Well, Aloha! Jennie & More in Hawaii

First I heard of Alina Popa protégée Jennie Roosa's pro debut was when she posted these to her Instagram. And after that point I got quite excited about the prospect.

Turned out the show she (and Alina) had selected was the new (in terms of having a Female Bodybuilding class anyway) Hawaii Pro, which took place on March 10th.



Jennie is not what you'd call the most prolific social media poster, but what she did post from her prep only served to push my excitement levels almost to ticker-threatening. This was 4 weeks out!!! And then a check-in photo of her with Physique Dream Krista Dunn emerged, Jennie's perky pec pointers persuading me she was just as excited as anybody (even me) heightened my anticipation even further.



In the end, the (finally) glammed and tanned Jennie was only one of three in the Female Bodybuilding class, and with just five women competing in Physique, the show was not exactly overflowing with muscular treats. However, in both those classes and in a much better-subscribed Fitness class, treats there most certainly were.

FITNESS



That is quite a chassis on the winner Missy Terwilliger. I clocked her at the Arnolds (where, thanks to Kate Errington, I watched all the Fitness routines) and was impressed. You can check out just what she can make that chassis do here.



But the big Fitness interest of the day was Minna Pajulahti, back in the division where she started out after a break (by my reckoning) of about seven years. Check out her routine, and while you do so bear in mind that she can squat, bench press and deadlift a combined total well in excess of 500kg (well over 1,100lbs).



The judges placed her 4th.



And you can get a sense of just how big she really as from this Maximum Muscle Report interview with Mandus Buckle (for real). Now he may not be cut out for interviewing, but his presence in shot nonetheless provides a good sense of Minna's mighty scale.

PHYSIQUE



And talking of mighty scales, the aforementioned Krista Dunn was hardly dwarfed by Jennie in their check-in photo, making close inspection of her on-stage pics a must.




Krista looked every inch the two-time Olympian she is, and her incredible legs and overall "buff-momness" almost proved a winner (she was 2nd) with the judges.




The Physique class winner though was the (somewhat-less-ripped-than-Krista) Michaela Aycock, who, a week after she'd exceeded expectations at the Arnolds by placing 4th and doing some glamour work, booked her place at the Olympia.



I just had two of the most incredible weeks, she told her Instagram followers after her Ohio and Hawaii experiences. My heart is so full, and the year is still young!

BODYBUILDING



Jennie at last! But against the odds, and despite looking about as Popa as you can look without actually being Popa, she didn't take home the title on her pro debut. Instead, the very classy Nicki Chartrand claimed 2018's first Female Bodybuilding crown.



I was at the show, one (fortunate) forum member revealed afterwards. I was a little surprised by Nicki's win. She looked incredible, but Jennie looked absolutely amazing. Maybe I'm biased, or maybe that's why I'm not a judge, but yeah, I was surprised.



Clue is in the quote, no? "Biased", "not a judge" - and, you will be pleased (because you are so jealous of him), he wasn't in the front row either ("more in the middle/front"). So perhaps not the most reliable of observers. I don't want to make this a debate about the result, more a celebration, so let's just say it was a tough call because there were two absolutely amazing physiques on the stage. Nicki's was amazing, and so was Jennie's.



Four weeks' out was the last morsel she had offered, until the night before. Relaxing with my feet up, enjoying the carbs, she told us. She was wide-eyed, and so was I. That hint of glorious pec meat, that magnificent deltoid, those veins like ropes...



I'm a little disappointed with how Jennie Roosa looked compared to her progress pics from 3-4 weeks ago, moaned a forum poster before the results were in. She looks like she lost size while not really being any more ripped or in better condition.




Some people are never happy. Look at those LEGS... look at that BACK!!!



My only disappointment is that Jennie hasn't updated her Instagram since the night before. I've had to be content with scavenging some of her Awefilms and Muscle Angels work that has gone up on the boards recently. About as Popa as you can look...



Oh yeah, and watching this...


November 2017, and that's Alina giving the orders

What I've been doing while watching is between me and my conscience!

Enjoy!

Wings of Strength to Strength

We recently praised Jake and Kristal Wood, aka Wings of Strength, for firstly saving in 2015, and then, within a year, presiding over a small but significant expansion in professional female bodybuilding. We've also recently highlighted and praised how Alina Popa (Jennie Roosa etc.) and Margie Martin (Brittney O'Veal) seem to have taken it upon themselves to ensure there is a new generation of female bodybuilders coming through to the pro ranks.


The future: Jennie Roosa (left) and Brittney O'Veal

However, for female bodybuilders outside of the US and Canada, where national level shows can provide FBBs with pro cards, the problem of how to become part of this exciting new pro FBB world remained. At the Omaha Pro this year we saw how WoS - working with Alina Popa - provided Elena Oana Hreapca with a guest posing spot partly to highlight the quality of talent that had reached the top of the amateur FBB tree in Europe (and elsewhere) and simply had nowhere left to go.



Wings of Strength Facebook page, September 24th

As I write this the world has changed just a little. I am happy to say that amateur female bodybuilders in Europe, Central and South America, Australia, Asia and the rest of the world now have an opportunity to earn an IFBB Pro Card.
This also includes Canada and the US.
Announcing that the brand new IFBB Ms. Wings International will qualify three female pro bodybuilders in 2017 - one from each of the light, middle and heavy weight divisions.
This will all take place at the IFBB Wings of Strength Chicago Pro in early July of 2017 at the Tinley Park Convention Center. The three new pros will be eligible to compete in the Chicago Pro later that same weekend.
My wife Kristal and I would like to thank IFBB Professional League President Mr. Jim Manion and IFBB President Dr. Rafael Santonja for working with Mr. Tim Gardner and myself to provide a path to a pro card that has been absent for many women around the globe. We would also like to thank Ms. Oana Hreapca of Romania for shining a light on this need during her guest appearance in Omaha in 2016. We also extend our thanks to Mr. Jack Titone along with his dear wife Ms. Ann Titone for gracefully allowing us to highlight Ms. Hreapca during their Omaha Pro Show.
We at Wings of Strength are very excited about the coming year and the direction women’s bodybuilding is going. We rise!
Best Regards,
Jake Wood

Well that is good news!

Imagine! The best amateur FBBs in the world lining up against each other.



From Europe, Oana; from South America, Flores Neide Souza Campos... I'm sold already! But as well as being an "international" event, North American women will be taking part too. That means you could see Oana and Flores and Theresa Ivancik (assuming she hasn't decided to stick with Physique permanently!) on the same stage.



I'm almost too thrilled to think of the names of other women from around the world who could compete! There must be a whole bunch of Brazilians whose names are not coming into my excited mind right now. Australians, Asians, Kashma! Kashma could be there!!! From the UK, IBFA champion Christal Cornick, or the rising young star Maz Burn now have a potential route through which to follow Lisa into the pro ranks.

And then there's the possibility of...



Who would you love to see at the 2017 Ms Wings International?
Who have I forgotten? Who would best represent your country?

And Wings of Strength have even managed to resurrect the "Ms International" name! What's next? Continental qualifying events for the IFBB Ms. Wings International?!

I can dream!

Time to watch Oana guest posing again methinks...



To remind ourselves how significant it was, of course.

The Return of Alina Popa

There was, one way or another, a real air of expectancy about Alina Popa's return to the stage as the day of the Rising Phoenix approached. Some hoped this would be the show where Alina would finally be recognised as the best female bodybuilder in the world, others were just excited that she was back and would be competing again.


Worth the wait - Alina @Ms Olympia 2014, and about to take the stage @RP2016

The 2014 Olympia was the last time we had seen her in her posing suit. She had finished 2nd to Iris for the 2nd year in a row, and ever since the idea that she was robbed by the judges at that last ever Olympia, or even on both occasions, had evolved from an opinion into a hard fact in the minds of Alina fans everywhere. She's been sitting on the sidelines for so long due to injury that I'm sure she extremely motivated to come back with a vengeance, and she's had all the time in the world to fine-tune anything that needs fine-tuning, read one typical comment. I'd be shocked if Alina doesn't win.


Alina, 7 weeks out

In the FMS RP preview, we were bigging up Alina ourselves, although readers should note the "if" in the sentence - we weren't quite as sure about the result as some were. She was the fan favourite at the last two Ms Os, we wrote, and her popularity has barely waned since. She has the admiration and affection of her peers as well. And if, when Saturday comes, Alina is, at last, going to be crowned the champion of her sport, she will be a champion who fought for her sport through its darkest hour.



In the end, Alina didn't win. And she wasn't the runner-up either. 3rd place was what, it turned out, the judges gave her, and though many disagreed with them about the identity of the runner-up, there were few complaining about her placing, and those that did were not given much truck on the forums. Take your Alina fanboy glasses off, one poster who claimed "Alina was robbed" was told. She deserved her placing.



But there was, as always for Alina, a whole lotta love. It had been a tear to her Achilles tendon followed by another in her bicep a few weeks apart after the Olympia that had caused the long lay-off. The mood afterwards was one of rejoicing that she had returned at all, and the fact that she had returned after such nasty injuries and still looked like a potential winner was also worthy of celebration. So glad she's fully recovered and back in the game, was a typical sentiment after the show. To another fan, Alina was simply "awesome". To bounce back like this after such horrendous injuries is a true testament to her will and dedication to the sport, he wrote.




When images of the show became available, to my untrained eye she didn't look any less of a goddess than she had done in 2014. Those genes haven't been affected by the injuries! She's so huge and thick and cut, and yet at the same time so poised and feminine and beautiful. But when I saw a short clip of the posedown I couldn't help noticing that it was Margie and Helle and Sheila who dominated the middle of the stage, with Alina on the edges. She serenely moves into the centre to join them towards the end of the clip, and then it rather abruptly ends. About sums it up, I thought.



The Iris-out-so-Alina-can-win conspiracy theorists were proved utterly wrong, though I wouldn't bet against Alina coming back next year and getting her hands on the winner's cheque. Then again it probably wouldn't take you long to convince me she won't win next year either. Her competitive career is, I sincerely hope, far from over, but right now it is in her career as a coach where success is coming more easily.


Lisa, and her coach and her inspiration @RP2016 check-in

Lisa Cross and Elena Oana Hreapca are the two biggest names of many who Alina has been training from her Colorado base. One, the 2016 North Americans overall FBB champion Jennie Roosa, will be a new name to watch in the pro ranks in 2017. So perhaps Alina isn't destined to be remembered as the great champion with countless titles to her name after all. Nevertheless, she may yet leave a considerable, and much more important legacy to female bodybuilding. That legacy won't just be in the shape of the countless women she has already inspired and will go on inspiring into building muscle in her beautiful image, but also in the shape of Jennie and the many other women who she brings on in the sport as its struggle to survive continues.


Jennie Roosa - Mini Popa?

Time will tell. For now, isn't it GREAT to see her on stage again?



Alina on Instagram.