.com and we'll be sure to discuss it in future installments of the conversation.