Marvellous Maria

One of the most pleasing aspects of the Wings of Strength-led mini-resurgence in pro Female Bodybuilding is that women who seemed "retired" for one reason or another feel that the time is now right to compete again. Isabelle Turell is probably the best example in that she had roughly seven years' off before her comeback, but there's also Cathy Lefrançois, Bonnie Switzer (Pappas), and Laura Carolan to name but three. And a few days before the Toronto Pro, I noticed yet another familiar name who I hadn't heard of in a while was there on the competitor's list - Maria Mikola.



As is so often the case, the fact that I hadn't heard anything about her didn't mean she'd not been "active". Far from it, in fact. It's true that she did take 2014 and 2015 off, but having competed every year for the 17(!) years previous to that (at least 17, it may be more but the earliest record I can find of her in a contest is 1997), I reckon she was due a wee break. But she was back on stage last year, competing twice.




When she'd last competed in 2013 it was in the Physique division, winning her pro card at the IFBB North Americans, and it was in that same division that she competed last year. Looking at the images of her from both those shows, but particularly from the Europa Phoenix (above), where she placed 11th, I have to say that 1) I'm sorry I missed them at the time, and 2) that she doesn't exactly look very Physique!


Canadian Natural National Champion - 2009

Previous to 2013 Maria had always been a Bodybuilder, with her career (to date) probably peaking around 2009 when she won the Overall title at the Canadian Natural Championships. By that time she'd been a pro in other natural federations for some years - her IFBB pro card is, I believe, the fifth of her career. She was forum famous for her arms, a killer most muscular (not, apparently frowned upon in natural bodybuilding!) and for looking about 20 years younger than she actually was.



She was also famous for picking up more than her fair share of Best Poser awards. The best part of competing for me is getting on stage and being able to perform my routine, she told Promoting Real Women in 2010. Audiences and judges alike who have seen Maria perform would probably agree it was the best part for them too.



So she arrived in Toronto, "my own backyard", with plenty of pedigree behind her, but absolutely none of it as an IFBB pro Bodybuilder. And proceeded to steal the show.




I'm not saying that the judges' favourite, Kim Buck, wasn't worth the decision, nor that any of the other six women in the line-up were better or worse than Maria. But I am saying that in her pleasingly old-school-style posing suits (not too blingy, and more importantly not covering half of her upper body - what is it with this fashion nowadays for covering up?!) with a physique honed to perfection over a period of twenty years and the knowledge and commitment (still) to make sure that magnificent physique was shown off at its absolute best, Maria was pure class. No contest best abs and thigh in the show. In any division. By some distance. I've checked so you don't have to.



She's pushing 50, you know.




And the best news is she'll be back this weekend at the Omaha Pro, and I have absolutely no doubt she will flex those muscles as marvellously as ever.



Follow her prep on Instagram.

Enjoy!

Sunday Sizzler

This week's sizzler comes to you all the way from New Zealand and the WFF.

BJ Brunton is currently all-conquering down there - New Zealand, Queensland, and most recently Southern Hemisphere WFF Figure champion, and it's not hard to see why she's enjoying such success. She does also take pictures of herself with her muscles and veins ever so slightly more covered up. We prefer these though. Obviously.



Follow BJ on Instagram.

FBBUK @Toronto Pro 2017

Great to see some of the big beasts of Women's Bodybuilding finally unleashed last weekend in Toronto, with Kim Buck taking first prize to book her place at the 2017 Rising Phoenix. Great also to see four British women (in three different divisions) competing in such a big international pro show. It's all about those four today.



BIKINI

Karina Skowronska



Her third show in three weeks, the unplaced Karina neither was, nor felt, at her best. The package you can see on stage is not what I wanted to show, she said afterwards, obviously disappointed. Sometimes we want to do more than our body can handle. With her Scitec UK sponsorship and ambition though, I'm sure Karina will be back, wearing yet another one of her own magnificent Sparkle Bikini creations.

Alla Meijer




Her pro debut and 6th place. I think it's fair to say Russian-born Alla won't need too long to go where only Nina Ross has gone before and represent Britain at the Olympia. UK BB sage John Plummer (who would be the UK's Steve Wennerstrom if he paid less attention to the men) noted Alla's potential a couple of years ago, and she has since gone on to represent the UK at the Arnold Europe Amateur, finishing 2nd in her (tall - she's 1.72m, 5'6") class. I don't follow Bikini but WOW! I wrote at the time. In Toronto she wowed both me, and more importantly the judges, once again.

Strangely, Alla's social media seems presence seems to have all but disappeared - with the exception of a Facebook page which was last updated in 2016. Instagram, her website... gone. Perhaps she was getting a bit too much attention, there's certainly no shortage of men (and women) waxing lyrical about her on their fitness blogs.

FIGURE

Maria Scotland




Celebrating after the show with Karina and Alla was Maria Scotland, who, in an ultra-competitive Figure line-up, was awarded 13th. She's becoming something of a veteran these days is Maria, who won her pro card back in 2014 at the Arnold Amateur. She has good memories of Toronto - in 2015 she placed 4th here, her best ever as a pro. It's the experience and the cameraderie though, rather than the placings, that she seems to cherish most. The best thing about the last 6 years has been meeting so many amazing strong independent women, she says. I'm sure they feel exactly the same.

BODYBUILDING

Wendy McCready




By far the most exciting British result of the show though was Wendy McCready's in the Bodybuilding class. This was her first show for three years, and surrounded by women who looked to be at least three or four times her size, her ultra-conditioned package punched well above her weight and secured her a top three placing.




It was her best result since she placed third in Toronto all the way back in 2012, and the smile as she showed off her medal afterwards says it all. Congratulations Wendy!



Wendy will be competing again in Chicago at the end of the month.

Enjoy!

Fantasy Friday

I AM PALOMA'S MASSEUR

Note that even Buddha is craning his neck for a better view.



Now obviously I am not alone in thinking these thoughts as I gaze at Paloma's shining between contests muscles. I'd rub that down for a month! says one fan. Others suggest different scented oils Paloma might like - jasmine? lavender? If I were so crude, I might suggest an alternative to oil. In which case we would definitely need a bigger towel.



Paloma obviously approves.

Woman of the Week: Alyssa Kiessling

They say Female Bodybuilding is dying, and to be honest, there are times when you have to admit that, despite the best efforts of Wings of Strength and so forth, it ain't looking good. The women competing at the majority of the pro shows, as in Toronto last weekend, are fewer in number and - with the greatest respect and some notable exceptions - not of the quality of the line-ups even just five years ago. Meanwhile, opportunities for FBBs from outside North America have dwindled to the point where only a handful of amateur federations now run their category, none of them within the IFBB umbrella that was once the means by which FBBs could progress to pro status. And even in the US, NPC shows all too rarely feature a Female Bodybuilding category, and when they do there is almost always only one, maybe two competitors.



Meet the good news - 23-year-old Alyssa Kiessling.



Alyssa recently won both the Physique and Bodybuilding titles at the NPC Orlando Europa Games. She didn't have to beat a lot of other women - two in fact, and that's combined for both categories - to do so, so perhaps one shouldn't get too carried away, but the sight Alyssa before, during, and after her triumph has convinced me that perhaps the future of Female Bodybuilding is, after all, really rather bright.




Now I'm not getting over-excited just because of all Alyssa's lovely lovely muscles. A little digging and you will find that she is quite the unique young woman. For one thing, she is a total junkie for the sport, not just its present but also its past. And not just the past of Female Bodybuilding, either, though she takes much inspiration from the likes of Juliette Bergman and Lenda Murray, but also the past greats of the male side of the sport. Her Instagram moniker, The Classical Queen, is perhaps an allusion to her admiration for the bodies and posing styles of a bygone era, the same era that the newest male BBing category - Classic Physique - is attempting to hark back to.



And she uses her research into the sport's past to great effect, using the slow, measured posing style of those women (and men) who had more than sixty seconds to perform their routines in her own, as well as incorporating poses - not just her fantabulous most muscular - previously unknown in Female Bodybuilding, and not common in Men's Bodybuilding since the days of Pumping Iron. Add a truck load of self-assurance to the mix and the overall effect she manages to create is absolutely mesmerising.



If you are going to work so hard on your physique, Alyssa says, you've got to show what you built, bring it on stage. It's art. It certainly is when she does it.



From her pre-contest double biceps with bonus stomach vacuum gym shots to her mouth-wateringly beefy hotel room posing in her suit. From the incredible pump room back footage shot by her friend, mentor and fellow freak of muscle Michaela Ayccok to the way she stands, hands on hips - so manly, so cocksure - throughout most of her NPC News Online interview with Ariel Khadr. And all the rest of it. The way this young woman goes about her bodybuilding business is, I find, quite irresistible.



Next stop, the Jr. Nationals, just under four weeks away.



See more of Alyssa in Orlando on the Bodybuilding and Beyond channel.

And apologies for the tardiness of today's post.