The Year in Review: May

TRANSFORMERS



Seems there are two types of people. There are those who prefer the picture on the left, and there are those who prefer the picture on the right, and not only prefer, but also project all kinds of fantasies onto it. I, you can probably guess, am totally, firmly, and deeply committed to the RIGHT on this issue. It's not often I say that.

HELLO JILL DIORIO



At the NPC Team Universe in July she won her class, and pro card. And it was around then that no little chatter about her started up on the forums, much of it about her jaw-dropping calves. They really are glories. And (I've been looking closely) there's also that freaky tendon that has grown into a sort of shin muscle adding even more below-the-knee droolworthiness. And, we might as well throw in, a qualified and working accountant, as thorough with the figures as she is with her Physique.



And she's quite the fox.

A DIFFERENT SPECIES

Muscular woman vs. less muscular/not-at-all muscular women. A good laugh? A major fetish - it must be, Lisa Cross has cashed in on the market. Crushing? Inspiring? Arousing? (For the woman being photographed with the goddess, I mean.) All these issues and more, as FMS spends a day comparing two incomparable things.



I would urge those still prefacing the term Figure competitor with "only a" to look long and hard at Azaria Glaim's upper body and a long hard look at her admirer's, and then have a good, long, hard rethink about their terms of reference.



A decent second best would be hanging out with the woman who had got the photo with the object of our mutual admiration. Tell me again about when you were living down in Fort Worth and Delane Hart was one of the PTs at your gym...

FEMALE MUSCLE TWINS

A week-long tribute to the closest sisters of all.

Starring The Traffords...



And The Longs...



Yes, there's only one woman in that picture. We didn't have a preference for one or other all week, and then Michelle Long pops up with her Blockmanesque looks and those muscles, and we decided that in this case we didn't fancy yours so much.

BEST OF THE BEST



As IFBB pro FBBing in 2017 approached, we decided to spend a bit of time looking back over the recent past. Starting with Sarah Hayes in Tampa in 2012, we saw seven women - all, with one notable exception, no longer competing in Bodybuilding or at all - in what we thought was the shape of their lives, including Skadi Frei-Seifert (Essen, 2011), Rene Marven (Toronto, 2013), and Gillian Kovack (Toronto, 2012).



A good excuse to repost what one reader calls "one of the best posing videos I've seen" from Simone Oliveira (Toronto, 2014), it was second to none. "Anyone who thinks that female bodybuilders aren't sexual needs to take a long, hard look at Simone on stage," our reader continued. I did, and I still don't know how that posing suit stays on.



And thanks to Katka (Madrid, 2011) Swell remembered his first time...



Suddenly I was the teenage boy in his bedroom with his copy of Muscle & Fitness unable to take his eyes off Anja Langer and her beautiful muscular body. Katka thrilled me like the very first time. I just couldn't stop looking at her. Her pecs, her abs, her legs, her arms... a beauty and yet she was just so big and hard, her muscles were so full and defined. Tanned, thrilling. Sexy but beyond sexy. MUSCLE SEXY.

And finally in May...

THAT WAS A GOOD DAY

We've had a mini-heatwave here in the UK over the last few days. Hottest May day ever, apparently. So, bodies on display, and, to my delight, female muscle on display. I saw more of it today in about 30 minutes than I've seen in the preceding six years, more than I ever saw concentrated in one place in all my years in London.

More, in fact, than I've ever seen in such quick succession in my entire life.



I'm wondering if every day is going to be like this now, or have I just used up my allotted number of sightings for the next six years? Is this happening elsewhere? Has the new era finally dawned? Is this what we can expect from now on?

And the link to all the pics 1/5-13/5 plus extras - here.

(IFBB) Pro Twins: Erica & Sondra Blockman

Where?
Originally from Mt. Shasta, California.



Who's bigger?
Need you ask? Sondra is an IFBB Bikini pro; Erica an IFBB Physique pro.



Sondra, a pro since 2015, was last seen at the 2016 Tampa Pro (above), where she finished 10th, while Erica, who won her pro card at the Jr Nationals in 2013, has moved on to Crossfit training (and I believe an upcoming competition) since her second (hopefully not final) Physique Olympia appearance (also above) last year.



You don't need me to tell you that these are two of the most stunning women in the whole of Bodybuilding. My feelings for crackerjack firefighting goddess Erica are well-documented here on the blog, Sondra (aka "The Hair"), has never featured before, and to be honest, I'm wondering why. Involved in sports from an early age, Sondra has been into martial arts, gymnastics, and through college track and field at a national level. As a trainer, she says, it is important for me to be a walking poster board for my work, to look the part. Don’t talk the talk if you can’t walk the walk!



For Erica, it's been all about "the fitness industry and the world of competitive bodybuilding since a very young age", but there is that other thing she does too, that swoonworthiest of occupations. The challenges I have faced as a female in the fire service have helped to shape me into the woman I am today, she says.



Quite a woman.



You can follow Sondra and Erica on Instagram. Sondra will be "walking the walk" on an IFBB Pro Bikini stage again real soon, and Erica will be doing her Crossfit (for now).



Both were interviewed recently on Promoting Real Women Talk Radio. The quality of the recording might not be as classy as the interviewees, but it's well worth an hour or so of your time while you do what you do when listening to the radio.



Enjoy!

That's it for twins on FMS for now. Thanks again to B for the idea and the suggestions.

Maple Twins: Christie & Michelle Long

Where?
Unusually for our twins this week, not the same place. Christie is currently based in Kelowna, British Columbia, while Michelle lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia [that's in Canada - ed.] As far as I can tell, Nova Scotia is where they are originally from.



Who's bigger?
We will get to that.



Christie was a top 6 provincial Bikini competitor back in 2012 and 2013, but doesn't compete any longer. I enjoyed competing, she explains, but I don't prefer to be the center of attention as much anymore, despite it being fun to wear the sparkly bikinis! As I get older I find I get more enjoyment out of helping others succeed or increase their confidence. And so, she became a PT, and that's still what she does now.



And so to Michelle...



Former national junior bobsleigh racer, national powerlifting record holder, and trainee firefighter... Yes, firefighter - the hands-down swooniest occupation a muscular female can possibly have (in my opinion). So even if Michelle weren't actually (quite considerably) bigger than her twin sister (aka "The Clone", as she calls Christie) I would still be swooning my head off for her. Because she's a firefighter.



Follow Christie if you want - 18,000 do, she's the mainstreamier choice, and why not? But if you need me, I'll be following Michelle and her firefighting career. And muscles. Along with 8,000 others. As usual for me, less mainstream is more appealing.



Our final set of twins tomorrow. And more firefighting!

(NABBA) Toned Twins: Jenny & Lucy West

Where?
Staffordshire, UK



Who's bigger?
Hard to call, and as far as I can tell, it depends on when the photo you are looking at was taken (and, of course, assuming you can accurately tell them apart, which I'm not 100% convinced I can do!), but I would give the decision to Jenny, just. And that's probably as it should be, because Jenny started lifting two years before Lucy did.



Moreover, they say they compete in Bikini and (NABBA) Toned, but so far I've only found evidence of the NABBA contests, and only found Jenny in the top 6 of any of the shows she or both have done. Last year The Mail Online reported they had plans to go to the NABBA Britain finals, and from there to the Universe, but neither of them qualified for the nationals finals from their regional show. The Wests must be quite a sight going heel to heel in NABBA-style heavy tans and thong posing suits...



Sadly, once again, no evidence of that has turned up, but The Mail assures us that "with matching physiques, flowing brown hair and dazzling smiles, the twosome make an impression that's as strong as their muscles." And not just on stage, apparently. We get plenty of attention when we are out, says Lucy. My party trick is probably the piston squat, when you squat down with one leg. I can do it in heels in a tight fitting dress.



We've always been athletic and good at sport, says Jenny. We liked cross country and volleyball and always saw ourselves as a team, supporting each other. And it's the same today, we encourage each other. I am just as happy to see Lucy do well as I am to succeed myself. If I come away from a competition and I haven't won, I really beat myself up, but I would be happy if I came second and she came first.



The West Twins on Instagram, and their website.

Enjoy!

Six Times Two

When one of you lovely readers reached out and suggested featuring muscle twins on the blog, I seriously doubted whether the FMS research team could come up with a week's worth of beauties. How wrong I was! The team may not always have managed to track down the precise locations of these female muscle double acts, and most of them are not exactly covered in huge, bulging muscles, but we found more than seven.

Today, it's the best of the rest.

The Klimaszewski Twins



Diane and Elaine Klimaszewski are Polish-American twins who may be very familiar to US readers of a certain age who remember a particular beer commercial the ladies featured in. Later they found a kind of fame on TV and film, and also appeared on WCW as part of the "Nitro Girls" - not a wrestling team, but a dancing troupe.

squattwins



German twins Julia and Stephanie go deep. What you think you become, what you feel you attract, what you imagine you create, they say. See? Very deep. Instagram deep.

twins222



OK, so I'm stretching (geddit?) here a bit calling these two "muscular", but hey, Russian twins who seem to peddle some kind of exotic contortionism/novelty double-take DJing act - what's not to like? At least one of them has visible abs... I give up. twins222official on Instagram, in case you are interested. They seem very close.

Betsy & Shelly Albetta



From New Jersey, Betsy (left, above) was a Figure competitor in the noughties, while the slightly thicker Shelly was still competing in 2013. Read interviews with both of them on the late, lamented Promoting Real Women. Betsy's is here; Shelly's here.

Brie & Nikki Bella



San Diego's greatest ever wrestling team (probably) did like a flex back in their heyday, and they probably still do. I've never been one for thinking WWE was essential viewing, but when my mate's son was into it, we certainly bonded over the question of who was our favourite "Diva". He liked Kelly Kelly. I went for the twins, obviously.

Carrie & Christy Bacon



OK, best for last. "Arrow" and "Bullet" on the Swedish version of Gladiators, there's no denying the muscle on this bacon. Carrie has competed in Physique, while Christy is apparently a Crossfit competitor and basketball player. Carrie's Instagram has more muscle, Christy's has more basketball. Both so delicious, says one forum wag.

Enjoy!