Abs Week: Flaunt

Nothing hotter than a sexy set of abs being flaunted for your viewing pleasure, but let's face it, when the lady's doing it in private - even when it's a sexy lady like (yes, you guessed it) Brazilian Raissa Rafaelli (just 21, you know) - it's not half as exciting as a public display. Sadly though, public displays are, outside of the contest arena, few and far between - or at least that's what my (hardly comprehensive) research indicates.

I have turned up a couple of corkers though.

One at the pool...



Where (yes, another) Brazilian Fernanda Schiell likes to spend much of her free time, it seems, leaving any other women brave enough to park their sun loungers in her lean and muscular vicinity feeling somewhat less confident about their bodies than they had done when they arrived. The men, meanwhile, must have to spend an inordinate amount of time in the pool, waiting for the refreshing water to work its magic and allow them to expose their trunks again. And Fernanda just sits back, flexing her core from time to time, perhaps standing up and rubbing a bit more suncream into her sexy abs - flaunting in full view of anyone who's watching.

And one at the club...



You know you are enlightened when almost every other guy in the room is looking at those orbs and you are looking at those abs. They would class you a weirdo, but isn't it true that there are plenty of women with orbs, and plenty less with abs? Call me weird if you like, you say in your imaginary conversations with people who want to understand your attraction and, as the conversations are yours to control, nearly always end up with them being entirely convinced by your eloquent arguments. Maybe, you think, a woman like Reshma Razac, who's made a special effort to put her abs on show tonight, would appreciate some appreciation of her WBFF Pro Fitness Diva midsection. Sadly though, you can't get anywhere near her...



Pesky female admirers!

The exception that public trumps private, however, proves the rule.

We leave you with serial abshibitionist and FMS fave Eleonora Dobrinina, her abs, her breathing. Deeper as we slow the clip down. Deeper still as we slow it some more...



And when you think about it actually, 469,000 and counting Instagram followers hardly equates to private flexing, does it? And I'm sure Ella knows that all too well.

2016 Review: November

Going Up?

It actually began on the last day of October, a week of posts about female muscle in lifts/elevators. It was all Valerija Slapnik's fault, and yes, that really is her name.



At the time I was a bit down on these posts, all "I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel" type self-doubt, but now, looking back (and it's only been just over a month) I find myself rather more impressed than I thought I would be because a) I didn't actually write too much more embarrassing nonsense than I tend to do most weeks, and b) there really are some quality pictures of quality women here.





Among them, were two Brazilians whose devotion to the elevator selfie (and revealing skintight gymwear) is seemingly boundless - Suelen Bissolati (below, left) and Claudia Bonavoglia - and they each got a deserving post of their own.



We finished the week acknowledging that Erica Blockman's firefighting skills (among other reasons) would probably make her the ideal female muscle elevator emergency companion, but as we couldn't find any in-elevator snaps of the lovely Erica, we had to settle for a dream elevator date with Dani Reardon. Hard times.



We decided it was time to "reevaluate and recharge", leaving FMS readers hanging for a whole fortnight. Yes, the "elevator selfie" week had not been, we felt, our finest hour, but as well as that, Marcie Simmons, who'd been "telling it like it is" on her YouTube channel for much of the year, had given us cause for some introspection...

On Fandom



Are we a fan, or are we a schmoe? Does it matter? Is there any real distinction between the two? Does being a fan mean being a fan of the sport? What does that even mean?

And who are we anyway, us female muscle "lovers"?



Well, at the outset of our week-long riff on some of the issues raised by Marcie we did say that we would have more questions than answers, and so it proved!

We wondered about how "we" deal with public discussions of our favourite women when the mainstream media runs a female muscle story (and the story - Eleonora Dobrinina, "unidentified female bodybuilder with 0% body fat" - reminds us now of the story we featured in January - Sasha Rudenko's "concerned friends").



So, we wondered, what do you do when an office colleague shows you his phone and it's Ella and he tells you she's got 0% body fat apparently, and clearly wants you to agree with him that she's "unnatural", or "disgusting" or "manly" or whatever?



If there were any conclusions to all my yakking, they were these.

1. That I should be a lot braver the next time something like this happens to me and just proceed to "bore the pants" off whoever is asking because you know I really could go on about Ella for at least a couple of hours (before I even got started about the portrayal of muscular women in the media in more general terms).

2. Perhaps the change in perception towards "strong" women - the fact that it's slowly but surely becoming more common for women (especially young women) to not only go to the gym but also to lift weights while they're there - might also lead to a change in perception towards the men who love them. One reader was not convinced. It's true: "We" are socially awkward, weirdos, perverts; and we have mental issues. It takes some time to accept the way we are. Maybe he's right, but if I have learned anything about "us", it is that we are, just like the women we adore, not all the same.



NPC Nationals & NABBA Universe

For no reason other than I thought it would be interesting to do so (although I couldn't tell you why!) FMS decided to pair seven (FBB & WPD) women from the 2016 NPC Nationals with seven (Toned & Trained Figure) competitors from the 2016 NABBA Universe. One pair per day - a clip from the latter contest, pictures from the former.

In the few days left in November we had three of those pairs.



The legend that is Monica Brant (finishing runner-up in the Toned Figure class at the Universe) with the ever impressive FBB Heavyweight runner-up at the NPC Nationals, Pauline Nelson was our first pair. British NABBA star Lindsey Angel and fan forum WPD favourite Rachael Chaskey (3rd, Physique C) our second.

And we said goodbye to November with big girls Allison Chaidez from the Nationals, and (far too big for NABBA Figure and you have to love her for that!) Australian Aisling Hickey, who got the crowd showing their appreciation, and took Swell back to the days when the really big girls could be seen on the NABBA Universe stage.



A (brief) survey of (pre 2016 Review) FMS in December tomorrow.

On Fandom: Chapter 5

Exposure.



A female bodybuilder with 'zero per cent body fat' has caused a debate over whether she is healthy after showing off her ripped physique in the gym.

The woman, who has not been named, filmed herself striking a series of poses to display her muscly figure - including her washboard abs.

However, some social media users suggested that it was 'dangerous' for her to sculpt her body in this way.

The video was posted on LiveLeak with the caption: 'Well this just went from hot to dangerous'. It shows the bodybuilder, believed to be from the US, pouting at the camera as she flexes her biceps.

One person commented: 'The dietary discipline to get very low is nuts ( nobody is at 0 especially a woman) but its unhealthy and ugly'. Another person described it as 'a step too far', while one suggested it was 'bad for her body'.

However, others said they admired her dedication, with one commenter writing: 'It's her life though, so more power to her.'

A healthy body fat percentage for women aged 20 to 39 ranges between 21 and 33 per cent, according to the Royal College of Nursing.

Mail Online, 12th November 2016



The female bodybuilder in question, one of FMS' Women of the Year 2015, Eleonora Dobrinina. Her location, as I'm sure you know, Toronto. That's in Canada. The video, hardly new. But The Mail was by no means the only news source to pick up on the LiveLeak post. Ella, without being named once, was suddenly all over the world.



This has happened before, of course. Georgina McConnell, teenage muscle girl, and Dani Reardon and her late-night shenanigans, to name but two examples. It goes from one media source to another, each one adding slightly less to the (already incredibly low) standard of journalism on display. Pure reproduction, with, perhaps, worse punctuation (The Mail's needed correcting) and more pictures.

But this week I'm not interested in the media. I'm interested in us.



Not a hard thing to be an Ella fan. Not hard to follow Ella on Facebook, or Instagram (where she's posted many many of these "shocking" clips). Not hard to type some encouraging (polite, supportive, not creepy and obnoxious - remember?) comments for her. Many do, maybe you're one of her 300,000+ followers already.

Good for you.



Not such an easy thing to tell the world that though, is it?

When your colleague at work or whatever suddenly shows you their phone or your friend sends you a link - "This is fucking freaky!" - and suddenly you're looking at Ella's "shocking video" or The Mail's article and you are expected to react.

What do you say?

Yeah, very freaky. That's Ella. E-le-o-no-ra Dob-ri-ni-na. I follow her on Instagram. Used to be a lot smaller but in the last year or so she's really muscled up. So dedicated, and such a show-off. She posts loads of clips like that, maybe not quite so extreme but yeah... Sexy as hell if you ask me, a woman so enjoying her own body. Look how proud she is of herself. Major turn-on. And she's from Canada, not the US like it says there. 0%? She'd be dead. It's bollocks. You read The Mail?! Damn.

Or maybe not.



My own recent history at such moments is mixed - see previously on FMS here and (most recently) here. You'll note that my finest hour involved being a bit on the drunk side and righteously indignant and not with people who I regularly spend time with, so I don't congratulate myself too much, and fully expect if someone had shown me Ella I would have reverted to type and just mumbled something vaguely negative (but not too negative) and got myself the hell out of the conversation sharpish.



Given the number of female muscle heads who, like me, choose to keep their passion largely under wraps, I doubt I'm the only one who tends to act so shamefully at the moments when I really should be more Brian Eno. I could, after all, really bore the pants off the next guy who discovers some female muscle in the mainstream and wants me to go "Eew! She's disgusting!" like a good red-blooded man should.

But instead...



She did pretty well this year in her debut pro season. Man, you should see her all tanned and oiled in her posing suit, she really goes for it on stage. Maniac poser! Believe the judges had to tell her to calm it down. Total exhibitionist.



Mad as a balloon too, her Instagram is hilarious! Check out her transformation, it's incredible what she's achieved in six years. Made herself extraordinary is what she's done. Look at that bottom! How sexy is that?! Oh man, you're not telling me you prefer her before? You are having a Turkish! Seriously?! You've got to be some kind of weirdo to prefer her before. And what with you being a Mail reader and all...



Will I finally stick my female muscle lovin' head above the parapet next time?

Will you?

to be continued...

Ms Freaky & the Pride of Britain

Last year, two women joined the (ever swelling) ranks of the professional Women's Physique Division. Both of their stories were featured on FMS, and, as is always the case with those women who we really do our research on and really get to know, they have a more special than most place in our hearts and minds. Coincidentally, both of them have elected to make their professional debuts at the Toronto Pro next weekend, and the similarities do not end there. Both are former Figure/Bodyfitness competitors who switched to Physique for the 2015 season. Neither of them has been defeated as a Physique competitor, they have won at least their class in every show they have done.

This fact doesn't necessarily make them among the favourites for the title in Toronto, and personally I have no idea who, apart from our two stars of the day, are competing. However, looking back at the winners and line-ups of previous shows in Toronto, you don't see too many of the biggest names in the WPD on the roll of honour - Toni West won in 2013, Mindi O'Brien in 2014, and Cea Anna Kerr (who has the best record in Toronto year on year) is the defending champion. So, yes, maybe the title is there for the taking by one of our on debut undefeated as amateur heroines.

Carly Thornton, the first ever UK WPD pro. Winner of her class at the Arnold Amateur Europe just weeks after she had decided to leave Bodyfitness behind. Crowned the UKBFF British Physique champion in only her second show. Well-known, even in her pre-Physique days, for her on stage sass and her extreme vascularity. Her success has gained her over 15,000 Instagram followers, making her one of the most popular UK female competitors ever. And she's name-checked FMS on her Twitter!

Eleonora Dobrinina, Ella, former WBFF Figure competitor whose category disappeared when she was mid-prep in early 2015. She won her first three regional Physique contests and then her class and her pro card at last year's Canadian Championships, picking up a Ms Freaky award along the way (hardly surprising given the extreme conditioning she has achieved for every single one of her WPD shows so far). A social media phenomenon, she buzzes with energy, bursts with emotion.

Today, we follow Carly and Ella's respective preparations over a month-long period from around the third week of April up till the time of writing. In their own words and with the images and clips they have posted along with those words they describe and illustrate their journeys towards the biggest show of their respective careers...

APRIL 22nd, 6 weeks out

Carly: Defiantly more muscle on my glutes this year.

"Defiantly"? Did she mean "definitely"? Perhaps she was so busy looking at her muscle bunz she took her eye off what the predictive text was doing. But I kind of like the idea of those magnificent balls of muscle being "defiant"!



Ella: Quad game on point!

APRIL 24th



Carly: 5½ weeks till we fly to Toronto and I will be on stage on 4th & 5th of June. Time is flying and am getting excited and overwhelmed how quick it's coming round. I turned pro in October 2015 and have had 5 months to improve as much as I can, so I'm hoping I can bring a pro version to what I did when I was amateur.🏻🏻🏻🏻 I do what I do because I have passion and drive to be the best I can and I put all of my focus and energy into this. When you do it because you love what you do, you will always be better than before because you have that determination you need to carry on continually. 14 years on and my love for training has just increased and until it dies I will continue to be the best I can ever be.

APRIL 26th

Ella: I think I reached next level of my physique, when striations on my serratus visible and popping out without even flexing!!! (Love elevator lighting!)



And two days later Ella posts an abs flexing clip - Lots of you keep asking me about abs video flexing. I can flex every damn day, so here it is! CORE FLEX PARTY!

MAY 2nd

Carly: Triceps have improved this year, which is another area I focused on bringing up.



Ella: Starting the week from this view!!!

MAY 4th

Carly: Am I ripped yet? And along with this incredible image, a short clip of her "pinch test" for bodyfat.



Ella: I'm just killing it as if there is no tomorrow!!!



MAY 5th

Carly: I don't count sheep, I do quarter turns in my sleep. I don't think I could have gone through my routine any more times in my head while trying to sleep last night. It runs through my head like crazy coming up to a show.



Ella posts a glute flexing clip. I am very happy with what I see! she says.

MAY 6th - 7th



Carly: Bring on another week! [The most muscular] won't be a pose I do on stage though!

More's the pity!



Ella: Well hello (my face says) STRIATION! Love them! In the final 4 weeks I'm doing posing in between sets for better muscle memory!

MAY 11th - 12th

Ella: I found great lighting in my condo yoga studio!!! How I didn't notice before... or maybe I just got more ripped so I don't need to flex! Any way my routine memorized! Posing made to perfection! The rest is just keep practising without freaking out I'm not ready.



And Ella takes advantage of that lighting to make a seriously jaw-dropping clip to go with it.

Ella's still noticeably white. Carly, meanwhile is preparing for a guest posing slot at Bodypower with a coat of tan and a trip to the hairdresser's.



Carly: Little trim to tidy it up for Bodypower Expo, colour will be coming just before my pro debut so it's fresh.

Not for the last time we see that preparation involves a lot more than "just" the physique.

MAY 14th - 15th



Ella supports her client, Ash Rempel, who, "Ella style", wins the overall title at a regional show in Ontario.

And Carly shines on the Bodypower Expo stage, giving us a preview of what's to come in Toronto.



Carly: Had so much fun guest posing yesterday, the show was so well run and the stage/lighting was perfect. Can't wait to get back up there and do it all again. Really excited to represent the UK in 3 weeks time, next time is the REAL DEAL!



MAY 16th

Ella: My conditioning today after leg training. After my athlete Ash won her competition I'm more than pumped and determined to finish my prep and have fun June 4th!



No comment from Carly. But 1,000 words, as they say.



MAY 17th

Carly: Your boyfriend casually tells you to bend down to take a photo of your hamstrings because we love sick progress shots...



Jealous? Yeah, me too!

MAY 18th

Ella: Exploring my booty before bed.



Yep. Me too.

MAY 19th

No stone unturned, Carly gets a treatment.



Carly: Today at my visit with Sam @Body Alignment Clinic we did cupping. This draws the inflammation out from deep in the tissues, and increases local blood supply to the muscles and skin to bring nourishment and allow for toxins to be carried away via the lymph. We are using it as part of my prep for my pro show in Toronto. We have been prepping together for a number of weeks to really bring out muscle groups.

Ella posts two clips of herself posing in the gym. Watch one, then take a break before you watch the other is my advice. Particularly if you have a weak heart or a tendency to dehydrate or something. I'm not kidding, you can hear her trainer/training partner, whoever it is filming, just going nuts off camera!



And Carly posts a short but very sweet clip of herself owning the stage at Bodypower.

Carly: Bikini, Bodyfitness or Women's Physique, it doesn't matter what category you are, walk with confidence, walk with sass, walk like you are the winner, be proud and display that hard work with pride...

Two weeks to go from the time of writing. One by the time when you're reading this. And this time next week they'll be up there, making their pro debuts after so many weeks, months and years of hard work. Walking with confidence, walking with sass, proudly displaying all that hard work like the winners they are.