OK, hands up who else fully expected Mmmmonique Jones to walk off with the Omaha Pro title last weekend. I mean, I don't know anything about judging and stuff, but as I mentioned earlier in the week, of the ten women on that stage, only Monique had previously won a pro show, so if you think about how these things usually go - bodybuilders, female or male, who win something tend to win again and again - you see where I got the idea. And it wasn't just me thinking along those lines. One preview of the show confidently predicted that it will be Monique Jones and everyone else, and furthermore that even an 80% Monique could walk away with the win.
But the main reason why I expected her to win was that I follow her Instagram, and amid all the inspirational quotes and amusing picture captions (she's a bit of a one for that sort of thing) her progress pics had been jaw-to-the-floor-worthy for some time before the show. It takes size to win, and Mmmmonique always has plenty of that, but it also (they tell me) takes conditioning. And to my untrained eye it seemed that Mmmmonique had been all conditioned and ready as hell for weeks.
Check out that back. Take your time, click on the thumbnails, have a good hard look, you shouldn't rush your admiration of such monumental muscle. In fact it's so wide the single "a" doesn't really do it justice. It's not a "back" but a "baaaaaaaaaack". Words failed me when I first saw the pictures, they're failing me now, and they probably always will do whenever I revisit them in future (they went quick snap to the "Special Favourites" folder, naturally). I don't know about you but I am in full swoon.
Granted, Mmmmonique's back - sorry, her baaaaaaaaaack - is kind of a given when it comes to swoonworthiness, but in the past she'd lacked ever so slightly against the very top women when it came to the leg department. But this time around those lusciously long pins (at over 5'7" - 1.75m - she is taller than most of the big girls) looked both bigger and more chiselled than I remembered seeing them before.
Clearly, Mmmmonique had been putting in the work - and not just with the heavy shizzle, either. Stretching, for example. As an aside from the main event here I just want to have a little dig at those of the "I am sexually attracted to female bodybuilders but I am derisive at the same time because all they do is take steroids" brigade (which, rather annoyingly, seems to be growing in number every day on the boards and so on). Look at the effort, hell, look at the position she has got that mighty physique into. I wouldn't care to comment on whether Mmmmonique (or any other female bodybuilder) was using certain substances or not, but I will say that it seems to take a whole lot more than just "using" to achieve a body as spectacularly thrilling as hers.
Anyway, back to Mmmmonique. In a lift, days before Omaha. If I had got into that lift they would have had to clean me up with a mop and bucket because I would have just melted. Like chocolate. Or something. And it was these images that led me to get a post all ready to go with her as the winner. This isn't a diatribe against another poor judging decision - I couldn't be happier about the result - but because Mmmmonique came second that post has morphed into one about why I thought she was going to win.
Mmmmonique "being silly backstage", with her medal, and with her idol
After the show, she was as philosophical as ever. What truly matters to me more than winning is to have that individual approach you and tell you how much of a positive inspiration you have been for them, she wrote. Impacting on others is my biggest reward and always keeps me motivated to do more within this sport.
And she's been making that impact on many many others, both as one of the sport's inspirational elite and, more personally, as a coach to the women she calls "my girls". They call me "Momma Moe", she says. Not because I'm old (because I'm totally not) but because they trust me and look up to me. I try to be as good a role model as I can for them. I have their best interest at hand. They also know I'm honest, tell it like it is and never sugarcoat anything. That's just tough love! I love what I do and it shows.
And even more than Wings of Strength and Mr Gardner, the thing that keeps female bodybuilding alive is love like Mmmmonique's. Gigantic. A big BIG love.
No room for a separate Gif of the Week post this week. Will this do?
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