Mrs Swell's Easter Surprise: Ivie's Reign

Say oi to Ivie Rhein, the latest in the long line of Brazilian wonders to have had my jaw heading for the floor. Originally from São Paulo, Ivie (it's pronounced "ivi", not "ivy") has been living in the US for the last couple of years, and has now competed five times in NPC shows, most recently at the Steve Stone Metropolitan (above and below).




And she's won all of them.



Ivie reigns in 2016 at the NPC Orlando Europa (top left); NPC Dayana Cadeau Classic (top right);
& the NPC All South Championship (bottom left); plus the NPC Karina Nascimento Classic in 2017

Not surprisingly, we learn that all these first places might mean that she can get her pro card, and I for one don't see why that shouldn't be. She's got the pro body already!



Now if this is going to me the new M.O. for South Americans - move to the US, win everything in sight, join the pros - then if I were an NPC Physique competitor, I would be seriously worried and probably praying that wall gets built quick snap.



Better make it a strong wall though.



Here's Ivie interviewed by Carolina Araujo for NPC News Online after her fifth win, clutching both the Open and 35+ winner's trophies. Velvet of voice, killer smile, that delicious accent, stunning beauty, golden tanned muscle all over the place...

Prepared to be Rheined!



Divertir-se!

Mrs Swell's Easter Surprise: Because She Can

OK, so Mrs Swell has surprised me by booking a two-week break to the sunshine. Love her to bits, though she can at times mistake the fact that I am self-employed for being able to take time off whenever I want. Anyway, I shall be busy buying her some new outfits for the beach before we go, and then we're away, so posts may be a bit thin, or lack the usual diligence for the next couple of weeks. But don't blame the lady.



Thoughts of the beach led me to Claudia Bonavoglia showing it off. Don't think I've posted these particular pics of her before, but I may be wrong. Anyway, here's Claudia, not letting the fact that she is in a chair stop her from giving her sizzling Brazilian body a quick workout. Or, as one forum wag put it, Why sit when I can train triceps and abs? It's a nice dream to think I'll get to feast my eyes on a sight like this while away...



Enjoy!

Arnold Classic 2017: Duas Campeãs Brasileiras

PRISCILA CAVILHA
2017 Arnold Amateur Physique Overall




Priscila, a physiotherapist from Curitiba, won her (short, up to 163cm) class at the Arnold Amateur in Barcelona towards the end of last year. Here she went one better, defeating former bodybuilder Lenka Ferenčuková in the Overall posedown.



She makes some "interesting" choices in gymwear, has those thunder boom legs, and takes a whole lotta elevator selfies. In short, all the things we love about Brazilian muscle women can be found on Priscila's Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.




DANIELY CASTILHO
2017 Ms Physique International



Now I very much doubt too many commentators saw this coming. Ahead of last year's winner Autumn Swansen, Heather Grace (3rd at the Physique Olympia), and the other 27 names on the scorecard, it was the Brazil's Daniely Castilho who came from seemingly nowhere to get decision over Sheronica Henton by a single point.



She only entered her first show in her home state of Amazonas in July 2015, less than two years ago. A month later she won champion of Brazil, and that November arrived in Budapest to take the IFBB Worlds. "The biggest dark horse of these Championships," the IFBB reporter called her. He should dust off his article and print it again after Ohio.



Daniely did have a bit of pro form from 2016, although 5th place at the Puerto Rico Pro hardly suggested she would be Ms Physique International in less than a year. Unless, of course, you'd been closely following Daniely's preparations for Columbus on her Instagram, in which case she wouldn't have seemed such a dark horse after all.



With Juliana Malacarne the Olympia champion for the third time in 2016, this means Brazilian women hold both major IFBB pro Physique titles right now.



And there is one more Brazilian Physique pro to reckon with now...

When Just Enough Is (Almost) Too Much

Endless fascinating is the muscular female body, and for me, never more so than around contest time. All those muscles revealed in all their glory. She is, as they say, shredded. None of her (natural) female fat to hide them, all of her (unnaturally developed) physique on display. Or, as is the case today, just enough of it.

Enough to get my (highly developed) female muscle imagination working overtime anyway. It's amazing how by revealing so little, she can suggest so much.

Susan Graham (left) before the Europa Phoenix last year. That never-ending vein on her arm! Those legs!!! And yes, they looked every bit as good as advertised once she had the tan and oil applied - see here. On the right, "I have a distinct impression that she is not one to miss leg days at the gym", writes a forum member. "She" is Ana Claudia Libâneo (aka this week's compulsory Brazilian) and I seriously doubt she's ever missed a leg day in her life. The beauty of the picture (and her physique) is that when you've finished ogling the truly incredible separation in her quads, you notice her "boulder" (as they say) shoulders are (almost) as insanely developed.



Loads more freakery on Ana's Instagram.

More of what Swell loves tomorrow. Enjoy!

Compulsory Brazilian

Every week I tell myself, no Brazilians. No "Wellness" or bumbum girls. You can do one week without a musa fitness. Come on! Be strong! You can do it. You don't need them.

But most weeks it turns out I do.



Franciely "Fran" Petersen. Rio de Janeiro. Instagram.

Maybe next week. Sigh.

Thunder! Juliana Mota

I know I know... this pose belongs to @bakharnabieva but I love her, so I do it too.



And I know I know, I kind of promised you at the start of the week that there wouldn't be any Brazilians, but in my defence Juliana Mota does currently reside in Paris, and, you know, surely any woman who recreates the "Bakhar pose" with such gusto - not to mention all the appropriate assets - has got to be worth a closer look, hasn't she?



You'll see my picture and will think: 'it is impossible for me', Juliana says.



Gosh! She's modest, isn't she? Oh, wait, she hasn't finished... You'll see my picture and will think: 'it is impossible for me, I cannot afford to be like that'. That's what most people do with themselves, self-sabotage. In a certain period of my life, I also saw these beautiful women with shapely bodies, and thought it would almost be impossible for me. But in my case it was only 'almost', I never gave up, even when my goal seemed very far away, and what you see is the result of years of training.



Given Juliana is only 22, she must have started young.



And unlike the majority of women we've featured this week, she's not averse to the idea of competing. Far from it, in fact. Last year, before she had relocated to Paris, she competed in the "Wellness" category at a show in Brazil. And loved it. It was so magical, everything turned out so perfectly, she says. I long for the stage, the smell of the oil, even the completely regimented routine, counting up the minutes of sleep. I even miss the hunger that was my most faithful companion! I felt so free on stage, everything went just the way it was meant to. It didn't look like it was my first time. It's a huge motivation to achieve even better shape, and I will. I can hardly wait!



Perhaps this means we'll be seeing a contest ready Juliana in 2017?

I can hardly wait.

Thunder!

Back in 2015, when there was still hope, although she had said she was going to quit competing as a bodybuilder, that Georgina McConnell would continue to train, she posted snaps of herself that emphasised her growing thighs. Her new goal, she said at the time, was the "Brazilian look" - huge thighs, huge bumbum, and a toned, not especially muscular, proportionately much smaller, upper body. Rather than trying to achieve a balanced physique, she was now looking for an imbalanced one.



My perception is that it's a look that has come out of Brazil, or probably more accurately South America in general, and become more and more popular. One or two Brazilians may creep into today's post, but almost all the women with thighs of thunder and, er, bumbums of boom(!) that we feature this week are from elsewhere.



According to Feminiqe, there are reasons beyond thousands more male Instagram followers for women to build their quads and glutes to such bodacious proportions. They include a lower risk of heart disease and arthritic knees in old age, a stronger core, more stamina... on the dance floor, and, er, better protection from their phone falling into the toilet (due to the lack of thigh gap, you see). Really.



Thunder thighs all week on FMS. Itty bitty waists too.



Enjoy!