Images of 2014

Not only proving that, as they say, fit women look good naked but also that fit women look good when covered in nothing but little pieces of black tape, the very beautiful Meghan Comeau welcomes you to our final post of the year.

Part female muscle lovin' memoir, part FMS 2014's Greatest Hits, these women and these images have, for one reason or another, stayed in the memory.



So many female muscle selfies, so little time! Of course, it's only possible to actually view a fraction of the Facebook/Twitter/Instagram images available, but not all selfies are equal, and at least one that we brought you this year was truly historic - Michelle Davis' unprecedented, phone-in-hairband double bicep selfie.

Aside from the genius and ingenuity of mshelllll (on Instagram), FMS 2014 has thoroughly enjoyed following Anastasia Papoutsaki,  Angelica Enberg, Ariel Gail, Valerie Garcia Giovanoli, Twana Barnett Ferguson, Hanah Jamroz and Georgina McConnell just a little bit more than most, but there are two women who, all year long, have had us glued to our phones and getting all excited in inappropriate places (like work, or when out with the in-laws, etc.)



The first is Tina Nguyen (aka tinang13), particularly when she has got her sinful-thought-inducing bod all packed into a ridiculously tight and revealing outfit.



And at a very different place on my sthenolagniac spectrum, the sheer size of Canadian champ Robin Hillis (robintripledee) has regularly had my jaw to the floor and my pants tightening up with her self-portraits. Look at how you can see every one of her bulging muscles even though she's completely covered! *SWOON*

BODYPARTS

Back: Ayanna Carroll



Not the biggest by any means, but I haven't seen a more flawless back shot than Ayanna's this year. Wouldn't you like to find out if those muscles feel as good as they look? I most definitely would. And I bet they do. I bet they really really do.

Glootz I: Federica Ortu (left), Glootz II: Lea Wiehl (right)



Two very different offerings from C.Moore Glootz for our Rear of the Year. On the left, former NABBA, now IFBB athlete Federica Ortu proved this year the change of federation hasn't made her rippling behind any less arresting. On the right, an image that could be captioned 'This Is What Happens When You Do Squats'. What happens is you fall in love with how your bottom looks in a dress. Lea knows.

Legs: Geisi Silvia (left), Abs: who else? (right)



Two familiar sights to regular readers here. Of all the many many mouth-watering pins in Brazil, Geisi's remain, for us at least, the ones against which all others should be judged. He agrees, I reckon. What a sight! Similarly, Oana's Abs Queen crown seems safe on this year's evidence. The beauty doesn't hurt, nor the anatomy leggings either. Perhaps they were modelled on Geisi's exact inner structure!

Pecs: Brittni Kent




There's nothing to feel guilty about - it's OK to really examine her pectacular chesticles. She might look as though she's still at school but actually Brittni's 22, so go ahead, look at how proud she is of those pecs. She so obviously wants you to.



And here we are backstage. Specifically with Brazil's Vascular Physique Queen Loana Muttoni, in the best example we've found this year of what I believe is becoming known as 'The First Person Quad Appreciation Selfie'. Absolutely no thigh gap here, just beautifully-tanned, lusciously thick and lickable muscles. *SWOON*



And we continue our pre-show segment with the Laurel & Hardy of female bodybuilding, Moore & Rudison, goofing around, as they say, before they both competed (Rudison is in the curlers by the way) at the Omaha Pro show.

ON STAGE




Our beloved abs and thigh pose is always going to make our end of year selection one way or another, and we don't remember a more committed or more obviously satisfying version than Roxanne Edwards' in Chicago. It's also the smiliest.



Not Iris Kyle punching the air as next to her Alina wilts with disappointment, nor an image of the acrobatics of the fitness girls. Not Yaxeni's suit-threatening side chest pose, nor the striation fest of Anne Freitas' squatting back double biceps. Instead, we've picked Alicia Coates' unexpected (and quite possibly illegal) flexing for the Olympia Figure judges. Trademark lip-curling snarl included. Terrific.

PARTIES I WISH I'D HAD AN INVITE TO

I: The 'come as your favourite superhero - and then have a flex off' party I imagine these two enthusiastic (and well-equipped) gunshowers are attending.



II: Wherever the immaculate Karina Nascimento was going on the evening this was taken. If we did a PICTURE OF THE YEAR poll on FMS, I'd definitey nominate this gem for 2014. Then I'd fiddle the results of the voting to make sure it won. *SWOON*

I've been a bit negative about the content of the established female muscle photo sites in the last couple of years, but in 2014 I've found myself appreciating the pro photographers again. Perhaps the novelty is wearing off from the glut of amateur snaps. Perhaps, for the first time in a while, I've had the opportunity to explore the big sites again. Whatever the reason, I thought Mike Eckstut on HerBiceps did some especially fine work with Aleesha Young, among others, but I think it was his 2014 photosets of the incredible Asha Hadley were the finest of them all.



Sun, water, a stunning beauty and all those gorgeous muscles - yes, I know we'd all like to think that, given the same location and subject to work with, we could have done as good a job as Mr Eckstut. Point is, he actually did it. No other photographer has yet done such justice to the amazing Asha, even when she's been in a similarly mouth-watering condition. Bravo, sir! (Not angling for freebies, I mean it!)




And on the subject of things that make your mouth water, the muscle-curvy magnificence of Margie Martin has been at the very centre of our female muscle lovin' life all year. So much so, in fact, that we found it impossible to include just one picture of Lady MVM, and could only narrow it down to four. They include a little of her work with Annie Riveccio for Muscle Angels (clearly an exciting shoot), the Fantasy You Me & Her Picture of the Year backstage with the divine Dani, Margie bulging all over the place with her competitor number, and, best for last, probably the most swoon-worthy image we have seen all year.

BEAUTY



Isn't she just lovely? Shannon Courtney, as I'm sure you are well aware, has just kept growing and growing in 2014. And despite the assertions of some that such extreme gains can only lead to disaster, she remains an intense, radiant beauty.

It's a theme that has run through FMS since its very beginning, and this year has been no exception - see, most recently for example, FMS On Beauty. And, while we are well aware that we are largely preaching to the converted on the blog, as long as there are those who would deny a muscular woman can also be a beautiful woman, it's a theme we'll keep coming back to again and again and again.



And why wouldn't we keep returning to this theme when there are women as beautiful (well, perhaps not quite as beautiful) as Rebecca Sanders to collectively swoon all over? Heart-stopping beauty... and pecs to die for!!!

THE SUPERIOR WOMAN



Sweet and sexy at the same time, Kim Ji-Hyun and her special friend prove that it's not just we guys who like our women to have (much) broader shoulders than us.



We've been enjoying images of female bodybuilders with, let's say, more "conventionally-shaped" women since back in January when this gem starring Sexy Sophie Arvebrink was our very first Pic of the Week. "Three women, at least two different species" was our caption at the time. She's so cocky, so self-absorbed that as well as the obvious aesthetic contrast, the huge contrast in self-confidence between the species is there for all to see and get excited about.

In fact we got so excited about it that we've been actively seeking out such images ever since. And, yes, we have found a couple of absolute crackers.

Exhibit A



Superior woman Claudia Bonavoglia goes to the beach. Looking all smug and flexing her abs just because she can, Claudia doubtless caused a fair bit of excitement on that day. But look at the face of the woman on the towel. No excitement there.

Exhibit B



Superior woman Ekaterina Kuznetsova goes to the gym, pumps up her mighty muscles to fabric-threatening levels and gets admired even as she admires herself.

The hyper-muscular woman. So other-worldly, so fascinating, so alluring.



Freak no. 1 Anne Freitas sits (rather regally, don't you think?) during a photoshoot before towards th end of her preparations for her first pro show of the year.



And we dissected this image of Canadian Karen Smith to bits in April (see Karen's XTC), and though from 1995 rather than 2014, we couldn't hope for a better illustration of one of our other major themes of the year, The Agony & the Ecstasy of the competitive female bodybuilder. Well, the Ecstasy bit, anyway - the divine moment when her own inner vision of her body at its most perfect is realised.

2015 will mark the tenth year of PumpiItUp's legendary blog, and, if my dates are correct, my own personal 30th(!) anniversary of female muscle lovin'.

Neither shows any sign of waning.

I'll thank you all for your continuing support for Female Muscle Slave (over 2 million page views!), wish you a very very Happy and Female Muscle Packed New Year and leave you with just one more memorable image from 2014... MWA!



FMS will return in January.