The Adventures of Miss Fit

At the beginning of February, a review of Denise Masino's documentary The Adventures of Miss Fit popped into the FMS inbox. Ah! we thought, finally it's available to watch. Good on Denise! And then we read the review...



It came as some surprise that the film was actually released in 2016. We don't pay as much attention to what Denise (and her bits) are up to as we used to, but we'd really missed the boat on this one. It had done the film festival rounds that year, and done rather well considering. Official Selection at Berlin (prestige!), "Most Inspiring Documentary" award at Atlanta Docufest, and Best Documentary Feature at IndieFEST, to name but three of the film's achievements. It's been available for some time!



The review isn't especially complimentary - 4/10 (boo!) - but for a female muscle fan, the idea of watching Denise doing pretty much anything has appeal, and at least some of the film is more about her own background as it is about the "real-life superheroes" who provided the inspiration for it, making it even more interesting for us.



Directed by Gregg R. Simpson, who previously made Denise's 2005 horror Blood + Kisses (who knew?!), the second half of the film is, apparently, taken up with Denise's own creation - the "Miss Fit" of the title - joining forces with the other real-life superheroes to put on a 5km charity run to raise money for a hospital specialising in child cancer treatment. Incidentally, Denise recently announced she'll be doing the the run this year as well - and the link for donations is in her Instagram bio.


"I promised you mud" - the first charity run in aid of St. Jude's Hospital

We've been saying throughout the life of this blog that "La Masino" is a lot more than the sum of her bits (not that we mind that stuff or anything, we just think some appreciation of Denise the competitor and Denise the entrepreneur was and still is in order), and the making, promotion, and cause of this film only make us more convinced of that. Check out the film's website for buy or rent details.



Despite the snooty (and tardy) review, it's rated a whopping 4.9/5 on Amazon!

Tube Watch

FMS picks a few of our favourite new YouTube clips in February for your viewing pleasure in the latest chapter of our regular muscle in motion fest: Tube Watch.

I'D SAY SHE'S READY

Czech pro Margita Zámolová looks like she is ready for this weekend's Physique International at the Arnold Classic. Brace yourself for some seriously pumped up and vascular muscularity as she works out in two different outfits, both giving us plenty of opportunity to ogle her ripped upper body in particular. Horký materiál!*



Margita, a former Arnold Amateur Europe Physique champion, is definitely on the bigger, thicker end of the WPD lady scale. Check out a few images of her at last year's Arizona Pro here if that's your kind of end of the scale, and/or Margita's Facebook.

For Your Consideration

Unsurprisingly, there's been all sorts of "Countdown to the Arnolds" type stuff posted in the last month. FMS recommends continuing to follow Autumn Swansen's journey via Midwest Muscle Report (episode 3 features posing, serious weight, and an interview with Autumn and a very very large man). Gorgeous Figure contender Cydney Gillon filmed by NPC News Online training back 5 weeks out is not to be missed, and Physique pro Tamara Qureshi gives a sweaty interview to a local newspaper, the Calgary Herald. An unusual source, and not your average FBB clip.

ZOLTAN'S MAGIC

The amazing Zoltan Veigh has been bringing us photos and clips of some of the hottest fitness women from his native Hungary and elsewhere for years. And for my money the quality has never tricep dipped below 5-star. In the last week or so seven new previews have gone up on his channel, any of which I could have easily picked for the post.

In the end, I've gone for...



Mainly because I've had a soft spot for Melinda for quite some time, and indeed any woman who can do what she does right at the start of the video! Check out all his other clips from this month and beyond - with a special recommendation for his latest crowdfunding campaign - three plus minutes of sizzling mitteleuropäische muscle.

"MISS FIT"

Also known as Denise Masino.



We've always been at least as fanly about Denise with her clothes on as Denise with her bits out, so we're delighted she's putting out this and other similar clips on her YouTube channel these days. Naturally Denise being Denise, those workout tops don't leave too much to the imagination. Age shall not wither her. Nor her nips.

For Your Consideration

More workout action, this time from Britain's IBFA champ Christal Cornick, all smiles and beefy lats as she trains off season. And recent HD Physiques previews, starring Brooke Walker and her legs, and Autumn Cleveland and her invitation to join up, have got me wondering whether I should get the wallet out and see more.

Tube Watch will return in March.

Enjoy!

* Unlikely to be Czech for "Hot stuff".

Far From Routine: Your Top 3

We're not talking about Hot and Hard 100 numbers of votes, and as I mentioned the other day, there were a handful of reader nominations that didn't make it to the FMS inbox in time for this week's posts, so it looks like we'll be revisiting this theme again in the near future, but today's three routines all received multiple mentions.

Here they are then, your...

Most Requested

3 DENISE MASINO
2004 Ms Olympia

The aspect ratio is a bit wrong, but that doesn't seem to worry those who voted. A number of the ladies at the 2004 Ms Olympia took up the chance to incorporate some kind of costume into their posing routines, but Denise's headgear has proved to have been by far the most memorable. Sexiest routine ever! one reader exclaims, and as our old friend JL, on whose YouTube channel the clip resides, points out, Denise is fully aware of her incredible sex appeal, and the xxxcitement and desire that she causes!




2 DENISE RUTKOWSKI
1993 Ms Olympia

One of the more well-known routines in the history of female bodybuilding, I'd say, and for good reason. She is really walking the line here as to what's acceptable on stage and what isn't, says Carla Dunlap on the commentary. It's so easy to interpret so many things in bodybuilding as "sexual". Indeed. And if your comments are anything to go by, there's no doubt how the collective you interpret Denise's "golden" routine. The beautiful bronzed angel in the gold bikini, one reader calls her. If she didn't define true beauty, I don't know who did. She's the reason I became interested in this sport.




1 LAURA BINETTI
1997 Ms International

I have to admit I was initially somewhat surprised that Laura's 1997 Ms International routine proved to be the most popular with readers, but having watched (and rewatched) this gem - appropriately available courtesy of Ellogon's YouTube channel - I'm a lot less surprised now. Bronzed, oiled and as one reader puts it, "as built as a tank", every pose Laura hits reveals breathtaking muscularity. And, despite some lively music, her style appeals to members of the "take it slow" posing fan club. And all in a posing suit from the days before the point of them seemed to be to cover up as much as possible. No wonder the crowd reacted as they did. How can I forget this routine? says our old friend JL. One of the biggest loads, and the best orgasms I xxxperienced in 1997. It seems that nearly twenty years after she performed it, your collective all-time favourite routine is still giving many of you more than a feeling!




Thanks to all of you who got in touch. As I noted above, if your favourite didn't appear this week, don't panic. Not all your suggestions were received in time to put the posts together, so we'll be having another week of "all-time favourite" routines on FMS real soon. If you haven't voted yet, please do! Send your list to 6ft1swell@gmail.com. Links to the routines would be great or you can send me files of the clips instead.

Enjoy!

The Gospel According to Denise Masino

Back in November last year, Denise Masino, owner of female bodybuilding's most famous bits, took part in an "Iron Debate" for Rx Muscle.com with Dave Palumbo, Mr Rx Muscle and (if I'm not mistaken) the former squeeze of Colette Nelson, and Chris Aceto, "Bodybuilding Guru" and the former Mr Laura Creavalle.

At an hour and a half, it's a weighty watch. The host looks somewhat sedated but he does have one of those deep and deliberate American sports broadcaster voices (like Kevin Gamble on Sky's NFL coverage), which lends the whole thing a bit of gravitas. Palumbo seems to be there to plug product and, in a bizarre moment near the start, show off his baby boa constrictor (for real). And also near the start of the show Aceto confesses he's worried Denise, the first woman bodybuilder to be invited to an "Iron Debate" will be both more attractive to look at and more intelligent than him. And with good reason. As they cover subjects relevant to female bodybuilding - from the growth pf the Physique division to the place (or not) of adult entertainers within the IFBB - Denise proves herself to be informed, passionate and eloquent - not that Mr Aceto isn't any of those things, you understand, it's just that Denise is... well, MORE!

Denise gets the lion's share of voice time, but to save FMS readers the trouble, we have sat through the whole damn thing ourselves and picked out some of Denise's best/most thought-provoking quotes from the show, and illustrated them with some recent images of the ever-smokin' La Masino for your viewing pleasure.



ON PHYSIQUE

A lot of people have a problem with Physique as a category as opposed to Women's Bodybuilding and they feel the one is undercutting the other. My perspective on it is a little bit different. Bodybuilding is an aesthetic choice, and you know the nature of the sport really is that through years of training and muscle development, you might start off in a lower level, as you continue to train you inevitably become a bigger, more mature athlete. And a lot of times you find yourself pushed from one category into the next. And it is a choice and unlike a lot of people, I think Physique is good for bodybuilding because it's bringing in more people into the sport.

We need new athletes, young athletes in our sport, just like any other sport does, in order to keep the sport alive and growing. And if you look at a professional bodybuilder, or national level... the physiques are so extreme - it's an extreme sport - the physiques feel unattainable to the average person. And unattainable is not inspiring to someone who is going to jump into something they have to commit energy, time and a lot of money into. So I think that the Physique and even the lower echelon categories are really really important. People criticise bikini, they criticise fitness, they criticise figure... And the idea in my mind is how many peope can we get into the fold to grow our sport? To grow weightlifting and training, not just working out and doing pilates and yoga. How many ways can we get people initiated? The stage creates the challenge for the athlete, it gives them something to shoot for. I think Physique three years ago represented a more "attainable" physique for women.



If you look at what happened this year in the Olympia Physique category and you look at last year and the difference between Dana as the first Ms Olympia Physique winner and Malacarne this year. I will tell you, I would say that when I was competing, I was more a Malacarne physique bodybuilder. Malacarne's carrying a lot of muscle on that body. I love it. I think she's a wonderful representative but she's a lightweight bodybuilder to my mind. And to take that point a little bit further, ALL of these women are bodybuilders. If you're in the weight room and you're squatting...

In the gyms there are so many new chicks who are squatting because the aesthetic is changing, women are feeling more empowered and not afraid of having a little bicep, delt. I think all these women are bodybuilders. It's just what level are you at right now and how far are you gonna go?



ON THE OLYMPIA

There's no Women's Bodybulding Olympia coming in 2015. We lost the Ms International stage. Those are two really really bad signs at the women's elite level. It's not a good thing. It's not something I agree with. These women, they're a spectacle, they're really really interesting to look at - never mind getting to know them because they're incredibly interesting women to get to know - but the sport is an extreme sport. It is what it is.

I think it does create pressure for women bodybuilders who still want to compete at the elite shows and on the top stage definitely. I can imagine what it would be like for me if I was still competing, trying to make that decision. As a smaller woman it would have been easier for me because I'm petite to begin with and I was trying to compete with women who had 50 to 60 pounds on me on stage all the time. So this change would have probably benefited me when I was competing, just like the lightweight division did. But I feel for the women like Alina Popa, Yaxeni Oriquen who are amazing athletes, who now find themselves without top stages. And my gut [feeling] is that there will be top stages, it's just a question of who's gonna do the promotion, where it's gonna happen, and how it's gonna be reinvented. That's what I see happening, because it's not going to go away.



ON BUSINESS

I have been producing, publishing, promoting, selling adult entertainment with female bodybuilders as the star in those productions. I didn't reivent the wheel, I just basically took a concept that we know works - for obvious reasons - and I applied a new aesthetic to it. I said, 'Just because you're a female athlete, just because you're a female jock, just because you have muscle does not devalue your sensuality, your commercialisation abilities, your marketablility, your allure.' And in my world, bodybuilding has always enhanced my sexuality, it's always enhanced my sense of femininity. Which is why I do it. It empowers me and always has. Is it appropriate? Absolutely. 100%.

When I started, with my partners, the magazine that we published, it's almost twenty years ago, there were other publishers in the business and people who said it will never work, it doesn't go together, muscle and sex doesn't work. Well, here we are fast forward twenty years and I'm still in the game. A lot of other people are not. As they say, the rest is history.



In all the years I've been doing this and promoting the sexuality of strong women, I really have not had a lot of people confront me with criticism the way most people assume. Now, maybe that's because the conversations are happening outside of my earshot, which is the way people generally do things. What I do is not for everybody, being a female bodybuilder separates me, so I get criticism for that, but honestly, I don't care. At the end of the day it's my choice. I love what I do, I love what my sport does for me, and it's a very creative form of work for me, and that's how I feel about it.



I learned early on that sports are large entertainment businesses, and there has never been money in women's bodybuilding. Why? Because it's not viewed as enough of an entertainment sport. So this is my way of bringing an entertainment value into it, speaking to an audience that clearly was out there.

Bodybuilding for me is a hobby, a lifestyle, a passion, that I found a way to turn into an expressive, creative profession. I'm making my living as a result of what I do, not through bodybuilding the sport - because I never made enough money in purses. It costs me money to bodybuild as an elite professional bodybuilder so I had to reconcile those differences.



ON FANS

My fans have just opened up my mind in some many ways. They've shared so much about their perspective, from all over the world. I have a very rich life because of this sport, because of my participation and because of the fans. I love my fans because they love strong women. I mean how could a woman not love a man - or woman - who loves a strong woman. They champion my independence, my entrepreneurial ways, my perspective, my strength, and my individuality. And they support all of that. So I have great gratitude for my fans.

Many years ago I had a photographer tell me back when we were starting the magazine that you cannot fetishise female muscle. I think he said "it's inappropriate". And I was really taken aback because I knew that this particular photographer loves women's bodybuilding, so he was being a hypocrite and he didn't even realise it. And I told him you can't tell people what they're supposed to find alluring. Women supposedly like men in uniform. Some men like blondes. Some men like small boobs...



If anybody's going to be calling anyone a schmoe, I'll be calling myself a schmoe first because I am a fan of female bodybuilders. I think they're hot as hell.



I've learned so much by just listening to people. And part of why I do what I do, and part of why my company developed to be what it is was that my fans made me realise that they have such great admiration and respect for the strength of the woman bodybuilder that it makes them weak at the knees. And it made me think it's a universal concept, it's a universal thing - power is sexy. And my fans champion that and for that I champion them in return.

What I do think though is that fans of women's bodybuilding, athletics, whatever it is, they need to put their money where their mouth is. They need to go to events, they need to buy 8x10s, they need to sponsor athletes because at the end of the day it's the sports fans that dictate what happens with that sport.



ON THE FUTURE OF WOMEN'S BODYBUILDING

I hope it'll be different. I think the approach to promoting women's bodybuilding needs to be shaken up a little bit. I have ideas!



I'll tell you something I think is funny. When I started out twenty years ago the question was can women's bodybuilding survive? Fast forward twenty years later... To my mind women's bodybuilding is bigger than ever because more women than ever are weightlifting. You want to focus on the elite category, the hyper-muscular women, well, I feel that women's bodybuilding will still be here twenty years from now. And we'll be asking the question again!



Watch the whole "Iron debate" on the Rx Muscle channel

Keep up with Denise in a (sort of) safe for work way via Instagram and Twitter

Plenty to mull over there. Not least how FMS has now managed two Denise Masino posts without a single image of those mighty bits of hers. Enjoy!

Treasures from the Archive: Ms Olympia Memories: Part II Moments

On Monday, FMS brought you the Ms Olympia and the Ms Olympians as seen through my teenage eyes - The Magazine Years as I like to call them. Today, it's more like The Digital Years - selections from the various archives of images I have from the Ms Olympia from the time of the dial-up connection until last year's competition.



But as long ago as the dial-up was (and it really FEELS long ago), one thing has remained constant - Iris Kyle winning the damn thing. The runner-up may have changed over time, the champ most definitely has not. Since Yaxeni's sole Ms Olympia victory in 2005, Iris has won an almost unimaginable eight titles in a row.

Who would bet against another Iris win? Every year you read people predict this will be the year when The Eternal Bride is finally left at the altar (you will let me know if I stretch this metaphor too far, won't you?!) and every year Iris goes home with the biggest medal. If 2014 sees a repeat of Iris 1st and Alina 2nd, it will be the THIRD time Iris has had the same runner-up in two consecutive years. Dayana 2006-7 and Yaxeni 2010-11 will have Alina 2013-14 to share 'I lost to Iris twice in a row' stories with.

Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you The BRIDESMAIDS...

DAYANA CADEAU 2006 and 2007



BETTY VIANA 2008, HEATHER POLICKY 2009



YAXENI ORIQUEN 2010 and 2011



DEBI LASZEWSKI 2012, ALINA POPA 2013



Funnily enough though, Iris Kyle's very first overall victory (2004) was pre-dated by her finishing 2nd twice in a row (once in the heavyweight class, once overall) to Lenda Murray. Cory Everson's first win in 1984 was over a previous (though not the previous) Ms Olympia, Rachel McLish. Sooner or later the guard will change.

But just because you come 2nd to Iris, it doesn't necessarily mean you can't upstage her at some point during the Olympia weekend, and the moment Dayana Cadeau did so before the show in 2007 provides us with our next Ms Olympia 'moment'.



Now I can only speculate as to why Dayana started exposing herself. It may have been an attempt to psyche Iris out, or to impress the judges before the show - to get her body into their heads as a potential winner. Perhaps, and again I am only speculating here, Dayana just couldn't wait for the show, that she felt so incredibly turned on by herself that she just HAD to give Iris, the judges, the audience, indeed EVERYONE in attendance a right good gander at what was under those clothes. Every hard inch...



But of course I am just speculating. And if I were to say what I thought Iris might have been saying to her, or what the lady who appears in the final photo of the series was saying/doing ('Put it away'? 'Let me touch'? 'Take it all off you GODDESS!'???) then once again, it would be pure speculation and nothing more than that...



I think that's quite enough speculation for now. A return to certainty is possibly the only thing that can follow Dayana's impromptu strip, and if there was a nailed-on certainty at the Ms Olympia other than the fact that Iris Kyle was going to win, it was that if Betty Pariso was in the line-up (2001, 2003-9), whatever her hair colour or outfit (or thing coming out the top of her head) in any given year, at some stage - or rather at the climax - of her routine, THIS was guaranteed to happen...



And we move on to something that has struck me while browsing the old Olympia archive, namely how few appearances some of the female muscle brethren's favourites actually made. Take, for example, my old friend Sarah Dunlap (see Image Removed Copyright Violation), who has just the ONE. Dena Westerfield? How many times do you think the wonder of Dena graced the Olympia stage? I'll tell you: ONCE. And Colette Nelson also has just the single Olympia (2006) on her CV as well. Our featured 2009 bridesmaid Heather Policky? Well, Heather has (so far) just THREE.





Kind of puts the longevity of Iris, Yaxeni, Debi Laszewski, and, say, Cathy Le François (6 Ms Olympias over a 13-year period) into real perspective, doesn't it?

But although our next featured muscle goddess has one more appearance than Sarah, Dena and Colette put together, and one more than the much more successful (in terms of placings) Heather, I am shocked that Tazzie Colomb has only gone to the Olympia four times (1997, 1999, 2006 & 2007). Now I know that the Taz doesn't place a huge amount of importance on what judges think of her muscles, but I would have thought she'd have made at least as many Ms Olympia appearances as Cathy has.




Perhaps I got that impression because of how memorable Tazzie's performances always seem to be, or, even if you only go by the pictures, how memorable her look at each contest is. And it's Tazzie, 2007-style, who is our next Olympia 'moment': braided hair, raw animal muscle sex appeal, roaring her way through her performance...



But despite her myriad (at the Olympia and elsewhere) different looks, Tazzie never (as far as I know) sported a COSTUME. These seemed to be particularly en vogue (or encouraged or perhaps just tolerated) for the 2004 and 2006 Ms Olympias, making a number of routines from those shows even more especially memorable.





From Helen Bouchard's rather butch 'soldier' via Vilma's 2004 cape and Dayana's 'flasher cop' to Colette Nelson's thrilling (when she ripped it off!!!) tight blue dress, the costume, is, in my humble etc., long overdue for a Ms Olympia comeback...

But none was more memorable (or fitting) than that naughtiest of Olympians, Denise Masino's - what is it exactly, bondage? fetish? torture? - mask-type thing from 2004.



And we finish off our memories today, just as the compulsory poses end, with Abs & Thigh - aka The Hall of Fame pose - and absolutely Slave's favourite position for his Olympian women (or indeed ANY women) to show off their beautiful bodies with.









And we will be ripping a few more choice moments from the FMS Olympia Archive on Friday, the day (as if you needed reminding) of the Big Girls' Big Show itself.