Well, Aloha! Jennie & More in Hawaii

First I heard of Alina Popa protégée Jennie Roosa's pro debut was when she posted these to her Instagram. And after that point I got quite excited about the prospect.

Turned out the show she (and Alina) had selected was the new (in terms of having a Female Bodybuilding class anyway) Hawaii Pro, which took place on March 10th.



Jennie is not what you'd call the most prolific social media poster, but what she did post from her prep only served to push my excitement levels almost to ticker-threatening. This was 4 weeks out!!! And then a check-in photo of her with Physique Dream Krista Dunn emerged, Jennie's perky pec pointers persuading me she was just as excited as anybody (even me) heightened my anticipation even further.



In the end, the (finally) glammed and tanned Jennie was only one of three in the Female Bodybuilding class, and with just five women competing in Physique, the show was not exactly overflowing with muscular treats. However, in both those classes and in a much better-subscribed Fitness class, treats there most certainly were.

FITNESS



That is quite a chassis on the winner Missy Terwilliger. I clocked her at the Arnolds (where, thanks to Kate Errington, I watched all the Fitness routines) and was impressed. You can check out just what she can make that chassis do here.



But the big Fitness interest of the day was Minna Pajulahti, back in the division where she started out after a break (by my reckoning) of about seven years. Check out her routine, and while you do so bear in mind that she can squat, bench press and deadlift a combined total well in excess of 500kg (well over 1,100lbs).



The judges placed her 4th.



And you can get a sense of just how big she really as from this Maximum Muscle Report interview with Mandus Buckle (for real). Now he may not be cut out for interviewing, but his presence in shot nonetheless provides a good sense of Minna's mighty scale.

PHYSIQUE



And talking of mighty scales, the aforementioned Krista Dunn was hardly dwarfed by Jennie in their check-in photo, making close inspection of her on-stage pics a must.




Krista looked every inch the two-time Olympian she is, and her incredible legs and overall "buff-momness" almost proved a winner (she was 2nd) with the judges.




The Physique class winner though was the (somewhat-less-ripped-than-Krista) Michaela Aycock, who, a week after she'd exceeded expectations at the Arnolds by placing 4th and doing some glamour work, booked her place at the Olympia.



I just had two of the most incredible weeks, she told her Instagram followers after her Ohio and Hawaii experiences. My heart is so full, and the year is still young!

BODYBUILDING



Jennie at last! But against the odds, and despite looking about as Popa as you can look without actually being Popa, she didn't take home the title on her pro debut. Instead, the very classy Nicki Chartrand claimed 2018's first Female Bodybuilding crown.



I was at the show, one (fortunate) forum member revealed afterwards. I was a little surprised by Nicki's win. She looked incredible, but Jennie looked absolutely amazing. Maybe I'm biased, or maybe that's why I'm not a judge, but yeah, I was surprised.



Clue is in the quote, no? "Biased", "not a judge" - and, you will be pleased (because you are so jealous of him), he wasn't in the front row either ("more in the middle/front"). So perhaps not the most reliable of observers. I don't want to make this a debate about the result, more a celebration, so let's just say it was a tough call because there were two absolutely amazing physiques on the stage. Nicki's was amazing, and so was Jennie's.



Four weeks' out was the last morsel she had offered, until the night before. Relaxing with my feet up, enjoying the carbs, she told us. She was wide-eyed, and so was I. That hint of glorious pec meat, that magnificent deltoid, those veins like ropes...



I'm a little disappointed with how Jennie Roosa looked compared to her progress pics from 3-4 weeks ago, moaned a forum poster before the results were in. She looks like she lost size while not really being any more ripped or in better condition.




Some people are never happy. Look at those LEGS... look at that BACK!!!



My only disappointment is that Jennie hasn't updated her Instagram since the night before. I've had to be content with scavenging some of her Awefilms and Muscle Angels work that has gone up on the boards recently. About as Popa as you can look...



Oh yeah, and watching this...


November 2017, and that's Alina giving the orders

What I've been doing while watching is between me and my conscience!

Enjoy!

EuroMUSCLE! @IFBB Mozolani Pro 2016

There is a theory among the brethren that European Physique women are just a little (or even a lot) bigger and more muscular than their North American peers. And there's another, a kind of sister theory if you like, that European judges reward such muscularity a bit (or a lot) more readily than their North American counterparts.

Now, I'm not about to try to prove or disprove either of these theories - not today anyway - but what I will say is that when seven European Physique pros lined up in Zilina, Slovakia towards the end of May this year, there was mucho muscle on show.



And I will also say that far from penalising the more muscular competitors, or the muscular competitors with the most severe conditioning - which, if I understood the infamous "15%" IFBB directive from last year correctly, is what they are supposed to do - the judges gave the top placings to the biggest, most ripped women, and first prize to the thickest, beefiest, most shredded woman of all - Croatia's Branka Njegovec.




With her thick, striated pecs; her bulging, vascular arms; those intensely muscled glutes; those granite abs which she is rightly famed for (see previously on FMS) and those legs, those massive, feathered quads, huge calves, thick hamstrings; she's even got the jaw! Well, I don't know about you but she kind of reminds me of those "Female Bodybuilders" we used to see once in a while on European stages.



Runner-up to Branka was an FMS fave, a woman at the forefront of the "veins on the outside are the new veins on the inside" fashion - Spain's Paloma Parra.



Having tried Fitness, Bodyfitness (ie. Figure) and Bodybuilding since she first competed in 1991, Paloma competed in Physique for the first time last year at the age of 49 (yes, 49). She finished way down at the Atlantic City Pro (15th) and the Puerto Rico Pro (11th) - although she did finish 5th in the Masters class there. So the runner-up spot here represented by far Paloma's best WPD result. Meanwhile, her Instagram and Facebook are a little piece of heaven for fans of the freakishly vascular muscle woman (and I am a fully paid up member of that club by the way). Not since the glory days of Trudy Ireland have we seen such thick and gnarly veins, such vascular maturity. Almost a shame to cover them up with that tan. Almost.



And completing the top 3 was a familiar name from those good old days of European Female Bodbybuilding contests, the Czech Republic's Jana Stockelova.




Jana is a former Heavyweight bodybuilder, a World Amateur (class) Champion. This contest marked her return after a five-year break. Now to my eye, Jana was not nearly as muscular as either Paloma or Branka, and not as muscular as at least one of the women who finished below her. However, compare Jana now to Jana the Heavyweight FBB and it's clear she hasn't spent the last five years toning the muscle down.



And for more of Jana, check out her YouTube channel. Clips aren't always the best quality, but... regular updates, plenty of sweat, great socks and effort you can hear.




Joanna Romano Cano was that "more muscular than Jana" lady in 4th.



Joanna's routine was one of the more athletic/gymnastic by the looks of things - and all captured by Igor Kopcek for Eastlabs in the kind of quality that allows you to really appreciate the detail. For example, when you've looked at everything else there is to enjoy about Joanna in the image above, just take a bit of time to marvel at how immense her forearms are. Thanks Eastlabs! Thanks Igor!



And another who showed off her flexibility in her routine was, no surprise, the powerlifting cheerleading Minna Pajulahti, who finished in 5th place and was also notable for having the raciest, almost NABBA-style, posing suit when the ladies faced the rear for the (open-handed) back double biceps.



To fully appreciate Minna's stage presence, head over to Team Andro where you can watch the pre-judging in wonderful, mind-blowing HD (click on the HD symbol at the bottom of the player to make it red if it isn't already for the full experience). It's also striking to see just how tall Minna is compared to the other competitors. Not actually the tallest, her presence makes her seem taller, like a real "Amazon", which is something that doesn't always come across when you look at the images.



Check out the full gallery at Eastlabs for more of the top 5 as well as Aurelia Grozajova and Olga Belyakova in 6th and 7th respectively. There was a bit of a gulf I thought between these two and the rest, but you can make up your own mind about that when you see the images (and the Team Andro clip).

More and more of the European ladies are heading to the pro shows in the US these days. Minna has been crossing the Atlantic most often, and finished 6th at the Karina Nascimento Classic and 9th at the recent Puerto Rico Pro. Minna was also at the Arnold Classic this year, though neither she, Paloma Parra, nor fellow European Ida Sefland managed to make the top 10. Last weekend Jana Stockelova was 12th in Toronto, and Britain's Carly Thornton (we're in for another few weeks at least!) took 8th on her pro debut at the same show (more about this to come on FMS). The most successful European in the US so far this year has been Joanna Romano, who followed up a 5th place finish in Orlando by going one better at the Puerto Rico Pro.



Branka's win in Slovakia guarantees at least one European will be at the Olympia this year. One wonders what the judges there will make of her and all her EuroMUSCLE!



Enjoy!