21 Reasons {#7)

Due to some work commitments and Mr and Mrs Swell's now annual sojourn to the South of France (not the bit that was recently on fire, thankfully), the FMS offices are going to be closed this week, next week and the week after. Nevertheless, as always, we don't want to leave you totally FMS-less, so we've lined up 21 Reasons, one daily picture (or two or three), plus one reason why we love doing what we do, as if we were explaining it to one not so convinced of the glory of the muscular female.

Enjoy!

#7
THE (BETTER THAN JAGGER) MOVES




Sadly, I've never been intimate with a full-on muscle woman (though I haven't given up hope Mrs Swell may yet turn to me one day and say "So, what do you think about me doing some steroids?"). However, I have been intimate with a PE teacher, a martial artist, and, best of all, with a (at the time I knew her, former) national level gymnast.

So trust me when I say this kind of flexibility is a very very good thing.

Above: Joanna Romano busts the moves @Tampa Pro 2016.

FBBUK @Vancouver Pro 2017

With the exception of the Arctic Pro in Anchorage, Alaska, Vancouver is, I suppose, about as distant a location for British competitors in the IFBB Pro League as it's possible to find. Nevertheless, two of our pros did indeed make the long trip to one of the world's "most liveable" cities for the 8th and 9th July - one making her pro debut in the Fitness division; the other competing in the Physique division.

CARLY THORNTON
6th, Physique



Carly, as always seems to be the case, emerged from her off-season looking better than ever - seven days out and she looked ripped and ready. It's nearly two years since she became the first British Physique pro, winning her pro card just before Rosanna Harte did, and having made her debut in Toronto last year, finishing a creditable 8th in a high-class field, she arrived all smiles in Vancouver for her second pro show.




She was captured by NPC News Online beautiful and proud backstage, where she was busy making friends. This is what I love, she told her Instagram followers as she flexed with Patricia Gosselin, connecting with new friends. Her placing seems irrelevant to her, but for the record she came 6th out of 13 in a line-up packed with some of the best Canadian Physique talent such as Jodi Boam and FMS fave Zoa Linsey.



A few days later she was "making the most of the tan with a summer dress". We can't help wishing she could/would do more than one show per year, but guess we'll have to make the most of Carly in contest shape while we can. I'm already looking forward to seeing how much bigger and better this national treasure will get for next year.



EMMA PAVELEY
Winner, Fitness



From fingers crossed for her pro debut ("five years' worth of work") to I'M GOING TO THE OLYMPIA!!!! I JUST FRIGGIN' WON!!!!!! (her capitals and excamation mark count!) Emma Paveley made British female muscle history in Vancouver.



She became, quite unexpectedly I think, our first ever IFBB pro Fitness winner - and on her professional debut too. And it's not like she had a line-up lacking in pedigree to beat, either. Emma finished ahead of the considerably more experienced Sara Kovach, Ryall Graber (who won in Chicago in the same month), and Fiona Harris, all of whom have made multiple Arnold and Olympia appearances.




Sadly - for Emma as much as for us, she's promised to post something as soon as she finds it - there's nothing of her winning routine available to date, so we will have to make do with one of Emma's moves from her final pre-Vancouver practice and another of her getting the feel of the stage. If her past routines are anything to go by (she's featured on the blog many times since we first met her at the World Fitness Championships in 2014), the lack of images/footage is a real shame.



She'll definitely be on the Olympia stream though. Her dream coming true.

Congratulations to both Carly and Emma!

Muscle in a Provincial City

So, yes, those of you who read it as a kind of cryptic version of the truth, the post from Sunday 21st about "the FMS campaign bus" having "a bit of a prang", it was. I really was in a car accident. Not, thankfully, anything too major, but the car I won't see again, I was injured enough to be off work for some days, and, at the time I wrote that 21/5 post, I was a little bit out of my gourd on painkillers. All better now, and back to work today (25th May - this is relevant - not the 31st, the earliest you'll be reading this).



So, although I am originally from London, these days me and the wife live out in the sticks, as they say, though my office is in the nearest city. It's not a big place, one of the smaller cities in Britain. Not a place I expect or see much female muscle. Lived up here for getting on six years now and I can count the sightings on, well, two fingers. Today, however, I've discovered things have changed in the week or so I've been off.



We've had a mini-heatwave here in the UK over the last few days. Hottest May day ever, apparently. So, bodies on display, and, to my delight, female muscle on display. I saw more of it today in about 30 minutes than I have seen in the preceding six years, more than I ever saw concentrated in one place in all my many years in London.

More, in fact, than I've ever seen in such quick succession in my entire life.



Now before you all email me for my postcode and a local estate agent that I would recommend, I should point out that I am not talking about what you or I would call Female Bodybuilders here. I am not talking about female bodybuilders in the wider mainstream media sense of the word either. But I am talking about muscle.



#1 - Not twenty yards from the front of the office, lady in her mid-30s perhaps, bare arms, nice tan, well-defined shoulders and a bicep that just popped up and said hello when she put her phone to her ear. BOOM! #2 - By the big department store in the city centre, I'd just finished chatting with my morning coffee guy and towards me comes a lady either on her way to or from the gym - sports bag, vest, lycra leggings, shoulders, a sensational wide back, and even better, properly big legs. She really did BOOM! as she passed - I could feel her power in the rush of air she left in her wake...



How long have I been off?

Did I die in that car crash and I'm now in some kind of slowly emerging heaven?



#3/#4 - I get lunch from the market and, like many other people, sit on the steps outside the city's signature modern building to enjoy the sun while I munch. I'm still reeling slightly from #2, so I don't even scope out the crowd and position myself accordingly. Within minutes though I realise I couldn't have placed myself better. BOOM! #3 is about five metres away from me, casually chatting with a friend. In shorts, she is, apparently, flexing her thighs as she stretches out her legs. I actually rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't imagining it (and/or dreaming!). I look her way again, she's leaning back, supporting her weight on her arms. BOOM! Nice shoulders. Visible triceps. Minutes later - I'm still ogling her but don't fail to notice a cyclist in full gear who is chaining up her bike on the racks opposite is a lot more than just her cyclist's legs. BOOM! She can't hide her arms in a cycling top, not this lady.



What is going on?

Legs and triceps gets up and leaves while I'm still sitting there. She's quite a sight standing, tall and lean, my guess would be a runner, possibly a serious, competitive one, but not thick like a sprinter, middle or long distance. Perhaps I'm way off, perhaps she, like the other ladies I saw today, like my wife, are just part of the strong is sexy zeitgeist. I'm already writing this post as I stroll back towards the office, mentally visualising each sighting in detail so I can better describe them. BOOM! #5 - The couple that works out together, well, a couple that works out together, he's big and lean and very impressive in his tight top, but she, she is quite something too. Tanned, short and stocky and quite the little powerhouse with her protein shake in her hand, two steps to every one of his strides. They're in front of me and I am totally not going to pass up the opportunity to perve on her tight, muscular bum a little. So I don't.



I have to wait a few hours and be on my way back to the car when I see #6. Having received all the blessings I could ever want for the day I was not expecting a #6, but there she is, mid-30s probably, tanned in her summer dress, waiting for someone it seems, toned arms. She's been doing some curls over the winter months.



Could those painkillers really be so slow to wear off? I'm still slightly reeling. I'm wondering if every day is going to be like this now, or have I just used up my allotted number of sightings for the next six years? More seriously, is this happening elsewhere? Has the new era finally dawned? Is this what we can expect from now on?



Enjoy? You bet I will!

Pics just illustrations, no relation to actual sightings.

Six Times Two

When one of you lovely readers reached out and suggested featuring muscle twins on the blog, I seriously doubted whether the FMS research team could come up with a week's worth of beauties. How wrong I was! The team may not always have managed to track down the precise locations of these female muscle double acts, and most of them are not exactly covered in huge, bulging muscles, but we found more than seven.

Today, it's the best of the rest.

The Klimaszewski Twins



Diane and Elaine Klimaszewski are Polish-American twins who may be very familiar to US readers of a certain age who remember a particular beer commercial the ladies featured in. Later they found a kind of fame on TV and film, and also appeared on WCW as part of the "Nitro Girls" - not a wrestling team, but a dancing troupe.

squattwins



German twins Julia and Stephanie go deep. What you think you become, what you feel you attract, what you imagine you create, they say. See? Very deep. Instagram deep.

twins222



OK, so I'm stretching (geddit?) here a bit calling these two "muscular", but hey, Russian twins who seem to peddle some kind of exotic contortionism/novelty double-take DJing act - what's not to like? At least one of them has visible abs... I give up. twins222official on Instagram, in case you are interested. They seem very close.

Betsy & Shelly Albetta



From New Jersey, Betsy (left, above) was a Figure competitor in the noughties, while the slightly thicker Shelly was still competing in 2013. Read interviews with both of them on the late, lamented Promoting Real Women. Betsy's is here; Shelly's here.

Brie & Nikki Bella



San Diego's greatest ever wrestling team (probably) did like a flex back in their heyday, and they probably still do. I've never been one for thinking WWE was essential viewing, but when my mate's son was into it, we certainly bonded over the question of who was our favourite "Diva". He liked Kelly Kelly. I went for the twins, obviously.

Carrie & Christy Bacon



OK, best for last. "Arrow" and "Bullet" on the Swedish version of Gladiators, there's no denying the muscle on this bacon. Carrie has competed in Physique, while Christy is apparently a Crossfit competitor and basketball player. Carrie's Instagram has more muscle, Christy's has more basketball. Both so delicious, says one forum wag.

Enjoy!

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".

FBBUK: Clips of the Week

It's nearly Christmas, so not one, not two but three clips this week.

You lucky people!

And a slight return to the 2016 NABBA Universe for three more British competitors who didn't make the final cut when it came to last week's posts - two from Trained Figure, and the Toned Figure champion. Gird your loins for three of the flexiest, sexiest routines from the show. And all in NABBA-approved thongs!

LINDA CASSIDY (Northern Ireland)

We've had our heart rate's sent rocketing by Linda's routines on FMS before, and while this wasn't the funkiest performance of hers we've seen, she set pulses racing again. She was runner-up in the class last year. Not quite sure what it was that made the judges place her outside the top 6 this time. Certainly wasn't her pecs. Or legs. Or biceps. Or glutes. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement, she told her Facebook followers afterwards. FMS sincerely hopes this setback doesn't mean we won't see her again.



Up next, the woman who beat Monica Brant...

AMY WILSON (UK)
Winner Toned Figure

She was genuinely surprised when she was announced as the winner, beating not only Monica Brant, but also the UK champion Brittany Rhodes and the English champion Phoebe Little. Still, Amy did have winning 2016 form behind her, not in NABBA contests, but the fast-growing PCA, where she won the Toned Figure title at the UK finals. And she did put in a performance worthy of a champion for her routine...



A genuinely fascinating young woman, currently travelling in South-east Asia.
And you can follow Amy's adventures on her Instagram, and/or travel blog.

And finally...

EMMA HYNDMAN (UK)
6th Trained Figure I

Crowned the NABBA Britain Toned Figure champion in May, and the NABBA World Toned Figure champion in June, Emma competed (for the first time as far as I'm aware) in the more muscular Trained Figure class at the Universe, and gave her (many by the sounds of it) supporters and the rest of the audience a routine to remember.

This change of class, however, was not Emma's decision. So on Saturday at the NABBA Universe, says Emma, it was decided on the day by the judges that I no longer fit the Toned Figure criteria. Therefore, I was not allowed to step back on stage in that category as I wouldn't be judged, and my only other option was to be judged in the Trained Figure category if I wanted to compete. To say I was upset would be an understatement. I pulled myself together, pumped up beyond belief, begged my abs and thighs to make an appearance, then flexed the F**K out of my muscles on stage...



Oh yes she did!

Picture Perfect

Having gone into a bit more detail than originally intended with last week's Summer Break @NPC USAs posts, I find myself playing catch-up. No time for very much at all, I'm afraid, so this week I'm having to go a bit PumpItUp - one picture every day.

One perfect picture.



JANAINA PINHEIRO



We've already established Janaina is an exhibitionist of some note (see FMS passim), but being in contest shape recently seems to have made her turn it up to 11.

And you know the longer I look at this picture, the more I like it.

When you've exhausted the possibilities, there's much much more here.

Summer Break I: Day 3

In the past, FMS has tended to close up shop for weeks over the summer, usually during August. We've tried not to leave you FMS-less on those occasions, and have consequently come up with ideas like Legs Month, August Picture Post, and, last year, While the Slave's Away to tide you over while we're sunning ourselves.

This year we're not shutting up the offices for one long holiday but a series of shorter breaks, but our commitment to give you at least one stunning example of female muscle heat to look at every day remains. So this year it's Summer Breaks, and this week we're taking our first of the year. We hope you enjoy our selections.

BRAZILIAN WONDER #1



From the (sadly these days necessarily) secretive world of our old friend C. Moore Glootz comes the first of three Brazilian Wonders this week on FMS. Lucky people!



Wonder #1 is Janaina Pinheiro, or, to be more precise, Janaina's beautiful bum.




It's not, I grant you, the kind of sun-obscuring wide load that seems to be so common in her native land, but something altogether tighter, more sculpted, more honed.



And, dare I say it, all the more beautiful for it.



And she does like showing it off, doesn't she?



Might I interest sir in Janaina's rear in motion?

Good. Now, if sir would just click here.