Tampa: Closer

See the sweat - damn you can even see the pores on some!

As we noted the other day (see Triggers), James Cook does take you to the parts other photographers don't reach, and in Tampa, Mr. Rivieccio went in really close during the Figure presentations. Now the idea that muscle women (and in the grand scheme of things these Figure phenoms are HUGE) "look like men", is, sadly, still prevalent, but for me at least, he's really captured the beauty of these phenomenal ladies...



Even as their Protan begins to streak!

Download and zoom in (the pics are easily hi-res enough to take it) and you'll see that even though Tiffany Laumeyer (left) really is sweating profusely, whoever did her tanning application should definitely consider doing a bit more training before their next show. You'll also see where little beads of sweat have collected into tongue-tip size pools where the flawless Danielle Rose's neck meets the top of her pecs.



The big winner in the day was Canada's Melissa Bumstead (below, left). There are so many strong candidates for "The Most Beautiful Woman in Figure" that it could be a conversation that, once started, might never end. Melissa would definitely be part of that conversation though, and her somewhat wild-eyed excitement at being front and centre in the first callout only makes her even more beautiful to my eyes.



Next to Melissa (here, not in the first callout), Maggie Watson gets a bit of a raw deal - the expression on her face at the exact moment Cook clicked could have been more flattering for sure - but again, zoom in and perhaps think about how good the sweat making her neck shine would taste. Or that on her shoulders. Or the trickle running down her pec line... Would you wait for it to trickle down onto her abs, or not?



Amber Eutsey (left, she of the unabashed bicep flex - see Monday's post, Tease), looks like she felt powerful even when she wasn't showing off "illegally", while Mexico's stunning Georgina Lona has the expression of a woman who can't quite believe what she's standing next to. Or perhaps it's what that guy in the front row is doing...



But while Cook went in close on many of the Figure Phenoms, he only stayed in close on Puerto Rican sizzler Karen Reyes. The camera really loves her, as it were.




Should Annie be worried? I doubt it. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she were controlling the whole thing from the comfort of wherever she was, ordering Cook to take more of this girl, more of that girl, and much much more of Karen. The idea that after the show Annie and James reviewed all these pics together (and naked) from the comfort of their hotel bed is perhaps the hottest one I've had all week!

Enjoy!

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Tampa for another year.

FBBUK @ACE 2017

A couple of years ago, FMS was getting quite excited about the fact that there were forty British women in the various Amateur classes at the Arnold Classic Europe.

Well, check it out - this year... SEVENTY!

Yesterday we met the very highest of these achievers, Danielle Osborn, who won her Bodyfitness class (and, I think I neglected to mention, was awarded 3rd in the Overall posedown). Today we meet (almost all of) the best - in terms of placings - of the rest. Sadly this time there were no women from the UK in the Fitness classes to follow in the powerfully bouncy footsteps of our new Olympian Emma Paveley, but we had British representatives in "Wellness" (you'll see), Bikini, Bodyfitness and Physique.

WELLNESS

Sandra Mackie
5th, Open



OK, so what exactly is "Wellness"? you may ask. Well, as far as I can ascertain, it's pretty much the same as Bikini in terms of presentation, but with that Brazilian-style chunkiness below the waist. So we can see why our Sandra did so well. Apparently, this class is growing like mad here in the UK, and quite honestly I'm not sure how I feel. It's not exactly what I think about when I think about female muscle, but trawling through images of the Wellness ladies to find a couple of Sandra has been far from unpleasant.

BIKINI

With 39 of the 70 UK ladies in Barcelona competing in one of the myriad Bikini classes, I'm afraid there are simply too many to mention here today, so we've had to edit this down to mentions for those that placed, and special mentions to the two women - one a Master, one a Junior - who placed in the top 3 in (one of) their respective classes.

First, the Master!

Zulmira Woodrow
2nd, Masters up to 163cm; 3rd, Open up to 160cm



It’s a massive confidence boost for me knowing I’m competing against girls who are in their 20s and beating them, says the 39-year-old current British Bikini champ, who beat a few younger women in her Open class in finishing 3rd, and took a silver in her Masters class. Her husband is said to be "really proud" of her. I bet he is. Lucky devil.

Marta Mila
2nd, Junior over 166cm; 4th, Open up to 172cm



I am obsessed with becoming a woman who is comfortable in her own skin, says Marta, who seemed fairly comfortable on the biggest stage she's been on so far. Marta is coached by our British IFBB Bikini pro Karina Skowronska, and has to be one of the favourites to challenge Zulmira for the British title in Nottingham this weekend.

And the other placing UK Bikini ladies were: Rose Inglesias (5th, Junior over 166cm), Carlie Davies (9th, Open up to 158cm), Sally Legg (10th, Open up to 162cm), Keeley Johnson (5th) and Jayne Lo (9th, both Open up to 164cm), Nikki Harvey (8th, Open up to 166cm), and Agnes Lucaszek (10th, Open over 172cm).

BODYFITNESS

When we met our Arnold Europe Amateur Bodyfitness champ Danielle Osborn yesterday, I mentioned that I thought this was the division the UK has the most talent and potential in, and the placings British women obtained in the various Bodyfitness classes here certainly don't hurt my theory any. Of our 19 Bodyfitness competitors this year in Madrid, almost half of them placed. Here they all are, in reverse placing order, if you see what I mean. See if you agree that the UK's Bodyfitness future is bright.

Sandra Lippingwell
9th, Masters



Sandra, according to Flex Magazine UK's John Plummer, has "a terrific sculpted shape", with "eye-catching legs". Great smile too. This Masters competitor provides conclusive proof that being over 35 is no barrier to success in Bodyfitness, adds Plummer.

Katalin Jasztrab
8th, Open over 168cm; 10th, Masters



After placing 2nd in her class in Barcelona in 2016, an achievement she repeated at the Arnolds in Ohio this March, the smart money would have been on Katalin being the most successful Brit at the show. Not quite how things panned out, but, as always, this (for real) former tennis pro's head-turning beauty and statuesque frame made her one of the more striking competitors from any country. Love her abs. And so does she.

Barbara Kiss
8th, Open up to 163cm



Am I disappointed that I didn't win or make top 6? Very! says Barbara, British champion in the up to 163cm class she competed in here. But... Show after show I have learned more and more about the sport and accepted that the only thing I have control of is my own performance, that I do everything possible to bring my absolute best and improve every time I step on stage. And she was "very proud" of the package she brought to Madrid, rightly so I think - her legs are simply amazing. This sport can be very unfair at times, adds Barbara philosophically. But such is life. Accept it.

Emi Wokoma
6th, Open over 168cm



Emi only made her competitive debut last year but has already made waves in the UKBFF Bodyfitness world, winning that debut show - the Kent Classic - and the Fitcon Classic and South Coast Championships this year. "Tall, beautiful, superbly balanced, her proportions are breathtaking," gushes John Plummer. UK readers may think Emi is strangely familiar. Well, if you watch Eastenders, Casualty or the daytime TV soap Doctors you might have seen her in her other life as an actress. Or you might have seen her as Tina Turner in the West End musioal Soul Sister. I wasn't intending on competing at the Arnolds but very glad upon reflection that I did. I learnt an incredible amount. she said. So, this is her not 100% prepared then... Wow.

Connie Slyziut
5th, Junior; 9th, Open over 168cm



Still only 21, Connie is, for my money, getting better all the time. Stage shots don't perhaps do her justice like her early morning or post-workout Instagram selfies do, and, like Emi Wokoma, there's more going on with this talented young woman than "just" muscles - did you, for example, know she plays the viola? She has had better ACE's than this one but she doesn't give a monkey's about her placing here now I would guess because last weekend she won her class at the Ben Weider Legacy Cup in Finland, which may or may not make her a pro, but she did describe it as "a dream come true". You could think of her as Britain's answer to Natalia Coehlo. Or something.

Samantha Forbes
3rd, Open up to 163cm




Same placing as last year, but Samantha was happy because "it was twice as hard". And she was well worth the bronze I reckon. Huge quads, tight abs, deliciously meaty lats... looking awesome! Who the hell beat her?! Can we ask for a stewards enquiry, please?

Watch Samantha strutting her considerable stuff in Barcelona here.

Do you believe me now when I say Britain's got Bodyfitness talent?

PHYSIQUE

Lorna MacDonald
9th, Open up to 163cm




Lorna was a somewhat surprising judges' choice as British Physique champion this time last year, and she's found it hard to find judges as sympathetic since. The trend towards smaller women continued... with Lorna's tight physique finding favour with the judges, noted John Plummer in his 2016 UKBFF British report, rather damning her with faint praise methinks. Hardly Lorna's fault she rode the zeitgeist to that British trophy, and if she keeps turning up in the condition she was in here, I'm sure she'll find some more sympathetic judges again sooner rather than later. I thought her chest looked absolutely spectacular on this occasion. Too spectacular for the judges?!

No UK representatives in the taller of the two Physique classes, but also flexing open-handed for Britain in the up to 163cms were Ade Bishop, Ece Kilkis, and...

Find out who tomorrow.

Olympia 2017: Phenomenal Figures

Watch those calves bulge! See the definition in her thighs! Feast your eyes on those ballooning lats spreading and spilling over the strings of her posing suit! A posing suit that's at least a size too small anyway... My conversion into a bit of a Figure/ Bodyfitness fan(atic) has been one of FMS' most recurring themes over the last year or so. Are these women getting more muscular - Cydney Gillon seemed to grow in the week between the Arizona Pro and the Olympia! - or was I just not paying attention before and now there's no Ms International and no Ms Olympia to obsess over, at the A and the O Figure phenoms provide a significant part of the female muscle fix I crave?

MELISSA BUMSTEAD (unplaced)




It was a couple of years ago when she won her pro card at the Canadian Nationals that this sensationally gorgeous woman first showed up on the FMS radar, and I have been hooked ever since. She had some decent finishes in 2016, but it was her win at the Lenda Murray Pro Am earlier this year that enabled her to make her Olympia debut here. I'm not going to argue with the judges about her (non-) placing. I'm just going to enjoy those abs, those shoulders, and that big, beautiful smile. A stunner.



My only issues with the Figure division have nothing to do with the ladies and everything to do with the rules they compete under. How I wish they would get to flex like the NABBA Trained Figure ladies - who they are at least as muscular, if not quite as bone-dry conditioned as. Imagine that! Even better, imagine Candice or Latorya (3rd and 2nd respectively this year) showing their beautiful muscle bums in NABBA-style posing suits, bending over à la Kay Goodwin to ensure the judges get an eyeful.

HEATHER DEES (4th)




I first remember Heather as Heather Udy from the days of Hardfitness and the Muscletease schmotography site. I knew she was still around but I had no idea she had enjoyed such success over the years. She had two 4th places at Olympias in 2012 and 2013, and though this was her first Olympia since then, she enjoyed a 2nd at the Ms International in 2015 and this year won the 3rd pro title of her career in Hawaii. I also had no idea how excitingly thick she looks these days. Like a fine wine, it seems.




Which is not to say these phenoms don't work it. Given the restrictions they have to. The power stances, the not so surreptitious tricep flexing, and when they hold their poses they tense everything (and I mean everything). On heels too, which some may say have no place on a "bodybuilding" stage, but take away the heels and those quads are not going to ripple half as much as they stride forwards to assume the front and centre position and spread their wings for their first, breathtaking compulsory pose.

SANDRA GRAJALES (9th)




9th here was an improvement on her debut placing of 14th last year, and hardly surprising. She just gets better and better. Her abs are more and more veinsexy, her lats wider and wider, those thighs more and more gorgeous, and her good hard post-workout flexes just get gooder and harder. Over the last couple of years, Sandra's development has been essential viewing for many of the brethren, myself very much included, and there's nothing to suggest this young Figure phenom's rise will do anything but continue unabated. Top 30 in your 2017 Hot and Hard 100.




Yes, I said breathtaking, because at this highest level of Figure there is, these phenoms really can have me gasping for air. Perhaps not in the same way that Margie or Helle's first compulsory does, but for me it's as if these ladies inflate, pumped up in an instant as they spread their apparently immense lats, their abs tighten, and their magnificent thoroughbred thighs flare. They go from looking well, I wouldn't say "normal", but certainly not that big to suddenly looking pretty damn freaky, pretty damn drenched in muscle. And it's that sudden, shocking transformation that is so overwhelming.

JESSICA REYES PADILLA (8th)




Like Melissa and Sandra, Jessica is one of the Class of '15. Unlike Melissa and Sandra, I am ashamed to say Jessica has never featured on FMS before now. Her look here gave me a good, hard slap and demanded it though. Some of the best abs on show, and when she walked on a power stance that was all about the power. Toronto Pro winner this year, she failed to place on her Olympia debut but clearly learned her lesson, came back shredded, and deservedly (my ill-informed opinion) took 8th place.




As I sit here trying to think of new and original ways to big up the Figure ladies I am well aware that my zeal is wasted on the so-called "hardcore" fans who have probably already left FMS today (perhaps for good?!) tut-tutting as they went - "used to be about Bodybuilders..." But I also know there are plenty of Figure/Bodyfitness fans among the readership and I'm probably wasting my time with them as well because they don't require any convincing! Thirteen of your Hot and Hard 100 in 2017 were from the Figure and equivalent division, ten of them in the top 60, and five of the ladies who graced the Olympia stage this year were among them. It's hardly surprising such stunning women are so popular with female muscle fans, or indeed with their female followers either. Beautiful and graceful, they exude confidence and strength. Muscles and femininity combined. These phenomenal figures are packing serious sex appeal.



What's not to like?



The IFBB Figure and Bodyfitness ladies still might not get to really flex those hard-earned muscles in anger on stage, but as those of you who are already following these phenoms on social media will know, these women pack a shed load of heat!




Tomorrow, we devote a whole post to our favourite 2017 Figure Olympian.

Enjoy!