MUSCLE! @Omaha Pro 2018

Before we get on to the rest of the muscle up on the stage in Omaha (for the Physique dreams at the show see Tuesday's post), let's stop by the Wings of Strength booth...



The Queen herself, Theresa, Kristina Nicole Mendoza, and (as far as I know) for the first time at one of these events, Pauline Nelson, as well as Boss Lady Lenda Murray. You don't have to search very hard to find pictures of fans (male and female) with these magnificent women, and nor do you have to search very hard to find one of more of them cosying up to women from the Physique division either.



Margie had already publicly suggested Valentina Mishina try the more muscular division during the Toronto show, and the charm offensive apparently continued here as well, with Lenda adding her own powers of persuasion. I will think about Female Bodybuilding, Valentina wrote on her Instagram. Maybe I will try the division. (Qualified) Good news! But don't pop your champagne cork just yet. This was, you may recall, Valentina's 7th show of the season, so "not this year" was her ultimate verdict.



There was, however, one new recruit in the Omaha line-up - Canadian beauty Amanda Smith made her FBBing debut, a week after competing in Physique in Toronto.

Looking suitably Amazonian, she explained her reasons to Hayley Delf...



I wonder whether there is an active policy among the WoS posse to woo more muscular Physique women into their cabal. It would be understandable - the future of pro Female Bodybuilding has got to come from somewhere, this year (and last) the line-ups haven't exactly been overflowing with entrants. It's pretty irrelevant whether it is in fact a concerted effort to bring more Physique women into the WoS fold, or whether it's just a combination of Margie, Lenda et al being so damn nice, the size of the prize money available in Female Bodybuilding these days, and IFBB Physqiue judges being so anti-muscle. Either way, it is at the very least getting some great Physique competitors thinking about having a slice of the Wings of Strength pie.



5th place Amanda sounds as though she's here to stay anyway. The comradery [sic] amongst these ladies is indescribable, she wrote afterwards. It’s like a family. And I’ve received a lot of positive feedback from people (which no doubt made a nice change given the kind of feedback she got in Toronto!). I think I’ve found where I belong.



So do we, Amanda. So do we.



A special mention should also go to Amy Hauck. Well over 50 now, Amy won her only previous pro outing in Pittsburgh last year, a Masters class with women up to 15 years her junior in it. This was, therefore, her first non-Masters pro appearance.



As well as going to "new" FBB Amanda for her 5th place, Rising Phoenix qualification points were bagged by Angela Rayburn (4th), LaDawn McDay (3rd), and Canadian beefcake Maria Mikola, who was, as in Toronto the previous week, runner-up.

And the winner...




In sexy "Jessica Rabbit red", Isabelle Turell.



Also seen during the weekend in blue for Dan Ray, bunny ears (just for herself, I think), and in purple for Awefilms - previews of which are available on their Instagram and (if not already seen) will make you glad you bothered taking the time to check.



She also wore the red for Wings of Strength, and was gushing in her praise.

Earlier in the year I was given a great opportunity to be an Ambassador for Wings of Strength. This was a huge honor for me as Bodybuilding is something I love and I love to meet fans and entertain them. I get to go around to shows and events spreading the word of Bodybuilding and meeting the awesome fans. Along with my fellow iron sisters it has been a very rewarding experience and journey. The people behind Wings of Strength - Jake Wood, Alexandra Bandida, Alina Popa - were very understanding with my contest prep, and really accommodated me around it and made a lot of things possible. I honestly could not have accomplished what I did in Omaha if it wasn't for Wings of Strength. They believed in me from day 1 and gave me the tools I needed to help me pave the way for my journey. I will be forever grateful.



With reviews like that, who wouldn't want to compete for them?!

Enjoy!

Glootz etc. @2017 IFBB Ferrigno Legacy Pro

You f***ing c***,

I read your little post. I know you've read my notebooks. Bad enough you stole them, then you go ahead and publish some. A f***ing thief and a f***ing plagiariser too.

You owe me now, and if you don't want me to f***ing slaughter you with a blunt sword what you're going to do is this: forget the Nationals, they are mine. You write about the Ferrigno Legacy or another show if they insist on another contest report.

Got that? Hickerson is MINE!

And be out of there before I get back or I will set fire to you right there in the office.

Swell, as you can tell, was not amused by C. Moore's liberal use of his musings for Thursday's Incomprehension post. He might have dug the rest, he didn't say. The email arrived this morning. He attached a couple of clips of dudes self-immolating. Editorial thought it best not to share them with the readership. For once, me and the eds agree.

We also agreed that it was perhaps best if the Nationals report I had been working so hard on never made it to post and instead I should (hastily) put together a celebration of the Physique ladies who took part in the Ferrigno Legacy Pro last weekend.

It's been a pleasure.



Though not without its frustrations.

Brazilians Ivie Rhein (above left), who finished 6th, and Ana Da Silva, who placed 10th, are clearly women whose glooteal conditioning we would like to investigate, partly because of the conditioning evident in what we can see, and partly because all Brazilian glootz have to be investigated - it's like a law. However, and here's the frustration, there's not one image we can find of them at the contest with their (no doubt) mouth-watering muscle bumbums properly in shot. Not one. It's a crime.

And generally, back shots from the show are in short supply.

I wonder if Swell knew that before he suggested I write about it.



Anyway, the day's big winner was the now-2018-Olympia-qualified Priscila Cavilha, another Brazilian, and fortunately the schmotographer on duty for NPC News Online, Ron Avidan, managed to capture her bumbum in at least some of its sexy glory.

Valentina Mishina of Russia placed 2nd, despite, Mr Avidan would have us think, the unprecedented tactic of never once hitting a back shot. Antoinette Downie, who was 3rd, went out of her way to ensure her glootz got at least some coverage.



Whenever I see a woman display such incredible power and athleticism in a routine I hear the voice of Tony Roberts (RIP) in Annie Hall - "Imagine the possibilities..."




C. Moore's joy trumpet's pick of the top 6 though would have to be the muscle sexy beauty of Melissa Pearo, who thankfully didn't hit her back poses while Mr Ron was changing the film in his camera, and who also looks pretty damn good from the front too. Lower abs veins that disappear into nether regions and most muscular poses are pretty high on the except-things-about-glootz list of C. Moore's favourite things.



Just outside the top 6 on the day, but runner-up in C. Moore's reaction rankings is Amanda Smith, who I believe was making her pro debut (that's what the minions tell me anyway). Whatever. WOW! Minions also say she's fast-becoming a forum favourite over at the place where men pretend to be women in the chat room. Again, whatever.



I'm too busy enjoying looking at her to care about such things. The fact she is an instant and firm favourite in C. Moore's house is all you really need to know.



C. Moore's #1 though was placed all the way down in 11th - Trish Wood, something of a veteran competitor in the shape of her life (is what they say). Compare the water retention she had two weeks ago and the lack of it here courtesy of Trish herself, who posted this comparison to her Instagram after the show. She was rightly proud of her glootage, it seems, which just goes to make her all the sexier in my book.



11th on the day. The winner with me.

"Full" galleries here.

Oh Canada! Amanda J. Smith

With posts devoted to the freaky Laura Carolan and the size of Robin Hillis in the last week or so, both of them inspired by these ladies' appearances at the Toronto Pro, one way or another Canada has been on our minds a fair bit recently.

The USA excepted, no other country has provided female muscle lovers with nearly as much joy as Canada has over the years - and we will see just how much on Thursday - so we reckoned a week spent in the company of some the country's finest contemporary female muscle would be a week that was well spent.



In the Provincial Championships we were impressed with several physique athletes... Amanda Smith looked to almost have a pro level physique already which might have been a bit too much at the provincial level.
Gene X. Hwang, Toronto Pro Supershow contest report



As FMS impatiently scrolled through Gene X's extensive gallery of these amateur Physique ladies at the Ontario Provincials in search of images of the IFBB pro female bodybuilders, we were impressed with Amanda as well. Very impressed.




Amanda didn't win the Overall title but neither did her physique - as Gene X had feared in his report - prove "too much" for the provincial judges. In fact, she won her class, the tallest of the three Physique categories, which I believe means that she has qualified for the Canadian Nationals and a shot at a pro card later in the year.



27 years old and an Amazonian 5'9", Amanda had originally joined a gym in order to get in shape for her first marathon. One thing led to another, she says, and I found myself in the weight room and was immediately hooked.



Since then, it's been a case of constant growth, and, judging by this recent Instagram post, in the last couple of years, Amanda's growth has been spectacular. On the left, as she was in June 2014, and on the right, in Toronto exactly two years later.



As I reflect on these past two years, I surprise myself with the progress I've made, she says. It wasn't a perfect two years of training. I knew I wanted to improve my physique but I also knew I needed to change my mindset at the same time. Last year a new coach - the same coach as Laura Carolan - provided the impetus she had been looking for. Knowing the progress I've made with his guidance in only 13 months, I can't imagine what's to come as this journey continues.



I think Amanda looked absolutely glorious on the stage in Toronto, big and freaky and gorgeous and feminine all at the same time. Gene X was impressed enough to immediately do a photoshoot with her after the show, and all of a sudden she seems to have caught the attention of the female muscle lovin' world in general. I for one have been spending more time than is probably good for me immersing myself in Amanda's even freakier pre-contest posts on her Instagram. I'm smitten. You will be too.



Yet another exciting muscle goddess emerging from Canada to kick off - face-off perhaps we should say, she was once an ice-hockey goalie - our week. Amanda is currently just over 8 weeks out from her Canadian Nationals debut. Exciting times.



Enjoy!