FBBUK: The Fit Writer

OK, let's start with a question.

Can you name Britain's one reigning World Champion female bodybuilder?

Didn't think so.

Until a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn't have known the answer to the question either. Wouldn't have known that Britain even had a female World Champion. But we do.

It's time we met her. Say hello to Nicola Joyce, World Champion.



The fact that Nicola is a World Champion yet remains unknown even to fans of female muscle is easily explained. You see, she's a natural bodybuilder, competing in natural shows and let's face it, these natural shows and natural women get only a fraction of the attention that non-natural contests attract - unless, of course, Jodie Marsh is competing, in which case they are on TV and all over the print media!

Actually, Nicola is not just a World Champion, she's a two-time World Champion, having recently retained the title she first won last year in Boston in November.




She is also a distance runner, an international triathlete, and an open water swimmer with a string of achievements - for example, she's swum up Lake Windermere, swum round the island of Jersey, and swum across the English Channel - twice.

But it's what's going on between Nicola's ears that has really got my attention.



Despite her physical prowess, I found out about Nicola via her blog.

"The Fit Writer", as she calls it, has reports of her runs, her triathlons, her open water swims, and her bodybuilding contests. It has fitness-related product reviews, and advice for bodybuilding competitors (both male and female). But of most interest to me, and I'm guessing to you too, dear reader, is the insight it provides into her own daily bodybuilding life. If you want to know how crazy a female bodybuilder can go when she's prepping for a contest, her blog will tell you. Ever dreamed of dating a female bodybuilder? Nicola will tell you what you'd be letting yourself in for. Know a female bodybuilder and want to say the right things? Check with Nicola.



But it's not just the content of the blog that I like. Nicola writes with some style.

Here she is at the UKDFBA this year. The winner will get a WNBF pro card...



I’ve either won it or... I haven’t, frankly. One matters, one doesn’t matter. That’s how I see it. One is a win, the other is not a win.

The head judge was saying that it was incredibly close... that, in fact, it was a tie-break. We were tied for first place, and the result of the tie-break is...

"In second place..."

Me.

Sigh.

OK. Smile, smile, don’t cry, look up, smile, walk forward, shake the winner’s hand, stand there and smile.

The winner was then called forward, and offered WNBF Pro status.

My emotions have been up, down and all over the place since. At the time I felt absolutely gutted and disappointed, but not so bad. I felt happy, in that I knew I was my best ever (so far!), very happy personally in how I looked and how I’d posed, etc. Happy that I’d improved a placing in a year (I was 3rd at UKDFBA last year) and happy (although it’s a bitter happiness!!) that it was so close. You can’t ask for much more (other than winning, obviously) than being in a tie break situation.

But I have also gone through a slew of negative emotions: sadness, disappointment, feeling absolutely gutted, and (if I’m honest), angry. I’m not sure at what. Myself, I think. Angry that I didn’t get on stage absolutely dominant, that I left it up to the judges to make the decision, that I didn’t step up there and make their job easier for them. I won’t be making the same mistake again. Believe me, there’s nothing like losing something so important to you on a tie-break decision to focus the mind.

A compelling read, don't you think?

Unsurprisingly, given her ability to tell a story and her all round way with words, Nicola earns her corn as a freelance Sport and Fitness Writer and Fitness Copywriter. One who just happens to be a runner, a triathlete, an open water swimmer, and, er...
Oh yeah, I almost forgot! A two-time natural bodybuilding World Champion.



Please enjoy Nicola's blog responsibly!

FBBUK@ NABBA Universe 2014

On October 26th the oldest bodybuilding show of them all, the NABBA Universe, took place at its long-time home of Southport on Merseyside. Since 1966, a Ms Universe has been crowned - 48 consecutive years by my reckoning - and Ms Universe 2014 was Brazil's Dora Rodrigues. But, as always, there was a large contingent of fine British female physiques in the three "Figure" classes, doing their thing in their thongs.


TONED FIGURE

In recent years, this class has been the one where British women have enjoyed the most success, and this show was no exception, with Brits first and second.



You have to think that sooner or later that former UKBFF British Bikini champ Kelsey Yung (aka "TinkerKel") will walk off with the winner's trophy. She finished second (to the gorgeous Nicola Bentham) at the 2013 Universe, and also finished second (to Brazil's Caroline Crozeta) at this year's NABBA Worlds in Belfast in June. And here, once again, Barrow-in-Furness' finest had to settle for second place, though the fact that she is the reigning NABBA Ms Britain is probably some consolation.






Beating Kelsey on this occasion was 26-year-old Charlotte MacGill from Bolton in Lancashire. Charlotte works (all these NABBA women are amateurs remember) as a sports rehab physio. It was only when she got her current job that she began training, inspired and encouraged by her bodybuilding boss, Stuart Cosgrove. He got me interested in weight training, she told a local newspaper after her win. I started to notice the changes in my body and went from there.



Within a year she had won the NABBA North-West show, and now has her first international title. Competing in international competitions is very rewarding and a lot of fun, she says. Especially so when you leave as the champ, I imagine!




TRAINED FIGURE II (short)

This class was packed with quality. This year's and last year's Overall Ms Universe winners (Dora Rodrigues and Italian NABBA veteran Flora Conte), the reigning NABBA Ms World (Auren Malvestiti of Brazil) and FMS fave Cinara Polido (with her involuntarily twitching glutes) made up the top four. However, two British women muscled their way into the placings, finishing in the same order as they had done at the NABBA Britain five months previously.



Corinne Ingman from Harlow in Essex was awarded 6th place. She's a British powerlifting champion, a NABBA Figure competitor, and for her next trick she fancies taking on the UKBFF Physique class and gaining her pro card, apparently. Given the current trend towards muscularity in that class, she looks as if she has a great chance of making her mark there, which is slightly ironic when you learn that officials from the UKBFF once told her she was "too muscular" to be a Physique competitor!



I think Corinne looks like the kind of woman who's prepared to strip down to the bare minimum and give everyone in the gym a good gander at her progress anytime she's feeling nice and pumped. In other words, she looks like FMS' kind of woman. One to watch for sure - and you can do so via her (regularly updated) Instagram.

Sadly, there's no video we can find of Corinne at the NABBA Universe, but we did find a clip of her routine at the NABBA Britain in May. So why not?




But we had the opposite problem for the woman who beat Corinne to the NABBA Britain title and finished one place above her again here. Despite an exhaustive search, we failed to turn up a single new picture of NABBA favourite Kay Goodwin that didn't have a big bad watermark on it - though we did find video (see below). You may remember Kay from previous posts, when, among other things, we reported that she had moved category from Toned to Trained Figure this year.

Success has followed. In 2014 she won her first (regional) show in the class, took the Ms Britain title, and has finished as top Brit at both the NABBA Worlds and now the NABBA Universe. Guess more muscle suits her! I first caught the "bodybuilding bug" after going to see a friend compete in a show, Kay says. Seeing all the girls on stage, all glammed up looking fabulous and the physiques on display was inspiring and got me thinking "could I really do that?" Turns out she could. She really really could.




TRAINED FIGURE I (tall)



Northern Ireland's positively Amazonian Linda Cassidy finished 5th in the taller of the two Trained Figure classes, and I can pretty much guarantee that though her routine (as with all NABBA routines) is over too quickly for my liking, you will not forget it once you've seen it. Linda is a personal trainer at The Columbia Gym in Banbridge, County Down, who specialises in "high risk" clients - ones who have been referred to the gym via their GP, that is. Seems to me having Linda put you through your paces would be pretty "high risk" to most male heart rates...







And finally, the familiar face of Wales' most muscular female firefighter, Sarah Hallett, who placed 3rd, higher than any other British Trained Figure competitor.



She says she's gone through some "big life changes this year", but the package she brought to the Universe stage was just as hard and vascular as she always seems to be. Readers may be familiar with her work for Fit Vids, and I can assure you that if you do decide to put your hand in your pocket and fork out for the whole video set, you will be treated to some of the most insane vascularity you have ever seen. Highlights include the cameraman's audible gasp as Sarah flexes her abs, and a seemingly never-ending set of bicep curls that leaves her entire upper body covered in pumping cord-like veins. Seriously, buy it (he said, shamelessly angling for a free Fit Vids pass!!!)



Sarah's on Instagram


Congratulations to all the UK's NABBA Universe women, whether they've made it into the post or not. We'll be meeting one more on Friday, but in the meantime, enjoy!

FBBUK: Rene Goes Public (FMS Stays Private)

When was the last time female muscle fans were in the mainstream media?

As far as the UK is concerned, the last time I can recall was the rather infamous segment of Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends when the eponymous presenter meets a few at the Jan Tana, as well as Maria Calo and her (then?) husband.

Since then, Brian Eno has said he likes a muscular woman (see FMS passim), but I really can't remember another instance - and please to tell me if I'm wrong - where us fans of female bodybuilding have been given either airtime or column inches.

But a couple of weeks ago, FBB fans found themselves in the very mainstream UK magazine Closer as part of a story about the ever-beautiful Rene Campbell.



Strangers love my muscles and beg me to marry them! it reads on the front cover.

Inside, under the headline: Bodybuilding Mum: "Men think my muscles are sexy – strangers ask to marry me!", we learn that Bigorexic Rene Campbell says she gets more attention from men as a bodybuilder than when she was a petite size eight.

There's Rene, NUDE! And only her tastefully positioned legs and well-placed arm preventing that week's Closer from having to be displayed on the topmost shelf.

Her muscles, the story continues, have made her an unlikely sex symbol with thousands of men viewing her pictures online everyday. Well, OK. I, and I dare say you, dear reader, may have been guilty of a bit of that. But there's more...

Rene, 37, has had more than 10 marriage proposals from strangers and last Valentine's Day received several bouquets of flowers from secret admirers. "Men tell me I’m sexy and I’ve had marriage proposals from guys all over the world."

Really?

I've been writing this blog a while now, and as a result I've had the pleasure of contact with a number of fellow female muscle fans from both the UK and elsewhere. Now, I wouldn't say that all of them are exactly what you'd call "normal" (who among us is?) but they are most certainly not in the business of asking Rene Campbell - or any of their favourite female bodybuilders for that matter - to marry them.

So, who the hell are these guys, these poor souls who, without any hint of irony, write forum posts like 'If only Aleesha Young were single...'? Who are they and why do they get all the attention? Why isn't Closer writing about professional men in their late 30s, not at all the kind of timid, skinny live-with-mother types some would paint all female muscle fans as. They're moderately successful, they're property-owning, educated, eloquent guys who just happen to have a thing for muscular women...

Well, I have a confession to make.

I had the opportunity to talk to a journalist from Closer and I didn't take it.

Now, unlike the marry-me-Rene brigade, I am not deluded - well, not as deluded at least. I'm not saying it would have changed anything about the Rene story, nor that Closer would have been interested in what I have to say and published 'my' story instead or as well as Rene's. If I'd made out I was a proposal maker or bouquet sender then maybe - maybe - I'd have had a little quote in there somewhere.

In fact, I procrastinated for some time after I was contacted (not by the magazine, note, but by an intermediary), and let the moment pass. Now I somewhat regret that the opportunity to represent the silent majority of female muscle fans, to paint an alternative picture of us, has gone, but, though tempted, being the spokesperson for the entire female muscle lovin' brethren is not something I would want to be.



But anyway, about Rene.

Seems she's on a bit of a publicity mission. Not only has she got her name (and naked body, remember) in mainstream print, but she also made an appearance, in late November, on The X-Factor (about as mainstream and prime time a TV show as you are ever going to get) as part of a backing act for one of the performances.

And Rene has starred in a music video as well. I mean, really starred.

The Closer story then (new pictures of Rene and bonus clip of her working out all pumped up aside), not really worth the read. The X-Factor appearance (aside from Rene's own Facebook pictures of the day), not really worth bothering with.

But the music video, which was directed by Jack Newman for Bullion Productions, is definitely worth four minutes and twenty-four seconds of your time.

Oh, what a surprise - I recommended by far the least mainstream thing!

This is 6ft1swell, for FMS, staying well out of the limelight...

FBBUK: Exciting Times with Laura Madge

It seems to me, having done my research (of course), that there is a wave of new young British female muscle talent on the cusp of international success. Yesterday, for example, we highlighted the prodigious achievements of our 23-year-old Fitness champ Emma Paveley. Readers will already be familiar with the likes of Ria Ward and Hayley Brylewski, who have already competed in the US, and Georgina McConnell, who will surely be doing the same before long. And later in the week we will be meeting an emerging talent competing in the world of NABBA.

Exciting times.

Laura Madge is another of these emerging talents. As gorgeous and muscular as any of the women in this British new wave, it could be argued that Laura is, perhaps, our most exciting prospect of all, simply because she has, uniquely among her peers, already won an international amateur competition and achieved professional status.



Her win came in Las Vegas this August at the WBFF Worlds. Laura was crowned Diva Figure Model, achieving pro status in only her second year of competition.



True, the WBFF (World Beauty Fitness & Fashion Inc.) isn't exactly the IFBB, but all the same, she's now entitled to go sparkly bikini to sparkly bikini with some high calibre physiques. Emily Stirling, Anne-Marie Lassere and Louise van der Nat are all top WBFF Pro Figure competitors, as is Northern Ireland's finest, Leslie-Ann Armstrong, who became a pro after having finished runner-up to Laura in Las Vegas.

For Laura to have gone from winning her very first show as a Bodyfitness competitor - a regional UKBFF national qualifier - to winning her pro card in a touch over twelve months is impressive stuff. I am so proud of what I have achieved in a short space of time, says Laura. And FMS, at least, thinks she damn well should be.




Her success is no doubt partly down to the fact that from the age of 5 to the age of 23, when an injury ended her career, Laura was a gymnast. Her professional and personal alliance with her fiancé Scott Leeson, himself a successful WBFF Pro, and the man who has been her coach since the beginning of her muscle journey has also been crucial - and at this point I should warn fragile egos who are going to get depressed when they see the body of the man who snags a woman like Laura that Mr Leeson features prominently (and always shirtless) on her Facebook and Instagram.




Sport and training have always been a massive part of my life since such an early age, she says, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a lifestyle. And you wouldn't bet against Laura's relentless energy and competitive nature taking her to the very top of the WBFF very very soon. [I'm] Already so excited about competing at the WBFF Worlds Pro Figure next year, already working hard on my weaknesses.



So I guess this is where I have to admit that the aforementioned Mr Leeson is probably a better trainer than I could ever be, because when I look at Laura, I'm afraid I don't see any "weaknesses" at all. And by the way, he's also a photographer, so he gets to snap his soon-to-be missus in lingerie in their down time, don't you just hate him?!



And we leave you today with Laura's trailer for her work with FitVids.



Enjoy! And remember no fragile egos on her Facebook or Instagram!

FBBUK@ the IFBB World Fitness Championships 2014

It would be nice to be writing about a Brit who had represented her country in Bodybuilding at the IFBB World Fitness Championships in Montreal in October, but sadly, it being an IFBB event and all, there was no such division. It would also be nice to be writing about one of Britain's fabulous Physique goddesses - Ria Ward or Hayley Brylewski or Linda Gartside, for example - but, though there was a Physique class at the Championships, not a single British competitor entered.

However, there were five women who flew the flag for the UK at the Championships, and three of those finished in the top 6 in their classes. The mainstream media would never bother to report the achievements of these women, but it seems the UK bodybuilding media isn't that interested either. So if no one else is going to report British success in international bodybuilding competitions, FMS bloody well is!


KARINA SKOWRONSKA (Bikini)



It hasn't been a bad year for our most successful Bikini competitor at the Championships. In Montreal, Karina Skowronska added a 5th place finish in the "up to 166cm" Bikini class to her 4th place at the Arnold Classic Europe and her 2nd place finishes at the IFBB Europeans and IFBB Amateur Olympia.



The very un-British sounding name is a Polish one - she was a Polish Fitness champion multiple times before settling in the UK, where, aside from competing, she runs a business making custom posing suits, Karina Sparkle Bikini. All round, I reckon Karina provides a pretty good example of why the right-wing anti-immigration types prevalent in British politics right now have got it so very very wrong!




Why not let Karina know you're glad she's here via her Instagram or Facebook?


CAROLINE LAURA CAINE (Bodyfitness)



Formerly known as Caroline Laura Bell, last year Caroline got married to her trainer - how often does that happen?! There she is (above right) showing off in her wedding dress. Her best ever contest result followed at the 2013 UKBFF British championships (2nd), and this year she had already represented the UK at the Europeans in the "over 168cm" class (finishing 9th) before her 4th place at the Worlds.



You can follow "Caz" via Twitter or (much less regularly) her Facebook.


EMMA PAVELEY (Fitness)




23-year-old Emma Paveley was still competing as a junior last year, and her success in her first year at senior level has caused quite a stir among those in the know - which now includes YOU, dear reader! She has won bronze medals at European and now World level, and in November took the UKBFF Fitness title at her very first attempt. Top notch all round, says Flex Online. Paveley is a real prospect.




As an ex-gymnast, Emma has first rate flexibility and tumbling skills, so she's strong in the routine element of Fitness. But it's her muscles that are getting everyone so excited about what she might achieve in the sport. The goal for my physique is to be as conditioned as I possibly can, she says. And we say it's about time Kizzy Vaines, so long our sole IFBB Fitness pro, had a successor. Perhaps you are looking at her.



Follow the further adventures of Emma Paveley on Facebook and Instagram.

Enjoy!