10 Years at the Arnold Classic: 2015

AT LAST!



Two long years after its debut at the Olympia, Physique made its first appearance at the Arnolds as a pro event. There were 11 competitors, a rather modest number compared to the line-ups since, and despite its Physique "International" title, not a very cosmopolitan one. 8 of the women represented the US (7 if you count Karina Nascimento as Brazilian), plus there was one Canadian, one Brazilian (or two if you count Karina), and just one woman from Europe - Germany's Nathalie Falk.



Judging confirmed the 2014 Olympia result, placing Juliana Malacarne above the 2013 Olympia winner Dana Linn Bailey. Their paths took very different directions when it was over. Juliana - who, lest we forget, had been a middling Figure pro who had never finished higher than 12th at the Arnold Classic before - hasn't competed there since, and remains unbeaten at the Olympia. Dana Linn hasn't competed since at all.




I honestly have no recollection of being at all excited that this was happening. No recollection of searching out images of the show, nor even of wanting to know the result. But as an advertisement for the division, it could hardly have been better. For one thing, I don't think Dana Linn ever looked this good, and despite, or perhaps because of the relatively small field, it was a contest high on quality throughout.




Flexing and not wearing heels was back at the Arnold Classic.

STARS OF TOMORROW



Latorya Watts - who would win this title and the Figure Olympia in 2016 - and Cydney Gillon - 2017 Ms Figure Olympia - both made their Arnold debuts in 2015.



And meanwhile over at the amateur show, a very young-looking Sandra Grajales Romero was winning the shortest Figure class although not the Overall title.



And in the Physique division, Brazilians Priscila Cavilha (3rd, short class) and Marjorie Beck (5th, tall) served notice of their future IFBB pro potential.

BRITISH INTEREST?



As we now know, Emma Paveley would go on to fill the considerable void left by the end of Kizzy Vaines' pro career and represent Britain at the Olympia. Here - not for the first time, she had done well at the previous Arnold Classic Europe - she hinted at that potential, marking her first appearance in Columbus with a short class silver.



And we find another future British pro in the up to 170cm Bikini class. Karina Skowronska didn't progress through the amateur ranks as effortlessly as Emma, and has found life as an IFBB Bikini pro even tougher. Here she placed 11th in her class, but better times lay ahead, and by autumn 2016 she would be making her pro debut.



Elsewhere in the packed (really - just under 200 competitors) Bikini classes, Joanna Wolosz (left) placed 14th in the up to 167cm class, but the British Bikini day was had by the very gorgeous Luciana Del Giudice - 4th in the tallest of all the classes.



Not such a big year for Britain in the Physique division, just Claire McGee to report (and it's about time, I don't think we've ever seen her before on FMS). Claire was placed a lowly 18th in the taller class, but I reckon she deserved better - LEGZZZZ!

4 MORE HOT AND HARD 100 VOTING DAYS LEFT...

Details here

Sweat. Sweet! (The Smell of Female)

Question: What's the sexiest smell ever?

Answer: The smell of my wife.



Chances are your answer, dear reader, was both different and the same. There's a fair chance your sexiest smell is that of your partner - or if you don't have one right now, that of an ex-partner (apologies if this brings up any painful pangs of longing).



Ever fancied someone only to be turned off by their smell when you got intimate?

I know I have. Many years ago I pursued a woman across half of Italy only to be nothing short of disgusted by her smell when I finally got close enough to really know it. And there's a very good chance you've had a similar experience. Some people - no matter how attractive they might be in other ways - smell just plain "wrong".



There is science to this. Apparently, we are attracted to those whose genetic make-up is most different to our own. Kind of makes sense if you think about it - you wouldn't want your sister's sweaty T-shirt to turn you on now, would you? Or, to put it another, less uncomfortable way, big genetic differences produce the healthiest offspring.



Attraction, or otherwise, for us men is most significantly a response to the female pheromone "androstenol", which is (like the male equivalent androstenone) a subtle, virtually undetectable scent in the normal course of things, even more so because Western culture places so much emphasis on hygiene. Washing off or masking those sexually-charged pheromones might make you more pleasant to sit next to on a hot day on the bus, but it does significantly mute their innate power to attract.



So it's no surprise that when scientists want to discover which scents attract and disgust us, it's to the gym they go to ask for the use of our sweaty workout gear. "Sweaty T-shirt" science is what it is known as, I kid you not. We may not be able to actually "smell" those pheromones, but we sure can sense them when they're there.



So I guess my answer to our original question should not be "the smell of my wife" but "the smell of my wife when she's covered in sweat". And while I might love looking at all these wonderful muscular women, their bodies - especially their abs - all glistening and sweaty, the chances are I wouldn't actually like the smell of many (if any!) of them at all. But that's OK, because I just imagine they all smell as good as my wife does!



And we finish our week of sweet sweet sweat with this HerMuscles Hall of Famer. Her name escapes me, but her sweat can't escape the sexy ridges of her abs, gathering in shiny little pools that seem to cry out "Drink me! Drink me!". Or something...

Enjoy!

Many many thanks to everyone who has sent (scent?!) in their favourite sweat-soaked pictures. We'll be putting them all together into one pheromone-tastic post in the very near future. So, er, make sure you keep those airways clear!

Not too late to send in more: 6ft1swell@gmail.com

"My Olympia": Contributions Wanted!

I'd LOVE to be able to say that I spent much of the Olympia weekend glued to the Bodybuilding.com webcast, enjoying uninterrupted coverage of the finest female bodies on the planet for hours and hours on end.

And I'd LOVE to be able to say I watched it all with my wife beside me. She wet herself laughing at the physique MEN with their funny Bermuda shorts (is male physique just bodybuilding for leg day skippers or what?), but she had wet herself in a very different way by the time Juliana Malacarne performed her Saturday evening routine.



And I'd LOVE to be able to say that when all the physique routines were over, and we'd put some of our clothes back on, she turned to me and told me that while she could never imagine getting as big as the women we'd watched together on Friday (and she had enjoyed how turned on I'd been by them, by the way, LOVED it), Juliana, Dana Linn, Tycie et al had impressed her so much that she wanted to build a physique competitor's body, "though I may have to start out by competing in figure".



Well, my Olympia weekend didn't quite pan out like that. Saturday was my favourite uncle's 70th birthday, celebrated with a big family lunch near his home. I wouldn't have missed it for the world, but the eight-hour round trip to get there and back in a day made it impossible for me to see more than twenty minutes of the show live.



This was on Saturday morning (so Friday evening in Vegas), when I got up a tad earlier than was absolutely necessary in order to surreptitiously catch some of the precious live stream while the wife was still slumbering. What I saw was the fitness competitors getting their awards (which was fine, though it wouldn't have been my FIRST choice) - sound off, of course - and then, with the big girls imminent... the wife's alarm goes off.

By the time we got back from my uncle's - and don't get me wrong, a smashing time was had by all - it was late, and I was exhausted from the driving. The wife crashed immediately, so the opportunity was there for a little indulgence, but it would have meant injecting caffeine into my own eyeballs to stay awake, so I made do with a quick check of the results - Iris again... Nicole Wilkins again... Alana Shipp 4th!!! - and, knowing full well the webcast replays would be available soon, I hit the hay.



I drifted off, wondering how other female muscle heads had spent their weekends.

And so, as is so often the case when FMS takes a little break, we're back with a question for you, our lovely readers - and we really really want to know the answer...

HOW WAS YOUR OLYMPIA?



Obviously, if you were actually there we'd like to hear all about it - and let's face it, if you were there you would probably want to tell because then you'd get all the brethren writing to let you know how jealous they are: you'd be THE MAN!



If you weren't there, was it the webcast + box of man-size tissues scenario some of our readers were kind enough to share with us in the week before the Olympia? (see comments on Ms Olympia 2014: The Line-up). If so, how was it for you? Did the single box prove sufficient? Who was responsible for the biggest mess? Did you manage to get through it all without passing out and/or needing medical attention?



Or did you have a similar experience to mine - surreptitiously snatching what you could while getting on with all the other real life stuff that most weekends consist of?

Or, best of all (I do sometimes wonder how many - if any - of the women read this!), might as well ask, one never knows... were you competing? Would you care to share your Olympia experience, whether it was your first time or not?

Whatever your story, whatever "Your Olympia" was, please do get in touch.

What I'm hoping for is a snapshot of what the female muscle lovin' world was doing while the beautiful female muscle elite were doing their elite female muscle thing.

If that's something you'd be interested in contributing to, then go ahead and use the comment box below, or just email directly to 6ft1swell@gmail.com.

As ever, complete anonymity is guaranteed if you want it that way.

You've got till Friday - to be honest, any time will do - but I'd really like to be able to post some of your stories the week after this one, so that's the deadline for now.

Looking forward to hearing from you,
6ft1swell