Monday 30 April 2018

One-Arm Wonders

A week of posts paying homage to the single bicep flex begins with a quartet of women for whom our sense of wonder is not solely concerned with their beautiful biceps.

We're actually wondering who they are.

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Our first we have identified only as "Christi". And while we reckon she's a 'Merican, we can't say much else about her except that we could think of worse fates than having Christi as a member of our gym, or our personal trainer, or our date, or life partner.

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And the same could be said of our second one-arm wonder [or indeed any woman on this blog, no? -ed.], who may or may not be called "Meri", but that's what we found her as. A beefier, (and dare I say) more mature lady than Christi, Meri looks like she would be a lot of fun to be around, especially when her veins start a-poppin'.

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And this is "Irina" - good luck tracking an "Irina" down, especially if your русский isn't up to much! This Irina seems to be rather on the young side, but we're kind of side-stepping that issue by concentrating on her facial expressions. Very determined (on the left) to extract the maximum out of that flex; and apparently amazed, proud and ever so slightly scared (on the right) at the size of the muscle she's looking at.

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And finally today, "Andrea", who we've just found the one picture of. Something of the Shannon about her, don't you think? Let's hope she uses that superpower to follow in Ms Courtney's footsteps - right up until the decision to quit Bodybuilding, when she should veer right off those footsteps towards a long and successful career flexing her beautiful, oiled, massively muscular body on IFBB pro stages the world over...

A boy (or even a middle-aged man) can dream!

NEWSFLASH! The normally bloody useless Research Department have actually identified one of these women since the time of writing - "Christi" turns out to be Christi McNair, a nurse and a wife, and American, yes, and as far as we can tell, not a competitor, a "fitspirational" type with more than 10,000 Instagram followers.

This shocker does not, however, distract from my point...

This is the quality of muscle women who we fans don't even know (yet) in the world right now. Back in the so-called Magazine Years, I knew every single muscle woman, knew a fair bit about them too (in between the teenage tribute sessions some sort of recovery was necessary, so reading was actually done), but today I could easily (and frequently do) source pictures of more new-to-me muscle women in one day than I knew in total during the pre-internet era. These are great days indeed, my friends.

And your help would be appreciated.

Readers have recently got in touch to ask if FMS would like some help/suggestions etc.

Yes, YES, and YES!!!

For some time now the situation described above has left us overwhelmed by the task of deciding what and who to post. There are simply too many muscle women in the world for us to properly keep up with, and this is especially true about women in countries the English-speaking media doesn't reach. Now we know FMS has readers in, for example, Czechia, Korea, Italy, Colombia, Japan, Germany, and Russia...

We wouldn't just like some help and/or suggestions - we need you!

Smartarses who can identify the women in today's post included.

6ft1swell@gmail.com

More One-arm Wonders tomorrow and all week!

Sunday 29 April 2018

She's So Shredded: Natalia Da Costa

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As soon as I saw this, I had to know more - and for starers that meant finding a name. Why this picture, and this woman in particular is hard to say - it's not like I'm starved of images of beautiful muscular women! Something about her though, something more than her beautiful (I guessed, correctly, Bodyfitness) muscles and her striking beauty. Perhaps it was the snake, its tongue exactly where I'd like to mine to be as I begin an abdominal exploration that will ultimately reveal exactly where its coils travel...

It took a few days to get the name, but I get it I did: Natalia Da Costa.

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Despite the Brazilian sound, Natalia is actually from France. She is 32 years old, and was a "former athlete of the highest level in the field of combat sports" according to her Facebook bio - perhaps I sensed her deadliness and I liked it! Now her passion for Bodybuilding has led her to a career in fitness, health and sports nutrition. As well as competing herself - firstly in Bikini in 2015 and for the last two years in her preferred class Bodyfitness - she is a personal trainer and remote coach to both competitive athletes and those seeking to transform their bodies (and lives) for the better.

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She finished 3rd in her class at last year's French championships, and the reason why she is currently looking so shredded (although she hardly ever seems to look very unshredded as far as I can tell) is that she is preparing for the European championships at the start of May. It will be (again, as far as I can tell) her first international contest.

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And the other day Natalia gave us a reminder of exactly what it takes to look as freakily ripped as she currently does. Patience... she wrote. Zero. Fatigue... Maximum. Determination... full on! And she signed off that particular Instagram post as she always does, sending bisous musclées - "muscle kisses" - to her followers.

If only!

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I love the fact she's French - and not just because, not unusually, I tend to melt at that accent - when spoken by the right woman, and a woman with a body (and face) like Natalia's definitely qualifies as the right woman. No, it's more because in the seven years of this blog, I could count the number of French women we've featured on (not all) the fingers of one hand. France has punched well below its female muscle weight for far too long. Hopefully, Natalia is the first of many femmes françaises to come.

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But most of all I can't help but love her obvious love for what she does.

One more experience, she writes of this contest prep. I've already made a lot of progress but I'm still learning about this body, going headlong towards a new physique, the best I can possibly have, like the ram I am. When my energy fails, my passion keeps me going. This is so important to me. Muscle kisses...

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Oh là là!

Saturday 28 April 2018

Magnificent Mishina and Other Physique Dreams @IFBB Europa Orlando 2018

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In our Pic of the Month post, we noted that Russian Physique Dream Valentina Mishina is "currently posting at a rate of one Hall of Famer per day" on her social media, and since then - guess what? - she's posted several more winning images.

By the way, voting is still open in our inaugural Pic of the Month poll - it only takes a couple of clicks, just choose your favourite from our shortlist of five and vote.

CLICK HERE to do it now.


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Part of the reason Valentina's breathtaking body looks quite so breathtaking right now is that she's on a run of competitions that began with the Ultimate Warriors (she was 4th) and Ferrigno Legacy Pro (2nd) late last year. After a short pause, she was back on stage at the Atlantic Coast Pro (another 4th) at the start of March. Then at the beginning of this month - the show we're most concerned with here today - she gained another 2nd place behind Penpraghai Tiangngok in Orlando. She's basically been "on" since last October. It's little wonder she's so into showing off her magnificent muscles - her lower body in particular - right now. She's a walking freakshow.

And she clearly LOVES it.



I love 10-12 reps, she says. I love classic exercises. I love iron... Barbells, dumbbells, hammer machines. I've learned to feel every inch of my body, but I will learn more.

SWOOOOOOOON!!!

Get your breath back, dear reader, because you're going to need it. As with the Figure class in Orlando, Bodybuilding and Beyond were there to record all the competitors in Physique, all 12 of them. They're each on for about a minute, so get yourself comfy, you're about to see, apart from Valentina and Penpraghai, Hot and Hard 100 regular Diana Schanidt; Brazilian St. Louis Pro winner Marjorie Beck; Brittany Watts, one of the few women to have finished above Valentina this season - Brittany was 3rd at the Atlantic Coast; the dreamily gorgeous Sarah Fechter; the pint-sized Lauren Rutan on her pro debut; and the irresistible Katie Lee. And four more! All strutting, flexing, rippling and popping their considerable stuff for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy!



How's your judging?

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3rd - 5th respectively: Rutan - Fechter - Watts

Penpraghai was first, Valentina runner-up - you already knew. Well, Lauren Rutan was 3rd, Sarah Fechter 4th, then in 5th Brittany Watts, and 6th Marjorie Beck. Katie had one of those days and placed down in 7th, and Diana Schnaidt was 8th.

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6th - 8th respectively: Beck - Lee - Schnaidt

If you want more you can check out all the results and (as noted re the Figure class the other day) some (unusually) disappointing, blurry images on NPC News Online.

Valentina is, after all this competitive effort, comfortably top of the Olympia qualifying table, and also - given her looks and the freakshow condition she's in - in demand.

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Which is very good news.

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More seriously - and I'm not saying glamour shots of Valentina are not serious, just not as serious - she's also reached a bit of a personal crossroads. Being based in the US for her competitions has evidently been a great experience. Now, a decision needs to be made - stay or go, although the way she tells it, it may not be the toughest of choices...

Here, I can fly, I feel free, she says (on top of everything, she's rather poetic, isn't she?). Unfortunately, my Motherland doesn’t give me these emotions. I need to decide...

Up? Or down again?


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To avoid (unfounded) accusations of an anti-Russian conspiracy and the potentially disastrous hacking of the FMS server, I have been told by editorial not to urge Valentina to go wherever she feels happiest. Instead, we have one last treat for you today (again, courtesy of Bodybuilding and Beyond). Anyone fancy a posedown?



Thought so.

Friday 27 April 2018

¡Feliz Cumpleaños Virginia!

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I was born in Madrid, Spain, on the 27th of April 1971. I studied Marketing and Public Relations at university but never worked in that field. At the same time, I studied Nutrition and Sports Performance, and that was what I really loved, so I began working as a personal trainer. My first contest - in Bodyfitness - was in 1990.

I have always loved Bodybuilding, and began working out when I was 17 years old. I trained for 9 years, but after that I took a break when my son was born. During that time I did some advertising work as a model, and then in 2009 I started working out again, living bodybuilding 24 hours a day, and competing again two years later...


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So, after a 21-year(!) break, the 40-year-old Virginia finally began doing what she had always wanted to do - be a BODYBUILDER. 2011 was probably the first look any of us had of this remarkable woman. She competed at the European Championships - sadly there are no pictures that I can find - and finished 2nd in the Masters class.

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The following year, with her fame and her body growing, she competed at the Arnold Classic Europe (then held in her hometown) for the first time. In a line-up we can only dream of at amateur level these days (Belyakova, Kellner, Oliveira, Holubcová, Kauranen, Kyptova, and - the winner - Fuchs), Virginia was well worth 6th place.

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By 2013, we all seemed to agree that Virginia needed a better camera and/or a cleaner mirror, but if you are anything like me then you also wondered to yourself whether you could actually take such an awesome, sculpted, sexy beast in sharper focus. It (below) may be a crappy picture, as one forum poster noted, but what a body!

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And that body just seemed to keep growing and growing and growing. Already she seemed to have become (at least) twice the woman she was just two short years' earlier. Already she was at the top of everyone's WLTM (and worship for days) list.

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2013 was her breakthrough year competitively too. She won the Arnold Classic Europe title - beating Kashma, Natalia Yariz, Lisa Cross and more - with that massive physique tanned as deep as ever and glistening from a generous drenching of oil.

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Her one and only international Bodybuilding title, it allowed her to turn pro, and brought her to the attention of those with the better cameras than her. Muscle Angels and Female Muscle Clips got in there first I believe, but soon just about every major and minor schmotography site would follow. Suddenly, being faced with Virginia and her popping rippling muscles in HD was a thrilling reality we all had to deal with.

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She began her pro career in some style - 3rd at the Toronto Pro. Looking "sensational" in the words of one forum poster who was lucky enough to attend this meat fest, only Simone Oliveira and Alana Shipp beat her that day, and Virginia finished ahead of Christine Envall, Lisa Giesbrecht, and some lady named Margie Martin.

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Virginia went on to chase qualifying points for what we now know was the last ever Ms Olympia, firstly in Chicago, where she wore gold and secured another top 6 finish...

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And later that same month in Tampa, where she wasn't quite as cut as she had previously been. It was a quality line-up, and she still placed 11th out of (a scarcely credible these days) 22 women. Overall, not quite enough for an Olympia invite.

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During the off-season that followed Virginia first modelled her now familiar shaven-headed look, which - as I've said many times before here - is a look I actually prefer to her customary competition "hair". Evidently, she hadn't invested in a better cameraphone, but once again, if that picture (below) were any sharper it'd be so overwhelming I'd have probably spontaneously combusted the first time I saw it.

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Whether we have a natural affinity for the unconventional and our love for FBBs is one manifestation of that, or whether our love for FBBs leads us to embrace the unconventional more generally is a subject for another post. What's clear though is that Virginia's unique look is a major part of her appeal, and as she leaned down into 2015's contest season, she looked ever more unconventional, ever more extreme.

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Explaining the appeal of, say, Kate Errington, or Cydney Gillon, or Dani Reardon to a non-head would be challenging, but achievable. Explaining the appeal of Virginia though, would, I imagine (never having tried it!) be all but impossible. Even for some (so-called) female muscle fans she's (that dreaded phrase) "too much". However, the flip side of that is that those who do adore her, really adore her.

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But even her biggest devotee can point out that the Virginia we see on the schmotography sites and in the grainy selfies - the overwhelming female muscle monster Virginia - is so "incomparable" that the Virginia we see on stage - for all her qualities - can sometimes be a little underwhelming. Nevertheless, she began her 2015 season by equalling her best finish in her debut year - she was 3rd in Chicago.

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She followed this up with 7th in Tampa. She hadn't collected nearly enough qualifying points for the inaugural Rising Phoenix. However, she did receive one of those discretionary "special invites". Virginia not only took up the offer, but she somehow also managed to turn up in San Antonio with her best conditioning of the year. And that tan - which FMS dubbed "bustanut brown" at the time - didn't hurt either.

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Virginia placed 12th, but her mere presence on the scorecard means she will forever be remembered as one of the ladies who embraced the new Wings of Strength regime and this history-making event in particular. Pro FBBing has survived, a fact by no means certain during the dark days of winter 2014-15. Virginia played her part.

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Same shoddy quality to the (nonetheless overwhelming) selfies in 2016! And Virginia was once again in the US, ready to compete. Would this be the year when she finally walked onto the stage sans wig? I wondered, breathless, salivating at the prospect.

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Despite a tantalising pre-show head shot from the new Lenda Murray Norfolk Pro, the hairpiece was back again. She placed a disappointing 9th there, but a top 6 finish in Tampa was to follow in the best qualifying show line-up that year. Sadly, she had to sit out the Rising Phoenix though. Not enough points, and this time no invite.

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By the New Year there was plenty of evidence to suggest Virginia would be bigger and better than ever in 2017. Her body was "exploding with muscle and power" according to one fan, and there was evidence also that she had a) a better camera and b) mastered an app that enabled her to get pics of herself in all her groin-activating glory past the Instagram censors! The eyes of the female muscle lovin' world almost popped out of their sockets. And hands everywhere reached down below the keyboard...

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Even wearing considerably more than a couple of well-placed stars, Virginia's bulging muscles and cable veins made two-handed typing a distant memory. She seemed to have almost become a female muscle growth character, a character whose muscles swell to such an extent they force aside not only the fabric of their clothing but also break the skin. A body on the verge of becoming purely muscle and veins.

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As always, she was not quite as thrilling on stage (how could she be?), but a 4th at a very tight Tampa show proved to be enough to get her to her second Rising Phoenix.

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There, she cemented her place as one of the world's elite Female Bodybuilders, breaking into the top 6, ultimately finishing 5th - higher than any Spanish competitor at either the Olympia or its newer incarnation ever. After a seven-year journey that had really begun over twenty years earlier, Virginia was at the very top of her sport.

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Who knows what thrills she has in store for us this year? She's currently carrying a fair bit of body fat over those muscles, but there'll be more of those gold stars as she leans out to compete I suspect. There'll be yet more work with the schmotographers, in outfits held together by pieces of string that are narrower than her engorged veins.

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And there'll be sweaty gym shots, and impossibly pumped up muscles straining to break free from her skin. And there'll be plenty of close-ups too, close-ups of those thick, luscious lips and those deep, beautiful brown eyes. And maybe this year, at the age of 47, she'll keep the hairpiece at home and stride proudly onto the stage...

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¡Feliz cumpleaños Virginia!