FMS @RP2018: Tales from the Feed (Part 1)

It's 5.45am my time. I am somewhat tired and more than a bit boss-eyed. Alina's just been crowned Ms Rising Phoenix 2018, but it was the joyous 20-woman posedown before the prizes were handed out that led to my own - explosive - personal climax.

Finally, it's over.


Emcee Sarah Hurrle

Just over 12 hours earlier the live feed from the prejudging had started with the Fitness ladies' two-piece round. Not my favourite bit of a Fitness show - is it anybody's? - so initially at least I was only half-watching. I dipped into the chat. "Benjamin Harrison" (his first language probably not English) was ruling the roost there, his moronic comments ("What is this? Why we have to see Barbie show? We want FBBs!!!") didn't just put me off joining in the conversation, but ultimately everybody else too.


Cydney Gillon & Karen Reyes

Figure was next, I heard former Olympian and emcee Sarah Hurrle announce. OK, now you've got my undivided attention - if not Benjamin's. Unsurprisingly, Cydney Gillon looked - and proved to be - the class of the line-up, and she, together with the sultry Karen Reyes and the ripped Tracy Williams, had me reaching below the keyboard and fantasising I was in the front row for the first time on the day.



Bikini seemed to last an eternity, so I flicked around social media. Plenty already up from the previous day's check-in and meet-and-greet, plenty of make-up and hair done head shots. However, I clicked back to the feed quick snap when emcee Sarah addressed the crowd: OK you guys, are you ready to see some MUSCLE?!



You couldn't hear the crowd much on the feed - the music and Sarah's microphone very much dominated the soundscape - but this was one of those occasions when you could hear the cheers and whoops and whistles. Then the music started up again, and Michaela came out. After well over an hour, the first beautiful biceps, pecs, back, glutes, abs and thighs were flexed at the Arizona Pro. I sat back and let myself go. In all, 24 Physique Dreams of all ages shapes and sizes brought their muscle to the stage. I imagine the "guys" were impressed, but like I say, you couldn't hear them much.



The first callout had Michaela, Natalia and Jennifer Taylor at its centre. It looked close between them - not just to me, but more importantly to the judges, who had the ladies changing places during both the first callout and when the top 4 (those three plus defending champ Heather Grace) lined up again for a last callout. Meanwhile, Benjamin had piped down a bit after someone had pointed out to him there was actually a schedule so he shouldn't be too surprised about the running order.



The Physique Over 40s were going through their comparisons, and backstage a "still waiting!" Sheila passed the time taking selfies with Isabelle, Helle and Alina. I can't speak for Benny, but my own anticipation level was way past 11 by now. Tributes were paid to Tim Gardener, Jake Woods, and Lenda Murray, without whom etc. and Sarah worked the crowd a bit. Once again, she referred to the crowd as "guys", making me wonder if the Rising Phoenix audience really is just a bunch of obsessive drooling heads like me (but with better travel opportunites). Be sure to join us for the after party upstairs at the Chrome Night Club, Sarah said. Really?! Anyone can just go hang out?! For a moment, I imagined something pretty damn close to heaven...



And then it was time for the main event. A bit of bombastic build-up video (heavily featuring, I noted, Yaxeni, Irene Andersen, and Lisa Cross - none of whom were competing this year) and Benny Boy got his wish - the FBBs came thundering on.




It's such a rare treat to watch female muscle live, even rarer [once a year in fact! - ed.] to see the biggest and best of all. The gulf of size between them and even the biggest of the Physique women was obvious, and - to me, and I dare say to Benny Boy too - quite overwhelming. Gasping and moaning, I didn't know where to look as these beautiful beasts came out five at a time in alphabetical order for a round of initial comparisons.




Jill Blondn's epic, thrilling calves; Barbara Carità's posing top stretched to its absolute limit; Jay's huge quads - the way they have to walk because of their massive legs is in itself fascinating - and that semi-visible coming-together of strange crotch muscles only FBBs have; Tananarive Hue's apparently immense back muscles...




Maryse is just immense; Wendy's beautiful beefy British bum; Pauline Nelson's slow, sexy posing style takes me right to the edge; Virginia's massive arms keep me there...



By the time the first callout is announced, I'm in quite a state. The actual excitement of the competition brings me back above the keyboard though. As I watch, I type this:

Margie, Alina, Helle and Sheila in first callout
Plus Jill Blondin and Nicki Chartrand
Shocker is Helle is at the edge
Margie, Alina and Sheila in the middle
Helle and Jill kept there for 2nd callout plus Virginia
Helle no better than 5th?! Nicki Chartrand 4th maybe - well-deserved she looks great but Helle visibly shocked and Margie seemed to be shocked about it too



It seemed as though both Sheila and Alina had a genuine shout, and that one of the "Big Four" - Helle - wasn't actually going to be in the top 4. The women thundered off to very audible applause, cheers, whoops and whistles. That's all folks - for now.




I opened the chat box. Benny Boy had been typing too:

###############################################################################################################################ALINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only one winner for him then.

I checked out the social media updates, one hand back down below.



And realised I probably wasn't going to get much kip before the finals.

Tales from the Feed continues tomorrow.

Woman of the Week: FBBUK: Emily Brand

She's my current dream girl, my internet female muscle head friend tells me - he has a bit of a penchant for the younger ladies, you see. Her transformation pics are hot af!


Relax, Emily's 20 now

To be honest, I'd never heard of Lincolnshire's Emily Brand before my friend told me about her - me having a bit of a penchant for the more mature muscle ladies, you see. And, quite honestly too, I found her transformation pics more upsetting than "hot af", because her story begins with an anorexic teenager. Her weight: 5st 3lbs (just 33kg).



At 14, Emily spent a year as a child mental health in patient. The doctors tried to put me on a feeding tube, she says. I ripped it straight out. Then they tried to get me to drink these high calorie shakes and I would just sneak out of bed and tip them out the window. Though she did get well enough to return home, she soon relapsed, and at 17 she was readmitted. This time though some tough love helped her turn herself around. When you go into the unit you're not allowed weekend home visits until you've got to a certain weight, she explains. In the end, I ate my way out. I just did what I had to do to get home. I still hadn't completely overcome the psychological side of my anorexia but I was more determined to get better and I joined the gym.



It wasn't an instant cure by any means - to begin with, and despite the fact Emily plucked up the courage to enter some Bikini shows - she was, in her own words, "still trying to function on way too few calories". It was only when she met her current coach, Rob Reinaldo, that Emily truly began to overcome her illness. And he did it with a little more tough love. He said he would train me and get me into bodybuilding but he really put his foot down when it came to my eating, recalls Emily.



A year on, and she has gained 3st (almost 20kg!) of muscle - and it shows!



As a result, she's moved up a division or two in her competitive outings. Athletic Figure (or equivalent) is I believe where you will find Emily now. And the chances are she's competed at a PCA or WABBA show near you in 2018. She'd done seven by mid-August, according to the Mail Online, and "has consistently placed in the top four and been crowned champion three times". Since then, she's competed - and won - at least once more, and with the PCA British Finals not happening till October, I wouldn't be surprised if Emily got tanned and oiled for another two or three shows this year!


To the victor... (pick 'n' mix out of the trophy!)

I can't believe how much my life has changed, says Emily. It's amazing to think I was in a wheelchair just three years ago. People say that weightlifting hurts but what I put my body through with my anorexia was so painful that weightlifting is nothing...



I really love it, and I'm loving life.



Follow Emily on Instagram. Her story was first reported by Unilad, then picked up by the Mail, and also featured in The Sun. And if you do have a moment spare, perhaps a letter to your local MP, or whoever is in charge of the Department of Health in your government right now, asking them to read Emily's (or another FBB's) story and get weight training on the list of recommended treatments for anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders. It will probably fall on deaf ears, but if you don't try...



Enjoy!

Pearl @Venice Film Festival

The last update we gave you on Pearl, French director Elsa Amiel's debut feature, was back in April, and big news it was - news that Swiss sizzler Julia Föry had been cast as the film's eponymous heroine. The film is currently "in post-production", we noted, meaning it could well be doing the festival rounds as early as this summer.


Julia Föry as Pearl

And that is indeed what has happened. Shown in Venice last Saturday, the film has had "strong word-of-mouth" according to France24. And the first review - on Indie Wire - praises both the film for "subverting the male gaze in striking fashion", and Julia, "whose acting debut suggests her abilities as a performer aren’t confined to the stage".


Julia (with Peter Mullan) in Pearl

There's also the first stills, and the first preview clip, which - though we don't get to see what shape Julia is in - demonstrates that she has more than enough star quality to hold the camera's attention. Plus we all get to play a bit of "Spot the FBB Extra".



What we'd really like to see though, is the film in its entirety! Even more so after reading Indie Wire writer Michael Nordine's description of its opening moments...

The first close-up is almost microscopic, so close to the skin you can see sweat emanating from individual pores as you try to discern what body part you’re looking at. Then the camera pulls back ever so slightly, just enough for you to realize you’re inches away from the base of a woman’s neck — might this be Pearl? — as she pushes herself to the limit on a weight machine. The music, a dreamy guitar riff that wouldn’t be out of place in a David Lynch film, isn’t as loud as her pained exhalations.



More news on Pearl as soon as we get it.

Virtue in VICE

Today you have some reading to do, dear - er - reader.

The article first appeared in the UK edition of VICE, but has become better known since appearing on its US sister site. And as articles about the subject that are, at least in part, about "us", it's as good as anything I've read since Tanya Bunsell's seminal Strong and Hard Women. Yes, there is a bit of laziness on the part of author Lucas Oakeley - we are all "schmoes", the use of the word "goddess" to describe desirable women is not the exclusive domain of the female muscle lovin' community, and surely these days it's camshows, rather than the more "traditional" sessions, that are really the most "lucrative" way for a Female Bodybuilder to spend her time. However, and here's the acid test, I finished the article and felt informed. Especially interesting (to me) was a large chunk of the "fascination with muscular women is not new" section, as well as the extended Skype interview with HerBiceps overlord Michael Eckstut.

It's a long read - the fact that it appears in the VICE "Long Reads" section is a clue - but as I say, well worth the effort. I'd be interested to hear your own reactions (via the comment box below or by emailing me direct: 6ft1swell@gmail.com).

INSIDE THE LUCRATIVE WORLD OF FEMALE MUSCLE WORSHIP

Tube Watch

Our irregularly regular (and happily popular) feature rounding up some of the best new(ish) clips of fine female muscle on You Tube returns for an August installment.

SHAME?

Featured quite heavily in the media here in the UK, the (US) TV show What Would You Do? recently broadcast an episode in response to the (apparently common) practice of "fit shaming". Actors, one male one female, abused a muscular woman as she worked out in public places, with the reactions of passers-by under scrutiny by hidden camera. The muscular woman, also an actor in the show, was identified only as "fitness trainer and competitor Jennifer" in the ABC network blurb for the show, aired on 27th July.



Part 2 you can find here.

Now I know what you are probably thinking, "Yeah, but I'd like to see what happens when they do a show with a proper FBB," but I think you'll agree it is an interesting watch. The reactions to the "bullies" are often passionate, and overall I was left with the feeling that the perception of female muscle has certainly changed for the better.

For Your Consideration

Meanwhile, in the British media, BBC Hindi did a two-minute news piece on "Muscle Woman Madhu Jha" just last week. "Bodyshaping" rather than "Bodybuilding" is what she defines her mission as, and Madhu is muscular in the same unthreatening way as "Jennifer" is, but still, as a glimpse into the life of a muscular British-Indian woman, and the transformation she has made to both her body and her sense of self through weight training, it's no less fascinating than the What Would You Do? experiment.

ANOTHER INSTAGRAM EDIT CHANNEL...

Last Tube Watch, we brought you just some of the many channels that are popping up with edited Instagram clips of our favourite muscle goddesses, all in the name of advertising clicks. Unsurprisingly, now we're looking we've found even more.



Pick of the (new) bunch is HW Motivation, and four plus minutes of the truly huge NPC Physique(!) competitor Courtney Mitten is the pick of their bunch by a distance.

FMS always recommends more Brazilians in your life, and HW Motivation clearly agree. After you've calmed down from Courtney, get that pulse racing again with the help of Leyvina Barros' brand of rather masculine femininity, then for the really big finish Alessandra Alvez: Workout For Massive Legs will, I'm confident, do the trick.

AND FINALLY, AT LAST!

I don't have too many bad words to say about NPC News Online - after all if they didn't exist this blog would be a bit short on contest images to say the least. However, it did take them a while to get their 2018 NPC USA backstage edits up. Happily, they were worth waiting for, none more so than the Women's Physique Backstage Part 1.



I wasn't as bowled over by the line-up at this year's USAs as I have been in past years, but there's something so deliciously erotic about being a spy in the holy pump room.

Sadly, no sign of Part 2 as yet.

However, NPC News Online's tardiness pales in comparison to NABBA's - who only now are putting up some of the female routines from the WFF Universe last year.

Again, though, it's hard to stay angry as you watch the Figure Pros or even the Figure Juniors (Figure girls wear heels and thongs and hit poses in NABBA/WFF contests remember). And as the show was held in Brazil this year, more Brazilian thunder than even we recommend was on display, not least that of Flores Neide in the Extreme Body class, a clip that I had every intention of making my highlight of this post.



Then a few days ago, they put up Gilberia Cunha's routine...



Ai, meu Deus! (as they were probably saying throughout the auditorium and are probably still saying as they flashback to the evening they witnessed this prodigiously uninhibited display of muscular female sex appeal). How's that for your big finish?

Vote Green! (¡Viva Mexico!)

I'm not sure how many Mexican readers we get here, but if you are from Mexico, specifically from Boca del Rio in the state of Veracruz, then in your forthcoming congressional election, I'd suggest you vote for the Ecologist Green Party.



Vote for Andrea Yunus Yunus.

About as far removed as it is possible to be from the kind of ladies who enter politics here in the UK (even those in our own Green Party). The LAD Bible headline - Meet the Female Bodybuilder Running for Parliament in Mexico - may be slightly misleading in its terminology, but Andrea is very much into building her body.



And not shy about showing off the results of her fitness regime, which she modestly describes as "little more than a healthy diet and exercise", whether her arms are glistening with sweat after a good workout, or meeting the people with some of her loyal supporters - one wonders how many have signed up to work on her campaign out of conviction for her cause, and how many out of pure muscle lust.



She has become something of a social media celebrity in Mexico, according to the article. Apparently, she's unusual for a politician there too! I will never hide who I am, she says. This is who I am, and if I get in I will keep being the same person.

There will be some people who do not like it.

But others who really do.