Around the World: India

Around the World is an occasional series celebrating the female bodybuilders of a particular country, and examining any issues peculiar to muscle women there.




Ashwini Waskar, Mumbai, 2015

Back in June 2015 when reporting on the success of Mumbai's Ashwini Waskar, FMS noted "the odd thing is that this competitor isn't wearing a posing suit but a plain black sports bra and shorts", but if we compare that to what Kerala's Majiziya Bhanu wore for her Bodybuilding debut a couple of weeks ago, Ashwini's outfit seems a lot less odd.



Majiziya, according to journalist Siddhant Pandey, is "a professional powerlifter". As she was returning home from a recent competition, by chance she heard about a local Bodybuilding contest, and, encouraged by her fiancée, decided to give it a go. Her powerlifting coach hastily sent her some pics of the compulsory poses "on WhatsApp", and, amazingly, she won, despite "exposing no skin [other] than her face and hands".

She's "a proud hijab-wearing Bodybuilder", you see.



Now Pandey's article may be unintentionally hilarious in places. I was quite confident of winning the championship, he reports Bhanu as saying, as I found the other women contestants to be chubby. In other places he makes claims that are simply ludicrous. "She changed the game," he writes, "she will change the way you look at the sport."

No she won't.

But then I did start thinking about the "skin-tight sportswear" she wore on stage "along with her headscarf". I thought about all those places in the world where this would be the only acceptable attire for a woman to wear whatever sporting endeavour she was doing, and I wondered if this really could "change the game" in those countries.


An Iranian FBB - in private

From places like Iran, where Female Bodybuilding is actually illegal, to places like the UAE, very much at the liberal end of strict Islamic obedience, where the sport isn't exactly discouraged, but there are no female competitors, "skin-tight sportswear along with her headscarf" gives women a way to make contests acceptable to the authorities.

Perhaps the only way.


Khloud Essam, Egyptian FBB & Personal Trainer

Ashwini Waskar wore what she had to wear to compete. Majiziya Bhuna didn't have to wear her hijab, it was a choice. But inadvertently she may have shown women throughout the Islamic world how they might realise their competitive dreams.

Suddenly, hijab-wearing Female Bodybuilders don't sound so ridiculous after all.

Back Beauty

POWER

Tara Green-Webber is a 25-year-old Canadian professional powerlifter. As with other women in her sport that we've met on FMS, her numbers are eye-watering.

SQUAT! 640lbs/290kg BENCH! 385lbs/175kg DEADLIFT! 500lbs/227kg

But hang on! Forgive me, but isn't that a posing suit she's got on there?



Not an IFBB-sanctioned one perhaps, but definitely a posing suit. Seems Tara is preparing for her very first Bodybuilding show. Back is coming along nicely, she says, with endearing understatement. Can't wait to lean down and see what's really there.

"What's under there" looks like muscle to me, Tara.

Check out her Instagram for more.

How's your close-grip chin-up technique, by the way?



Penpraghai Tiangngok, who'll be making her Olympia debut this weekend, shows us how it's done.

Enjoy!

She's So Shredded: Mariša Golob

On her Instagram there's a really quite disturbing image of a young, cute, feminine face photoshopped onto an undeniably muscular but somewhat chubby male body. What people think I look like when I tell them I'm a powerlifter, says Mariša Golob.

Click here at your own risk.

I did warn you it was disturbing.

Anyway, me, you and the female muscle lovin' brethren in general are all much too enlightened to have that preconception, but that doesn't mean we don't have a preconception of what a female powerlifter looks like, and it's not (I imagine) the kind of look you would expect to find in a week of posts entitled She's So Shredded.

But Mariša is not your typical powerlifter.



Her Wikipedia entry (which is extensive) calls her "the most successful and decorated female in Slovenian powerlifting history", and details the 27-year-old law student's tally of 37 gold (plus one solitary silver) medals at European and World level.

All have been won in the last five years.




Why so shredded then?

Well, I'd hoped at first that Mariša was going to start doing what our Hot and Hard 100 Top Brit Corinne Ingman does and marry a powerlifting career with a competitive Bodybuilding one, but I've found no evidence to suggest that my dream of her all tanned and oiled, glam and suited and flexing her delicious and powerful body is going to be coming true anytime soon. What I have found out though is that this, as Corinne might say, "royally peeled" look is a fairly recent development - she hasn't always looked quite like this - and is all in aid of ensuring that Mariša makes a particular weight class. She says she is "kind of diggin' these pre-competition shreds".



Swell is very much diggin' them too.

Follow Mariša on Instagram.

The Mighty Quinn: This Sporting Life

I started athletics at a young age, reveals Lauren in a recent interview. I was 9 years old, and I played baseball, softball, which led to school leagues and other sports, but I got into weight training when I was 14. I was a freshman in high school, I was a skinny girl, and I thought if I got bigger and stronger I'd be a better athlete.



By the time she reached the University of Illinois-Chicago, she had become a good enough track and field athlete to win the title of Newcomer of the Year in 2003, and on top of that she captained the rugby team there, which led to her playing professionally for a while (the US has pro women's rugby?! - who knew?) for the Chicago Sirens.



Sadly I don't have any pictures of Lauren powering through tackles, but during her uni time she not only played the game, she also co-authored a study into the "Effects of Strength Training and Conditioning on Female Rugby Players". I kid you not.



Then, around late 2010, Lauren moved from one oval ball game to another, and joined the Lingerie Football League. The league’s notorious pin-up girl dress code makes it prime fodder for derision from feminist pundits, noted Kriv Studios blog, but one must appreciate that many women of the Lingerie Football League not only are beautiful and sexy but fit and athletic. And they play hard. Today, Lauren Quinn begins her quest to become the next Great of the Bikini Gridiron as the hard-hitting hardbody from the Windy City takes the field as a new linebacker for the Chicago Bliss.



After one season in the LFL though, Lauren's "Bikini Gridiron" career came to an abrupt halt when a knee injury left her needing surgery and five months of physical therapy.



I had yet to discover Crossfit, or compete in the new Women's Physique Division, she says of that time, though she had already done at least one bodybuilding show, in 2005. That was a time when there were only 3 divisions for women, she says, but only one for her. Even though I wasn't "big enough", I pursued Bodybuilding because it was more ME than Figure. I was young, tiny, (120lbs) and had absolutely no clue what or how to prep for a show. But I'm proud to say it was 100% all me!



She returned to the stage in 2014, I believe, with not only the Physique Division, but also Crossfit duly discovered. Immediately she won the 2014 Badger State (ie. Wisconsin) Physique title, and the following year she was qualifying for national level contests. Obviously we'll be focusing on her Physique achievements we progress through the week, but for now, let's see how she looked at that 2014 show, shall we?

Fast forward to 4.10 if you want to see why she won.



Her Crossfit athlete page reveals Lauren has a "benchmark" Back Squat of 270lbs, a Clean & Jerk of 170, and a 370lb Deadlift. Not bad, I'm sure you'll agree, but overall, she only managed a ranking of 73rd in 2015, and 65th in 2016. That's in Illinois. Her global rank last year was 3,250th, so some way to go before she makes The Games.



Still, she wasn't exactly 100% committed to Crossfit at this time, what with her Physique shows and in 2015 there was Powerlifting as well. I am a Next Generation Powerlifting Federation state record holder! she told her IG followers in August 2015, proudly displaying her medals and certificates. What an exciting opportunity it was to compete and PR in the deadlift and bench press! Oh, and I was in between weight classes, she adds. Too fat for 148, but certainly not as fat as 165! Hahaha!



I am a good athlete and I'm very proud of that, says Lauren. Even as a skinny girl I was still somewhat athletic. I could do push-ups, pull-ups, climb the rope, I was a fast runner, so the potential was there I just had to work at developing it...



I am meant to do this.

The Mighty Quinn continues tomorrow.

Mrs Swell's Easter Surprise: Stronger Than Me

Mrs Swell is a competitive sort. From big contracts to trivial knowledge, she likes to win, and she very much takes that spirit into her workouts. Me, I don't seek to up my PBs, it just kind of happens, but the lady is always looking to go heavier, for more reps, with better form. Is she stronger than me? No. Not even close, but she does make more progress more quickly, so perhaps I should be looking over my shoulder a bit more!



Today I thought we might dip into the world of powerlifting, where you will find women who are shifting the kind of weight that others can only marvel at. If, as people are always saying these days, strong is the new sexy, then women like Crystal Tate (above) could make a reasonable claim to be the sexiest women in the world.

Tate weighs in at 198lbs (just about 90kg), which makes her about 10 kilos lighter than yours truly. However, she did a 700lb (317kg) squat at the end of last year, and in March at the Arnolds performed a world record 600lb (272kg) deadlift.



Tate is one of eight women "who squat weight that makes spectators' jaws drop" recently picked by the powerlifting blog BarBend. "These are female athletes who can be described in many ways, but usually incredible is the best word for it."



These include Kristy Hawkins, familiar to FMS readers (most recently seen here on Then & Now: 2007), and Becca Swanson, also (briefly) once a competitive bodybuilder, who has deadlifted more weight (672lbs/304kg) than any other female on the planet, as well as performing an 843lb (382kg) squat back in 2010.



And among BarBend's picks from the lighter weight classes, we find women who don't conform to the popular image of a powerlifter, but can nevertheless squat between three and four times their own bodyweight. Sweden's Isabella von Weissenberg, for example, is a two-time European champion with the looks of a model and a squat of 424lbs (just over 192kg), a world record for her under 72kg weight class.



My personal favourite though weighs in at just under 60kg (132lbs), not much heavier than Mrs Swell. From Austin, Texas, Nicole Gonzalez, aka Nikki Gunz, has a competitive 410lb (186kg) squat, Erica Blockmanesque looks, AND abs!



Sthenolagnia - sexual arousal from displays of strength or muscles.



Replace the "or" with an "and" and Nikki's appeal is very apparent.



Enjoy!

Then & Now: 2007

In the days before the Hot and Hard 100 voting closes (and you've only got 5 left by the way), FMS likes to avoid influencing your decisions unduly by bringing you some historical, rather than contemporary, female muscle. This year we've come up with a kind of time machine idea, used a random date generator, picked a contest winner from that year, and tried to find out what that special lady from the past is up to now.

Today, 2007, and Light-Heavyweight Kristy Hawkins is preparing to take the stage at the NPC Nationals. It's her third time at the show, and the competition is fierce.

THEN



In all, there were 60 women who competed in Bodybuilding that year. Kristy triumphed in her class against (check this out for a line-up!) Britt Miller, Karen Choat, Elena Seiple, Amy Neal and I could go on. To win the Overall title, she posed down with (again, this is mind-blowing) Lightweight winner Beni Lopez, Middleweight Tina Chandler, and Heavyweight Beverly DiRenzo. Fans certainly got their money's worth at the NPC Nationals that year, n'est-ce pas?




Anyone winning a national title around that time had to be an exceptional bodybuilder. Kristy was, and is, clearly exceptional, and not just as a bodybuilder either. The year after her win at the Nationals - her first as a pro - she became Dr Kristy Hawkins when she completed her PhD in Chemical Engineering.



Her pro career was short and lasted just two more years. 2009 was definitely its high point, with a runner-up placing in at the Atlantic City Pro, and a 7th place at her one and only Olympia - and yes, the line-up that year was truly exceptional.

NOW



Staying in California after graduating from the Masters program at the California Institute of Technology, Kristy worked as a metabolic engineer, then as Director of a yeast engineering company. Most recently, she is one of four female partners who have set up Antheia, Inc., whose mission is "to make and fairly provide medicines to all who need them". I'm very proud of the company we are building, says Kristy.



And if you think she still looks like she lifts a weight or two, it's because she does. She really lifts. A lot. Kristy transitioned into Powerlifting soon after retiring from Bodybuilding, and within a few years she was breaking world records for her weight for the squat, deadlift, and total. Her personal bests are currently listed at a hernia-inducing 496lbs (225kg) for the squat, and - don't try this at home - 537lbs (almost 244kg) for the deadlift. She can bench 319lbs (145kg). She's about 165kg herself.



But Powerlifting doesn't even get top billing on her Instagram. The pugs do.

Kristy's got a few years before she hits 40. Again, that word - exceptional.

Julia Vins: Powerlifter

There seem to be very clear parameters when it comes to describing the subject of today's post, the 18-year-old powerlifter from Engels in Russia, Julia Vins.

She's the Bodybuilding Barbie. A doll-faced Russian teen [who] has arms that could crush you! She's King Kong Barbie, the girl with the Barbie face and the muscle body. Don't be fooled by the doll-like face, they warn, Julia Vins is one tough chick.




And after the lack of imagination in the headline, whether the sub-heading promises she could beat the crap out of you, break your arm, "destroy" you, or rip your face off (I made the last one up), it's the the same story every single time. Without exception.

And the story is... pretty much what was covered in the headline. She's beautiful, she's strong. Or she's beautiful and powerful. Or she's beautiful, she's young, and she has "a body like the Hulk". The horror! The horror! Conventional beauty from the neck up, "manly" from the neck down. And only 18. The horror! The horror!



It's the kind of thing that can provoke the (normally peaceable) female muscle brethren into lashing out. We read the dumb comments attached to the stories and our ire gets ignited. For me, it's not even the ones you expect that get me riled - "that is a man" or some similar variation is so old, and so obviously nonsense that I don't get wound up by it anymore. Instead it's the ones who lay out their theories of what a woman should look like that rub me up the wrong way. Take this masterpiece on the subject of Julia's breats: I am mostly against community standards and believe everyone is free to do whatever they wish and people shouldn't negatively criticize them about it BUT it is horrible to lose a part of your body because you are dedicated. Breasts are awesome to look at. There really is nothing that signposts impending stoopidity like a big old BUT in the middle of a sentence, is there?

Most recently, I found myself feeling the exasperation of a fellow female muscle head when he posted this on his excellent Tumblr, Mike 'Mires Muscular Maidens...



So this popped up in my Facebook news feed today. Naturally I recognize her as Julia Vins, who is kind of internet-famous for being both feminine and muscular.

(Gasp!)

I followed the link to the clickbait-y article, which has you click through no fewer than 8 pages. The commentary on the pictures isn’t as offensive as it could be, I suppose. (There’s a “joke” about how she might beat you up if you ask her out, ha, ha.) I always shake my head when I see people who are floored that a woman can be beautiful and have muscle all at the same time. For some reason, the misconception persists that muscles are just for men, and women with muscle must be “manly.” At least articles like this spread the word that that’s not the case.

It's not often I agree 100% with anybody, BUT on this occasion...



At least articles like this spread the word. So true. And the main reason I should calm down, stop reading the comments and see these stories in a more positive light.



The fact that Julia has become the (doll-like) face (and Hulk-like body) of so many stories, or more accurately, so many versions of the same story, has got her a legion of fans, both male and female. It's hardly surprising. Despite her youth, she is, after all, a powerlifter of some note. Already a national champion, her "best lift" stats continue to rise - most recently, as far as I can ascertain, she improved her squat to 180kg. Initially, I set a goal to become stronger because I have absolutely no confidence in myself, she says. I do what I want. This is my life. There will always be people who respect my choice, but it's impossible to please everybody. I am following my dream.




Guess I shouldn't worry so much.



Check out Julia's website and/or follow her Instagram. There are a plethora of clips of her on YouTube, and not just on her channel. A good example of the typical Julia story can be found here, and an appearance she made on Chinese(?) TV here.

Enjoy!