Svensk Muskel: Retro Muskel

EWA ERIKSSON, 1995

From back when you merely had to switch on Eurosport on a Friday evening to have a reasonable chance of seeing some female muscle on your telly, today’s svensk muskel kvinna is one of the best the country has ever had: the great Ewa Eriksson.

At 1.76m (5’9″) and with her amazing muscles, she is one of the few real heavyweights we’ve had, says her profile on Body.se. She should have turned pro.

Today’s gem is from Ewa’s first international competition, the 1995 IFBB Europeans. She finished 5th in her class, which kind of makes me want to check out the top 4 – because they must have had something special going on to place higher than Ewa!

You might also like to check out another clip starring a positively Amazonian-looking off-season Ewa. She gets measured at a furniture store (really!) before we watch her stroll up and down the street in heels… Guess you are already there!

Njut!

Olympia 2014 Review: The MUSCLE

The other day, when we profiled all five female winners at the 2014 Olympia, I may have had you spitting out your breakfast cereal by saying I was impressed, yes, impressed by the muscularity of some of the fitness and figure competitors.

MUSCLE IN FITNESS


Regiane Da Silva, Whitney Jones, Fiona Harris & Amanda Hatfield (previously Amanda Swallow – remember her?)

My surprise that there was so much muscle in the, let’s say, ‘smaller’ divisions – and note I’m not talking about the bikini girls here – has nothing to do with these women suddenly getting big, and everything to do with my own ignorance. At any other show I go straight to the female bodybuilders, spend some time with the physique women, and pay little or no attention at all to the fitness and figure contests. But this year’s Olympia was different. I’ve pretty much watched all there is to watch of the contests from bikini to bodybuilding (the women, that is – I don’t think I’m about to break the habit of a lifetime and start checking out the men!). I stand by my first impression. I haven’t changed my mind. There sure is some muscle in fitness and figure.

MUSCLE IN FIGURE


Krista Dunn, Jessica Graham, Zsuzsanna Toldi & Candice Lewis

The shame is that they don’t get to really FLEX it!

Of course the physique competitors do get to flex it, and they clearly love every minute of it. And what a thrill it is to see them in all their lean muscle glory!

MUSCLE IN PHYSIQUE


Jillian Reville, Karin Hobbs, Jacklyn Abrams & Sabrina Taylor

But having said all that, the difference in muscularity between the three divisions pales in comparison to the difference in muscularity between the physique division and the pure, unadulterated BEEF of the freaky Olympian female bodybuilders.

If watching the physique competitors flex their way through prejudging, comparisons and their delicious funky routines is a thrill, when the BIG girls come out and start hitting their compulsory poses, it’s pure female muscle lovin’ ECSTASY.

THE MUSCLE

One by one these magnificent women emerge and take their place front and centre. Just watching them walk makes me swoon as their thigh muscles ripple with every step they take. I’m instantly transfixed, instantly intoxicated. And then they start to flex…

I’ve said before that if you accept the definition of sthenolagnia as “sexual arousal from the display of strength or muscles”, then the keywords for this particular sthenolagniac are display and muscles. As a result, and much as I’ve already enjoyed the walk-on, it’s unsurprising that the moment of greatest excitement for me is when the first compulsory pose is hit – or rather, the moment just before, the moment of preparation for that first pose, the moment when my anticipation of that pose reaches its climax, and I can hear my heart pounding inside my chest. The days and weeks counting down to the Olympia have led to this. The display of the muscle is about to begin.

Some prefer the smoother, “off season” look, but from the very beginning of my female muscle slavedom I have always derived the most excitement, the greatest ecstasy, from the “contest-ready” look. Ripped, shredded, cut – whatever you want to call it – wins every time as far as I’m concerned. Every pulsating vein, every striation, every ripple of every muscle is there, fully pumped and visible in perfect detail.

And having explored the on stage experience of the female bodybuilder earlier in the year (see The Agony & the Ecstasy), FMS felt that this year we had a new level of appreciation of how the Olympian women were feeling on that stage in Las Vegas. I felt I could (unless I’m kidding myself) sense the experience they were having of being in their bodies, of being at their absolute peak – what Tanya Bunsell calls “the latent image in her mind’s eye”. This year it was more than pride that I saw in their faces, this year, as I watched them finally getting to display their work – their bodies, their muscles – the result of the agony of their contest preparation, I sensed their ecstasy.

For the first time in a while, highlights of the Olympia were (or are going to be) broadcast on nationwide TV in the USA on NBC. Now I doubt the persons responsible for the highlights show looked too hard for any narrative, any stories within the female bodybuilding division with which to grab their mainstream audience’s attention, but if they had wanted narrative, the stories were, most definitely, there.

Here was Yaxeni in her 17th (yes, SEVENTEENTH!) consecutive Ms Olympia. Here, for the first time, were more competitors from outside the USA than from within – and the majority of those, like Yaxeni, from South America. Here was Alana, making her Olympia debut and breaking into the top 5, and here was Christine, another first timer – two women whose journeys to the Vegas stage couldn’t have been more different. Here was Alina, the (STILL) uncrowned Queen, adored by the female muscle fans, adored by the female bodybuilders themselves – the current paragon of the female bodybuilder. And here was Iris, champ for the ninth year in a row and the tenth time in all…

I’ve been told that the majority of the audience at the Olympia is male and that they attend to see the men. But I would bet that all around the world there are other men, like me, like you perhaps, who, for financial reasons or reasons that are more personal (the very reasons that prevented me from watching the Olympia live, for example), have not been to and probably never will go to the Olympia or any other bodybuilding show, but who nevertheless make up an enormous audience for these magnificent women and their show, the greatest female MUSCLE show on the planet.

13th SIMONE OLIVEIRA (Bra), 12th LISA GIESBRECHT (Can)

11th CHRISTINE ENVALL (Aus), 10th MARGIE MARTIN (USA)

9th RITA BELLO (Arg), 8th JENNIFER SEDIA (USA)

7th SHEILA BLECK (USA), 6th ANNE FREITAS (Bra)

5th YAXENI ORIQUEN (Ven)

4th ALANA SHIPP (USA)

3rd DEBI LASZEWSKI (USA)

2nd ALINA POPA (Rom)

Ms OLYMPIA IRIS KYLE (USA)

Enjoy!

And you can watch these magnificent women hit their first round poses here.

Tube of the Week

What else would it be?

You’ve probably watched it more than a few times already, but we say give yourself a Friday treat and watch it all over again. Alina Popa‘s 2014 Ms Olympia routine…

And FMS‘ Olympia review begins tomorrow…

Enjoy!

Ms Olympia: Posedown!

We thought the best way to bring our Ms Olympia countdown to a climax was to feature the climactic moment of the contest itself (or any contest for that matter – any contest with more than one competitor, anyway!) Yes, it’s time to pose down!

OLYMPIA STYLE!

The primest exhibition of female muscle meat at its most primal and joyous moment…

The contest as a contest is over, and you’ve all finished in the top six anyway… Now whip that crowd into one final frenzy as your glorious muscular body transcends its exhaustion and reveals all of its stunning beauty!!! (Or at least that’s how Swell might put it if he was ever in charge of the MCing at a female bodybuilding show!!!)

Where the hell do you LOOK if you are in the audience? It’s hard enough taking it all in even when you can replay the video clip over and over and over and over and over. Being there must bring on some kind of sthenolagniac overdose or something.

And while there must be more than a few brethren in the audience experiencing some kind of female muscle lovin’ nirvana, there always appears to be bucket loads of female muscle ecstasy pouring out of the competitors – of any year, or indeed, any ERA…

Yes, Rachel, YESSSSS!

It’s one big female muscle love-fest up there. All sorts of mutual muscle admiration kicks in, and, easily my favourite bit – true posedown GOLD – is when the admiration spills over into actual touching up, into actual on stage MUSCLE WORSHIP!

Who will be posing down at the 2014 Ms Olympia? Only one way to find out…

So, wherever you are, work out the time difference between yourself and Las Vegas (we’re 8 hours ahead here in the UK), and get yourself comfy and organised. The live webcast on Bodybuilding.com begins 2.30am on Saturday for the Ms Olympia finals in the UK – finess and bikini finals are also scheduled for the same evening.

And FMS will be having a little break next week (watching the re-runs of the webcast perhaps!) but we will be back and posting again on Saturday 27th. Have fun now!

Treasures from the Archive: Ms Olympia Memories: Part II Moments

On Monday, FMS brought you the Ms Olympia and the Ms Olympians as seen through my teenage eyes – The Magazine Years as I like to call them. Today, it’s more like The Digital Years – selections from the various archives of images I have from the Ms Olympia from the time of the dial-up connection until last year’s competition.

But as long ago as the dial-up was (and it really FEELS long ago), one thing has remained constant – Iris Kyle winning the damn thing. The runner-up may have changed over time, the champ most definitely has not. Since Yaxeni’s sole Ms Olympia victory in 2005, Iris has won an almost unimaginable eight titles in a row.

Who would bet against another Iris win? Every year you read people predict this will be the year when The Eternal Bride is finally left at the altar (you will let me know if I stretch this metaphor too far, won’t you?!) and every year Iris goes home with the biggest medal. If 2014 sees a repeat of Iris 1st and Alina 2nd, it will be the THIRD time Iris has had the same runner-up in two consecutive years. Dayana 2006-7 and Yaxeni 2010-11 will have Alina 2013-14 to share ‘I lost to Iris twice in a row’ stories with.

Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you The BRIDESMAIDS…

DAYANA CADEAU 2006 and 2007

BETTY VIANA 2008, HEATHER POLICKY 2009

YAXENI ORIQUEN 2010 and 2011

DEBI LASZEWSKI 2012, ALINA POPA 2013

Funnily enough though, Iris Kyle‘s very first overall victory (2004) was pre-dated by her finishing 2nd twice in a row (once in the heavyweight class, once overall) to Lenda Murray. Cory Everson‘s first win in 1984 was over a previous (though not the previous) Ms Olympia, Rachel McLish. Sooner or later the guard will change.

But just because you come 2nd to Iris, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t upstage her at some point during the Olympia weekend, and the moment Dayana Cadeau did so before the show in 2007 provides us with our next Ms Olympia ‘moment’.

Now I can only speculate as to why Dayana started exposing herself. It may have been an attempt to psyche Iris out, or to impress the judges before the show – to get her body into their heads as a potential winner. Perhaps, and again I am only speculating here, Dayana just couldn’t wait for the show, that she felt so incredibly turned on by herself that she just HAD to give Iris, the judges, the audience, indeed EVERYONE in attendance a right good gander at what was under those clothes. Every hard inch…

But of course I am just speculating. And if I were to say what I thought Iris might have been saying to her, or what the lady who appears in the final photo of the series was saying/doing (‘Put it away’? ‘Let me touch’? ‘Take it all off you GODDESS!’???) then once again, it would be pure speculation and nothing more than that…

I think that’s quite enough speculation for now. A return to certainty is possibly the only thing that can follow Dayana’s impromptu strip, and if there was a nailed-on certainty at the Ms Olympia other than the fact that Iris Kyle was going to win, it was that if Betty Pariso was in the line-up (2001, 2003-9), whatever her hair colour or outfit (or thing coming out the top of her head) in any given year, at some stage – or rather at the climax – of her routine, THIS was guaranteed to happen…

And we move on to something that has struck me while browsing the old Olympia archive, namely how few appearances some of the female muscle brethren’s favourites actually made. Take, for example, my old friend Sarah Dunlap (see Image Removed Copyright Violation), who has just the ONE. Dena Westerfield? How many times do you think the wonder of Dena graced the Olympia stage? I’ll tell you: ONCE. And Colette Nelson also has just the single Olympia (2006) on her CV as well. Our featured 2009 bridesmaid Heather Policky? Well, Heather has (so far) just THREE.

Kind of puts the longevity of Iris, Yaxeni, Debi Laszewski, and, say, Cathy Le François (6 Ms Olympias over a 13-year period) into real perspective, doesn’t it?

But although our next featured muscle goddess has one more appearance than Sarah, Dena and Colette put together, and one more than the much more successful (in terms of placings) Heather, I am shocked that Tazzie Colomb has only gone to the Olympia four times (1997, 1999, 2006 & 2007). Now I know that the Taz doesn’t place a huge amount of importance on what judges think of her muscles, but I would have thought she’d have made at least as many Ms Olympia appearances as Cathy has.

Perhaps I got that impression because of how memorable Tazzie’s performances always seem to be, or, even if you only go by the pictures, how memorable her look at each contest is. And it’s Tazzie, 2007-style, who is our next Olympia ‘moment’: braided hair, raw animal muscle sex appeal, roaring her way through her performance…

But despite her myriad (at the Olympia and elsewhere) different looks, Tazzie never (as far as I know) sported a COSTUME. These seemed to be particularly en vogue (or encouraged or perhaps just tolerated) for the 2004 and 2006 Ms Olympias, making a number of routines from those shows even more especially memorable.

From Helen Bouchard‘s rather butch ‘soldier’ via Vilma’s 2004 cape and Dayana’s ‘flasher cop’ to Colette Nelson‘s thrilling (when she ripped it off!!!) tight blue dress, the costume, is, in my humble etc., long overdue for a Ms Olympia comeback…

But none was more memorable (or fitting) than that naughtiest of Olympians, Denise Masino‘s – what is it exactly, bondage? fetish? torture? – mask-type thing from 2004.

And we finish off our memories today, just as the compulsory poses end, with Abs & Thigh – aka The Hall of Fame pose – and absolutely Slave’s favourite position for his Olympian women (or indeed ANY women) to show off their beautiful bodies with.

And we will be ripping a few more choice moments from the FMS Olympia Archive on Friday, the day (as if you needed reminding) of the Big Girls’ Big Show itself.

Ms Olympia 2014: The Line-up

It’s September. Time for the BIG show. This Friday, the 35th Ms Olympia takes place in Las Vegas. Your appetite probably doesn’t need much whetting, but for the last two years FMS has previewed what remains (for now anyway) the premier female bodybuilding event of the year with some sort of week-long countdown. In 2012 it was a celebration of every previous Ms Olympia winner, and last year we compiled profiles of the 2013 competitors for your (and our) viewing pleasure.

We’ve decided to count down to 2014’s prime female muscle meat exhibition with a bit of both – some history AND a preview of this year’s line-up (with particular focus on three of the women who will be making their Olympia debuts on Friday).

And MORE besides!

Today, it’s the line-up.

Those of you who keep an eye on such things will have noticed that among the automatic qualifiers a certain Brigita Brezovac is listed, as a result of her 5th place finish at last year’s Ms O, after which she announced her retirement from competition. Now I’m sure we would all be absolutely delighted if Brigita made a surprise comeback on Friday, but judging by her latest Instagram offerings, great as she looks in her beloved pink, she hardly looks like she’s preparing for a bodybuilding contest.

Point is, if I know she’s retired then you probably know too, and so would anybody else who cares to or NEEDS to know – the organisers of the Ms Olympia, for example.

Why is this important? you might ask. Well, instead of having one less competitor on the stage, the woman with the next highest number of points from her finishes at this year’s IFBB pro shows could have taken Brigita’s place. Or, the automatic qualification place could have been given to the next highest-placed finisher at last year’s Ms Olympia. The former alternative would, I reckon, have given us the pleasure of seeing Mmmmonique Jones this Friday; the latter, Juanita Blaino.

I don’t know whether Mmmmonique or Juanita feel like they’ve been cheated out of a place at the Olympia, but I feel I’m being cheated of the opportunity to see at least one of two of the best FBBs in the world take their place alongside the rest of the elite.

Here endeth the rant.

The last thing I want to do is spend the week moaning about the shortcomings of the IFBB and its minions re: female bodybuilding (God knows I’d need more than a week for that). This week is a celebration, so, let the celebrations commence…

YOUR 2014 Ms OLYMPIA LINE-UP

(all 13 when it should be 14 of them!)

RITA BELLO

Argentina, Winner Chicago Pro 2014

SHEILA BLECK

USA, Winner Tampa Pro 2014

CHRISTINE ENVALL

Australia, 3rd Omaha Pro 2014 & Chicago Pro 2014

ANNE FREITAS

Brazil, Winner Omaha Pro 2014

LISA GIESBRECHT

Canada, Runner-up Chicago Pro 2014

MARGIE MARTIN

USA, Runner-up Omaha Pro 2014

SIMONE OLIVEIRA

Brazil, Winner Toronto Pro 2014

YAXENI ORIQUEN

Venezuela, 4th Ms Olympia 2013

JENNIFER SEDIA

USA, Runner-up Tampa Pro 2014

ALANA SHIPP

USA, Runner-up Toronto Pro 2014

DEBI LASZEWSKI

USA, 3rd Ms Olympia 2013

ALINA POPA

Switzerland, Runner-up Ms Olympia 2013

IRIS KYLE

USA, Winner Ms Olympia 2013

Now if that doesn’t get you excited about the impending festival of prime female muscle meat that is the Ms Olympia 2014, I don’t think anything will.

I just wish there were 14 of them…

한국인 of the Day: Mi Hee Yu

The recent BBC News report into Korean female bodybuilding suggests there is going to be a lot more female muscle emerging from the country in the future, but back in 2007 when the gorgeous Mi Hee Yu was crowned national champ, she looked pretty much like the sole bodybuilder on stage with a bunch of figure competitors.

Something of a pioneer, then, I reckon. One of the first really muscular Korean women – or one of the first I came across anyway. And she always seemed to be in great shape. Always lean, always defined, even when she wasn’t actually competing. And I also enjoyed (and still do enjoy from time to time) the guest posing routines of hers that are out there. They’re always real performances, and she is, in my opinion, an extremely captivating performer: elegant, teasing, poised, and very very sexy.

Here’s the first of a couple of clips of Mi Hee Yu that we’ll post today. Frustratingly, it’s not quite the complete routine, and ends rather abruptly just as it’s getting good and the crowd are getting into it, but even so, it’s not a bad appetiser!

Apparently, Mi Hee Yu took up bodybuilding in the late ’90s in order to lose weight, and a decade later in 2007 she was the cream of South Korean female muscle – quite a success story! She took obvious pride in representing her country in international competition for the following four years, finishing second in her weight class at the Asian Championships in 2007 and 2008, and winning her class in 2011. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any evidence to suggest she has competed again since that year.

Still, it’s not as though we are short of Mi Hee Yu material to remember her by. As well as the guest posing clips, there are a number of workout clips on YouTube for your viewing pleasure, and the pick of the bunch, unsurprisingly, can be found on the mighty watatiwatatio’s channel. Entitled Mi Hee Yu Heavy workout! (exclamation mark included and with good reason). It includes not only the apparently lost (ie. deleted due to third party complaints) appearance of our heroine on a Korean TV show called The Dynamic Gym Show, but also a truly HEAVY workout. The whole thing weighs in at 30 minutes plus. A hardcore watch that leaves you in doubt that that the woman you are watching is a very very sexy and hardcore muscle lady.

And so, to finish, the second guest posing clip of Mi Hee Yu for your enjoyment today. A very revealing posing suit, two feather fans, a pair of boots that wouldn’t look out of place on a building site, and a beautiful vision of female muscle.

Enjoy!

FMS Faves @NPC USAs 2014

Today, not one, not two, but THREE of the most gorgeous muscular women in the world for your viewing pleasure, all of whom have been celebrated on FMS before. All three competed at the recent NPC USAs, and although none of them received their pro cards on this occasion, all finished in the top three of their respective classes.


THERESA IVANCIK
3rd, bodybuilding (heavyweight)
previously on FMS: Theresa Ivancik: Worth Celebrating

Outconditioned by runner-up Joella Bernard, and outsized (and outconditioned) by heavyweight and overall champ Aleesha Young, Theresa, sadly, will have to keep her pro dreams on ice for a little longer. Now, I’m no expert (far from it) but as far as I can see, size doesn’t seem to be the issue – not upper body size, anyway. To me, she looks like she’s going to be utterly unbeatable in her Instagram “countdown” shots, then, on the day, it’s somehow not quite there on the stage.

Nevertheless, she’s still relatively young for a female bodybuilder, and surely it’s only a matter of time before she does, finally, nail it and get that pro card she so covets. Placing 3rd at a huge national show is such an honor and I couldn’t be more excited! she told her Facebook followers after the USAs. Planning ahead to future shows is underway! She’s wondering whether to take a break, and she probably deserves it. Or do the Nationals in November? There’s a part of me hoping I’ll get just one more sight of Theresa in her posing suit before the end of the year… Yes, indeed.

And you can see some USA heavyweight action on Theresa’s YouTube channel.

BRIE EUBANKS
3rd, physique (D)
previously on FMS: Hot and Hard Countdown: 10 to 1

Known for her abs and extreme vascularity (not to mention some super-naughty webcam shows), Her Brieness is, as voted by FMS readers, the 5th Hottest Woman in the World, and I seriously doubt the images we have of her doing her thing on stage at the USAs are going to make anyone feel that she finished too high on that list. She’s beautiful, no question, and was in great shape at the USAs, but there were other beautiful women in great shape on that stage with her. But Brie always seems to have that little indefinable extra. Maybe it’s in the facial expressions, maybe it’s just all in my head, but I just KNOW that when I see video of Brie from the show she is really going to “get my tap dripping”, as a certain Mr. C. Moore Glootz would say.

She may not have won her class in Las Vegas, but I’m sure she won some hearts and minds among the female muscle headed members of the audience, and, as it turns out, she actually fared none too badly with the judges as well. So the scorecards have been released, she posted to her Iron Built blog, and not only did I miss 2nd by 1 point but I was ONLY 5 points shy of first! Now, she confesses, a part of me wants to go back to Vegas. Kind of want to own that show… but figured I should go where I haven’t been before. What do you think??? Comments will be considered…

Well, my considered comment is that Brie should appear at my house next.

Follow Brie on her blog, her YouTube channel, her Facebook and on Twitter.

SUSANNA HAND
2nd, bodybuilding (light-heavyweight)
previously on FMS: Susanna (Bet You Can’t Keep Your) Hand(s Above the Table) @NPC Nationals 2013

We bemoaned her lowly placing at the NPC Nationals last year not because we thought it was unfair, but simply because it robbed us of another, say 20 to 30 images of Susanna, as 9th meant no evening show on that occasion. Luckily, there was no such problem here. Having finished 4th at the USAs in 2013, she was awarded runner-up in her class at this show, so the good news is we get to feast our eyes on this jaw-dropping muscular beauty in two posing suits this time. Hooray!

You may remember we reported that Susanna wasn’t exactly gagging to get her pro card: I don’t determine whether I am happy or feel successful based on that, she said before the Nationals last year. Still, she is getting closer all the time. Second represented her best finish at a national show ever at her fourth attempt – twice as a heavyweight and twice (including this time) as a light-heavyweight.

Perhaps next time will be fifth time lucky. She may not be hung up on winning that pro card, but the victors always get to hit a few more poses next to that trophy – so that would be another ten, maybe fifteen pics of Susanna for my enjoyment. So, good thing.

Enjoy!

C. Moore Glootz’s Fun from Rear

News that British celebrity Carol Voderman had been given 2014’s Rear of the Year award – and so become the first woman to have won the title twice – sent irregular FMS contributor C. Moore Glootz into such an indignant rage that the only way we found we could placate him was by offering him free rein on the blog for a whole week.

Buckle up!

REAR OF THE YEAR MY ARSE!

C. Moore is NOT happy. Who voted for that? For sure it wasn’t C. Moore, and I hope to heaven not YOU, either. I mean honestly, a two time winner? I repeat. NOT happy.

C. Moore understands this is a “light-hearted award” and is not surprised. Who in their right mind would take it seriously? But that doesn’t mean C. Moore isn’t – taking it seriously, that is. No, no. C. Moore is taking it very VERY seriously indeed.

Seems to C. Moore there are plenty out there who need to be educated about what a fine rear, what true Glooteus Maxxximum is all about, vis-à-vis HARD MUSCLE.

Consider GLOOTUCATION commenced.

Gif of the Week

Sexy muscle goddess Alana Shipp does her thing at the Toronto Pro in this set of gifs from the Tumblr known as The Extrondinary League of Sexy Muscle Women. Its author, “sexyfemalemusclefan”, describes it as Sexy Female Bodybuilders, Fit Hard Bodies, Hot Sexy Bikinis, and everything else related to sexy female muscle.

I think you will find that if you head over there it fits that description to a tee.

Watch the whole routine on the mighty watatiwatatio’s channel, and then perhaps sir would like to check out this Israeli news item featuring the beautiful Ms Shipp.

And incidentally, FMS‘ favourite Tumblr for gifs, formerly known as “Shirtrippers2.0” is now posting under the name 4TheL0ve0fFemuscle. Enjoy as you see fit.