#TBT
RISING PHOENIX 2015 - THAT EPIC FIRST CALLOUT
Abs arms delts pecs lats traps hams glutes THIGHS!!!
One year on and you still won't know where to look.
Now, if that hasn't got you in the mood for RP2016, then nothing will.
10 days and counting...
Showing posts with label Debi Laszewski. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Debi Laszewski. Show all posts
Thursday, 1 September 2016
Thursday, 10 September 2015
Rising Phoenix 2015: The Muscle II
And our journey through the 2015 Rising Phoenix continues towards its quadgasmic crescendo tomorrow with four of the five women who posed off with eventual winner Margie Martin in that first callout for comparisons (see Tuesday's post).
As almost never happens at female bodybuilding shows, the consensus of both the fans and the (more qualified or not) commentators from the mainstream bodybuilding sites was that the judges (with only Christine Envall's placing, down in 10th when many had her 6th or 7th, seen as disappointing) got it more or less spot on.
And talking of getting it spot on - I'm sure you'll need no reminding that, without exception, ol' Swell here tipped every single one of the top five to do well in FMS' pre-event preview. No need to thank/congratulate me but maybe I'm getting better at this. [Or luckier? Now get on with the MUSCLE, will you? - ed.]
5. ALANA SHIPP
With her trademark razor-sharp conditioning and glutes that hypnotise, her Worshippfulness once again made it impossible for the judges to ignore her. In fact, according to Steve Wennerstrom, since winning the NPC Metropolitan in New York City in 2013, Shipp has never placed outside the top five of any contest she has entered. That includes all five shows in her professional career. It's an amazing record, especially when you consider her less-than-heavyweight stature.
Even a cursory perusal of her Instagram will show you that Alana off-season is quite a different creature to the shredded beast she becomes at competition time, every single one of her beautiful muscles beautifully defined. I don't know whether she sheds her outer layers relatively effortlessly, but that's the impression I get. Anyway, whatever she does in the build-up to her contests, it works - for the judges and for me!
From being overweight and working out for the first time to the Ms Olympia in three and a half years. From Ms Fitness Israel to the first callout at the Ms O in two... (FMS' Women of the Year 2014). And she's already qualified (I presume) for next year's big show. "The Talented Ms Ripped" looks set to stay at the top for at least one more year - and you wouldn't bet against her staying there for many years to come.
4. YAXENI ORIQUEN
In her 21st year as a professional bodybuilder, at her 51st professional show, and a month before she turned 49, Yaxeni not only maintained her standing in the female muscle elite, she actually improved on her 5th place at the last Ms O. And this was despite having struggled to regain her leg size after she'd had knee surgery this year. Probably I will get 4th place, she said after prejudging. And she wasn't wrong.
The Rising Phoenix had an unmistakable "dawn of a new era" feel, but it wouldn't have been the same without her, and Yaxeni - for all her years of experience - seemed as excited as anyone to be present at this historic moment. Biggest show ever, she called it. I'm so happy for this opportunity to raise [the profile] of woman's bodybuilding.
She remains a wondrous sight, her pecs and rear double biceps are - for me at least - especially swoonworthy, but her entire 5'8" frame is covered in some of the most magnificent mature muscle meat that has ever been built. Will she be back next year on the cusp of her 50th birthday for pro show #52? I sincerely hope so. Viva Yaxeni!
3. DEBI LASZEWSKI
She's the woman who our old friend El Mariachi calls "spermalicious" (and she doesn't mind). She may be the best female bodybuilder to have never (yet) won a pro show (I had no idea, did you know that?) And at the Rising Phoenix 2015 she finished in third place... AGAIN... the beauty and very very sexy muscles of Debi Laszewski.
Yes, it was very much a case of new show, but same old (second) bridesmaid placing for Debi. Proud of my 3rd place at a tough show, said Debi afterwards, although she was perhaps a tad irked at coming so near and yet so far all over again, as a later post on her Instagram revealed. I feel it was close!!! she commented, posting a picture of herself and the top two in the final confirmation round. Some commentators had her as the winner on their play-by-play reports. Close she most definitely was.
With two decades as a top-level amateur and pro bodybuilder, says Steve Wennerstrom, Laszewski still exudes all the qualities she had from the beginning - dense, deeply separated, cultivated muscularity, all surrounded by a striking stage presence that blended so well with her mesmerizing posing performances. And I imagine Debi will be bringing exactly the same qualities this time next year.
2. HELLE TREVINO
She may not be Ms Rising Phoenix yet, and the Best Poser award also went elsewhere, but if there had been an award for the most improved bodybuilder on that stage, then Helle would surely have won it. Not that she was ever unremarkable, but even in the weeks since her victory in Chicago at the start of July she seemed to have grown and refined her physique into a bigger, more beautiful and utterly breathtaking package.
What is even more amazing though is the fact that Helle is competing at all. Ten years after an injury that threatened not just her bodybuilding career but her entire way of life, her return to lifting at all defied all medical expectations. Her comeback as a competitive bodybuilder was even more unlikely. But the fact that she is now a pro show winner and was in serious contention (right up until the last pose was done) for the most prestigious title in the sport is her greatest achievement. So far...
According to one lucky fan who attended the show, Helle sought out the judges afterwards. Not in anger (I have the greatest respect for the IFBB judges, she says) but to ask about the specific improvements she needs to make in order to go one better next year. Given the epic improvements she has already made in the last year, you wouldn't bet against her crowning her comeback in 2016 with the title.
And the winner...
See you tomorrow!
[Oh that's a great cliffhanger. The suspense is killing me... NOT. - ed.]
You can read more about Helle's comeback on FMS passim here and here.
Tuesday, 8 September 2015
Rising Phoenix 2015: Clip of the Week
Saturday, 2 November 2013
Contest of the Day: Ms Olympia
This week on FMS we'll be looking back at some of the contests that have been held recently. But don't expect any considered, objective opinions...
Once upon a time, the only way I could get the results of female bodybuilding contests was from muscle magazines. I was excited to see the handful of images of the winner and the other top finishers, but then again being dependent on the magazines for female muscle material meant I was pretty excited about any image of a female bodybuilder in those days. But by the time I was reading that Cory Everson or Lenda Murray had won the Ms Olympia title again, and drooling over the pictures of them posing on stage, a month or more had passed since the contest itself.
It's all different now. Big contests like the Olympia have live webcasts. I can actually watch the show. If there isn't a webcast, there will be a website where I can follow a 'play-by-play' description of what's happening on stage. Images are uploaded within hours of the show, and hundreds of images of each contest, sometimes of each contestant, are available online within days. I'm so much more engaged with female bodybuilding as a sport now.
What hasn't changed is the way I personally 'judge' the contests. From those magazine years until the present I have never been able to look at the women in any objective way. I want my favourite to win. I judge with my heart (or perhaps groin would be a more accurate description). Back in 1988 I would have been looking at the pics in Muscle & Fitness and wishing Anja had beaten Cory (and don't get me wrong I thought Cory was great, but I was in love with Anja). A few weekends ago I followed the play-by-play description of the recent UKBFF British Championships (by reigning champ Rosanna Harte, no less) hoping that my favourite lady would win.
I'm completely unable to think about contests in any other way.
More about the UKBFF later in the week.
But we begin our week of reviews with the biggest contest of them all...
The result was no surprise, no surprise at all. Iris Kyle was crowned for the ninth time (a record for any bodybuilder, male or female) and for the eighth time in a row. It is a magnificent, unique achievement, and to my untrained and ignorant eye, she really did look back to her best after a disappointing showing at the Ms International, when she had been suffering from illness (though that hadn't stopped her winning it). One spectator who attended the show agreed, I saw her at the Arnold and was not that impressed with her performance. But at the Olympia people were in awe when she flexed her back and hit her poses. Another female muscle fan claimed, You had to be there to believe it. She exudes champion attitude. She was really shining with confidence and really had the most professionalism.
It's easy to knock Iris (as we noted here on FMS in our Ms O countdown). She is held by some to be responsible for the demise of female bodybuilding at its highest level, simply because she has turned up in her best shape year after year. It seems to me that is a peverse way to look at it. In fact, I think what has happened is that Iris has forced her competitors to raise their game. To challenge her, to really challenge for the Ms Olympia title, you are going to have to bring a spectacular package to Las Vegas. In years past that spectacular package has been brought a number of times by Yaxeni Oriquen. In 2009 it was Heather Policky, and last year it was Debi Laszewski who had never been better. This year, though, the challenge came from Alina Popa.
Before the show we wondered how she could improve on the physique she had presented the judges in 2011 and 2012. We knew she hadn't been seen on stage since last year's Olympia. We knew she had been preparing in Colorado at Heather Policky's ex-husband's gym, the gym frequented by Mr Olympia Phil Heath. We thought that if there was anywhere she could find that little extra surely this was the place for her to be. We imagined her emerging from the Rockies bigger and better than ever.
And we were not disappointed.
Debi Laszewski finished in the top three for the second year in a row. Yaxeni Oriquen, the Olympia veteran of Olympia veterans, was fourth, her lowest placing since 2009 - which was probably more indicative of the high overall standard than any shortcomings on her part. Gorgeous Brigita Brezovac, in what we now know was sadly her last ever competition, was fifth, and the top six was completed by rising star Juanita Blaino, competing in her first Olympia.
Personally, I was very very taken with Juanita, as I have been every time I've seen pictures of her in competition. Her glutes, I am quite happy to admit, are two of my favourite things in female bodybulding at the moment. I was also, as I always am, extremely excited to see the bounteously muscular physique of Mmmmonique Jones (8th place) in a posing suit. Her routine, full of understated slinky sexy moves was one of the 2013 Ms O highlights for the area in and around my groin.
My heart went out to Tina Chandler, a long-time FMS favourite, who finished 12th (last because Tammy Jones withdrew). I'm beginning to wonder if we are ever going to see the stunning 2011 Tampa Pro Tina again, but having said that, if Slave had been judging the show, Tina would have been in the top six just for being Tina.
But 2013 at the Ms O was, for me, all about Alina. And not just for me. She has that je ne sais quoi, that x-factor, that makes her appeal not just to the fans, but to her peers, and just about anybody else with an interest in the sport. It was unanimous that Alina should have won, said one of the fans who attended. Not the first time that a female bodybuilding result has been questioned, I don't want to make that tired, old point again. But that fan continued, From other ladies who were on that stage to the countless FBBs at the event. From fans to photographers all in favour of Alina. It was overwhelming. And not to mention social media was heavily in favour of her as well. No one, it seems, is immune to Alina's charms.
With the genetics I have bodybuilding is my only option to compete right now, tweeted Tarna Alderman after the Ms Olympia. @ALINAPOPA1 shows it can be feminine! I've been a big fan of Alina since I got into bbing, [she's] literally the only reason I've stayed with bbing, very inspiring.
Alina certainly has more followers than Iris has ever had. For all her achievements, and despite her consistent excellence over more than a decade, Iris has never won the fans' hearts in the way Alina undoubtedly has. More pertinent than that though, is the reaction of Alina's peers to her Olympia performance. They might indicate that it is now Alina, not Iris, who sets the standards other female bodybuilders aspire to.
Alina now leads the challenge to dethrone Iris - in fact she looks like the only contender. She leads the popularity stakes with the fans, and female bodybuilders the world over look to emulate her. And since the Olympia she has taken to her Facebook page to speak to her sisters of iron, calling for a collective effort to reinvigorate the sport. Alina may not be Ms Olympia. Not yet, anyway. But, it seems to me that she can rightly claim to be the leading female bodybuilder in the world now.
Review the 2013 Ms O routines on YouTube (first of three parts) here
Enjoy!
Once upon a time, the only way I could get the results of female bodybuilding contests was from muscle magazines. I was excited to see the handful of images of the winner and the other top finishers, but then again being dependent on the magazines for female muscle material meant I was pretty excited about any image of a female bodybuilder in those days. But by the time I was reading that Cory Everson or Lenda Murray had won the Ms Olympia title again, and drooling over the pictures of them posing on stage, a month or more had passed since the contest itself.
It's all different now. Big contests like the Olympia have live webcasts. I can actually watch the show. If there isn't a webcast, there will be a website where I can follow a 'play-by-play' description of what's happening on stage. Images are uploaded within hours of the show, and hundreds of images of each contest, sometimes of each contestant, are available online within days. I'm so much more engaged with female bodybuilding as a sport now.
What hasn't changed is the way I personally 'judge' the contests. From those magazine years until the present I have never been able to look at the women in any objective way. I want my favourite to win. I judge with my heart (or perhaps groin would be a more accurate description). Back in 1988 I would have been looking at the pics in Muscle & Fitness and wishing Anja had beaten Cory (and don't get me wrong I thought Cory was great, but I was in love with Anja). A few weekends ago I followed the play-by-play description of the recent UKBFF British Championships (by reigning champ Rosanna Harte, no less) hoping that my favourite lady would win.
I'm completely unable to think about contests in any other way.
More about the UKBFF later in the week.
But we begin our week of reviews with the biggest contest of them all...
Ms OLYMPIA
26th September, Las Vegas
26th September, Las Vegas
The result was no surprise, no surprise at all. Iris Kyle was crowned for the ninth time (a record for any bodybuilder, male or female) and for the eighth time in a row. It is a magnificent, unique achievement, and to my untrained and ignorant eye, she really did look back to her best after a disappointing showing at the Ms International, when she had been suffering from illness (though that hadn't stopped her winning it). One spectator who attended the show agreed, I saw her at the Arnold and was not that impressed with her performance. But at the Olympia people were in awe when she flexed her back and hit her poses. Another female muscle fan claimed, You had to be there to believe it. She exudes champion attitude. She was really shining with confidence and really had the most professionalism.
It's easy to knock Iris (as we noted here on FMS in our Ms O countdown). She is held by some to be responsible for the demise of female bodybuilding at its highest level, simply because she has turned up in her best shape year after year. It seems to me that is a peverse way to look at it. In fact, I think what has happened is that Iris has forced her competitors to raise their game. To challenge her, to really challenge for the Ms Olympia title, you are going to have to bring a spectacular package to Las Vegas. In years past that spectacular package has been brought a number of times by Yaxeni Oriquen. In 2009 it was Heather Policky, and last year it was Debi Laszewski who had never been better. This year, though, the challenge came from Alina Popa.
Before the show we wondered how she could improve on the physique she had presented the judges in 2011 and 2012. We knew she hadn't been seen on stage since last year's Olympia. We knew she had been preparing in Colorado at Heather Policky's ex-husband's gym, the gym frequented by Mr Olympia Phil Heath. We thought that if there was anywhere she could find that little extra surely this was the place for her to be. We imagined her emerging from the Rockies bigger and better than ever.
And we were not disappointed.
Debi Laszewski finished in the top three for the second year in a row. Yaxeni Oriquen, the Olympia veteran of Olympia veterans, was fourth, her lowest placing since 2009 - which was probably more indicative of the high overall standard than any shortcomings on her part. Gorgeous Brigita Brezovac, in what we now know was sadly her last ever competition, was fifth, and the top six was completed by rising star Juanita Blaino, competing in her first Olympia.
Personally, I was very very taken with Juanita, as I have been every time I've seen pictures of her in competition. Her glutes, I am quite happy to admit, are two of my favourite things in female bodybulding at the moment. I was also, as I always am, extremely excited to see the bounteously muscular physique of Mmmmonique Jones (8th place) in a posing suit. Her routine, full of understated slinky sexy moves was one of the 2013 Ms O highlights for the area in and around my groin.
My heart went out to Tina Chandler, a long-time FMS favourite, who finished 12th (last because Tammy Jones withdrew). I'm beginning to wonder if we are ever going to see the stunning 2011 Tampa Pro Tina again, but having said that, if Slave had been judging the show, Tina would have been in the top six just for being Tina.
But 2013 at the Ms O was, for me, all about Alina. And not just for me. She has that je ne sais quoi, that x-factor, that makes her appeal not just to the fans, but to her peers, and just about anybody else with an interest in the sport. It was unanimous that Alina should have won, said one of the fans who attended. Not the first time that a female bodybuilding result has been questioned, I don't want to make that tired, old point again. But that fan continued, From other ladies who were on that stage to the countless FBBs at the event. From fans to photographers all in favour of Alina. It was overwhelming. And not to mention social media was heavily in favour of her as well. No one, it seems, is immune to Alina's charms.
With the genetics I have bodybuilding is my only option to compete right now, tweeted Tarna Alderman after the Ms Olympia. @ALINAPOPA1 shows it can be feminine! I've been a big fan of Alina since I got into bbing, [she's] literally the only reason I've stayed with bbing, very inspiring.
Alina certainly has more followers than Iris has ever had. For all her achievements, and despite her consistent excellence over more than a decade, Iris has never won the fans' hearts in the way Alina undoubtedly has. More pertinent than that though, is the reaction of Alina's peers to her Olympia performance. They might indicate that it is now Alina, not Iris, who sets the standards other female bodybuilders aspire to.
Alina now leads the challenge to dethrone Iris - in fact she looks like the only contender. She leads the popularity stakes with the fans, and female bodybuilders the world over look to emulate her. And since the Olympia she has taken to her Facebook page to speak to her sisters of iron, calling for a collective effort to reinvigorate the sport. Alina may not be Ms Olympia. Not yet, anyway. But, it seems to me that she can rightly claim to be the leading female bodybuilder in the world now.
Review the 2013 Ms O routines on YouTube (first of three parts) here
Enjoy!
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