Woman of the Week: FBBUK: Emily Brand

She's my current dream girl, my internet female muscle head friend tells me - he has a bit of a penchant for the younger ladies, you see. Her transformation pics are hot af!


Relax, Emily's 20 now

To be honest, I'd never heard of Lincolnshire's Emily Brand before my friend told me about her - me having a bit of a penchant for the more mature muscle ladies, you see. And, quite honestly too, I found her transformation pics more upsetting than "hot af", because her story begins with an anorexic teenager. Her weight: 5st 3lbs (just 33kg).



At 14, Emily spent a year as a child mental health in patient. The doctors tried to put me on a feeding tube, she says. I ripped it straight out. Then they tried to get me to drink these high calorie shakes and I would just sneak out of bed and tip them out the window. Though she did get well enough to return home, she soon relapsed, and at 17 she was readmitted. This time though some tough love helped her turn herself around. When you go into the unit you're not allowed weekend home visits until you've got to a certain weight, she explains. In the end, I ate my way out. I just did what I had to do to get home. I still hadn't completely overcome the psychological side of my anorexia but I was more determined to get better and I joined the gym.



It wasn't an instant cure by any means - to begin with, and despite the fact Emily plucked up the courage to enter some Bikini shows - she was, in her own words, "still trying to function on way too few calories". It was only when she met her current coach, Rob Reinaldo, that Emily truly began to overcome her illness. And he did it with a little more tough love. He said he would train me and get me into bodybuilding but he really put his foot down when it came to my eating, recalls Emily.



A year on, and she has gained 3st (almost 20kg!) of muscle - and it shows!



As a result, she's moved up a division or two in her competitive outings. Athletic Figure (or equivalent) is I believe where you will find Emily now. And the chances are she's competed at a PCA or WABBA show near you in 2018. She'd done seven by mid-August, according to the Mail Online, and "has consistently placed in the top four and been crowned champion three times". Since then, she's competed - and won - at least once more, and with the PCA British Finals not happening till October, I wouldn't be surprised if Emily got tanned and oiled for another two or three shows this year!


To the victor... (pick 'n' mix out of the trophy!)

I can't believe how much my life has changed, says Emily. It's amazing to think I was in a wheelchair just three years ago. People say that weightlifting hurts but what I put my body through with my anorexia was so painful that weightlifting is nothing...



I really love it, and I'm loving life.



Follow Emily on Instagram. Her story was first reported by Unilad, then picked up by the Mail, and also featured in The Sun. And if you do have a moment spare, perhaps a letter to your local MP, or whoever is in charge of the Department of Health in your government right now, asking them to read Emily's (or another FBB's) story and get weight training on the list of recommended treatments for anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders. It will probably fall on deaf ears, but if you don't try...



Enjoy!

PCA TV

With over 20 shows this year alone in the UK, the Physical Culture Association can rightly claim to be "the largest bodybuilding and fitness organisation in the UK".



Last year, UK Bodyfitness swoon Danielle Osborn - a class winner at the Arnold Classic Europe - tried her luck in the Athletic Figure class at a PCA show after not doing so well at the UKBFF British Championships. She won - and got to flex her lovely muscles while doing so. A really incredible experience, she said afterwards.

On the forums, fans were starting to appreciate the PCA's female classes - everything from Wellness and traditional Bikini to Trained Figure (like NABBA, but flexing in thongs and heels), with classes like Athletic Figure and Trained Bikini (basically like trad Bikini - in heels - but ripped, and in thongs!) adding to the curiosity value.

"Shame the videos are such low quality," lamented one fan.

Well, the PCA have fixed that this year.

Their YouTube channel, PCA TV, seems to have no lesser ambition than to bring you every routine from single British show in 2018. There are, I make it, 60 female routines across 8 classes in glorious HD from the early April PCA Saxon Classic alone.

Trained Figure winner there - and also later on in April at the PCA Scottish Championships - was Karen Gibson, also a NABBA Trained Figure athlete.

Here's her Saxon Classic winning routine.



Currently being put up are routines from (what I believe is) the biggest PCA show of the year so far, the PCA UK East Coast, which was held in Hull at the very end of April.

And there in the Trained Figure class another name (and body) familiar to regular FMS readers - Fay Ellis (aka Fay Simone), another woman who has found a home in the PCA after not really getting on with the UKBFF (in her case as a Physique competitor).



I'm not sure if Fay won - one thing the PCA still aren't very good at is getting their results out quick. However, I'm confident they'll fix this failing before too long.

They've certainly done a terrific job of fixing the quality of their clips!

Explore the PCA YouTube channel here.

And you can follow Danielle Osborn, Karen Gibson, and Fay Ellis on Instagram.

Enjoy!

A Different Universe

C. Moore should have read the fine print.

Contest reports were not part of my 28-day plan, but turns out I am contractually obliged to give my learned opinion on two of the shows of the season, and possibly more, which can be added "at the discretion of the editorial team", or so it says.

So, Birmingham. Saturday 28th October.

C. Moore was nowhere near it. Master of disguise though I am, NABBA's not a federation I wish to cross again, but help was at hand in the form of a live feed courtesy of NAPA. And 'twas very much a marathon not a sprint. Hours and hours of action - C. Moore had to stay up way past his bedtime, although sadly the vast majority of classes were male-based. Nevertheless, these days there are not two but three female classes - Athletic, Toned and Trained Figure - the Universe having given up on the "Physique" class seven years ago now (though you can still see really big girls in thongs at the NABBA Worlds). Plus there is a "Pro Figure" class as well, where champions past and other more notable names line up. This relatively new development within the original amateur federation has arguably led to a thinning out of quality in the amateur class, but on the flip side of that it has also allowed newer stars, younger women, to emerge.

Anyway, judging was early doors - the women were on from 10.00am till about 11.15am in the order of Toned, then Athletic, then Trained. I thought watching the Toned and Athletic back to back would give me some handle on the distinction between the two, but in fact the opposite was true. Seems to be a fair bit of switching between the two classes by the competitors as well, and this being NABBA, often women who turn up expecting to compete in one class are ordered to compete in another, blurring the lines even more. Still, there were a lot of very sexy bums in very tiny thongs on show. C. Moore found it more than a little difficult to pace himself.

C. Moore had had himself a good old nap after lunch, before the "Show" portion of the contest - routines, awards, pictures etc. - started up at 6.30pm. This time the Trained ladies were up first, then some men before the Athletic ladies took to the stage. Then were two more lots of men before the Toned ladies, with Pro Figure much later, the penultimate class on the bill. I liked the breaks between the ladies' classes - the chances to refuel were very welcome as the day wore on. The many bodacious bums, the vast majority in NABBA-style thongs, proved - as is usually the case - somewhat draining.

And so, to my picks of the show.

ATHLETIC FIGURE

Winner: Lee Tae Hee (South Korea)



C. Moore's Best of the Rest: Samantha Horne (UK)



Top bum for me. Check out 0.20 and 0.40 for why, and abs rolling is never a bad thing. She came to the show as the reigning NABBA England champion, having previously competed at first in Miami Pro and Ms Galaxy contests, and also this year in the PCA. Sam (as she likes to be called) started weight training at the age of 15 after being bullied at school. Would like to see what those tossers look like now and make collages of their (no doubt) disgustingly fatty bods compared to Sam's sleek, muscular sex appeal.

She should have had "How Do You Like Me Now?" for her routine.



TONED FIGURE

Winner: Natasha Novak (UK)





C. Moore's Best of the Rest: Jo Eun Na (South Korea)

Not an easy pick this one - there was more glootastic talent in this class than I remember from previous shows. Brits Charley Alexander and Stephanie Smith got C. Moore's joy trumpet standing very much to attention, and not only them. But Jo Eun Na not only gave the audience a treat with her bottom-heavy muscular Asian body, but also delivered probably the most memorable routine in the whole show.

Altogether now... HEEEEEEEEEEEEY SEXY LADY!



TRAINED FIGURE

Winner: Gemma Lancaster (UK)



Aka "The She Beast". Nice!

In 2017 Gemma has been crowned Ms NABBA England, Ms NABBA Universe - the second consecutive year a Brit has won - and, as a result of her win, she got to compete with the Pros. What an emotional and overwhelming day! she said afterwards.



C. Moore's Best of the Rest: Lydia Gerrard (UK)



By her own admission, Lydia needs to work on the "noodle arms" (her words, just to be clear). Fantastic glooteal definition though, and I think you will agree that her routine showed off her strengths very nicely and bagged her 3rd place. Lydia also seems to be the kind of woman you could have a lot of fun in a hotel with. Or anywhere really.



MISS FIGURE PRO DIVISION

Winner: Flora Conte (Italy)



With perennial NABBA Pro winner Daria Diossi sitting this one out, there was little real competition for the grande dame of NABBA Trained Figure. A two-time winner of the amateur version of the Ms Universe title (2010 and 2013), Flora has also been runner-up on more than one occasion. This is her first NABBA pro title of any sort.



C. Moore's Best of the Rest: Carol Bittencourt (Brazil)



With apologies to Lindsey Angel, whose bum work was exemplary, C. Moore has to go with the tanned, rippling Brazilian for the climax to his reluctant contest report.



Review all the routines at your leisure on the NABBA YouTube channel.

FBBUK: Danielle Osborn

We have a new champion.

In the Amateur contest at the Arnold Europe recently, rising British Bodyfitness star Danielle "Dani" Osborn won her "up to 168cm" class, and though following in the footsteps of Carly Thornton ("short" Physique, 2015) and Emma Paveley ("short" Fitness, 2016), she's the very first British Bodyfitness athlete to be a class winner there.



Congratulations Danielle!

We can't, sadly, say we know a whole lot about our new champ, but we do know that she hails from the north-east, the Middlesborough area (Wendy McCready country!) and while details of exactly which shows she has done is sketchy, particularly her early shows, we can say that ever since her career started - either in 2014 or 2015, depending on where you get your information - she's been a serial winner.



After just six months of training, Dani started competing in NABBA "Athletic Figure" (don't ask, just look!), and won British Classic title in 2014 - her very first show.



2015 saw her add the NABBA Ms Athletic title to her nascent collection, and then in 2016 she has switched to the UKBFF and Bodyfitness. One show she didn't win was in Leicester late that year, but she did finish high enough to qualify her for international competitions in 2017 so looking back now, her 3rd place there was somewhat crucial.



And the next time she pops up is in UK muscle scribe John Plummer's report from the North-east Championships in August. It seems Dani made quite an impression.

Bodyfitness champion Danielle Osborn was the day's standout female athlete, he wrote on the UKBFF's Facebook page. Her classy shape and condition immediately caught the eye in the front poses and she looked equally polished in the side and rear poses, where her back, glutes and calves were all spot on. Lots of people were talking about Osborn and she definitely looks like a British finals contender.



Turned out she was much more besides.

Quite honestly I have no idea if she'll be competing at the UKBFF British Championships this weekend, competitor lists being somewhat hard to come by and all. But I do know this. British Bodyfitness has been threatening to give us a worthy successor to Louise Rogers and Maria Scotland for some time, but never quite delivered. Danielle seems to have the coach, the genetics, and the class to succeed where others have almost succeeded. Trust FMS to be following her in future as closely as the information that floats out of the UKBFF from time to time allows.



And you can follow Danielle on Instagram.