FBBUK: Michelle Dickinson

Now I should probably say right off that events in the Rugby World Cup have meant that a bit of a rewrite has been necessary to some parts of this post. You see, Michelle's husband is none other than Alisdair Dickinson, loosehead prop for the Scottish national rugby team so robbed of what would have been a heroic victory in yesterday's quarter-final with Australia. Even before that match, he was the most high profile British man married to a female bodybuilder that I have ever come across (and he's even more high profile now!), and as we will see, he very much plays a part in his wife's journey to bodybuilding success. He also has a more indirect effect on where his lovely wife's bodybuilding head is at now - but more of that later.

Anyway, on with Michelle's story...



I've never wanted to be super skinny, says Scotland's Michelle Dickinson, that would be easy! I wanted shape and muscle, not everyone can achieve that...



Michelle had discovered she had a passion for lifting some time before her husband pointed out that she probably wasn't getting the best results because she was lacking focus. He said to me “Michelle you train so hard but for what?" she recalls. "Why don’t you set yourself a goal." It made me think and he was totally right, I was busting my ass in the gym but never really had anything I could measure my progress by. So at that point I decided that my goal would be to compete in a figure competition.




That first contest was the BNBF (British Natural Bodybuilding Federation) Scottish championships in 2014. Michelle came third, and received an invite to the British finals, where she would compete in the Athletic class. She has amazing quads from all angles, wrote one commentator at the time. As she is walking out you can see some feathering, which is rare in an FBB. Even rarer, I would imagine, in a natural FBB in one of the Figure classes. There was clearly something very very special about this 28-year-old beauty from Edinburgh. You might say that she was "a natural"!



Of course she won. At only her second ever contest she was a national champion, and had gained a pro card and entry to the DFAC (Drug-free Athletes Coalition) World Championships in Miami, where she placed fifth. It was time to set new goals for 2015.



I would be lying if I said I don’t compete to win, says Michelle. Of course everyone wants to win but I am naturally a competitive person and I want to be the best. She set her sights on a bigger challenge, the NABBA Scottish Championships in April.



And, yes, you guessed it. Michelle won the Ms Athletic class there too. But that wasn't even the biggest show or the biggest title she would be competing for this year. My main focus will be the Scottish Grand Prix at the SFN Expo in Glasgow, she told Power Burgers soon after her NABBA triumph. I will compete in the Bodyfitness class.



With her husband away with the Scottish national rugby squad for long periods of time preparing for the Rugby World Cup, Michelle began her own preparations for the biggest annual bodybuilding show in Scotland. And as she did so, her combination of muscle and beauty began to get noticed in the female muscle fan world. "What a looker!" they commented on the fan forums, she was described as "gorgeous", "stupendous", "amazing". Glamour shots taken in the countryside around the Dickinson's idyllic Midlothian home were my own personal introduction to Michelle, and got me onto her Instagram faster than Craig Joubert left the field on Sunday.



Hang on, I thought to myself. I know that guy. Dickinson... And the penny dropped. A "famous", in a manner of speaking, husband. Model looks. And muscles - but not of the size that makes the mainstream world run screaming. It began to occur to me that Michelle (and Alisdair) Dickinson could be a very very good advertisement, a very positive image of female muscle for the wider Scottish (and British) public...



Michelle, however, was suddenly not enjoying what she calls "the rollercoaster ride" that is the life of a competitive bodybuilder quite so much. In an interview with Gym Transformation after her BNBF win in 2014, she was asked about her hobbies outside of bodybuilding. I am a complete home bird, she said, and love living out in the country with my hubby, 2 dogs and my chickens. I live a very simple life and love being outdoors with the dogs and just spending quality time with my husband.



It proved to be a life that she would miss more and more with her husband away so much before the World Cup and her prep for the Scottish Grand Prix at the end of August grinding towards peak week. She struggled through it, looked amazing on stage (see a little bit of Michelle in action for yourself in this clip from a member of the audience at the show) but ultimately finished outside of the placings.



And a few days later, she revealed her plans for the future to her Instagram followers. What we put our bodies through in order to step on that stage is not healthy. Putting myself through weeks of dieting and ridiculous training and missing out on so many experiences that I won't get back has made me realise that I need balance back in my life, the sport becomes an addiction and you become selfish in the way that everything comes second to your training, diet etc. I've now done 2 years of it and feel that it's time to put the things that mean the most to me first and that's family.



Right now, I certainly wouldn't begrudge Mr Dickinson a bit of time with his wife, the man was robbed of a place in a Rugby World Cup semi-final, a chance that doesn't come along too often. But at the same time I can't help feeling more than a little sorry that such an amazing advert for British female muscle, and such a great female muscle talent, has hung up her posing suit. Let's hope that when his and her wounds have healed, this isn't the last we hear of the marvellous Michelle Dickinson.