Save the Date (Part 2)

Our Rising Phoenix preview continues...

SADLY NOT JOINING US



For once, we won't see her trusty black posing suit straining against the awesome power of her legendary muscles (and other bits). Yaxeni Oriquen's 3rd place package at last year's show was, it has been confirmed, her "last". She is retired now and at peace with all her success and greatness, according to Sheila Bleck.

SHEILA BLECK



So I guess that makes Sheila the most experienced woman standing in terms of pro FBBing at the very highest level. She could so easily have been the champ last year, and as always when she takes the stage, Sheila will be a serious contender again.



She never placed lower than 7th in her four Olympias between 2010 and 2014, she's never been out of the top two at the Rising Phoenix. Could this (finally) be her year?

VIRGINIA SANCHEZ



Sheila is well used to the luxury of just having one end-of-season show to prepare for, but it's a new experience for Spanish behemoth Virginia. Her 5th at last year's RP was as popular a result for this "delicious monster" as it was unexpected - nothing in Virginia's previous contest history suggested she would challenge for the top 6.



As always, I'm hoping her next show will be the show where she dispenses with the hairpiece. As always, I won't be too surprised of it isn't. Currently looking as big, bold and sweaty as ever - I'm on my way! she says. Follow her final prep on Instagram.

(SURPRISE?) DEBUTANTS



From the points qualifying zone, two women who have perhaps exceeded their own expectations in 2018 - Tananarive Huie and LaDawn McDay. The former qualified as a result of finishing 3rd in a not-so stacked line-up in Toronto; the latter a suprise 3rd at the ultra-competitive Tampa Pro earlier in the month.

MAKING IT HAPPEN



More likely to be in the mix on the judges' scorecards though iss the woman who finished one place above LaDawn in Tampa - "the outstanding amateur Female Bodybuilder of the last few years" according to no lesser source than FMS(!) after she'd turned pro last year - the sassy, sexy (and ever so slightly scary) Pauline Nelson.



She wasted no time at all putting her pro card to use - 3rd in Tampa in 2017, she didn't place at the RP last year, but this year has seen her very much embraced by WoS. Cue Pauline at their booth in some of the pulse-quickening outfits she wears oh so well.

PHYSIQUE PHENOMS (FORMER)



One of the features of this contest season has been the migration of some of the more frustrated and/or muscular Physique beauties into the WoS fold at both amateur and pro level. Amanda Smith switched mid-season, as did Jill Diorio (aka Blondin). A couple of 5th places was enough for Amanda to qualify, while Jill (who switched later in the season) was as shocked as anyone to win at her first FBBing attempt in Chicago.

AVE MARIA!



But probably the biggest Physique to FBBing success story since WoS started running the show has been that of Canada's Maria Mikola. Originally a Bodybuilder, she switched to Physique in 2013 and there she remained for three years, her placings far far down on those she had achieved previously. 2017 saw her make a long overdue return to FBBing, and since then she has not only won one pro title (Omaha last year) but also collected four runner's-up medals, three of them this season alone.



Beaten only by the might of Margie Martin in Chicago. Maria looked better than ever, and if she brings anything like her Chicago package to Scottsdale, she'll be sure to improve on her 14th place on debut last year. She certainly got the attention of a lot more fans after Chicago, including one of the author's own contacts. We need to talk about Maria Mikola, he told me at the time. He did most of the talking.

OUR ROCKSTAR



Gorgeous, glamorous, and this year a winning pro - in Omaha - Isabelle Turell is proper FBBing royalty these days. She took a year off last year, but WoS were canny enough to make sure she felt like she was one of their most important ambassadors during that time, and that investment in her has paid off handsomely for them.



Isabelle's appeal lies, I believe, in the fact that she fetishises her muscles probably more than anyone in the line-up with the exception of Margie Martin. She's probably not jaw-droppingly huge enough to improve on her 13th in 2016, but she will nevertheless be one of the most fervently supported competitors in the contest, and, I wouldn't be surprised, feature pretty heavily in the show's marketing as well.

UNCROWNED



Fresh from her first ever pro win in Tampa, Alina is probably as keen to compete at the RP again as we all are to be in the same room as her naked body. Four times she went up against Iris at the Olympia, and - particularly on the last two of those occasions - the female muscle lovin' world yearned for her coronation. After a year off in 2015 she competed at the 2016 RP, not exactly a shadow of her former self, but certainly not the force she had been. "Pro FBBing has moved on," we noted as she placed a distant 3rd behind Sheila and Margie. There few complaints on the forums. Had her time passed?



It was a new look Alina in Tampa. Enhancements have been bought, and not everyone is pleased. Again, however, there were few complaints about the result, but there has been some scepticism as to whether she can challenge for the title in Arizona. I'm not sure. She's definitely lost a lot of the shock and awe she had at those Olympias, but she'll almost certainly be in the first callout, and if she can improve on her Tampa package, the most popular FBB of her generation may yet get to wear the crown.

QUEEN OF MUSCLE



Thankfully, her "retirement" didn't last long. A year off, a new man, and adjustments to the enhancements later, and Margie was back. She picked her show well, and in the most predictable result of the year, utterly dominated the "competition" in Chicago.



It's been a ride and a half to follow Margie on social media as she prepared to return, won in Chicago, and then started her prep to win back the title she abdicated last year. She is, remember, unbeaten at the Rising Phoenix as yet - two appearances, two wins - and she currently looks head and shoulders (and arms and pecs and legs and all the rest) above any other FBB on the planet. So despite the quality of the line-up this year, I can't help feeling - even three weeks out - there's only going to be one winner.

Save the date - September 8th.

Woman of the Week: Amanda Machado

Every time I lift it's just as intense and spiritual as the best night of sex I ever had.
Amanda Machado



The first sight of Amanda Machado we can remember was late last year. She wasn't, as you can see above, wearing much more than a coat of Protan. Oh, how we swooned!



Turns out, however, that Amanda doesn't have to wearing nothing to have her effect on us. Fully-clothed will do equally as well. Now perhaps that's because we know, and she knows we know - note the smirk, you'll be seeing a lot of that - what's underneath that classy outfit, but also because of what we she wants us to read while we look at her smirking in her suit: I just love bossy women, she writes. I could be around them all day. To me, "bossy" is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody's passionate and engaged and ambitious - willing to do all it takes to learn and grow.

We swoon again. She's so ALPHA!



Since trailblazers Larissa Reis and Monica Martin left home and relocated to the US, there's been a steady stream of Brazilian muscle women who have followed in their thundersteps. Amanda has been in the US for seventeen years, and - so far - she's one of the more successful, not just in the sport, but also - unsurprisingly - in life as well.



Having settled in Los Angeles, she's a manager at Otium - a restaurant whose dishes have "elegant rusticity", according to their website. A classy place, worthy of Amanda - until she outgrows it anyway. She reads books like Conscious Capitalism, she goes to the opera, and she's currently developing her own thing - Mind of Athletes, though I have to admit exactly what her mission is with it is ever so slightly beyond me.



AND she has a physique to die for.

To be frank, I've decided that the only thing preventing Amanda from being my perfect woman is her location relative to me, and I'm devising a plan to rectify that by firstly retraining as a chef, opening my own (acclaimed) restaurant, and then moving heaven and earth to tempt her to manage it. (I was joking when I started that sentence but now I've finished it I'm rather curious how feasible that actually is.)



Bodybuilding is not my life, says Amanda. It is part of my life. And as [with] everything I commit to do; it has to be consistent, challenging, rewarding, and fun.



Since she started competing in the US last year, she's done three shows and won three times. She won her class at the NPC Ferrigno Legacy Championships last November, and won again at the MuscleContest Excalibur the following month. Her goal for 2018 was a pro card, though of course - this is Amanda Machado - it went a bit deeper than that: The professional card is symbolic, she explains. The idea here is not only to achieve professional level status, but to take the body and mind to such an extreme of discipline and dedication that I can achieve anything I set my mind on.



As if these Alpha brasileiras needed any help, the NPC are now bringing the pro cards to them! And for her first contest of 2018, Amanda's mind was set on a return to her homeland - check it out, on top of everything else she's the coolest/hottest vaqueira imaginable! - and last weekend's NPC MuscleContest Brazil pro qualifier in São Paulo.




It may not surprise you to hear - given all we've learned about Amanda today - that she is now an IFBB pro. Just another step on her road to total world domination.



Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm about to swoon all over the place.

Get your own on here and with Amanda's (intense) Instagram. Divertir-se!

Summer Lovin': Lola

As usual, FMS will be shutting up the office for a couple of weeks and enjoying a bit of beach-based downtime. As usual, we've endeavoured not to leave you completely female muscle free during this time, and this summer holiday's offerings we have called Summer Lovin'. Because it's summer, and it's a selection of clips/pics we love.

Setting the bar ridiculously high on Day 1, it's IFBB Figure Pro Lola Montez*.



All too brief, I'm sure you'll agree, but memorable nonetheless. FMS loves the way her eyes widen in the last couple of seconds, fully aware of the effect she is having on the viewer. She almost seems to be saying, I see you. And I see what I have done to you.

More of this sort of thing on Lola's Instagram.

More Summer Lovin' tomorrow...

* On the (fairly likely) chance this clip gets taken down by the YouTube police, you can find it here on Lola's IG, and also (looped so she never stops!) on GwM here. Enjoy!

The Sexhibitionists: Cindy's Game

And so, to end our week of show offs, perhaps the greatest tease of them all.



These days with Cindy it's a lot more about the t&a than it is about the muscle, and it's pretty much been that way since she unveiled her enhanced look a few years ago.

Few women show so much so often but Cindy never shows it all.



It's the hook that keeps us coming back for more. How exactly is she going to expose herself without actually exposing herself this time? we wonder, imaginations running wild. How could the next photo shoot possibly be any hotter than the last?



Most recently though, there was a kind of new land(olt) mark in this ongoing saga.

I confess I did have to look at the pic long and hard before I could truly believe what Cindy was giving me the privilege of seeing for the first time after all these years...



There they are. Zoom in - the pic can take it - and enjoy.

Where will she go from here?!

The Sexhibitionists: Angie Gets Her Bod Back

For what must be about five years, uber-sexibitionist (and some time IFBB pro competitor) Angela Salvagno has struggled with digestive issues. They left her "feeling bloated and sick" every time she ate carbs, which is obviously far from ideal for a Bodybuilder. While it didn't stop her continuing to make her (rightly legendary) pay-per-view output, the thought of ever competing again or even returning to her (thrilling) more ripped look was, by her own admission, an impossible dream.

She tried all number of remedies. Raw fish every day was one I recall, nothing but "bone broth" for 10 days another. Neither of those or any of the diets she was advised to go on worked, at least until she found Florida Alternative Medicine. You don’t realize how lucky you are to be able to eat certain foods like veggies, rice, or any kind of carbs for that matter until it’s taken away from you, she wrote. That's when you realize eating those simple kinds of carbs was actually pretty damn amazing, and wish you could have that chance again. Florida Alternative Medicine changed my life. I've got that chance again, and I'm savouring every little bite.

If only for all the pleasure Angie has given me over the years, I was happy to hear she was healthy and enjoying eating again. But the effect of this new diet on her body has been nothing short of spectacular. And she loves it almost as much as I do.



It's nice to finally see my abs ripped like I use to be able to, she announced recently. Them and my obliques as well! Veins too are popping out at unexpected times for unexpected reasons. It is, as she tells it, something like a miracle. Damn! she writes. Never thought a salad would give me veins in my abs but hey I’ll take it!



Of course, Angie's social media is only ever a window onto what you can get for your dollars elsewhere, only ever the prelude to what you have to pay for, but it's also where she communicates most effectively with her wider fanbase, and the news is she's feeling so good she's going to compete at the Tampa Pro at the start of August...

This will be Angie's first contest since 2015 I believe, but the really exciting news is that unlike then, she won't be competing in Physique. Instead, and for the first time since she came 6th in Tampa in 2011, she'll be returning to Bodybuilding!



Angie @Tampa Pro 2011

Until then, let's enjoy (some) of Angie's (unusually covered up, pre-ripped again) work with Awefilms in this recently posted preview: Why I Love Being A Muscle Girl.



Enjoy!