We only featured Jessica on here less than 12 days ago, a Woman of the Week no less. At that time she had just won a regional amateur show in Dallas, and was looking forward to competing at national level again. The last time she'd done that - at the 2016 IFBB North Americans - she'd placed 6th in her class, "the most conditioned competitor, but also definitely the smallest in terms of mass". 12 days ago we were concerned that "one of the smallest dogs in the fight" would suffer a similar fate again.
The Jr Nationals Physique line-up this year was nowhere near as big - as in numerous - as it has been in the past, but it was very high on quality (more about this later in the week). Happily for Jessica (and by extension, me), the judges on this occasion went for the best conditioning. And presentation. And the most sheer alpha muscle sex appeal. Jessica not only won her class, but she also won the Overall title. So despite this week being "Amateur" Week, let's have a look at new IFBB pro Jessica Booker Williams.
Despite the gushing praise she had for pretty much everyone she knows (including the Lord) in her interview with Whitney Jones, she hasn't taken to social media for the customary (and often extremely long) thank you post. Instead, after her victory she posted a 2018 Jr Nationals winning comparison with her 2016 North Americans self and simply noted that Hard work WORKS, and Muscle doesn't mean MANLY.
I've said it before and I'lll probably say it again in the future, but if you ever needed proof of that (for someone else, obviously not your good discerning self), you need look no further than this incredible muscular beauty. "Grace, poise and presence" is what Jessica believes her Physique division is all about. Few amateurs have personified that quite like her in recent years, and it will be interesting to see how she goes down with the pro judges. I have a feeling they might well like her.
Previously featured on FMS as part of our Pic of the Month selection in May, Amy Neelands is "photographer, bodybuilder and rock 'n' roll hillbilly delux" in her own words, "an absolutely gorgeous meaty tattooed beast" to one of adoring (male) fans.
Amy, aka "Lil Beast", was almost completely unknown at the start of 2018, but has - first via her social media and more recently a couple of NPC shows - gradually worked her way onto the forums and into the collective female muscle lovin' consciousness.
That back, those arms and her "winning smile" have all been singled out for particular admiration so far, and then there's those pictures (often accompanied by really very sweet messages of love and thanks) with her lady. The skinny girl looks so happy, notes one poster. She takes THAT to bed every night, reads the reply. I'd be happy too!
The world of NPC Women's Bodybuilding isn't exactly enjoying a resurgence. On both the occasions Amy has competed this year, she's been the sole entrant in the class. She's also gone home with class wins in the Physique division at both shows - at the Pacific Coast Championships in mid-May she won the Overall as well; at the Cascadian Classic in Oregon at the end of that month she lost out on the Overall (somehow).
Amy got into lifting after gaining weight during rehab for a series of injuries she suffered while working in "loss prevention". According to Amy, this involves "basically chasing and throwing shoplifters around". I wanted to better my lifestyle and I knew some people in the Bodybuilding industry and they said I had a lot of potential, she explains. At first I didn't want to do it because to be completely honest I love food too much, but I gave the diet a try and fell in love with it the first time I jumped on stage.
Thanks to Best Muscle Video we can enjoy an interview and posing with a glammed and tanned Amy right after she jumped off it at the Pacific Coast Championships...
Ain't she cool?
"Skinny" may be happy, but Amy looks plenty happy with her new self too. Next, the Nationals. FMS, and the rest of her growing (male and female) fanbase will be watching.
Another new alternative to the Sunday Sizzler, the Sunday Showdown will bring you two women, rightly famed for a particular muscle or body part, going head-to head.
Or, in this case, bum-to-bum.
Witness the thickness...
BAKHAR v BARBOSA
Comment box for your verdict and/or suggestions for future Showdown subjects.
The start of June saw the second of the new pro shows in Italy. Well, sort of new. The San Marino Pro has been held before, in 2014 - men only - and then last year with the chaps again but also Figure and Bikini classes. This year though, just as with the Galaxy Pro in Bari in May, the only female division missing was Fitness, and amateur contests held on the first day fed the class winners into the pro show the following day.
In Bari, the new Female Bodybuilding pro had been Cristina Maffeis (see FMS passim). In San Marino, another Italian won the right to compete with the pros.
Barbara Carita won both the amateur Physique and FBBing classes. An asterisk by her name on the list of pro card winners revealed a line at the bottom of the list that should warm the cockles of any fan of big time female muscle - "The athlete chose to compete in the pro Female Bodybuilding class". Barbara prefers her double biceps close-fisted. I liked her already. And it was also the smart choice. In Physique she would have competed against Cris Goy Arellano, Paloma Parra, Joanna Romano... The sole entrant in Female Bodybuilding was Cristina Franzoso.
By the end of the weekend, then, Barbara had three first place trophies and an invite to the Rising Phoenix. I won everything! she exclaimed afterwards. I've achieved the biggest goal of my career... and more! I'm finally an IFBB pro and there will be a tricolor [Italian (flag)] flying among all those prestigious athletes [at the RP].
She may not be among the favourites come September, but mio Dio! she does get freaky. And - again, this should warm the cockles - she is by no means backwards in coming forwards to show that freakiness off, testing the limits of Instagram censorship on a regular basis during her San Marino prep, and providing us with (for my money) the most thrillingly repugnant leg vascularity since Lisa Giesbrecht's pomp.
She does the showing off in clip-form too. Here we see the eye-popping state of her legs "the night before the exams" as she put it, one day before she took to the stage.
Delicioso!
And while this veteran Italian was making her dreams come true, in the Figure class, Britain's sole female representative at the event was having her best ever pro day.
It was exactly 10 years ago today that Louise Rogers became British Figure champion. Since then she has turned pro, competed on an (almost) annual basis - in Europe, Australia and the States as well as at home in the UK Bodypower Pro event. Until she placed 2nd in Bari at the Galaxy Pro last month, 3rd at Bodypower (twice) had been her best pro placing. But this win beats everything. I'm so thankful to have these new opportunities for pro athletes in Europe, she said, beaming with her medal after the show. Dreams do come true. We are going to the Olympia!
Louise's long overdue triumph is the latest in an ever-growing list of British IFBB pro wins. Lisa Cross in Bodybuilding, Rosanna Harte in Physique, Emma Paveley and Kate Errington in Fitness, and Nina Ross in Bikini have all won over the last few years. And now Louise, the first British pro Figure winner? I don't have the time to check very thoroughly, but I don't recall a British pro at the Figure Olympia before.
There have been high points in the past, courtesy of Andrulla and Gayle, but those wins, amazing as they were, were few and far between. Are we enjoying the Golden Age of British Female Muscle right now? Hopefully, it's just the beginning.
I'm not sure how many Mexican readers we get here, but if you are from Mexico, specifically from Boca del Rio in the state of Veracruz, then in your forthcoming congressional election, I'd suggest you vote for the Ecologist Green Party.
Vote for Andrea Yunus Yunus.
About as far removed as it is possible to be from the kind of ladies who enter politics here in the UK (even those in our own Green Party). The LAD Bible headline - Meet the Female Bodybuilder Running for Parliament in Mexico - may be slightly misleading in its terminology, but Andrea is very much into building her body.
And not shy about showing off the results of her fitness regime, which she modestly describes as "little more than a healthy diet and exercise", whether her arms are glistening with sweat after a good workout, or meeting the people with some of her loyal supporters - one wonders how many have signed up to work on her campaign out of conviction for her cause, and how many out of pure muscle lust.
She has become something of a social media celebrity in Mexico, according to the article. Apparently, she's unusual for a politician there too! I will never hide who I am, she says. This is who I am, and if I get in I will keep being the same person.
Before we get on to the rest of the muscle up on the stage in Omaha (for the Physique dreams at the show see Tuesday's post), let's stop by the Wings of Strength booth...
The Queen herself, Theresa, Kristina Nicole Mendoza, and (as far as I know) for the first time at one of these events, Pauline Nelson, as well as Boss Lady Lenda Murray. You don't have to search very hard to find pictures of fans (male and female) with these magnificent women, and nor do you have to search very hard to find one of more of them cosying up to women from the Physique division either.
Margie had already publicly suggested Valentina Mishina try the more muscular division during the Toronto show, and the charm offensive apparently continued here as well, with Lenda adding her own powers of persuasion. I will think about Female Bodybuilding, Valentina wrote on her Instagram. Maybe I will try the division. (Qualified) Good news! But don't pop your champagne cork just yet. This was, you may recall, Valentina's 7th show of the season, so "not this year" was her ultimate verdict.
There was, however, one new recruit in the Omaha line-up - Canadian beauty Amanda Smith made her FBBing debut, a week after competing in Physique in Toronto.
Looking suitably Amazonian, she explained her reasons to Hayley Delf...
I wonder whether there is an active policy among the WoS posse to woo more muscular Physique women into their cabal. It would be understandable - the future of pro Female Bodybuilding has got to come from somewhere, this year (and last) the line-ups haven't exactly been overflowing with entrants. It's pretty irrelevant whether it is in fact a concerted effort to bring more Physique women into the WoS fold, or whether it's just a combination of Margie, Lenda et al being so damn nice, the size of the prize money available in Female Bodybuilding these days, and IFBB Physqiue judges being so anti-muscle. Either way, it is at the very least getting some great Physique competitors thinking about having a slice of the Wings of Strength pie.
5th place Amanda sounds as though she's here to stay anyway. The comradery [sic] amongst these ladies is indescribable, she wrote afterwards. It’s like a family. And I’ve received a lot of positive feedback from people (which no doubt made a nice change given the kind of feedback she got in Toronto!). I think I’ve found where I belong.
So do we, Amanda. So do we.
A special mention should also go to Amy Hauck. Well over 50 now, Amy won her only previous pro outing in Pittsburgh last year, a Masters class with women up to 15 years her junior in it. This was, therefore, her first non-Masters pro appearance.
As well as going to "new" FBB Amanda for her 5th place, Rising Phoenix qualification points were bagged by Angela Rayburn (4th), LaDawn McDay (3rd), and Canadian beefcake Maria Mikola, who was, as in Toronto the previous week, runner-up.
And the winner...
In sexy "Jessica Rabbit red", Isabelle Turell.
Also seen during the weekend in blue for Dan Ray, bunny ears (just for herself, I think), and in purple for Awefilms - previews of which are available on their Instagram and (if not already seen) will make you glad you bothered taking the time to check.
Earlier in the year I was given a great opportunity to be an Ambassador for Wings of Strength. This was a huge honor for me as Bodybuilding is something I love and I love to meet fans and entertain them. I get to go around to shows and events spreading the word of Bodybuilding and meeting the awesome fans. Along with my fellow iron sisters it has been a very rewarding experience and journey. The people behind Wings of Strength - Jake Wood, Alexandra Bandida, Alina Popa - were very understanding with my contest prep, and really accommodated me around it and made a lot of things possible. I honestly could not have accomplished what I did in Omaha if it wasn't for Wings of Strength. They believed in me from day 1 and gave me the tools I needed to help me pave the way for my journey. I will be forever grateful.
With reviews like that, who wouldn't want to compete for them?!
