Back Is Beautiful: Champion Backs

A veritable meat fest today as Back Is Beautiful continues with the magnificent backs of a selection of champions, both professional and amateur, from 2013.

(left) Tana McGowan, CBBF Champion

(right) Olga Belyakova, IFBB World Amateur Champion

Belated congratulations to Tana, Canadian champion at the 7th attempt (she won the Masters 35+ title for the second consecutive year as well). And spare a thought for those women who sought to follow in Olga Belyakova's footsteps and become IFBB World Amateur Champion because currently the IFBB have decided to eliminate the bodybuilding class from that contest and all other IFBB amateur shows. Olga, sadly, may well be the last ever World Amateur Bodybuilding Champion.


Monique Jones, IFBB Chicago Pro Champion

One of the wonders of the female muscle world, Mmmonique displays her monumental back during a guest posing routine. I believe this is from a couple of years ago, and she hasn't stopped growing in the meantime - she's even bigger now! Swell's been having a recurring dream involving Mmmonique's back, some soft lighting, a bit of mood music and a bottle of massage oil. He's been going to the laundrette with his bed sheets a bit more often than normal, too.


Virginia Sanchez Macias, Arnold Amateur Europe Champion

Virginia in bulbous off-season shape on the left, and lean and sweaty in the gym on the right. Hard to imagine the power those muscles contain (and what she might use the power they contain to do to me!) Did I say "hard"? I meant "fun".


Victoria Dominguez, NPC Nationals Champion

As noted on FMS last November, Victoria (aka Mistress Treasure) became quite probably the naughtiest professional female bodybuilder by winning the NPC Nationals. The Muscled Dominatrix dominated her way to victory in the heavyweight category! she blogged after her win. Her back provides an almost perfect illustration of the wider the back, the tinier the waist seems. In 2014, she says she'll be not only dominating behind closed doors, but also looking to dominate the stage.


Silvana Imbrogno, UKBFF Champion

As reported on FMS in November, Aussie-born Silvana not only became the reigning British champion in 2013, but she also made bodybuilding history. At the UKBFF Midlands show Silvana became the first woman (we know of) to stand on stage and compete against men. By all accounts, she almost won the world's first unisex posedown. There must be at least a couple of top male amateur bodybuilders around the Midlands who have taken inspiration from Silvana's mass and conditioning.

(left) Jennifer Abshire, IFBB Toronto Pro Champion

(right) Shawna Pierce, NPC Masters Nationals Champion

Hot and Hard 100 #21 Jennifer Abshire reckons her legs are her best body part, but looking at her from the rear during her victory at the Toronto Pro last year, Swell is sorry, but he has to disagree. And I reckon that beautiful back of hers goes at least part of the way to explaining Mrs Megan Abshire's "surprise" win at that show, which was her first show as a pro and her first for three years. Shawna Pierce ,aka Shawna Strong, meanwhile, has had a slightly longer road to pro status but this FMS Woman of the Year 2013 has finally made it. Here we see her showing all the men and the rest of the women on the beach exactly who the boss is.


Tammy Jones, IFBB Tampa Pro Champion

Over ten years after her first competition (as a figure competitor), Tammy Jones won a highly competitive event according to one report, beating the likes of Rita Bello, Tina Chandler and Helle Nielsen to triumph in her first show as a pro. She's an inspiration to single mothers everywhere... Well, no, actually she isn't.
But she damn well SHOULD be!


Shannon Courtney, NPC USA Champion

Witness the thickness. Witness the MEAT on FMS Readers' 2nd Hottest Hard Woman in the World and genetic envy of budding female bodybuilders everywhere. Chocolate Muscle on Tumblr, for one, says, Shannon stresses me out!!! She has probably the best physique I’ve seen in a while, but at one point in time she almost decided to throw that away because she thought that IFBB was getting rid of FBB. That was until they came out with the IFBB 2014 schedule and there were not 4 (like last year), but 5 shows. Since then she has kept with bodybuilding. What stresses me out is that she almost got rid of it to compete at a smaller physique. Man, if I had her body... fuck competing if they cut FBB. I’d keep it just to keep it.



Iris Kyle, Ms International & Ms Olympia

And finally, it has taken years and years of work from some of the top minds in the world to find a dress fabric strong enough to contain the mighty mass of muscle that is Iris Kyle's back without ripping apart. And if you're familiar with what happened straight after this photo was taken, you'll know those fine minds are still at it.

Enjoy!

Tube of the Week

Ever wondered what it's like to be at a contest after party?

Me too!

Well, thanks to a YouTube channel called Video Blu you can stop wondering, hook the computer up to the biggest screen you've got, turn down your lights and boogie the night away (well, for about 10 minutes anyway - you could always loop it I suppose) with some of the bodybuilding, physique, fitness, bodyfitness and bikini competitors at last year's IFBB Women's World Championships in Kiev!



It's not exactly like my fantasy after party... Although if it was it probably would have been removed from YouTube rather quickly! To be honest, there are moments when it reminds me more of some of the worse wedding dance floors I've had the misfortune to find myself in and around than what I've always imagined it's like to be at a party with women who've competed as recently as that day.

But, on the other hand, Olga Belyakova's arms and shoulders are worth the price of admission, and some of those fitness and bikini types do look rather fetching in their heels and tight dresses. Another positive is the fact that the guys hardly look like male models, which gives us all a bit of hope, nor are they Travolta-like on the dance floor. And I also reckon that if the DJing in this clip is representative of what it takes to get a gig at a female muscle after party, then I gave up on that career too soon.

Enjoy!

Contest of the Day: IFBB Worlds

IFBB Worlds
14-15th September, Kiev

Or, to give it its full name, the IFBB Women's Bodybuilding, Fitness and Body Fitness World Amateur Championships. Not the most talked-about of contests, but fans of female muscle could do a lot worse. Apart from a few Men's Fitness classes, there were 200+ female competitors on show in a variety of divisions from Bodybuilding to Bikini Fitness, all (except Bodybuilding) divided into height classes before overall titles were decided. And there's a team contest thrown in for good measure, based on points awarded for individual results and won, incidentally, by Ukraine.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to take you through all the myriad classes and divisions that were on display in Kiev, although it is worth noting that a certain Kateřina Kyptová made her Physique debut in the taller of the two classes, finishing 2nd (is it just me or does she ALWAYS finish as runner-up no matter what contest, division or class she's entering) to the new Overall Physique World Champion, Susanna Mantila of Finland.



There's no better resource for European contests than the German übersite TEAM-ANDRO.com, so if you do want to know who won the shorter of the Physique classes or the mid-height Bikini Fitness class or who was the Overall Athletic Fitness champion, then that should be your next port of call.

Today, FMS will focus on the Bodybuilding division, for the first time at the IFBB Worlds an Open division (ie there were no weight classes). And in time-honoured tradition, we'll do it in reverse order...



Eva Lagerhorn Blom, from Sweden, possibly the world's most facially expressive poser (actually, scratch the 'possibly', she can't help herself, make it 'definitely') was given 6th place, and her compatriot, Deniz Faith, finished 5th. Deniz was completely new to me before I looked into this contest, and one of the reasons I'm glad I did. FMS will certainly be keeping our eyes peeled for her sexy Scandinavian package from now on.



In fourth, another competitor who is new to us, Elena Stasiukyniene from Lithuania, and in third, a place lower than last year but nevertheless picking up valuable points for her country in the team contest, Ukraine's Maryna Alf.



The runner-up (this time) was Jana Purdjakova of Slovakia, a woman whose competitive record in this contest is second to none. Apart from 1999 and 2009, she has competed at every IFBB Worlds since 1997 (when Peggy Schoolcraft won Jana's class!) In that time, she has won her weight class on eight occasions in all, and twice she has gone on to be the Overall winner (2010 and 2011).



But this year, Jana lost out to Russia's Olga Belyakova.



Russia's beautiful Olga Belyakova.



Information about European competitors is not always easy to come by, and unfortunately, that is the case with information about Olga, even though I've been a fan of hers ever since I first came across her a couple of years ago. What I do know is she's in her early thirties (32 on October 25th as far as I can work out). I also know she's from Russia, and that she finished 2nd earlier in the year to Branka Njegovec at the IFBB Europeans. I'm also pretty sure that she won her national title either last year or this year. And, of course, that she's now World Champion!



(I do also know that she's married. To Sergei. But I'd rather not talk about that.)



And the other thing I know about beautiful Olga Belyakova is that just a few weeks after she had won in Kiev, she competed again at the Arnold Classic Europe... in Physique! On the fan forum whose first rule is that you do not talk about it I've seen a rumour that Physique is where 'she sees her future'. Fortunately (if you have the same point of view as me), she didn't do very well at the ACE. Hopefully (again if, like me, you'd rather see more of Olga the bodybuilder) that result might make her rethink her future.



She wasn't the biggest woman on stage in Kiev. Nor was she the best conditioned. In many ways I agree with the fan who commented that 'I think the judging at the Worlds in Kiev was really strange'. On the other hand though, those are definitely World Champion legs. And sometimes the 'wrong' result is the right one. After all, it can't be a bad thing for the sport to have such a young and such a beautiful World Champion.



Check out the IFBB Worlds on the YouTube channels of Vasily Zaitsev and/or Art's Sport Vision, and visit the mighty TEAM-ANDRO website for hundreds more images.

Enjoy!

Legs in Leggings: Curve Theory

Just the same as when they pack their beautiful physiques into tight dresses, muscle women in skin-tight leggings emphasise how curvy their bodies are. Exhibit A is Sarah Backman (below), eight-time World Armwrestling Champion and WWE superstar in the making. Note the way the fabric of her Brazil-themed leggings bulge out from below her hips and then, in a seemingly perfect arc, curve back in above her knees, before her calves produce a smaller, but no less perfect, effect below them.



Whether from in front or behind, the curves are there for all to see. And when I, or, I dare say you, dear reader, look at Sarah or at other muscular women, it is those curves that we see. (Interestingly, the guy on the left seems truly dumbfounded that she has lost this particular match, which, given her prowess at the sport, is an understandable reaction. Although she looks truly mouth-watering in them, maybe these leggings simply aren't lucky ones for Sarah.)



Anyway, where was I? Oh yes! The curves. As I was saying, we see the curves. Look at the beautiful (and curvaceous) Olga Belyakova (above). Curves, right? Curves all over, and, due to the tightness of her legwear, the curves of her thighs and calves are especially noticeable.

left: Dayana Cadeau - please show me a part of Dayana's body that isn't curvy?!

right: Kristina Krstic from an extremely interesting angle

Now, guys who don't like muscle women - or say they don't anyway, but that's a debate for another day - often, though not always, also comment that they like their women 'curvy'. So, herein lies the paradox. We see muscular women and say they have curves everywhere, but they see muscular women and accuse them of having none at all. Weird, isn't it?

left: Victoria Dominguez seems to be getting curvier all the time

right: Suzy Kellner - would she really be unappealing to 'most' men?

It's not like most of us can actually have a discussion about this with one of our friends who isn't into muscle women, unfortunately. I've always thought it would be fascinating if I could, but have never managed it, even though a few of them do know about my female muscle preference. So we're hardly likely to gain much understanding of our opposing positions on the curve issue any time soon.

BIG, BEAUTIFUL AND CURVY
left: Big Brigita Brezovac; right: Big Annie Riveccio


My pet theory is that they are in denial and we are enlightened, but then again I would say that, wouldn't I? Maybe it is as simple as the fact that these things are subjective and we all have our own little fetishes. All the same, I'm glad my little fetish is for the most curvaceous women in the world!



Here's an example of what I mean. You and I are looking at the lovely (and curvy) Heidi Vuorela (above) stretching her sponsor's leggings, and maybe, due to the 'mirror' effect, you are imagining Heidi cloning herself, not once, but enough times to make a Heidi for every one of us. Meanwhile, those who don't appreciate muscle women are, well, living in a world where they don't know who Heidi is, probably.

Makes you feel kind of lucky, doesn't it?

And, a little bonus clip (for you lucky people) featuring two of the women illustrating my insane (inane?) ramblings today. Suzy Kellner (in rather fetching leggings) being trained by Dayana Cadeau. Think it sounds like another of my fantasies? Well, yes, it is, but this one turned out to be true! And they even cuddle a little.



Enjoy!

Twin Peaks of the Day

A very very attractive all-round package, she doesn’t have the biggest arms, but Olga Belyakova more than makes up for that with sizzling definition and shape. She’s sculpted all over like a classical goddess, the kind of vision you pray will appear every time you head to the gym. Perhaps one day your wish will come true. If you move to Russia.