Sexy SOPHIE ARVEBRINK & ADRIANA KUHL
Strong is the new Swedish Playmate of the Month. Or something.
Enjoy!
241
241: Sisters of Iron II
Twin sisters of iron Patricia Beckman and Terri McBee have, for the last five years or so, been, without question, by far the most successful natural female bodybuilders in the world in their respective divisions. Patricia, who competes in bodybuilding, has an amazing record of having won every pro show she has entered. But Terri’s record in the pro figure division is only slightly less impressive: in seven pro outings she has only failed to win either her class or the overall title on one occasion.
Of Patricia, they say: Every once in a while an athlete achieves a level of supremacy that is beyond compare – Muhammed Ali, Wayne Gretsky, Tiger Woods, and Michael Jordan come to mind – and Patricia Beckman might be in that category. Rarely has an athlete put together such an impressive string of victories and so dominated the opposition in every contest as Beckman has in her short time in bodybuilding.
It’s not surprising, given their respective sizes, that Patricia has been training for about twice as long as Terri, Eight years, as compared to four. In fact, Terri’s first experience of bodybuilding competition was cheering on her sister – cheering her on to victory, no doubt. Patricia encouraged Terri to follow her onto the stage, but it took a while because Terri had always been painfully shy, and the thought of getting up on stage in front of a roomful of strangers made me feel sick to my stomach.
But, eventually, she did follow, choosing figure rather than bodybuilding she says because I thought that would be easier, with a full-time job, and being a wife and mother. The rest is history. Well, natural female bodybuilding history anyway.
As natural bodybuilders, their physiques are forged without the use of performance-enhancing drugs like anabolic steroids, insulin, diuretics, and human growth hormone. In addition, the many natural bodybuilding federations (IFPA, WNBF, etc.) have slightly differing lists of banned substances and/or methods of drug testing.
It isn’t my place or purpose to wonder if Patricia’s or Terri’s success has been achieved by fair means or foul. Honestly, if they say they’re natural, then as far as I’m concerned, they’re natural. But inevitably, there are those who have expressed doubt on the sisters’ “natural” credentials, particularly Patricia’s, although these doubters don’t tend to be from within the “natty” [natural bodybuilding] community.
What everyone, even those on the pro-steroid forums, does seem to agree on though, is that the sisters do have something of an unnatural advantage over their competiton: what one forum poster termed their “goddess genetics”. They have some of the best genetics for females in the sport, says one natural bodybuilding journalist, referring to female bodybuilding as a sport in its entirety, whether sanctioned as natural or not.
And with the help of those exceptional genetics, these remarkable twins are taking natural female bodybuilding to new heights. Long may they reign!
Lots of clips of Patricia on YouTube, FMS recommends any of her posing routines but has a soft spot for her 2012 Musclemania performance. You can also find a fair bit of Terri there, with her 2013 Ms Pro International routine our pick of the bunch.
Dedicated to John, with thanks.
Enjoy!
241: Pic of the Week
JULIANA meets MEGA-JULIANA!
Now here’s an idea FMS could fully get behind.
Let’s paint the town with Mega-Malacarnes. We can start with one at the gym for ‘fitspiration’. But why stop there? Let’s have one at the train station. Another on the outside of City Hall. On the facade of the shopping mall. Let’s have them everywhere!
A world decorated with Mega-Malacarnes. Without doubt, a BETTER world!
241: Sisters of Iron I
Legends from ‘the Golden Age’, from days of surreptitious purchases in local newsagent’s and of hiding your stash of muscle magazines where no one else could find them… the first (of two, it is, after all, 241 all week) sisters of iron featured on FMS this week are, according to one forum poster, the best bodybuilding sister duo in the history of the sport: Janice Graser and Charla Sedacca.
Originally from Chicora, a small town in Pennsylvania, Janice and Charla achieved something absolutely unique in the history of female bodybuilding at the 1987 NPC Nationals: they both won their respective classes. Janice won her class (heavyweight) and Charla hers (lightweight). Then they posed down against middleweight winner Rene Casella, with the younger and lighter Charla taking the overall crown.
Janice went on to win the World Amateur Championships the same year, and in 1988 they competed together again, this time as pros, at the World Pro Championships. That was Charla’s last contest, but Janice competed once more, at the 1990 Olympia. Quite rightly, Charla is always mentioned whenever female muscle heads discuss the ‘best biceps ever’, and is therefore probably the better-known of the two. But there was, as you can see from the pics, little to choose between the two in terms of overall physique, and I can’t help thinking that had they been competing in any other decade, they would have had a lot more professional success.
Charla, FMS believes, became a pharmaceutical rep in Texas. Janice, after a very brief foray into Hollywood (you can see her in the 1989 Van Damme vehicle Cyborg) probably continued to be the Newport, Virginia wife and mother she had been throughout her bodybuilding career.
Charla and Janice more recently
And you can see them (and their peaks) at their peak(s) on Daily Motion.
As always with posts like this that feature images from before (in this case, long before) the age of the internet, a special thank you to those of you who scan. You’re wonderful!
Enjoy!
241
Anyone else remember the Wrigley’s Double Mint ad from the ’80s? “A double pleasure’s waiting for you…” I think the jingle went. Well, this week on FMS there’s LOTS of double pleasures are going to be waiting for you, as we explore the particular delights of what we’re going to call the ‘241’ female muscle image.
Later in the week we’ll be broadening the definition out a little and taking a look at images where the same woman appears twice (241 selfies, you might call them), as well as tipping our hats in the direction of a legendary female muscle blogger with a special talent for finding ‘before and after’ pictures, and then combining them into 241 transformations so jaw-dropping it’s easy to imagine you are actually looking at two completely different women. And as if that wasn’t enough, this week we’ll also be 241ing with two pairs of female bodybuilding sisters from very different eras.
But today, a selection of images, some new and some not so new, in the ‘classic’ 241 style. They might feature women we all know and love, or women we might be seeing for the first time. But there’s plenty of fine female muscle in every one, and in our opinion at least, they all do that ‘double your pleasure’ thing so well.
It could be a pair of fitness women or a pair of big big female bodybuilders. They could still be sweating from their workout or all glammed up. It could be a candid, a selfie, or a professional photographer’s take on our collective 241 fantasy, as in Brandi and Marina above right. It seems to this female muscle head, that every single one’s a winner. As with most things, a 241 deal on female muscle is impossible to resist.
Remember this selfie nugget starring Sexy Sophie Arvebrink and Adriana Kuhl? We’ve posted it before, in October last year to be precise. I doubt those who have since made the pilgrimage to the photo’s location need any reminding at all. But if you do, have a quick look back at the post, Selfies of the Day Bare Backs Special, and you’ll probably find ‘What Happened Next…’ is familiar after all.
What to think? Tara ‘Big Tinah’ Silzer and Aleesha Young look well-matched (left), but is it just that Iris Kyle is covered-up, or maybe the angle at which she’s standing? Or is it, in fact, that Simone de Oliveira really is that huge?!
Lada Plihalova and Emery Miller pose for anyone with a wide-angle lens in one of those glamour-candid scenarios that cause female muscle heads all over the world to wish it was them who was standing behind the camera and consequently resolve to visit Columbus, Ohio or Las Vegas, Nevada ‘this year’. Beautiful.
(left): Jennifer Abshire and Sarah Hayes back in 2010 when Jennifer was still Scarpetta and Sarah was the rising star of female bodybuilding. Check out their respective leg development for a clue as to why it is, in fact, Jen (I’ve spent so much virtual time with her I feel I can call her ‘Jen’) whose star burns brighter now. Then feel your pulse rise as you take in Larissa Reis and Michelle Lewin (middle) and Sara Butler and Katrinka Danielson (right). I heard a rumour that one of Sara and Katrinka – honestly, I can’t recall which it was – stole the other’s man. Not saying it’s true, just saying IMAGINE BEING THAT GUY!!!
Leanna Carr (squatting) and Charlie Brooke (flexing) want me to stop gossiping and focus on the bonds that weight training forges between women. In Strong and Hard Women (see FMS passim), author Tanya Bunsell reports that female bodybuilders are drawn to one another, not necessarily a sexual attraction (although this is a little more common than on average). It’s more about having a mutual appreciation and understanding of each others’ journeys, displayed in their physiques, strengthened perhaps by their status as social outsiders. Charlie’s even wearing a chain as a metaphor for the ‘iron sisterhood’. Thank you, Charlie.
South Korea’s 2013 Arnold Classic Europe physique winner Yeon Woo-Jhi and reigning IFBB Worlds bodybuilding champ Olga Belyakova provide the kind of image that I wish I’d had with me all those times I’d overheard a non-female muscle head say that muscular women ‘look like men’. Oh, really? I’d say, producing this pic as I forcefully poked the hater in the chest. I suppose you think female bodybuilders don’t have any curves, either. I’d thrust the image at him. Well, what do you think of this, sir… And he’d reply, What is that guy in the background doing exactly?
I’m sure I’ve dreamt about this scenario. Not Klaudia Larson (and her wowcep) and Lisa Moordigan (and her bicep) particularly (although they will most definitely suffice), but I’m sure I’ve had a dream about being accosted by a beautiful, elegantly-dressed female bodybuilder at a party who demands I worship her, and that a whole queue of muscular beauties appear out of the darkness, all equally glammed up and wanting the same thing from me. Maybe you’ve had the same dream?
241 all week on FMS. Fill your boots!
Female Muscle Slave 