Place Your Bets! (And Take Your Seats)

Pro Female Bodybuilding's biggest night of all is almost here. Extreme weather may have caused a venue change to the Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino, but as scheduled, tomorrow at around 5pm UK time the prejudging will begin, followed by the finals from around 1 in the morning. Get all your jobs done, get some kip while you can, and get comfy. Digital Muscle will once again be broadcasting the entire Arizona event.

We previewed the show before the official line-up was announced - see Save the Date (Part 1) and (Part 2) - and of the 22 qualified women we featured over those two posts, only Tara Silzer and Amanda Smith do not appear on the official scorecard.

Maybe next year?


The "Big Four" - the last time: Rising Phoenix 2016

One the great strengths of the Rising Phoenix since its inception has been the lack of a clear favourite. It's been a genuine contest every time, and this year is no exception. Ruth Silverman, in her preview for Digital Muscle, reckons there are "four serious title contenders", and overall, those forum posters who have expressed an opinion agree.


Margie - winning @RP2016

No prizes for guessing who comes first on the list!

The winner of the first two RPs is back again after a year of "retirement" in 2017. She qualified without any fuss at all in Toronto, simply overwhelming the rest of the line-up, however this will be a much much tougher test. This year she has neither the momentum that carried her from her Tampa win in 2015 straight to the inaugural RP title, nor the advantage of having only one contest to prepare for as was the case in 2016. Still, she definitely has an aura about her these days, and if you follow her Instagram, you'll know she's in absolutely jaw-dropping shape. Comebacks are never easy, but Margie is definitely the most fancied horse at the starting gate. [what? - ed.]


Helle - winning @RP2017

Reigning champ Helle Trevino is the most popular choice for runner-up, though some predictions on the forum (whose first rule is) place her 1st, others as low as 4th. In her favour is the only one contest to prepare for thing, against her is the fact that the last time she beat Margie was Chicago in 2015 - and by the end of that season it was Margie who was beating her. She was, without question, a worthy champion last year, but needed a Head Judge tie-breaker decision to beat Sheila Bleck. The general consensus is that she probably won't win for a second year running, but will once again be - as she has been at every RP - the best she can be and in the first callout.


Queens of Tampa - Sheila 2017, Alina 2018

3rd and 4th will, according to the forum heads, be between the other two "contenders": last year's runner-up Sheila Bleck, and the one-time Iris challenger and Tampa Pro champion Alina Popa. Interestingly, no one has predicted Sheila to win, and of these "Big Four", Alina has the biggest spread of predicted placings - from 1st to 6th(!). Neither of them, it seems to me, have been especially lucky in the past - Alina's repeated futile attempts to snatch Iris' Ms Olympia crown, Sheila's two 2nd place RP finishes in 2016 and 2017. Alina tends to do worse than forum types imagine she will do, but Sheila better, so if there is to be a "surprise" winner, I'd bet on Bleck.



Jill & Jay (Chicago, 2018); Isabelle (Omaha, 2018) & Virginia @RP2017

Other than those four, Jill Blondin, Jay Fuchs, Isabelle Turell, and Virginia Sanchez all get "votes". Ruth Silverman - and let's face it, she knows more than the collective "we" put together - thinks Virginia and Britain's Wendy McCready most likely to repeat their top 6 placings from 2017. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing Pauline Nelson, who didn't place last year, and who I think is as good a dark horse bet as any. [ah! we've returned to the equine motif I see - ed.]


The darkest of horses?! - Pauline (Tampa, 2018)

I'm SO excited. In a perfect world FMS would be hosting a "Watch the Rising Phoenix" event in some swanky Central London private venue, a place where we could all meet up and show our appreciation all together... but second prize isn't too bad - by accident rather than design, the wife is out of town. For the second year in a row on RP weekend I've got the house all to myself, so however predictable or not the result proves to be, I intend to enjoy myself to the full. It's definitely going to be a BIG BIG night!


Helle v Sheila: Rising Phoenix 2017

As we (and, I dare say, you) are going to be rather busy this weekend, there won't be any posts. FMS will be back on Monday - news from Arizona, and tales of the live feed.

Enjoy!

(More) Summer Lovin': Margie Feels the Heat

We got lucky. Just as the weather turned more unsettled again here in the UK, FMS is shutting up the office for the second time this summer to enjoy our second dose of beach-based downtime in Mediterranean climes. We've endeavoured (as we always do) not to leave you completely FMS-less during this time, so Summer Lovin' (first seen just over a month ago) returns for another run. Why "Summer Lovin'"? Well, quite simply it's (still) summer (somewhere), and it's a selection of clips/pics we love.

Today, perhaps the hottest 10 seconds you'll see all year.

Sound on is compulsory.



Enjoy!

Tube Watch

Our irregularly regular feature rounding up some of the best new(ish) clips of fine female muscle on You Tube returns for the first time since the end of May.

(I'M STILL) HEAD OVER HEELS FOR JESSICA



I've got such a crush on her.

Dan Ray must have been really really good in a previous life...

For Your Consideration

NPC News Online, specifically Ray and his probing camera, was backstage at the Jr. Nationals. The Physique ladies' edit is definitely worth a look, if only for the marvellous footage of the entire "C" class (Destinee Bruch, Paige Sandgren, Emily Reed, and Kristina Vanderwaal Shober) all doing press-ups in a semi-circle - fast forward to 3.40 if you can't wait. Glammed, tanned and pumping up Figure phenoms from the same show come in two parts - here and here, and you might also want to check out their NPC Universe backstage edits - Physique here, and Figure here and here.

BODYBUILDING BABES & WILD FBB

"Instagram clips pasted together" is a very current and very popular formula for female muscle channels. I believe Bodybuilding Babes was one of the originators of the style, and though I'm rarely a fan of the choice of music, you have to doff your cap when over three and a half years and 32,000+ subscribers later, it is still going strong, pumping out an average of two clips per week every week. They either focus on a particular woman (eg. Strong Cosplay Girl Renee Enos) or come as compilations with names like Best of Strong Girls in Sleeves or Best of Girls with Abs Part 4. Here's a taste:



Based in India, Wild FBB is an altogether newer concern, promises "strong females, muscular females and daring females". These apparently include muscle women of all shapes and sizes, some very current, some a little off-radar these days. Currently Wild FBB is posting their edits at the dizzy rate of 30 or more per week! They're not all winners, but almost 8 minutes of Maria Rita Penteado is not to be sniffed at, and though considerably shorter, this Laura Pintado edit is just as unforgettable.

This though, is the jewel in their crown so far - The Queen around the time of her win in Toronto. "OMG" may be overused these days, but it's entirely appropriate here...



RIPPED AND VASCULAR BEAUTIES

Another new(er) channel that brings both current Instagram swoons and treasures from the archive to the same place is the "admiring muscular ladies" channel Ripped and Vascular Beauties. In the former category, you could do worse than join them in admiring Figure phenom Michele Da Silva, while fans of the so-called "old school" will be more partial to, for example, 12+ minutes of WPW Charla Sedacca footage.

Personally, I don't think Ripped and Vascular Beauties hits the spot quite as often as Bodybuilding Babes or Wild FBB do, but when they do nail it, they really nail it.

I recently came across barenaked cam footage of the ripped and vascular Heidi Worrell-Osborne in one of the murkier parts of the internet, but quite honestly, I think I actually prefer this shameless display of rock hard vascular eroticism...



But even Heidi can't match 16+ minutes of Angelica.

Get comfy...



Enjoy!

The Queen Is Back (And Bulging with Pride)!

First I got wind of Margie's return was on the forum whose first rule is... Doing the Toronto show, one helpful member informed the community. The champ is back!

10 days of heightened anticipation followed. No one can match up to her right now, another forum poster had noted some days before the news broke. She looks tremendous. In fact, Margie had been looking incredible for weeks, if not months.



And in those 10 days of heightened anticipation...

416[!!!] walking lunges in 25 minutes for lunch [through midtown Atlanta!], Margie told her IG followers. Ooh boy they are pumped! And ooh boy they bloody look it!



And then...

Already in Toronto, one day to go.



She looked... well, whatever is better than "incredible"!

This had me reaching below the keyboard, I don't mind telling you, those tight, frame-filling glutes in particular, but really just all of her. Margie was most definitely back and - even before she'd had her pre-contest carbs - bulging and popping all over.

Muscularity, vascularity, femininity. Simply marvellous. Simply overwhelming.



And I want the Queen to do that - to overwhlem me. Make me helpless, take me somewhere other women - however huge, however beautiful - just don't reach.

The day of the show (Saturday 3rd), my heightened anticipation has achieved stratospheric levels. How many times in one evening can a man refresh the "Contest Pictures" page on Muscle Insider, NPC News Online and Muscular Development?

I'll tell you - MANY!

Muscle Insider actually won the race, but their (relatively) small, low-res images only served to whet my appetite further. Margie wore green, Margie looked great. Frustratingly Muscular Development posted pics of many of the other categories before getting to the FBBs, but eventually I got what I needed from the ever-dependable NPC News Online. Margie wore green, Margie looked spectacular...



And (ooh boy) bulging with pride!



I was, just as I had imagined I would be, utterly overwhelmed.




Of course she won.

There were six other women on the stage in Toronto, but - even before the show had started - they were only ever going to be competing for (a distant) second place.



I gasped and groaned my way through last weekend, pouring over each image of Margie I could find, peaking when Margie posted a homemade clip of her routine.



Blurry, totally unprofessional camerawork, incomplete and on top of all that not nearly as obviously bulgy with pride in her sparkly evening outfit. But watching her move - so hard and shiny and regal. All grace and power and sex and muscle.

Ooh baby!

Simply overwhelming.

Marvelous Monday

Apologies for the lateness of today's post. What was originally planned still needs a bit of work, however we think you will find its substitute more than satisfactory...

Q: What happens to former FBB champions after they retire?

During our Hot and Hard 100 countdown this year, we noted that in Margie Martin's (relatively recently retired) case the answer to that question is keep working her body so well that she has "forum posters eagerly anticipating her comeback".

And her most recent Instagram posts (from this last weekend) don't so much add fuel to that fire as detach an oil pipe from its moorings and divert it straight into the flames.



Happy Mother’s Day Battle Rope Pump! she informs her followers. Ooh la la!

Soooo gooood!!!! you are probably thinking (if you are actually capable of "thought" on that level right now, higher brain functions liable to be temporarily disabled as you reach below the table and all...). If only she'd made a video of that...

Well, she did!

Because the pump was to sick I had to show it off sommore, she writes.



Not a long clip by any means, but... Ooh la la!

21 Reasons (#14)

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!

#14
'COS THIS IS OUR CHAMPION



Say what you like about the (undeniably impressive) record of Iris Kyle as Ms Olympia, since the Rising Phoenix took over as the world's premier pro FBB contest, cheerleading for the sport has been a lot easier. You'd have to go back to Yaxeni in 2005 to find a champion who knew how to bring so much fiery sex appeal to the stage, FMS wrote in this year's Hot and Hard 100. So fierce and powerful, and yet, so feminine. Exactly how I would like the champ to be. All muscle and all woman.



And it's not just on stage that Margie brings it, it's pretty much 24/7 as far as I can tell. And nor has she eased up on the muscle sexiness since hanging up her flaming posing suit (temporarily I hope) either. "Ms Melanite" these days, she was, not so long ago, calling herself "The Bringer of Quadgasms". To us? To herself? To both? Each option has its own special level of muscle sexy appeal. I like to think it was the third though.

Mrs Swell's Easter Surprise: Wish You Were Here (Part 2): WoS Muscle Mansion Weekend

A lot of beef. Looks like a female muscle all-star team.



Right now, I'm sitting on a hotel balcony overlooking the Cypriot coast. It's a balmy 25°C and it's not 10 o'clock yet. Down below, at the hotel swimming pool, my wife is lying out on a sun lounger. Her body looks great even from here, and I know when I finish this up (as well as "a few work emails") and I go down to join her, the closer I get, the better her body will look. It's all rather perfect. There's nowhere I'd rather be...



Although if you offered me a place at female bodybuilding's most exclusive get-together in exchange for my current situation, a sort of reporter on the ground kind of assignment perhaps, well, I would certainly have to think about it before I packed my bags, hightailed it to the airport, and hopped on the plane to Arizona.



I seriously doubt many other female muscle fans would be so circumspect.




The "Muscle Mansion Weekend" is a combination of business and pleasure for eight of the world's current best plus Wings of Strength spokesperson Lenda Murray, organised by Kristal and Jake Wood. And they know how to treat them right. Gifts, dinner, an evening out at the ice-hockey. Dressing up for photoshoots, a workout, and a little bit of contract signing as well it seems. A weekend of FBB wins all round.




There was reigning Ms Rising Phoenix Margie Martin, Helle Trevino, and Alina Popa. There was Aleesha Young, returning to the stage this year in Omaha, and Shawna Strong, Arizona local, scheduled to flex in anger again soon at the Toronto Pro, plus 2016 Puerto Rico champ Kim Buck. And there were two new pros, Margie protégé Brittney O'Veal, and Hot and Hard 100 runner-up, Theresa Ivancik.



Feast enough. But as well as Lenda, who still looks glorious at 55, I can't be the only one who's noticed just how much beef there is on Kristal Wood. No mean feat to make Alina's arms look insignificant. Being married to arms like Kristal's would be enough for most guys. Hulk Hogan lookalike Jake gets that and much much more besides.



To be fair though, he is 50% of 50% of the team who are slowly but surely cultivating the resurrection of professional Female Bodybuilding, so it's hard to dislike him.



Wish you were here? Perhaps the question should be "Wish you were him?"



Enjoy!

More at #musclemansion

And - bonus - recorded at the NPC Nationals last year but only recently uploaded to the Wings of Strength YouTube channel, if you've ever wondered what Theresa Ivancik sounds like, well wonder no more... (even sexier than I imagined).



SWOOOOON!!!