21 Reasons (#19)

Due to some work commitments and Mr and Mrs Swell's now annual sojourn to the South of France (not the bit that was recently on fire, thankfully), the FMS offices are going to be closed this week, next week and the week after. Nevertheless, as always, we don't want to leave you totally FMS-less, so we've lined up 21 Reasons, one daily picture (or two or three), plus one reason why we love doing what we do, as if we were explaining it to one not so convinced of the glory of the muscular female.

Enjoy!

#19
THE CONTEST

Some don't compete, but for many of the women we feature on the blog, and pretty much all of our personal favourites, the contest is the raison d'être, the moment their beautiful bodies reach "peak" condition, when they stand on stage, glammed up, tanned up, oiled up, and pumped up, and really feel like the muscle goddesses they are.



It's also my favourite time. From "12/10/8-weeks out" when they start to take off their layers in the gym and so on, right through to the post-show photo shoots, muscles swollen by massive celebratory meals, this is when those beautiful bodies are shown off in their fullest ripped and muscular glory. Preparing as the excitement mounts backstage; suited in the hotel room before, during or after; the "part sport, part erotic theatre" of the posing and performances. I love it all. It's kind of what I live for.



You could call it my porn.



I would call it that, but it's so much better.

ASHA!!!

Asha: dedication and effort

Regular readers will know I have a bit of a soft (hard) spot for the gorgeous Asha Hadley (Hot and Hard 100 #28 most recently). But the start of the 2016 contest season has seen her achieve results - both physical and in terms of contest placings - that her renowned dedication and effort have for so long deserved. She was runner-up (behind Shanique Grant) at the New York Pro, and a week later took her first pro title at Louisiana's Optimum Classic, thus qualifying for her Ms Olympia debut later in the year. And she's looked absolutely spectacular as she has done so.

I won't get too much hyperbole out of the box today, because it's really not necessary. Instead - for the first time on FMS - I'm going to let the images, images of this stunningly beautiful woman and her stunningly beautiful body as she prepares, competes, and celebrates her success, speak for themselves!


NY prep: not the last time we'll see that vein running down the side of her abs today



NY Pro: stunning, and INTENSE


NY Pro: abs, and that vein again


NY Pro: "Post-show happiness" Asha style

And fresh from her best ever finish at a pro show, a week later she was ready to do it all again.


"Here I am... another weekend, another city, another hotel room, getting ready to take the stage tomorrow!"


Optimum Classic: "hamming it up at Athlete Check-in" and "shining on stage"

Sadly, the above Reg Bradford pic is the only one I've been able to find of our heroine on stage in Louisiana. However, Lloyd Terry Jr. got the hard job of hanging around backstage for NPC News Online, and his lens came to rest on Asha's fine physique often, both before and after prejudging and the finals...




Do I detect a bit of volunteer envy in the bottom right pic?!


That intensity again


Asha: tense before and hungry after winning her first pro title


Asha's own comparison: Optimum Classic 2014 vs. 2016


Winner winner chicken dinner: Asha enjoys some "non-scheduled regular food"


Left: "She who dares wins", and gets shot by Reg; right: "Got veeeinssssss??!?" - that post-contest pump

Asha has a new Pivotshare members website with her clips for your viewing pleasure. The majority are gym-based - which is absolutely fine by me - but the real gems weigh in at six, eight and ten minutes plus and have titles like "Tanning, Pumping and Posing" and "Super Saturday: A Day in the Life of Me". Check it out!

And if you don't want to fork out and support Asha, there's plenty of free fun on her Instagram. This abs training clip for one thing. And I dare say there will be more Asha on FMS long before she makes her Olympia debut!

A Theme with No Name: More Than A Feeling?

Just over a week ago, pdgde - one of FMS' favourite Tumblr blogs, one of the very few other blogs we have previously flagged up here - disappeared completely. There were rumours, accusations of shenanigans, and of a shadowy FBB-hating demon who had taken down our hero and a year and a half's worth of posting.

Within what seemed like a few hours though, pdgde2 had been born. I’m baaaaaaaaaack!!! he exclaimed - in about his tenth post, talk about getting your priorities right! "Bodies" had been the one-word description he used for his former blog, "Huge f*cking fbbs" was the title of the new. And he's been as busy as ever, loading up his er, new archive with exactly what he boldly promises on the tin.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, mainly so you visit his blog - check this post out, for example.

As well as that though, I wanted to credit him with helping me out in defining, well, sort of defining, this week's theme on FMS. I'm not about to tread on his big girl territory, but the problem is I can't tell you what this week's theme is, but I can show you. And one of pdgde's very first posts on his new blog turned out to be absolutely perfect.

So, what is this week's theme?

Well, it's a bit of this...


Julianne Trebing in full prep

And definitely a bit of this, as well.


Asha: fully pumped

And there is a little bit of this, too.



Yes, indeed!

But it's also these. And, next to them, THAT!


Shanique Grant's vascular thighs, and Heidi Krochter feels it

And it's the final image that pdgde provided me with, and perhaps it's the one that captures what this week is all about best of all.

It's unapologetic, it's in your face (sadly not literally). It's sexy, it's pumped, it's freaky and unfortunately it's not something I have been able to find a way of describing in a single word or phrase. Pdgde's title for his first (now gone) blog was "Passion FBB", and that is probably as close as I can get to it. It's not a thing, you see, it's a feeling.

And yet it's more than a feeling...

A New Golden Age? Part VI

PIU: I think my pic of Dona Oliviera is one I treasured, I must still have it somewhere, I supposed I paired it fairly randomly with the Asha Hadley because of the pumped deltoid pose as well as the other obvious attractions both have to offer.

FMS: Yes, Dona still looks amazing, and she was a favourite of mine too, as Asha is today. Of course I only knew Dona from the magazines - the on stage shots and the glamour. On the other hand, I/we can see Asha on stage and glammed up, but also drenched in sweat at the gym, enjoying herself on a day off, taking in a baseball game etc. etc. She puts herself out there via social media, so - though I may be deluding myself - I feel like I actually "know" her to some extent.

PIU: And Dona's back and was still looking great in 2014 at 53!



FMS: My next pair are Tonya Knight and Sharlene Franken. Again, Tonya, arguably as much media exposure as an FBB ever had. A tour of Britain even, if I remember correctly. She was on TV at least twice while she was here.



And yet, she remained remote for me. I never had - and still don't - any sense of the person behind the muscles.

PIU: Certainly remember Tonya's visit. Still got her appearance on the Jonathan Ross chat show on VHS somewhere. And bought the Bicep Bombshell tape from one of the big record stores in Oxford St. (remember them?)



FMS: Sharlene is kind of in direct contrast. She is only known via her own social media. One of the Muscle Moms you mentioned, she uploads clips and selfies. Mostly she's working out, flexing, posing. She updates almost every day, and her Instagram has become one of my favourite follows since I first discovered her.

The final part of this "conversation" (for now) follows tomorrow...

Sweat. Sweet! (The Smell of Female)

Question: What's the sexiest smell ever?

Answer: The smell of my wife.



Chances are your answer, dear reader, was both different and the same. There's a fair chance your sexiest smell is that of your partner - or if you don't have one right now, that of an ex-partner (apologies if this brings up any painful pangs of longing).



Ever fancied someone only to be turned off by their smell when you got intimate?

I know I have. Many years ago I pursued a woman across half of Italy only to be nothing short of disgusted by her smell when I finally got close enough to really know it. And there's a very good chance you've had a similar experience. Some people - no matter how attractive they might be in other ways - smell just plain "wrong".



There is science to this. Apparently, we are attracted to those whose genetic make-up is most different to our own. Kind of makes sense if you think about it - you wouldn't want your sister's sweaty T-shirt to turn you on now, would you? Or, to put it another, less uncomfortable way, big genetic differences produce the healthiest offspring.



Attraction, or otherwise, for us men is most significantly a response to the female pheromone "androstenol", which is (like the male equivalent androstenone) a subtle, virtually undetectable scent in the normal course of things, even more so because Western culture places so much emphasis on hygiene. Washing off or masking those sexually-charged pheromones might make you more pleasant to sit next to on a hot day on the bus, but it does significantly mute their innate power to attract.



So it's no surprise that when scientists want to discover which scents attract and disgust us, it's to the gym they go to ask for the use of our sweaty workout gear. "Sweaty T-shirt" science is what it is known as, I kid you not. We may not be able to actually "smell" those pheromones, but we sure can sense them when they're there.



So I guess my answer to our original question should not be "the smell of my wife" but "the smell of my wife when she's covered in sweat". And while I might love looking at all these wonderful muscular women, their bodies - especially their abs - all glistening and sweaty, the chances are I wouldn't actually like the smell of many (if any!) of them at all. But that's OK, because I just imagine they all smell as good as my wife does!



And we finish our week of sweet sweet sweat with this HerMuscles Hall of Famer. Her name escapes me, but her sweat can't escape the sexy ridges of her abs, gathering in shiny little pools that seem to cry out "Drink me! Drink me!". Or something...

Enjoy!

Many many thanks to everyone who has sent (scent?!) in their favourite sweat-soaked pictures. We'll be putting them all together into one pheromone-tastic post in the very near future. So, er, make sure you keep those airways clear!

Not too late to send in more: 6ft1swell@gmail.com

Rolling Thunder 001-015

QUEEN OF QUADS



The Queen herself welcomes you to Rolling Thunder, 100 Thighs in 7 days.

There will be close-ups. There will be freakish vascularity and there will be quads in motion. There will be women whose very names - either real or assumed - suit their spectacular quad development to a tee. Every day we will shine the spotlight on one woman and her thunderous thighs, and finally, there will - of course - be Brazilians.

Prepare for QUADGASM!

(KNOCKIN' ME OUT WITH THOSE) BRAZILIAN THIGHS



1. ROSY SILVA



Rosy won her state and regional championships this year, and finished fourth in Brazil. I imagine it wasn't in the Bodyfitness category, although having said that, different rules seem to apply down there. Check out her Instagram (for A Whole Lotta Rosie!) and this YouTube tribute for more. Rosy also has a YouTube channel, and there's some (not exactly HD) footage of her winning the North-east Brazilian title there.

CLOSE-UPs

JENAYA HOFER



The first of two Canadians in close-up today is Physique competitor Jenaya Hofer, who missed out on her pro card at the IFBB North Americans at the beginning of September by a single place when she finished 2nd in her class. Or did she? Her Instagram says she is a "Physique Pro", and that divine thigh certainly looks good enough to me. Either way, she got to hang out with Theresa Ivancik and class winner Delane Hart backstage at the North Americans - and in the process provided us fans with one of the more memorable (and muscle-packed) images of 2015 so far.

Check out her transformation since 2013 here and this interview with Jenaya before the Arnold Amateur earlier in the year. And fans of frenetic editing and pounding rock soundtracks might also appreciate this "Freak Fitness" (her sponsor) clip.

KRISSY RAINS



No such confusion on the status of Ontario's Physique athlete and Strongwoman Krissy Rains. After finishing 2nd to Eleonora Dobrinina at the Canadian Nationals (and not getting her pro card), Krissy went one better at the North Americans, winning her class and with it pro status for 2016. Krissy says her goal is to always be "Spreading positivity as thick as I would Nutella", which, combined with the above close-up of her gorgeously pumped thighs is giving me some rather naughty thoughts. Get your own when you visit her Instagram and Facebook pages, and you can check out her winning look at the North Americans in a Muscular Development contest gallery here.

QUADS IN MOTION

From that sort of "on-your-knees POV", our first pair of quadgasmic thighs in motion this week belong to one of FMS' favourite swoons, the very gorgeous Asha Hadley.

(KNOCKIN' ME OUT WITH THOSE) BRAZILIAN THIGHS



2. ELAINE RANZATTO



As we've seen before on FMS, Brazilian women don't have to be "proper" competitive bodybuilders to have the kind of thighs that make your mouth water. And - as if it were necessary - Elaine Ranzatto's copiously muscled quadriceps provide yet more proof of that. Elaine is one of those mainstream media "showgirl" types à la Graceyanne Barbosa. She leads the carneval parade (see here and here), and has her own fitness business, Ranzatto Fitness - "Where every client is a Diva", apparently. Fill your boots with more of this blond Brazilian bombshell on her Instagram and YouTube channel, where you'll find those Brazilian-style clips of leg/glute workouts in abundance.

FAY SIMONE

Now if you imagine from the name these seriously sexy legs were another Brazilian pair - and that would be a reasonable guess all things considered - you would be way out because, I am proud to say, they're actually made of 100% prime BRITISH beef.



Fay, real name Fay Ellis, claimed both the USN Bodypower and the UKBFF North-west Physique titles this year, beating FMS fave Jackie Hague into second place on both occasions. I can't confirm whether Fay competed at the UKBFF British Championships last weekend, though if she did - and she was certainly qualified to do so - she didn't make the top 6. Perhaps she was "too muscular" for the judges*.

I'm excited about Fay. She has something of Andrulla about her I think - check out her Instagram and see if you agree. And one recent image of her back has been causing more than a few swoons in the world of female muscle fandom. More on Fay here soon.

*FMS will have news of the UKBFF British next week.

THIGHLIGHT

(The MYSTERY of) HAZEL PIAZZA



A profile of Hazel on wb270 was a hoax. There are complaints of an impostor sending emails claiming to be her. Fans complain of being de-friended by her on Facebook, just before her page disappeared altogether. Her(?) Twitter account has less action than an extinct volcano. There was a Bitcoin scam in her name, and rumours abound on the forums of a shady boyfriend who was the cause of her online vanishing act...



Whatever happened to Hazel Piazza?

Enjoy!