As soon as I saw this, I had to know more - and for starers that meant finding a name. Why this picture, and this woman in particular is hard to say - it's not like I'm starved of images of beautiful muscular women! Something about her though, something more than her beautiful (I guessed, correctly, Bodyfitness) muscles and her striking beauty. Perhaps it was the snake, its tongue exactly where I'd like to mine to be as I begin an abdominal exploration that will ultimately reveal exactly where its coils travel...
It took a few days to get the name, but I get it I did: Natalia Da Costa.
Despite the Brazilian sound, Natalia is actually from France. She is 32 years old, and was a "former athlete of the highest level in the field of combat sports" according to her Facebook bio - perhaps I sensed her deadliness and I liked it! Now her passion for Bodybuilding has led her to a career in fitness, health and sports nutrition. As well as competing herself - firstly in Bikini in 2015 and for the last two years in her preferred class Bodyfitness - she is a personal trainer and remote coach to both competitive athletes and those seeking to transform their bodies (and lives) for the better.
She finished 3rd in her class at last year's French championships, and the reason why she is currently looking so shredded (although she hardly ever seems to look very unshredded as far as I can tell) is that she is preparing for the European championships at the start of May. It will be (again, as far as I can tell) her first international contest.
And the other day Natalia gave us a reminder of exactly what it takes to look as freakily ripped as she currently does. Patience... she wrote. Zero. Fatigue... Maximum. Determination... full on! And she signed off that particular Instagram post as she always does, sending bisous musclées - "muscle kisses" - to her followers.
If only!
I love the fact she's French - and not just because, not unusually, I tend to melt at that accent - when spoken by the right woman, and a woman with a body (and face) like Natalia's definitely qualifies as the right woman. No, it's more because in the seven years of this blog, I could count the number of French women we've featured on (not all) the fingers of one hand. France has punched well below its female muscle weight for far too long. Hopefully, Natalia is the first of many femmes françaises to come.
But most of all I can't help but love her obvious love for what she does.
One more experience, she writes of this contest prep. I've already made a lot of progress but I'm still learning about this body, going headlong towards a new physique, the best I can possibly have, like the ram I am. When my energy fails, my passion keeps me going. This is so important to me. Muscle kisses...
Oh là là!
