Enjoy!
And once again, thanks to Aiden
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Monday, 3 March 2014
Pic of the Week
One more Sochi-related post with this impressively trapalicious bit of physical detail that belongs to Rebekah Wilson, Team GB member for the Women's Bobsleigh.
Enjoy!
And once again, thanks to Aiden
Enjoy!
And once again, thanks to Aiden
Sunday, 2 March 2014
Eve Muirhead Curls for Bronze
The UK has never been so into curling. It all started in 2002 when the British women's team brought home the gold medal from Salt Lake City, and during the recent Winter Olympics in Sochi the nation was once again going ga-ga for the only sport I know of where each of the players needs their own broom. This time around the men won a silver, but FMS was, for some reason, far more interested in the women's team, who are to be congratulated for coming home with bronze medals.
Along with many of my countrymen and women, I've learned the "skipper" of a curling team is its most important member, because it is she who delivers the final two stones in each end, the stones that tend to decide whether you or your opponents will pick up points. [At this point, if you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, watch a little bit of this.] And Team GB's bronze medal-winning women's skipper in Sochi was this (rather beautiful) lady from Stirling in Scotland, Eve Muirhead.
And thanks to Scotland's Daily Record (and the research skills of FMS' Crossfit correspondent), we can report that Eve prepared for Sochi with an altogether different kind of curling, as well as a whole host of other movements.
Scots curling champ Eve Muirhead pushes herself to limit in gym, reads the headline. The article goes on to tell us that the 23-year-old looked in peak shape during a gruelling workout in Stirling, as she prepares to represent Team GB in Sochi next month, before almost exactly repeating itself in the next line: the 23-year-old looked in great shape during a gruelling workout at the Institute of Sport in Stirling.
I shouldn't be too hard on the (unnamed) journalist though. They were no doubt somewhat distracted by the images of Eve that accompany the piece, because whether she's in "top" or "peak" shape, she definitely looks like she's in shape.
Congratulations to Eve and the rest of her team. Now that's curl power...
Dedicated to Aiden, with thanks
Thursday, 22 November 2012
I'm Confused
She’s loved and admired for her athletic achievements, and her athletic body is envied by women and desired by men. But does Jessica Ennis like what she sees when she looks in the mirror?
Back in January, FMS reported how the pre-Olympic Jessica had issues with her own appearance (see Jessica, You’re Gorgeous). Did our assurances help her overcome these issues? It seems not. And neither has the fact that post-Olympic polls revealed that a majority of women would like a body like hers. And the fact that she has recently been voted 'Best Celebrity Body' in another poll made no difference to her own body image either.
I don’t think I look good and it amazes me when girls write to me and say, ‘Ooh, I wish I had a six-pack like yours’, or ‘You’ve got an amazing figure’. Really? Do they think that?
She says I’ve got way more muscles than I’d ideally like to have, adding that she makes a point of covering up her arms when she goes out because they look ‘butch’.
But on the other hand, Jessica has also said recently that There's a kind of perfect figure that's put out in magazines but it's not realistic. If sportswomen are put out there a bit more, it creates a real healthy body image for young girls to aspire to. Agreed, Jessica, agreed. What’s wrong with your body being that image then?
Clearly athletic women are positive role models, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that these women will feel their own bodies are beautiful.
Now, I’d always thought (or perhaps hoped is a better word) that athletic or muscular women were immune from this kind of issue. This assumption that they were happy with their bodies was a major part of their appeal to me because confidence is sexy. To now discover I was wrong is, quite frankly, a bit of a blow.
And not just to me. The Ennis Effect, which we recently flagged up on this blog, is not going to be helped by the role model herself telling everyone that a body like hers is not something she would aspire to if she’d had the choice. If that isn't a confusing message for women, I don't know what is.
However, help is at hand from another Olympic champion, currently in the news for her appearances on Strictly Come Dancing (the UK equivalent to Dancing with the Stars, as I believe it is called Stateside).
Victoria Pendleton has revealed she hates the fact that she’s lost weight on the show. Despite weight loss being seen by most as a benefit of taking part, the Olympian has admitted she’s gutted that her body is changing.
It’s not just that she’s losing weight, either. It’s what she’s losing as a result of that weight loss that is really bothering Victoria:
The 32-year-old said that she doesn’t like her new thin thighs and disappearing six-pack. I’ve lost a lot of muscle mass. I’ve been going to the gym three times a week for 15 years and lifting heavy weights and now I haven’t got time to do that.
When I look down at my legs now I feel very sad about it. I put in all those hours to get them bigger and now they’re shrinking in front of my eyes. It honestly makes me feel very depressed.
Who would have thought it? All along it was Victoria, not Jessica, who we should have been backing. Both women may be unhappy with their bodies now, but for very different reasons, and for the female muscle head, Victoria’s is most definitely the right reason.
So, what should I do now? Should I vote to keep Victoria on the show so that she continues to get media coverage and the chance to wax lyrical about how much better it was when she had some muscle, or should I not vote for her so she can get back into the gym and get the muscle back?
I'm confused!
Back in January, FMS reported how the pre-Olympic Jessica had issues with her own appearance (see Jessica, You’re Gorgeous). Did our assurances help her overcome these issues? It seems not. And neither has the fact that post-Olympic polls revealed that a majority of women would like a body like hers. And the fact that she has recently been voted 'Best Celebrity Body' in another poll made no difference to her own body image either.
I don’t think I look good and it amazes me when girls write to me and say, ‘Ooh, I wish I had a six-pack like yours’, or ‘You’ve got an amazing figure’. Really? Do they think that?
She says I’ve got way more muscles than I’d ideally like to have, adding that she makes a point of covering up her arms when she goes out because they look ‘butch’.
But on the other hand, Jessica has also said recently that There's a kind of perfect figure that's put out in magazines but it's not realistic. If sportswomen are put out there a bit more, it creates a real healthy body image for young girls to aspire to. Agreed, Jessica, agreed. What’s wrong with your body being that image then?
Clearly athletic women are positive role models, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that these women will feel their own bodies are beautiful.
Now, I’d always thought (or perhaps hoped is a better word) that athletic or muscular women were immune from this kind of issue. This assumption that they were happy with their bodies was a major part of their appeal to me because confidence is sexy. To now discover I was wrong is, quite frankly, a bit of a blow.
And not just to me. The Ennis Effect, which we recently flagged up on this blog, is not going to be helped by the role model herself telling everyone that a body like hers is not something she would aspire to if she’d had the choice. If that isn't a confusing message for women, I don't know what is.
However, help is at hand from another Olympic champion, currently in the news for her appearances on Strictly Come Dancing (the UK equivalent to Dancing with the Stars, as I believe it is called Stateside).
Victoria Pendleton has revealed she hates the fact that she’s lost weight on the show. Despite weight loss being seen by most as a benefit of taking part, the Olympian has admitted she’s gutted that her body is changing.
It’s not just that she’s losing weight, either. It’s what she’s losing as a result of that weight loss that is really bothering Victoria:
The 32-year-old said that she doesn’t like her new thin thighs and disappearing six-pack. I’ve lost a lot of muscle mass. I’ve been going to the gym three times a week for 15 years and lifting heavy weights and now I haven’t got time to do that.
When I look down at my legs now I feel very sad about it. I put in all those hours to get them bigger and now they’re shrinking in front of my eyes. It honestly makes me feel very depressed.
Who would have thought it? All along it was Victoria, not Jessica, who we should have been backing. Both women may be unhappy with their bodies now, but for very different reasons, and for the female muscle head, Victoria’s is most definitely the right reason.
So, what should I do now? Should I vote to keep Victoria on the show so that she continues to get media coverage and the chance to wax lyrical about how much better it was when she had some muscle, or should I not vote for her so she can get back into the gym and get the muscle back?
I'm confused!
Thursday, 13 September 2012
The Olympic Legacy?
The thing that I’ve really noticed about these Olympics is the women. Amazonian, powerful, muscular women. Incredible. And they’re all over my TV screen night after night…
So said a (male) business associate of mine, let’s call him Alphonse, during a meeting towards the end of the London 2012 games. Now, this is something that guys (and girls) like us have known for a long time. Athletics is a sport you can happily watch with friends and family guilt-free. Turn on a female bodybuilding show and they will all call you a freak. Watch the Diamond League and you can sit and gaze at the women’s pole vault to your heart’s content.
Alphonse is a man who, by his own admission, has never been a great watcher of athletics or female sport in general, yet here he was expressing the same view as I’ve always had about female athletes and the pleasures of the Olympic Games.
A week or so later, a national newspaper asked female readers who at the Games had the physique they admired most.
Overall, they wanted the legs and arms of the Russian tennis players, and the bums of the volleyball players, but the all-round winner was gold medallist Jessica Ennis. The reasons given for admiring Jessica’s bod were her low body-fat and visible abs, her toned arms, defined legs and her tight bum.
And then, the article went on to explain, without pulling any punches, exactly what getting Jessica’s body involved, and what it doesn’t involve:
Jessica doesn't go to the gym and then decide what she will do. She doesn't do her cardio training sitting on a bike reading a magazine and she doesn't have a slice a cake with a coffee to reward herself afterwards.
It went on to pooh-pooh the myth that lifting heavy weights means getting big and bulky, and also took a big dump on the celebrity fitness myth: Do not follow the advice of 'gurus' like Jillian Michael who want you to lift weights below 2.5kg, or reality TV trainers who get you to lift water bottles. Lifting heavy weights is what will help you get a lean and toned body.
Is everyone finally getting it? Do you feel that you were a little ahead of the game on this one? Years and years of admiring strong women as a minority and all it takes is one Olympic Games and suddenly they’re all at it. It’s rather a strange feeling to suddenly be ‘mainstream’.
Then, after the Games had finished, another national newspaper ran a piece entitled: Bye bye, Kardashians: Olympic athletes give women new, strong role models, which claimed that Skinny models, actresses and reality TV stars are no match for our powerful female athletes.
In the article, the writer mentioned that a 22-year-old acquaintance admits that, although she's usually worried about her ‘stocky’ legs, she has noticed a change: ‘I caught sight of myself in a shop window and I thought, “No, you know what? My legs are strong, they can do things” and for once I'm proud of that.’ Apparently, this was an example of how the Games had nurtured a sense, among ordinary women, that we have a new generation of role models to aspire to, whose bodies are revered for their physical abilities and not just their aesthetic qualities.
All very very good, although I will have to take exception with the implication that the physiques that go with athletic excellence are somehow lacking in aesthetic quality.
Elsewhere, countless articles have been appearing, the vast majority of them written by women, that echo the ones mentioned above and point out things that readers of this blog have known for a long time.
The fundamental – and incorrect – assumption is that muscular women are not attractive, therefore for women to be attractive they cannot look strong.
Or from another article:
[Since] the Olympics has been broadcasting, I've noticed my appreciation for my own muscles growing. I feel more attractive and proud of my own physical strength.
We are suddenly constantly being told that strong is the new sexy. So is this it? Are we admirers of female muscle about to be congratulated for our foresight by one and all and patted on the back for our pioneering work?
Anecdotal evidence suggests that more and more women are getting off the stationary bike and into the weights room. Media reports suggest that membership of athletics clubs and other sporting organisations has risen.
But perhaps, like the fact that your local tennis courts are always packed during Wimbledon, this is just a temporary blip. Let’s not get too carried away. Change is happening, but like most changes in society as a whole, it’s not going to be an overnight one. And that’s not all bad. As I said before, I don’t feel that comfortable being in the mainstream, and we’ve been on the margins for so long that staying there a little longer won’t be too hard!
So, an Olympic legacy then? The catchphrase of the Games was Inspire A Generation. So it’s appropriate to give the last word to that generation, a 14-year-old girl from London: I don't think there'll be a lasting legacy – there's still too much negative media about women's bodies. But I think it will be in people's heads, they will be looking at what people are doing with healthy bodies and perhaps there will be a certain changeover in the way we think of ourselves.
Sources include articles from The Irish Independent, The Guardian, mnn.com, and sosogay.co.uk
So said a (male) business associate of mine, let’s call him Alphonse, during a meeting towards the end of the London 2012 games. Now, this is something that guys (and girls) like us have known for a long time. Athletics is a sport you can happily watch with friends and family guilt-free. Turn on a female bodybuilding show and they will all call you a freak. Watch the Diamond League and you can sit and gaze at the women’s pole vault to your heart’s content.
Alphonse is a man who, by his own admission, has never been a great watcher of athletics or female sport in general, yet here he was expressing the same view as I’ve always had about female athletes and the pleasures of the Olympic Games.
A week or so later, a national newspaper asked female readers who at the Games had the physique they admired most.
Overall, they wanted the legs and arms of the Russian tennis players, and the bums of the volleyball players, but the all-round winner was gold medallist Jessica Ennis. The reasons given for admiring Jessica’s bod were her low body-fat and visible abs, her toned arms, defined legs and her tight bum.
And then, the article went on to explain, without pulling any punches, exactly what getting Jessica’s body involved, and what it doesn’t involve:
Jessica doesn't go to the gym and then decide what she will do. She doesn't do her cardio training sitting on a bike reading a magazine and she doesn't have a slice a cake with a coffee to reward herself afterwards.
It went on to pooh-pooh the myth that lifting heavy weights means getting big and bulky, and also took a big dump on the celebrity fitness myth: Do not follow the advice of 'gurus' like Jillian Michael who want you to lift weights below 2.5kg, or reality TV trainers who get you to lift water bottles. Lifting heavy weights is what will help you get a lean and toned body.
Is everyone finally getting it? Do you feel that you were a little ahead of the game on this one? Years and years of admiring strong women as a minority and all it takes is one Olympic Games and suddenly they’re all at it. It’s rather a strange feeling to suddenly be ‘mainstream’.
Then, after the Games had finished, another national newspaper ran a piece entitled: Bye bye, Kardashians: Olympic athletes give women new, strong role models, which claimed that Skinny models, actresses and reality TV stars are no match for our powerful female athletes.
In the article, the writer mentioned that a 22-year-old acquaintance admits that, although she's usually worried about her ‘stocky’ legs, she has noticed a change: ‘I caught sight of myself in a shop window and I thought, “No, you know what? My legs are strong, they can do things” and for once I'm proud of that.’ Apparently, this was an example of how the Games had nurtured a sense, among ordinary women, that we have a new generation of role models to aspire to, whose bodies are revered for their physical abilities and not just their aesthetic qualities.
All very very good, although I will have to take exception with the implication that the physiques that go with athletic excellence are somehow lacking in aesthetic quality.
Elsewhere, countless articles have been appearing, the vast majority of them written by women, that echo the ones mentioned above and point out things that readers of this blog have known for a long time.
The fundamental – and incorrect – assumption is that muscular women are not attractive, therefore for women to be attractive they cannot look strong.
Or from another article:
[Since] the Olympics has been broadcasting, I've noticed my appreciation for my own muscles growing. I feel more attractive and proud of my own physical strength.
We are suddenly constantly being told that strong is the new sexy. So is this it? Are we admirers of female muscle about to be congratulated for our foresight by one and all and patted on the back for our pioneering work?
Anecdotal evidence suggests that more and more women are getting off the stationary bike and into the weights room. Media reports suggest that membership of athletics clubs and other sporting organisations has risen.
But perhaps, like the fact that your local tennis courts are always packed during Wimbledon, this is just a temporary blip. Let’s not get too carried away. Change is happening, but like most changes in society as a whole, it’s not going to be an overnight one. And that’s not all bad. As I said before, I don’t feel that comfortable being in the mainstream, and we’ve been on the margins for so long that staying there a little longer won’t be too hard!
So, an Olympic legacy then? The catchphrase of the Games was Inspire A Generation. So it’s appropriate to give the last word to that generation, a 14-year-old girl from London: I don't think there'll be a lasting legacy – there's still too much negative media about women's bodies. But I think it will be in people's heads, they will be looking at what people are doing with healthy bodies and perhaps there will be a certain changeover in the way we think of ourselves.
Sources include articles from The Irish Independent, The Guardian, mnn.com, and sosogay.co.uk
Saturday, 4 August 2012
London 2012: Week One
A week into the London Olympics and I think it’s all going rather well. Lots of medals for team GB, none of the predicted travel chaos, and best of all, half the world now think James Bond is a real person who spends his time between films accompanying the Queen on parachuting jollies.
And now the athletics has got under way, it feels like we’re in full swing.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the rowers’ shoulders, the gymnasts’ legs and the beach volleyballers’ butts as much as the next female muscle lover, but when Jessica Ennis and her fellow heptathletes were stripping off before their first event yesterday, my enjoyment went to a whole new level.
But week one has not just been about me bemoaning modern swimming attire (too much coverage!), or wondering what those judo ladies would look like if they weren’t wearing several duvets.
Female Muscle Slave’s team of the week has been the Dutch women’s hockey team. Not very patriotic, I know, but there’s something about those lithe, athletic bodies in the oranje uniforms…
I have been travelling a lot this week for work, so I haven’t been able to watch as much of the Olympics as I normally would, but thanks to the BBC’s superlative coverage, I haven’t had to miss a single one of their games.
I’m almost ashamed to say that while waiting for connections, there’s been a lot of day-dreaming about canal boat holidays, cycling expeditions and coffee shop lock-ins with the team for company.
They’re favourites for the gold medal and play the game with a thrilling attacking style. Their short corner routines are imaginative, and their stick work is probably the best in the competition. Seriously! It’s not just about their looks! Really!
Well I don't care if you believe me, but I shall be munching my eggs and bacon today and cheering on the Oranjettes as they go up against the South Koreans, looking for their fourth win in four matches. Hup hup Holland!
My athlete of the week got nowhere near a medal. But she did break her own British record, and then very publicly made a stand against those who like to abuse athletic, muscular women, and those who have abused her personally through social media. In the process she showed herself to be among the coolest, most well-adjusted young women in the world according to one journalist who picked up on the story. And she’s only eighteen.
Zoe Smith, who represented Britain in the women’s 58kg event, was the victim of much Twitter abuse following a BBC documentary earlier in the year that followed her and other British female weightlifters during their preparation for the London games. It was the usual name-calling stuff that we female muscle fans are depressingly familiar with, and what a joy it was when, after her event, Zoe decided that the media attention she was receiving provided the perfect platform to launch a counter-attack. And what a counter-attack!
Just for starters she pointed out her critics were ignorant twerps who had never done a day of exercise in their life. Furthermore, they are chauvinistic and pig-headed, and feel the need to voice their unwanted opinions because they feel emasculated by the fact that we three small, fairly feminine girls [Zoe and her female weightlifting colleagues] are stronger than them. Nice!
But Zoe’s not finished, not by a long shot: We don’t lift weights in order to look hot, especially for the likes of men like that. What makes them think that we even WANT them to find us attractive? If you do, thanks very much, we’re flattered. But if you don’t, why do you really need to voice this opinion in the first place, and what makes you think we actually give a toss that you, personally, do not find us attractive? What do you want us to do? Shall we stop weightlifting, amend our diet in order to completely get rid of our ‘manly’ muscles, and become housewives in the sheer hope that one day you will look more favourably upon us and we might actually have a shot with you?!
And now for the big finish…
We, as any women with an ounce of self-confidence would, prefer our men to be confident enough in themselves to not feel emasculated by the fact that we aren’t weak and feeble. And here’s some food for thought – maybe you should broaden your criteria for what you consider ‘attractive’ anyway, because these perfect, feminine women you speak of probably have no interest in you either.
You can’t see me now but I am jumping up and down with one fist in the air shouting ‘Zo-e! Zo-e! Zo-e!’
She even dedicated her performance in London to her detractors. Well, perhaps ‘dedicated’ is not quite the correct word. Her new British record was, she said, two fingers up to them. What are you doing with your life? I’ve just competed at the Olympics! Have some of that, trolls!
A woman definitely not to be messed with, but also definitely a woman to follow on Twitter. A woman who deserves our applause not only for her achievements, but also for her contribution to the cause.
Not all winners gets golds. This will not be last we hear of Zoe, I'm sure.
Enjoy!
And now the athletics has got under way, it feels like we’re in full swing.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the rowers’ shoulders, the gymnasts’ legs and the beach volleyballers’ butts as much as the next female muscle lover, but when Jessica Ennis and her fellow heptathletes were stripping off before their first event yesterday, my enjoyment went to a whole new level.
But week one has not just been about me bemoaning modern swimming attire (too much coverage!), or wondering what those judo ladies would look like if they weren’t wearing several duvets.
Female Muscle Slave’s team of the week has been the Dutch women’s hockey team. Not very patriotic, I know, but there’s something about those lithe, athletic bodies in the oranje uniforms…
I have been travelling a lot this week for work, so I haven’t been able to watch as much of the Olympics as I normally would, but thanks to the BBC’s superlative coverage, I haven’t had to miss a single one of their games.
I’m almost ashamed to say that while waiting for connections, there’s been a lot of day-dreaming about canal boat holidays, cycling expeditions and coffee shop lock-ins with the team for company.
They’re favourites for the gold medal and play the game with a thrilling attacking style. Their short corner routines are imaginative, and their stick work is probably the best in the competition. Seriously! It’s not just about their looks! Really!
Well I don't care if you believe me, but I shall be munching my eggs and bacon today and cheering on the Oranjettes as they go up against the South Koreans, looking for their fourth win in four matches. Hup hup Holland!
My athlete of the week got nowhere near a medal. But she did break her own British record, and then very publicly made a stand against those who like to abuse athletic, muscular women, and those who have abused her personally through social media. In the process she showed herself to be among the coolest, most well-adjusted young women in the world according to one journalist who picked up on the story. And she’s only eighteen.
Zoe Smith, who represented Britain in the women’s 58kg event, was the victim of much Twitter abuse following a BBC documentary earlier in the year that followed her and other British female weightlifters during their preparation for the London games. It was the usual name-calling stuff that we female muscle fans are depressingly familiar with, and what a joy it was when, after her event, Zoe decided that the media attention she was receiving provided the perfect platform to launch a counter-attack. And what a counter-attack!
Just for starters she pointed out her critics were ignorant twerps who had never done a day of exercise in their life. Furthermore, they are chauvinistic and pig-headed, and feel the need to voice their unwanted opinions because they feel emasculated by the fact that we three small, fairly feminine girls [Zoe and her female weightlifting colleagues] are stronger than them. Nice!
But Zoe’s not finished, not by a long shot: We don’t lift weights in order to look hot, especially for the likes of men like that. What makes them think that we even WANT them to find us attractive? If you do, thanks very much, we’re flattered. But if you don’t, why do you really need to voice this opinion in the first place, and what makes you think we actually give a toss that you, personally, do not find us attractive? What do you want us to do? Shall we stop weightlifting, amend our diet in order to completely get rid of our ‘manly’ muscles, and become housewives in the sheer hope that one day you will look more favourably upon us and we might actually have a shot with you?!
And now for the big finish…
We, as any women with an ounce of self-confidence would, prefer our men to be confident enough in themselves to not feel emasculated by the fact that we aren’t weak and feeble. And here’s some food for thought – maybe you should broaden your criteria for what you consider ‘attractive’ anyway, because these perfect, feminine women you speak of probably have no interest in you either.
You can’t see me now but I am jumping up and down with one fist in the air shouting ‘Zo-e! Zo-e! Zo-e!’
She even dedicated her performance in London to her detractors. Well, perhaps ‘dedicated’ is not quite the correct word. Her new British record was, she said, two fingers up to them. What are you doing with your life? I’ve just competed at the Olympics! Have some of that, trolls!
A woman definitely not to be messed with, but also definitely a woman to follow on Twitter. A woman who deserves our applause not only for her achievements, but also for her contribution to the cause.
Not all winners gets golds. This will not be last we hear of Zoe, I'm sure.
Enjoy!
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