2016 Review: December

NPC/NABBA (cont.)



We continued our simultaneous look at two of the big end-of-year contests with, among other things, a reminder to some IFBB pro competitors that a wig is not necessarily necessary (ask Natascha Donald), and we took another peak at the spectacular, er, peaks of class runner-up and new Physique pro Suha Qasem.



The winners of the Overall titles - Emma Gormley at the NABBA Universe, and Chareece Johnson at the Nationals - deserved all the praise we heaped on them, especially so Emma Gormley, who'd already won Northern Ireland and Britain titles in 2016, and here became the first British Overall Ms Universe for 25 years.



But, if we had to pick a favourite from each contest, it wouldn't be the winners.

From the NPC Nationals, we just couldn't resist Pamela Hamman's liberal interpretation of NPC rules regarding posing suit coverage. Perhaps that's why she only finished 3rd in her class?! We can't think of another reason, and neither can she. As we write she's still going on about it on her Instagram, fully engaged in an almighty slanging match with the husband of one of the competitors who placed above her!



No such issues for Kay Goodwin competing in NABBA. Display as much of that perfect bum as you like. And she does. And that's why she is our pick of the show!



Kay's "reverse bow" is priceless!

FBBUK

And for our last week of posts for the year, it was where the heart is.



There was a name from the distant past, long overshadowed by her sister's female muscle achievements; there was a new name, suddenly all over the world's media; and there was an entire weekend devoted to the marvellous, mighty Sharon Madderson, including an Instagram post of hers so impressive we reproduced it in full.



But really the star of the week (perhaps when we look back to December 2016 in the future, the British female muscle star of the year), was the subject of our first post of our FBBUK week, and also the subject of my (and many other female muscle fans') waking thoughts ever since images of her triumph at the WABBA International Ms Universe came to light. Sarah Williams, former UKBFF British Physique champion, has, it seems to me, just taken her physique to the next level.



Look. at. Those. ARMS!!!

That's all for the review, but, as is customary on FMS, we have two more posts to come in 2016. "Images of the Year" and "Women of the Year" will be on the blog next week, but not in that order. If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a lovely one.

FBBUK: Everybody Loves Sarah

The judges love Sarah. Well, some of them anyway. At the end of November the 2014 UKBFF British Physique champion Sarah Williams was crowned the 2016 WABBA International Ms Universe - and, as the above photo of the triumphant Sarah suggests, this time she was back where she began, in a Women's Bodybuilding class.



She hasn't always got so much love from the judges - her mighty muscles were a bit scary to judges of the IFBB variety at the Amateur Olympia UK last year and she finished down in 8th. But I reckon she's forgotten all about that now. Being announced as the [Universe] winner was a little overwhelming for me, she told her Instagram followers. That special moment when you realise all the sacrifice, hard work and dedication you put in has finally paid off. I tried hard to fight back the tears!


Sarah finishes 8th in the Physique class at the IFBB Amateur Olympia UK 2015 (left); WABBA British Grand Prix 2016 champion (middle), and WABBA International Ms Universe 2016

This was the seoond time this year that Sarah has had that feeling. In July she was crowned British champion (2nd time) in Women's Bodybuilding (1st time) at the WABBA British Grand Prix. Seems that while the UKBFF judges can be fickle, the WABBA judges know a quality female physique when they see one.


UKBFF British Physique champion 2014

Just like the fans do really. And while, yes, there are some dissenting voices regarding Sarah, they get shouted down pretty quick. We, the "collective we", love Sarah, and have done ever since she became widely known after her UKBFF British Physique triumph. She's awesome, noted one forum poster at the time the first few photos of Sarah went up on the boards. Pictures like these make me wonder why the entire male population isn't crazy about female bodybuilders! Me too, buddy. Me too.



The only problem female muscle heads had with Sarah was her apparent lack of social media - at the time she didn't have a mobile phone, let alone a Facebook page! However, unlike many IFBB judges, female muscle subscription websites know a great body when they see one, and Awefilms, Muscle Angels and Muscle Appeal were quick to track Sarah down, help her change into something revealing, and point a lens at her.



Sometimes the models you least expect become popular, says Jason Lynch of Muscle Appeal. I did not anticipate the popularity of Sarah Williams. To this day, every time I travel to bodybuilding shows and I meet some fans, they always tell me how much they like her. I try to work with her as much as I can because she is fun to be around. And because, like many FBB fans, I have a crush on her.




Me too, buddy. Me too.



Eight weeks out before the 2016 WABBA International Universe

Sarah is on Facebook these days. And Instagram. Fill yer boots!

More from the WABBA International Universe later in the week on FMS.



FBBUK ALL week!

Who Is Lea Pearl?

PHYSIQUE DREAMS

Today we search for Lea Pearl in the south-east of the UK with two genuine British Physique goddesses, and another woman with the potential to become the next.

Carly Thornton



What a difference a year makes. At the start of 2015 Carly decided to take the advice she was getting snd move up from Bodyfitness (Figure) to Physique. Within months she had become the first British Physique winner at the Arnold Classic Europe and the first ever Physique competitor from the UK to receive a pro card (see FMS passim for the full story). To say that she's excited about her first season as a pro is something of an understatement. In fact I'd go so far as to say her focus seems so intense it is unlikely Carly would get distracted by anything as trivial as an offer of movie stardom.



Sarah Williams


left, 2014 UKBFF Physique champ; right, added beef in 2015

Like Carly, Sarah is a UKBFF Physique champion but unlike Carly she didn't follow her 2014 win with international success - despite having all the tools to do so. Also unlike Carly, Sarah arrived in the Physique division by necessity rather than design, having previously competed in Bodybuilding. Given the amount of muscle she's carrying now, it looks like she might well be thinking of going back to that division. Awesome.



Becs Cronshaw



Once a corporate banker, rising star Becs Cronshaw now works as a fitness trainer in the heart of the City of London and is preparing for her first season in the Physique division having previously competed in Bodyfitness. I'm not the only one who believes Becs' star is on the rise. FMS Head of Research "JT" has noted a massive increase in Facebook follows for Becs over the last six months, and the female muscle lovin' forum whose first rule is... has certainly discovered her charms in recent months as well.

Definitely a name to remember.



More potential Pearls tomorrow.

FBBUK: Sarah Williams @UKBFF 2014

One of the saddest things I've read this year is the news that Female Bodybuilding had been "phased out" of UKBFF events. No Female Bodybuilding class in the regional qualifiers, no Female Bodybuilding class at the national championships. The federation that brought you the world class muscle of Lisa Cross (2010 UKBFF champion) and Rene Campbell (2011) has turned its back on British female bodybuilders.

However, come competition time at the UKBFF British Championships recently, hope for the future of female muscle within Britain's most important bodybuilding federation was provided by the triumph of the VERY muscular Sarah Williams.



Sarah had previously competed at the championships as a bodybuilder. In 2012, in fact, she had been runner-up to the smaller and considerably less muscular Rosanna Harte, and many had felt she'd been the victim of a judging travesty. Then, last year, having been a pre-contest favourite given her placing the year before, her appearance on stage apparently having forgotten to apply the pro tan was met with confusion, and, despite her size, she slipped down to fifth in the final placings.


Sarah, robbed at the UKBFF British in 2012


"Looking ghostly" - her words - in 2013

So Sarah got busy "sizing down" as they say, preparing to compete in Physique. It was a bit daunting at first, she says. But I made it simple like I always do, just started dieting a bit earlier, played with my diet a bit, and then just made sure my legs - I didn't train them the same way to get them to be proportionate to my top half.



Given that she is already more successful as a Physique competitor than she ever was as a bodybuilder, it shouldn't be too surprising that she already sounds like a true believer, that Physique was the home she had always been looking for. It [Physique posing] felt much more feminine, much more natural to me, she said after her win.

And it's good to know that being covered in rock hard muscle - she "shredded the competition" according to Flex Online - and getting that feminine feeling are not mutually exclusive. She was, by all accounts, the clear winner from the moment she stepped on stage. The only debate, writes John Plummer, centred on whether she was too muscular for women’s physique. Some felt she was a bodybuilder by another name; others felt her physique was perfectly suited to the international stage.



Thankfully, the latter of these two views won the day among the judges, and it seems likely that the theory that Sarah will be a strong representative for the UK in European competition will soon be tested. It's something I've always wanted to do, she says.

Check out Sarah's 2012 nemesis Rosanna Harte interviewing the new champ backstage after her win. Sadly, Sarah's fabulous body is all covered up, but if you like your muscle goddess' voice basso profundo, listening to Sarah will more than make up for that. And all delivered in Swell's own South London-Surrey border brogue.



Congratulations to Sarah!