Congratulations are in order to two of FMS' favourite UK muscle ladies, both already winners in 2016.
LINDA GARTSIDE Winner, Women's Physique UKBFF North-west Championships 2016
Linda booked her place at the British finals later in the year with her (I think I'm right in saying) first ever win at the UKBFF North-west Championships. And apart from all the other reasons to celebrate, she was especially chuffed to have been awarded the trophy by none other than IFBB Pro Wendy McCready, who guest posed at the show.
First time I saw Wendy McCready in Evolution [gym] I was in awe and didn't dare speak to her, Linda said afterwards. Now many years later we are good friends, and to be awarded the trophy by a Lady I have admired since the day I started lifting properly is something I will cherish.
All in all, Linda "had the best day", and if anyone deserves to have a bumper year, then it's her. After such a successful time as a NABBA athlete (see previously on FMS) she's had little success in terms of placings within the UKBFF, but has never even come close to resting on her former laurels. She tirelessly continues to refine and improve her physique year on year.
I know my own weaknesses, she says, I embrace challenging myself, I know I have more in me, I know I will beat the old me. I can easily look in the mirror and smile because there is so much more to give.
As always, actual concrete news of the show is hard to come by. I have no idea, for example, how many women there were in the Physique division at the show (I would bet not many) but eagle-eyed readers may have spotted a familiar face (and body) to Linda's right there. Presumably, given that she is on Linda's left, she was runner-up on this occasion.
But Fay Ellis (aka Fay Simone, see previously on FMS), didn't have to wait long after the Warrington show for her first win of the year.
Again, not a lot of news about this other than what I have gleaned from Fay's own Instagram feed, but she definitely won, and with her victory she qualified for the NABBA Britain finals, which take place in the last weekend of May.
Footage from international NABBA shows generally turns up on YouTube, domestic shows not so much, but the FMS research team are on it, and if any of Fay's routine does turn up, we'll be sure to let you know.
Congratulations again to our Northern muscle beauties!
I started dancing as a young girl and went on to study Contemporary Dance at university when I was 22. The dance classes were very intensive and I was enjoying this new level of fitness. My dance tutor advised me to do some weightlifting alongside my dance to build up some more upper body strength to make some of the lifting and weight shift movements easier. So my boyfriend took me to the gym and showed me how to train like a bodybuilder. I began to notice changes in my body shape within a very short time. I loved feeling strong and the weights I was lifting went up fairly rapidly. It gave me so much confidence, and when I got my first vein in my arm I was totally buzzing! I was hooked.Rosanna Harte (RxMuscle, 2009)
Rosie, enjoying herself, 2008 (?)
By the time of that interview, Rosie had already been competing for a couple of years. Her first show was a natural show in 2007 called the NPA Heart of England where she competed in the Figure class - and won - and the following year she took her second Figure title at the Sci-Mentor SportsPN Classic. Also in 2008 she made her NABBA debut, in the Trained Figure class (which is more or less equivalent to what became the IFBB Women's Physique division), finishing 2nd at the North-east qualifier and 6th at the British finals. These "trained figure" girls are packing some serious muscle, she told RxMuscle in 2009, and they get in amazing condition for competitions. This is the main reason why I have decided to take a year off from competing and just put on some size, because I felt like I was fading into the background slightly. I think there are a lot of impressive female physiques in the UK at the moment.
NABBA Britain 2010
Her plan worked. At the end of May 2010, she was the British NABBA Trained Figure champion, and a few weeks later she travelled to Malta for her first international competition - the NABBA Worlds - and finished runner-up in her class, beating such famous names as Karolina Holubcova and Flora Conte in the process.
The following year saw Rosie not only change federation, but also division. Her first time competing as a bodybuilder was at the 2011 UKBFF North-east qualifier. It was her first title as a bodybuilder too. I’ve wanted to do bodybuilding since I first started training but it has taken a long time to gain enough size, she said soon afterwards. I’ve had a lot of people doubting my capabilities in this class - understandably as I am still usually the smallest on stage! It meant so much to me to place so well in my first competition as an actual bodybuilder, and in an open class as well!
UKBFF British 2011
And she went on to finish runner-up to Rene Campbell at that year's UKBFF British Championships, ahead of women like Christal Cornick, Silvana Imbrogno, and Tamar Makar - women who outweighed her by upwards of 50lbs (22kg). She was rightly proud of herself. This might seem weird as you’d think it might have been one of my competitions where I placed 1st, she said in 2012, but the highlight of my career to date was definitely coming second at the British Championships!
UKBFF British 2012
And in 2012 she went one better, beating all of the big girls and becoming the UKBFF British Women's Bodybuiding champion, adding her name to a roll of honour packed with the names of some of the all-time UK female bodybuilding greats: Rene Campbell, Lisa Cross, Sharon Madderson, Wendy McCready, Joanne Lee, Paula Bircumshaw, and now Rosanna Harte. The smallest woman on stage was punching way above her weight, and the female muscle world was taking notice.
UKBFF British 2012
And so, slowly, did the British media - well, the regional British media anyway. Leeds bodybuilder competes in biggest competition in world read the headline (see FMS passim) before Rosie jetted off to Columbus, Ohio to represent Britain for the second time at international level, this time at the 2013 Arnold Amateur - the one competition all amateur bodybuilders dream of, according to Rosie.
Arnold Amateur 2013
And the British Champ finished 3rd in the (last ever) Lightweight Bodybuilding class behind the more experienced Ana Paula Silva of Brazil, and Branka Njegovec from Croatia, who went on to claim the overall title as well. There's something very old school about Rosanna's body shape and conditioning,I wrote at the time, as though you could photoshop her into a contest pic from the late 80s and she wouldn't look out of place next to the likes of Anja Langer. It's a very pleasing aesthetic.
Arnold Amateur 2013
And I also wrote at the time that it remained to be seen how far such an old school aesthetic would take Rosie in international bodybuilding. What I meant was that she'd struggle among the heavyweights - little did I realise that international women's bodybuilding, at an amateur level at least, was about to all but disappear.
Arnold Amateur 2013
But this was not necessarily bad news for lightweight fbbs in general, and not necessarily bad news for Rosie, as she proved in 2014 when she returned to the Arnold Amateur, lining up in the Physique division for the very first time. Never been this happy with my physique, she tweeted before the show. Down to the judges now.
Arnold Amateur 2014
Their verdict, a tantalisingly close 2nd in her class. Congratulations Rosie! said FMS, noting that she had looked in great shape before the contest. I was, however, disappointed for her that she hadn't got a little more favour from the judges and come home as the UK's newest - and first ever Women's Physique - pro, but a year and a few months later, and here we are, celebrating (almost) that very achievement!
To the person who was kind enough to comment on yesterday's post,
Thank you so much for your comment, I am so sorry but I accidentally deleted it - I was using my phone and the Publish and Delete buttons are side by side and... Anyway, wanted you to know I did read and appreciate it. Always glad to hear from readers. Just didn't want you to think I hadn't published for some other reason.
Sorry again.
OK, on with the last of the British female muscle posts for a while...
It is, I grant you, a very unBritish-sounding name. Kristina Vassilieva, pronounced vas-I-li-yava, I believe. Russian origin, but she's been here since she was three, so we are most definitely claiming Kristina. And do you blame us? Wouldn't you?
It was a name that kept cropping up while I was researching last week's posts. There she was, winner of the Bodyfitness class at the UKBFF South Coast Championships in April. And again, in August, runner-up to current UK Bodyfitness #1 Michelle Morris at the Scottish Grand Prix. And again, at the recent British Championships, 5th place in the taller of the two Bodyfitness classes. She gets around, I thought to myself. And so I looked for her in 2014. Nothing. I went back to 2013. I needn't have bothered. She'd accomplished all these results in her very first year as a competitive Figure girl. That UKBFF South Coast Championships victory had come at her first ever show.
Kristina is a former model who was, in her own words, a sporty, athletic child, always interested in fitness and health. But things didn't stay that way. From about the age of 18 or 19, she says, I unfortunately descended into a whirlwind of eating disorders.
No surprise that it was the gym, coupled with the lessons she had learned as a teenage athlete good enough to represent her borough, that got her back on the road to fitness. And she discusses this, and many other things, in a candid and very engaging podcast interview with Paul Burgess that you can watch in full (all 56 minutes of it) here.
These days, when she's not training or competing, Kristina is happy to be on the other side of the camera taking the photographs. She's heavily into psychology, and she also helps out her brother with his various e-commerce concerns. And very happily for Kristina fans, her family never fail to film her in action. So you can see Kristina - and the women she lines up with - in all three of her contests to date.
Get comfy and click below to get a load of Kristina strutting her stuff at the...
At 5'7" (1.70m) she is on the tall side for a female bodybuilder, and there's no getting away from the fact that she is also quite a stunner. Add the inspirational fightback from anorexia and bulimia plus the obvious brains and you've got quite a package. So it's hardly surprising that despite still being an amateur, Kristina's already attracted the attention of a pretty major sponsor - Twana Barnett-Ferguson is sponsored by the same people, which is more than enough to impress the hell out of me anyway.
And on top of that, she's also caught the eye of Fit Vids, who are certainly far from slouches when it comes to spotting the best in upcoming UK female muscle talent.
Kristina is very clear that her ambitions lie beyond these shores, and you wouldn't bet against her achieving them. The prospect of qualifying and potentially competing internationally for the IFBB European or World Championships, to compete successfully and earn my pro card is a dream. The IFBB is the largest bodybuilding and fitness federation in the world, so there are some incredible opportunities to take your competition worldwide... And travel is a big passion of mine, she says.
We'd better make the most of it while she's still here.
