Thursday, 12 April 2018

Woman of the Week: Slava Galagan

She juxtaposes the seemingly incompatible: she has the shape of a seriously built amazon and the face of the prettiest, most innocent girl. Long shiny dark hair, big eyes with curly lashes and a charming smile somehow go along with the widest shoulders. (Vasilina Pazdnikova, "Vladislava Galagan, the Female Bodybuilder")

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Not me gushing, but a female admirer, a would-be journalist and student at the Anglo-American University in Prague, where "Slava" (as she is more commonly known) was enrolled for a while. But it could have been written (though perhaps not so well) by pretty much any of the many female muscle heads who have fallen under her spell.

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Young(er) Slava, already "selecting outfits that make sure her achievements don’t go unnoticed"

A teenage athlete, she had first found beauty in female muscle at local meets. There were girls in good shape with beautiful leg muscles, she says. If I saw them now I wouldn't be so impressed, but at that time, at 16, they amazed me. Weight training not only improved her as an athlete, it gradually became her obsession in life.

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Slava is, like her Prague-based trainer Olha Zhelamska, originally from Russia. Specifically, she hails from what she calls "a tiny town in the God-forsaken Taman Peninsula" (which, if your Russian geography isn't all that it should be, is about as close as you can get to eastern Crimea without actually being in it), and it was there she first began to dream of becoming a pro FBB. I was on the phone with my ex-boyfriend while scrolling through Bodyfitness models on the Internet, she explains. Suddenly, as though something or someone inside me had put the words there, I thought: 'I know what I want to do with my life'. Item #1 on the agenda was escape from Taman...

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Relocating to Prague gave her freedom from a family who failed to understand (and support) her. She became financially independent as well, but the demands of being a student and being a bodybuilder proved incompatible. Happily, she ditched the former. Bodybuilding requires a lot of investment, she says. I had to work and train. Studying was just too much. I loved it, but it stood in the way of my dream.

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And one part of that dream was realised last week when she stood on stage for the first time at the IFBB Diamond Cup in Malta. Not as one of those Bodyfitness models she had been scrolling through when she had that epiphany, but in the Physique division. She was the Physique division actually, all of it. Perhaps not quite as she had dreamt it then, but still... Best experience ever! she told her Instagram followers. Even though I was the only one, I still stepped on the stage. It’s always so hard the first time.

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Yep, she's already planning to do it again. And that is very good news for the female muscle lovin' community because, although a very select few have had her on their radar since late 2016, it has only been during the prep for her contest debut that Slava has really made a name for herself. And she's really made a name for herself.

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On top of all that single-minded dedication (which is always a winner), she's an "Amazonian" 5'9", has the looks of "a buffer Aspen Rae", and has made the kind of progress every head with a 22-year-old skinny but athletic girlfriend dreams of on a nightly basis. To say Slava has slayed us all is (not easy but) no understatement.

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We don't seem to be able to decide whether "to look into her eyes or at her pecs" for one thing. She is "huge, but still cute as a button", "growing like a weed", and "her sex appeal is off the charts". It's been said she is "the future of bodybuilding", and "the future sexiest woman on Earth". The reply to which was, predictably: "She already is."

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It is, apparently, almost impossible not to get a bit carried away (as you gaze into those big brown eyes or at those beautiful beefy arms). Her student interviewer felt it, FMS is very much feeling it, and her fans, including her 20,000+ Instagram followers (Angelica Enberg and Yeon Woo Jhi among them) are no doubt feeling it too.

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I build this dream, she says. I never had a doubt. Good, but by no means 100% perfect English. And that is both something of a relief and perfectly excusable considering just about everything else about Slava Galagan is, apparently, absolutely perfect.



Enjoy!

Wednesday, 11 April 2018

Tube Watch

FMS' (pleasingly popular and) very occasional muscle-in-motion fest returns for the first time since last July with our picks from YouTube over the last month or so.

PHYSIQUE DREAMS @ROYAL LONDON PRO

If you blinked you missed it, but there really was an IFBB pro show in London. Held in the Olympic Park in Stratford the week after the Arnolds, it combined a Saturday pro qualifying contest with a Sunday pro show. Five fine Physiques took to the stage on the Sunday - Britain's own Rosanna Harte, Hronn Sigurdardottir from Iceland (who had won qualifying the day before), the mighty Joanna Romano, Margita Zámolová (fresh from her 3rd place at the Arnolds), and American Shonita Wade. Perhaps not the biggest line-up in terms of numbers, but not short on quality either, as shown in the final judging, posedown and awards, thanks to NPC News Online.



Our Rosie was probably a little disappointed not to win on home turf, but Margita is a seriously classy act these days, and you can watch her routine from the show here.

For Your Consideration

We've long been able to rely on Best Muscle Video for quality (and no little quantity of) North American contest footage, and recently they got round to putting up what they filmed at the 2017 IFBB North Americans. The graceful, sizzling Jessica McKenzie (winner in the Physique division) is definitely a highlight, and we also highly recommend the glorious Jennie Gray - in Figure, but doubtless "too muscular". And for those who like their lady glutes more out in the open, NABBA have put two clips up in the last week or so that are well worth checking out. First we suggest Sarah Halkon (in the tiniest thong of all the finalists) winning the NABBA Britain title last year, followed by some archive footage of Flavia Crissos from the 2004 Universe. Less posing than dance routine, it turns the sexy up to 11 (and quite possibly beyond).

HDPHYSIQUES CUTS IT SHORT (BUT SWEET)

I'm sure their "preview" clips used to be longer, that we used to get a good minute of tease to persuade us to part with our hard-earned and subscribe. Nevertheless, as this teeny tiny glimpse of Sarah Fechter proves, length doesn't matter as long as the clip includes a bicep flex that sears itself into your brain and stays there until you click "PAY NOW" - and delts you could devote your whole life to don't hurt either.



For longer offerings from the channel, you'll have to be content with (some of the better) interviews from backstage and so on. Three well worth a watch from the recent Arnolds are a glammed up Katie Lee (interviewed for once rather than doing the interviewing), Natalia Coelho the day after she finished 2nd at the Physique International (feathery quads and all), and (double bubble) Figure Olympian Melissa Bumstead (pretty but sadly covered up) interviewed by none other than "Beefnuggette" Paige Sandgren (pretty and not at all covered up) - flex at the end!

For Your Consideration

In a similar vein, forum darling Yeon Woo Jhi was recently filmed at a Korean show expo, and although the first two minutes and eight seconds is a lot more interesting than the rest, she does look rather marvellous posing in a tight peachy dress and heels.

VIRGINIA SANCHEZ: REAL TRAINING

We noted how surprised we were that Virginia was absent from this year's Hot and Hard 100, and this recent Double Biceps preview only adds to the confusion. She pumps, she pouts, she makes her mighty striated pecs ripple from bottom to top...

And that's just the first twenty seconds!



Definitely our March viewing highlight. Check out double-biceps.com for preview pics and details of how to obtain the fully-pumped, sweat-drenched 38-minute clip.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, 10 April 2018

FBBUK: Fitness First!

BRITAIN'S KATE ERRINGTON WINS THE ARNOLD CLASSIC AUSTRALIA

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I would love to say "so read the headline on the [insert name of mainstream UK news source, the BBC, for example]", but neither the national nor even the local media around Kate's Maidstone home has picked up on her achievement. Not yet anyway.

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After Kate's remarkable 2nd place at the Arnolds at the beginning of March, FMS (not very boldly) predicted that "She's going to Australia for the Arnolds there next, and she'll be among the favourites to win", so her triumph Down Under was not a complete surprise. On top of that, the fact that Whitney Jones, who both coaches Kate and was the only woman to beat her in Ohio, had decided not to bother with the long trip to Melbourne served only to shorten Kate's odds and make her the favourite.

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She still had to win though, and win she did, looking even better than she had earlier in the month on her pro debut to finish 2nd in the heels and turns round before blowing the rest of the field away with her routine to place first by some distance. What an AMAZING weekend, she wrote after it had begun to sink in. 2 weeks ago at Arnolds Ohio was a dream come true, now this???!!! I am on Cloud 9. THIS IS CRAZY.

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Indeed it is. British women may have won Bodybuilding titles in both the distant and recent past. Lately we have also celebrated our first pro Physique win, but, they have never got close to winning pro Fitness titles. Then Emma Paveley became the first British woman to win one last year in Vancouver. It was against a much smaller field than Kate had to deal with though, and all of the women who Kate beat in Ohio and in Melbourne finished above Emma at the Olympia last year. Kate's win is, without question, the greatest British pro Fitness display ever (her 2nd at the USA Arnolds being the previous best!). Her pro career has had the most sensational start possible.

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Looks like the suit's been upgraded too! Kate's amazing progress from (left) the Arnold Amateur 2017 to (right) her irresistible winning pro package at the Arnolds Australia, March 2018

And it was only around this time last year that she was winning the Arnold Amateur to gain that pro card. The improvement she has made in her conditioning is nothing short of incredible. She obviously chose wisely when she hired Jones as her coach.

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But most important, I think, is the fact that Kate is a born performer. It's what she does as a day job, after all. Burlesque shows, fire-eating... Kate, it seems, is never happier than when all eyes are on her. There's a saying, 'Dance like nobody's watching...' but where's the fun in that? she wrote recently. I want EVERYONE to be watching.

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This win makes her Olympia qualified, and everyone will be watching her as a potential champ there now. Meanwhile, we won't take our eyes off her prep on Instagram.

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Enjoy!

Monday, 9 April 2018

2018 Hot and Hard 100: The Last Word

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Relaxing in the Florida sun "between workouts" recently, Valentina Mishina showed us why she was your Hot and Hard 100 highest new entry this year.

NEW ENTRIES

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Almost exactly a third of all the women on your Hot and Hard 100 list were first timers (33, to be precise, which is about the same as it has been in other years), with the vast majority (24) turning up in the lower half, so only nine women made their debuts inside the Top 50. Valentina (above) was the highest, the only Top 10 New Entry this year, and only the second Top 10 New Entry ever. Lauren Quinn was the only other New Entry in the Top 20 at #13, and Jacquelyn Hickerson (#22), Dany Castilho (#24), and Sheronica Henton (#29) also made the Top 30.

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Among those nine Top 50 new entries, there is not one competitive Female Bodybuilder. Seven are Physique competitors, and two - Aspen Rae (#42), and Odalys Ferreira (#45) - compete in Figure. The highest new "proper" FBBs were Kristina Nicole Mendoza (#57) and Pauline Nelson (#60), and (with the exception of Kristen Nun (#90) who hasn't yet competed but if she does is definitely going to do so in the Female Bodybuilding division), they were also the only two.

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BIG BEASTS, PHYSIQUE DREAMS & FIGURE PHENOMS

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The list has become ever more dominated by the Physique division. 2016 saw a Hot and Hard 100 high of 52 Physique competitors (last year it was 47). This year the number was 54, comfortably over half of the women on the list - although this number includes a handful of women - such as Natalia Coelho (#4), and Gülüzar Tüfenk (#21) - who have made the move from Figure to Physique over the last twelve months.

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At #2, Ms Physique Olympia Juliana Malacarne was the highest Physique Dream (as in life, so on the list!), followed by Natalia, Valentina, Eleonora Dobrinina (#7) and Katie Lee (#9) - meaning Physique competitors made up half of the Top 10, which in previous years had been largely dominated by competitive Female Bodybuilders.

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You don't have to be a shredded Physique goddess to make the Top 10... but it helps. Ella Dobrinina and Katie Lee show why they won over so many FMS readers.

So, while your #1 (Elena Oana Hreapca) is, as it has been in four of the five Hot and Hard 100 years, an FBB, only four other Bodybuilders with a capital B appear in the Top 20 - Theresa Ivancik (#6), Aleesha Young (#8), Isabelle Turell (#12), and Margie Martin - no longer competing but still very much a Big Beast! - (#20).

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And this lack of FBBs near the top of the list is also evident overall. Only 15 names from the Female Bodybuilding division (or equivalent) made this year's Hot and Hard 100. For the first time Alina Popa and Yaxeni Oriquen are not in, and nor are Virginia Sanchez and 2017's highest new entry Sarah Williams.

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The Figure division made up the shortfall, supplying almost a quarter of the list (23). Compare that to the previous Figure high of 13 last year, and it's clear that FMS readers (if not the entire female muscle lovin' community) are now embracing the division like never before. At #9, Lauren Martin Stow was the highest placed of them, however as she has now committed to moving to Physique, Sandra Grajales Romero (#11) will soon be able to claim the title of Hottest Figure Woman in the World today.

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HOT AND HARD GEOGRAPHY

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As mentioned before, Britain's Sarah Williams failed to make the list, and there is no Rene Campbell for the first time, nor Corinne Ingman either. The lowest number of women from the UK we have ever had in the five years of our poll, just 3 - Donna Murphy (#15), Lisa Cross (#25), and Hayley Brylewski (#69) - made it in.

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Women from 25 different countries make up the 100, with the US, as always, by far the most represented with 49 and Theresa Ivancik again your favourite hot and hard American girl. Brazil with (at least) 9 is again the second most represented country - Juliana your Hottest Hard Brazilian for the first time since our inaugural 2014 poll. Canada (with 6 women in the list), Spain (5), Russia (4), and the UK and Sweden (both 3) are the only other countries who supplied more than 2 names (and bodies), while for the first time in Hot and Hard 100 history the flags of New Zealand (the beautiful BJ Brunton, #81=) and Honduras (hulking Hulda Lopez, #63) proudly fly.

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DIFFERENT VOTES FROM DIFFERENT FOLKS

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Alessandra Alvez (any excuse to post a picture of her!) would have been 109th in the voting if we went that far - in previous years the number of votes she received would have seen her finish way higher, well inside the Top 100. But not this year...

So, noticeable differences in this year's Hot and Hard 100, and perhaps one reason for that is the voting pool was different. There were slightly fewer voters than last year (the first time this has happened) and many more first time voters than usual.

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Another difference was that the total number of different women voted for was significantly smaller than in any of the four previous years, almost as if we were choosing from a previously agreed shortlist of around 250. This was, in fact, the most surprising aspect of all for me, given that the number of hot and hard women in the world grows ever higher and accessing images of them is easier than ever before.

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An apparently shrinking pool of women being voted for meant that to get into the Top 100 they needed more votes than in any of our previous years. For example, Ashlee Potts, who was (a new entry) #100, would have been #82 in 2017 had she got the same number of votes then, while Jessica Booker Williams was #64 in 2017, got twice as many votes this year, but only moved up 3 places on the list to #61.

THE EIGHTEEN

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As this was our 5th Hot and Hard 100 poll, we thought we should give those women who have appeared in every list a shoutout. 18 of them had five gold stars above their names, from #97 Suzy Kellner to your (2017 and) 2018 #1 Elena Oana Hreapca.

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For no reason other than we do love some good old stat work (can you tell?!), we went back through the archives and tallied up all the votes these women had received to make a Hot and Hard 18 list from 2014 to 2018. The result was no surprise, with two-time winner Oana finishing at the top, closely followed by two-time runner-up Aleesha.

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The FMS Hot and Hard 18, 2014-2018

1. ELENA OANA HREAPCA
2. Aleesha Young
3. Cindy Landolt
4. Lisa Cross
5. Kashma Maharaj
6. Oksana Grishina
7. Suzy Kellner
8. Dani Reardon
9. Juliana Malacarne
10. Selma Labat
11. Katka Kyptova
12. Gracyanne Barbosa
13. Eleonora Dobrinina
14. Maria Garcia
15. Karina Nascimento
16. Minna Pajulahti
17. Melissa Wee
18. Susanna Tirpak

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Quite a collection, don't you think?

It has, as always, been a time-consuming but wonderful job to compile the list. I would again like to thank everyone who voted. Without you, it would not be possible.