I'm not sure how many Mexican readers we get here, but if you are from Mexico, specifically from Boca del Rio in the state of Veracruz, then in your forthcoming congressional election, I'd suggest you vote for the Ecologist Green Party.
Vote for Andrea Yunus Yunus.
About as far removed as it is possible to be from the kind of ladies who enter politics here in the UK (even those in our own Green Party). The LAD Bible headline - Meet the Female Bodybuilder Running for Parliament in Mexico - may be slightly misleading in its terminology, but Andrea is very much into building her body.
And not shy about showing off the results of her fitness regime, which she modestly describes as "little more than a healthy diet and exercise", whether her arms are glistening with sweat after a good workout, or meeting the people with some of her loyal supporters - one wonders how many have signed up to work on her campaign out of conviction for her cause, and how many out of pure muscle lust.
She has become something of a social media celebrity in Mexico, according to the article. Apparently, she's unusual for a politician there too! I will never hide who I am, she says. This is who I am, and if I get in I will keep being the same person.
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.
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?!
May'sPic of the Monthpoll turned out to be a two-lady race between Megan Elizabeth Colvin's body art, and the muscle pits of Britain's Rosie Harte.
Rosie, with 44% of the votes, came out the winner.
And so to our five June nominees.
Check them out, follow the link at the bottom, and vote with a single click.
SARAH FECHTER: MUSCLE BEAUTY
I've made no secret of my admiration for this gorgeous hunk of woman since she (belatedly) came to my attention earlier in the year (see FMS passim). Her latest (to be leaked to the forums, anyway) work with HD Physiques has done nothing to dampen my enthusiasm. Look how thick she is below the knee, the definition all over her mouth-watering midriff, those feel-me-up shoulders, and best of all those lick-this-way veins on her biceps... And on top of all that - the smile! Swooonarama!!!
ALINA POPA: NATURE'S MAJESTY
Taken, I believe, towards the end of May on the Manitou Incline in the Colorado Rockies, Alina may not yet be ready to come back and compete for the biggest titles, but there's no doubt she still adds outstanding (if not 100% "natural") beauty to any area she's in. Imagine going on a hike and being confronted with Alina in shorts, boots and sports bra on the trail! Don't know about you, but I reckon I'd float up that incline (albeit with my tongue hanging out and my eyes bulging out of their sockets) if I had Alina to follow - and if I'd already been up, I'd be only too happy to go up again.
She only started Crossfit "a few years ago", but one thing has led to another and now "Cait" is, as her Instagram moniker suggests, a Powerlifter and Bodybuilder (NPC Physique) as well as being a fitness coach. Through fitness I have found a whole new me, she says. The me that I was meant to be. Those boots and shorts were meant to be with those glutes and legs for sure. A picture old C. Moore would show to the jury?!
BRIE EUBANKS: GIFTED
Just when I thought her Brieness had consigned herself to the murkier parts of the female muscle world and I'd only ever see her now in blurry webcam and snapchat clips getting up to all sorts of naughtiness (with and without her hubby), she pops up on the forums with a reminder of just what a thoroughly gifted woman she is. For once, I'm not focusing on the muscles. I can't stop looking at it. It's just so long, so BIG!
SHANNON SEELEY: SHAPE OF A WOMAN
Having recently competed with distinction at the NPC Jr. USAs, Shannon is expected to turn pro at some stage later in the year. Meanwhile, her schmotography work (not to mention some of her topless cam treats that are appearing in those murky parts) have done plenty to bring her to front and centre of the collective female muscle lovin' consciousness. I could have chosen any of a number of classy shots of her (or indeed a still from one of those cam shows), but in the end, I found I had a very soft hard spot for this rather arty silhouette. Now that's what a woman is supposed to look like!
Our final lady of the week with a reason for a post-contest celebration is Britain's Ade Bishop, who was rewarded for making the unusual (for a Brit) move of competing at the Arnold Africa with an amateur win and brand spanking new IFBB Elite Pro status. Don't ask me the difference "Elite" makes, but it allowed Ade to compete with the Elite Physique pros the following day and actually earn some money for her 3rd place.
UK Physique competitor Anita Tryc started her fitness journey back in 2009. Despite having studied at the Academy of Sports Education in her native Poland, she admits she "went downhill". I smoked, and I used to drink too much, as students do, she says. It was after finally giving up cigarettes and gaining 20kg in a month that she decided to get back the fitness she had lost. I was size 16/18, quite a big girl, she remembers. I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror! (She doesn't seem to have that problem now...)
She began running again, and was soon looking to move to England. Beforehand though, a medical check-up revealed a tumour on one of her ovaries. It was borderline, she says. I was told that if it hadn't been found for few more months, it could have turned cancerous. I consider myself a very lucky human being.
Relocation to London complete, Anita set about changing her training as well - I wanted to have muscles and be stronger. Lifting at home progressed to lifting at the gym, and before long she began wondering whether one day she might be able to compete. I wanted to be like Dana Linn Bailey, she says, but when I told people I want to do Women’s Physique one day, they all said I would do OK in Bikini. And, it turns out, nothing could have been more motivating to hear than that. If someone tells me that I can't do something, she says. I will prove to them and myself that I CAN!
Hanging out at the 2016 UKBFF British Championships with her "sweet friend" Linda Gartside
And she did. Her first show was in 2015, a qualifier for the UKBFF where her runner's-up placing took her to the national championships. She's been at those British finals every year since, but last year Anita broke into the top 6 for the very first time.
UKBFF British Championships 2017, 6th place
2018 has seen a new approach from Anita though. A new coach - "much stricter than I am used to" - and a prep that has been harder than she has ever known. This is how the professionals do it, she says, and the results are mind blowing! I don't even recognise myself, my conditioning and posing. I have learnt so much, it's like being at school!
And the first sight we have had of this new, improved Anita was at the PCA contest held during the BodyPower Expo. This was her first ever non-UKBFF show, and also, as she lined-up in the Trained Figure class, the first time she'd ever been on stage in heels.
Anita didn't win the show, but there are ways to judge a performance other than by placing. I loved every minute and I couldn't be prouder, she said after seeing herself up there. My best condition ever, my best posing ever... I actually shocked myself!
Not surprisingly, she can't wait to do it again, but in the meantime, that beautiful smile will be staying put - I'm so blessed that I am able to wake up every single morning to work towards my dreams, she says. I'll be coming back and coming back better.
Emily Schubert competes at the NPC Pittsburgh Championships, winning both the Bodybuilding and Physique titles. Pics of her at the contest go up on NPC News Online, and within hours someone as dedicated/sad as I am has found them, downloaded them, and created a new thread for Emily on the forum whose first rule is...
A new star is born, he proclaims. WOW!
May 7th
The thread is added to. Another poster has found Emily's Instagram and plundered it for material. Emily, both in the final weeks of her prep for Pittsburgh and since, is quite the ripped and vascular freakshow. And she is not shy about showing it off.
May 12th
Agreed, writes a head who has found his way to the thread. A new star is born.
No one was waiting for his official stamp of approval. Since the thread had gone up, Emily and her ripped veiny body had become part of the female muscle lovin' consciousness. Upwards of 30 images of her went up on GwM in a day, and from there she was taken up by some of the (self-proclaimed) "hardcore" female muscle Tumblrs.
Those guys, they just reblog whatever each other has posted. Suddenly Emily and her veins-on-the-outside-is-the-new-veins-on-the-inside body is, as well as being pretty much all of the GwM "Recently Posted" section, in every one of their followers' feeds.
And meanwhile...
May 4th
Kate Hart graduates from Austin Peay State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. Onto the next chapter, she writes on her Instagram.
It's possible the pics were put up by someone who knows her, but in my head, it plays out something like this... an even more sad/dedicated female muscle head than I (or the dude who found Emily Schubert) is out there, scanning likely hashtags I imagine. Suddenly, there she was. After years of digging he'd finally hit 24-carat female muscle gold. The thud of his jaw hitting the floor must have been considerable.
May 10th
Why it took so long may be down to GwM's often lengthy validation process, or maybe he was simply too busy to get round to it, but 6 days after Kate moved on to the next chapter, her graduation image plus another 10 from her Instagram go up.
Now, on GwM, another section is called "Highest Score Today". Images "score" either by being favourited or given a +1 by users. A typical highly-rated image will have a score of somewhere between 60 and 100 in total. Over 200 is rare image indeed.
Kate currently has three images on her GwM page with a higher rating than that, including the mortarboard double biceps above which was posted just two days ago now. Jaws are thudding to the floor all over the female muscle lovin' world.
May 17th (today)
Both Emily and Kate were unknown just over two weeks ago. By, in Emily's case competing and Kate's graduating, they have entered the collective female muscle lovin' consciousness. Instagram followings are swelling, and - from bitter experience - the attention of the collective "we" is not always a pleasant thing to deal with.
