FBBUK@ the Arnold Amateur

It's a sad fact that this year's Arnold Classic in Ohio, which took place last weekend, was a far less interesting event for female muscle fans that it previously had been. Gone the Ms International. No female bodybuilding at all. No pro physique. Not even pro figure. "Rock star bikini" and pole-dancing contests, however, were introduced.

Nevertheless, there was a women's physique class in the Arnold Amateur. And for us British fans, there were three VERY good reasons to be interested in that.

Rosanna Harte was flying the flag for the second year in a row at the Arnold Amateur. Last time out she finished 3rd in bodybuilding and this year she went one better in the short physique class, taking the runners-up spot. Go Rosanna!




Rosanna's standout feature (for me anyway) is her back, from which her whole physique seems to take its proportions. I've said here before that there's something about Rosanna that reminds me of the female bodybuilders I first saw as a teenager. The conditioning, the symmetry and shape. Her eye make-up! She has a wonderfully aesthetic physique is, I guess, what I am trying to articulate. Beautifully balanced.



She looked in great shape before the contest, and in a way I'm disappointed for her that she didn't get a little more favour from the judges and had come home as the UK's newest pro. Not that she sounds like she needs cheering up, tweeting before the evening show, Never been this happy with my physique, down to the judges now.



FMS eagerly awaits footage of her evening routine. Rosanna's posing, with its elements of dance - from street to ballet - and athleticism, is always a treat.




Again, congratulations Rosie!

And the other two reasons were making their US debuts. Ria Ward joined Rosanna in the short physique class, and Hayley Brylewski, who finished runner-up to Ria at the UKBFF British Championships, represented Britain in tall physique.



Neither of them finished top 5, but both of them seemed to have had an absolute blast. From surreptitiously snapping Jay Cutler in a chair (Hayley) to meeting her number number one inspiration (Ria) to buying new leggings (Hayley again), both Ria's and Hayley's Facebook pages tell of two ladies absolutely lovin' it.




Hayley: Had an amazing time at the Arnold Classic. Got to meet some great people and athletes, all UK team, lots of different photo shoots with top photographers - can't wait to see some pics - hanging with all the pros seeing them at their best, being on a world class stage can't wait to go back harder, tighter and better next year.




And that's funny because "harder, tighter and better" were the exact words I was going to use to describe Hayley at the UKBFF and this show even more. We think Hayley is, right now, the rising star of British female muscle.

Ria: Great news tonight, and a big relief to me... Feedback from the judges, I didn't place as I was not conditioned enough not that I wasn't big enough Phewww... that was me panicking about my size. I have been told I am 100% physique not body fitness sooo I'm happy with that - my condition I can work on!!




And just like Hayley promised to be back "harder, tighter and better", Ria finishes her message with a promise for the future. I will bring it next time that's for sure. Yeah!

But wait, something was conspiring to keep our goddesses away from Britain. Hayley, thankfully, is back now (even if her luggage is still on its way), but Ria they're still holding onto. Flight canceled as there is a storm on the way to Philadelphia and that was where our connecting flight is... So another night in Ohio. Some nice food and we're chilling out! Rosanna? Where's she now? Anybody???



Enjoy!

Media Watch: Gal Gadot Buffs Up

As celebrity female muscle pics go, more stir has been created by Israeli actress Gal Gadot's Facebook post from February 17th than most. There's nothing like a good workout in the morning, she writes, showing us her, er, bicep. Love it! You?

The stir is the result of the announcement at the end of last year that she had been cast in what's being called Batman Vs Superman (although officially it doesn't have a title yet, and is listed on IMDb as Untitled Superman-Batman Project). No, Gal hasn't been cast as Superman, and no, she hasn't been cast as Batman, either.

She's going to be Wonder Woman.

The announcement sparked off some hilarious reactions from the world of comic fandom as grown men in bedrooms all over the world complained via the wonder of social media that Gal didn't have the breasts or the muscles to play Wonder Woman.

And, with the above picture and an interview on Israeli TV, Gal has responded.

Breasts... anyone can buy for 9,000 shekels and everything is fine. By the way, Wonder Woman is Amazonian, and historically accurate Amazonian women actually had only one breast. So, if I’d really go "by the book"... it’d be problematic.

Now, apparently Gal is quite a big deal with people who watch movies like Fast & Furious, but I have to admit I'd never heard of her before this picture arrived in the FMS inbox. However, the way she out-geeked the geekboys with her knowledge of Amazonian culture there... Well, I'm beginning to like her.

And, according to her interview, "a good workout in the morning" is not going to be the limit of her mass-building in preparation for the part (and given that the movie isn't going into production anytime soon, she's got plenty of time to build that mass).

It’s the physical preparations that I’m starting now, she says. A very serious training regimen – Kung Fu, kickboxing, swords, jujitsu, Brazilian... I’ll gain body mass.

Well, that is good news. And if there are going to be progress pictures along the way, even better. Meanwhile, like the good female muscle head I am, I will be completely ignoring developments in the world of comic book superheroine debate, although if I fancy a bit of cosplay, there's no shortage of images of REAL Wonder Womans (Wonder Women? Neither sounds quite right!) for the female muscle head to enjoy...

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

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

Media Watch Special: 99 Reasons (But Turning Yourself Into A Badass Hardcore Female Muscle Beast Ain't One)

8 Reasons Why Women Should Lift Weights says the title of one article; 9 Reasons Why Women Should Lift Weights says another. Yet another claims there are 14 Reasons To Get Weight Training; and another details 25 Reasons Why Women Should Lift Weights. Should? Here's one entitled Why Women MUST Weight Train. There are 7 Reasons Women Should Lift HEAVY weights according to one article; another tells us there are 8 Reasons Why You Should Lift HEAVIER weights; while another has found only 3 reasons, but, look out, because these are 3 INIDISPUTABLE Reasons To Lift Heavy.

Tireless in our search to monitor the perception and promotion of weight training for women, FMS comes across articles like these on a weekly, if not daily, basis. The vast majority of them focus on the weight loss/fat loss angle, informing women their metabolism will soar, that muscle will burn more calories than fat, and that pretty soon you'll lose those muffin tops and/or fit into your skinny jeans.



Other articles - generally the ones that have A LOT of reasons and are more 'serious' in tone - focus on the longer-term health benefits such as bone strength maintenance, improved posture, and, consequently, better all-round health in old age.



Many of these pieces are rehashed versions of ones that have appeared before, but occasionally there's a whole new round of them after new research discovers yet another benefit. Back in 2012, for example, researchers found that women can, and frequently do, have orgasms while weight training (as reported by FMS: No Wonder She's Smiling). A more important (perhaps, I guess it depends on your point of view) recent finding that gained widespread coverage at the beginning of this year was that women who pump iron in the gym cut their risk of developing diabetes.

More often than not, the articles are accompanied by images of a woman lifting weights. Without exception, the women are toned but by no means muscular.



And this is all good. Anything that gets more women into the free weights area and adds to the sum total of female muscle in the world should, I think, be applauded. And it's unrealistic to expect anything other than a quote unquote healthy-looking model to illustrate these articles, much as I'd like it to be otherwise.

The prelude to these articles generally includes something along the lines of "Most women are put off the idea of lifting free weights because of the misconception that picking up anything heavier than their water bottle will make them resemble an Olympic shot putter/Arnold Schwarzenegger/the female equivalent of the Incredible Hulk." This misconception, the articles often go on to say, "comes from seeing pictures of freaky bodybuilders who aren’t representative of weight lifting."

Again, I ain't complaining. These are mainstream articles in mainstream publications, designed to appeal your "average" woman. And your average woman, apparently, really is worried about becoming "too" muscular, about losing her femininity, and about turning into the female equivalent of the Incredible Hulk.

But, just for a change, once, just once, I'd like to read a different kind of article. An article illustrated not with healthy-looking models, but by huge muscular women in their prime. An article that begins not with reassurance to the readers that weight training won't turn them into "freaky bodybuilders", but a promise that it will!



Entitled something like 10 Reasons Why You Should Train Like An FBB or perhaps Why Settle For Less When You Can Be A Goddess? (quite like that second one, quite proud of that) the author should be a woman (much as I'd like to give it a crack myself), a woman who finds massive female bodybuilders utterly enthralling. And she'd really really want her audience (of women) to understand why.



Backed up by quotes from genuine female muscle beasts, the author would outline the advantages of a massively muscular physique. Reasons why her readers should aspire to be just like the women she has interviewed. Empowerment! The sense of control over her own body, the sense of achievement as she lifts greater and greater weight with ever-increasing assurance. The knowledge that all eyes are on her when she enters a room. The increasing intensity of her sexual experience as she grows. The hold she has over the men who find her so intoxicatingly attractive, strangers who will write hundreds, thousands of words in tribute to her(!) Men who will spend large portions of their income to shower her with gifts or to meet her. The strong, muscular body she has forged with iron completely reversing traditional gender roles as the man kneels, submissive, trembling with excitement before her...



An article that persuaded women to lift weights because they should aspire to be female bodybuilders would be a refreshing change from all the articles that promise women that lifting weights won't turn them into anything of the sort. Miranda Kerr's a fan, says one of the more recent articles that have cropped up. A "fan"? Really?! I wonder if Miranda's an FMS reader, just like a few other fans of women who lift. Beyonce does it, as does Kelly Brook, it continues. Yeah? Well, that's great and all, but check it out, they don't do it quite like Lisa and Tazzie do it, do they?

Enjoy!