How women's bodybuilding has changed

[hans]

A few conversations I've had recently have got me thinking about this. This year it's 25 years since the first Ms Olympia in 1980. Obviously the physiques have changed dramatically - these days even a lot of fitness women are more muscular than the pro bodybuilders of the early 1980s. But what else has changed?

One cool thing I've noticed is that the younger competitors in their twenties now coming up through the sport - a lot of whom weren't even born in 1980 - are a lot more confident about themselves and don't feel the need to constantly explain themselves or justify the way they look. For them, it's a given that you can be a bodybuilder and still be feminine.

Michelle, any thoughts?

Hans

[Amanda Dunbar]

Seems like a big year Hans... I know we've discussed this one before.... hmmm.... lots of big things to happen this year to continue this sport in a POSITIVE direction. Cannot wait!

Amanda

[genex]

And of course Amanda is a perfect example of what you are talking about Hans! How about a recent shot girl?

[Amanda Dunbar]

Yes Gene, you know my goals for this year..... trying to make history. he he.

--Amanda

Let me look for a pic.....

[Amanda Dunbar]

http://img181.echo.cx/img181/4500/dsc040515zz.jpg

Interesting shot... my mom put me in this pose the other day and it actually came out fairly well. More of a classic style of posing, perfect for this thread. Gotta love the mom's that LOVE bbing!!! :) She's a huge support system of mine.

This was from Monday on Memorial Day....

Amanda

[Beenaround]

Yes, Hans, It's good to see a younger generation of girls in the sport. They are not afraid to put on muscle, and didn't fall into the misconception of "oh I put on muscle so fast, I don't want to be bigger". These gals need to know how hard it is to put on "quality" muscle. and it's mainly the lower body a mainstream gal wants concentrate on, and look how GOOD fbbers look here!!! So, i hope this will help more girls get in the gym, and then "convert" into a fbber. LOL!
I'm seeing more beautiful girls into the sport, and of course this is an exetrme plus for the sport to show muscle is not "ugly" on women!!!

[Beenaround]

p.s. Amanda looking good girl!!!

[hans]

And of course Amanda is a perfect example of what you are talking about Hans!

Yep, I was thinking of Amanda, Kim Kilper (http://www.ftvideo.com/genex/profiles04/kilper.htm), Nicole Berg (http://www.ftvideo.com/genex/profiles04/nichole.htm), Cindy Phillips, a bunch of people really.

Hans

[hans]

Gotta love the mom's that LOVE bbing!!! :)

Amanda, your mom knows more about bbing than a lot of fans!

Hans

[boomboomroom1234]

Yes lots of younger ladies are getting into the sport which I love. I'm just 19 and just like a few years ago when i was about 15 or so I remember seeing links to female bodybuilders and they were all in like their late 30s or early 40s...now i see lots of young ladies out there hitting the gym and some going really hard into the sport. Ladies like the lovely Amanda Dunbar who post alot on here which i love and posts pics too, love the Memorial Day. I'm Canadian so I got hope for the best for the young Cindy Phillips she is looking better every year... I hope there are more ladies to come. Keep up the great work! :)

[Amanda Dunbar]

Cindy will be a huge bber on the circuit IN TIME. I cannot wait to see her transformation... As well as Britt Miller, who hans posted pics of the other day... these girls are the future of bbing. Pretty cool! :)

Amanda

[Liftingchic]

I am so happy about the younger girls come out to compete..

[Maxt]

Hans, you have entered in some good points for discussion. I graduated High School in 1980 and I had always thought girls should be in there in the weight room as teens lifting with us since I was a 10th Grader in 1978. That is about when I got serious into lifting because I was a football player. So around my senior year there was a girl who was a really great athlete. This girl woke up for swimming practices at 4 in the morning and her brother was a Green Bay Packer quarterback one season, she really had the genetics to be a FBB. She started to train with me for her junior year when I was a senior early in the track season in the shotput and discus throw and I got her to do all of the lifting I would do. The same reps and sets and exercises. She got buffed out completely and won the state title for shotput and discus. So what has changed? Back in the 1970's there was still a controversy about whether weightlifting was good for anyone in terms of helping them do their sports-even football? The first NFL strength coach that advocated using weights was Bill Starr who came to the Baltimore Colts in 1970. Now a lot of people in a lot of sports want to lift the weights, get better and of course make the money. So there has been change and I think that a lot of these high school athletes that want to lift are women because I see them in the gyms. I am often the only forty year old person in a weight room training with teens and twenty somethings, an occasional thirty something person and I see young girls very enthusiastic about lifting weights-I smile and think to myself I was not wrong all of those years ago when I was a teen and used to read Iron Man Magazine which occasionally showed women bodybuilders from the '70's-They had them, but don't ask me where they competed-the controversy was whether they should wear high heels or not? From this pool of young girls doubtless there will come some female bodybuilders and so for whatever situation pro women's bodybuilding is in today, you are going to see women doing it very enthusiastically at the grass roots level with access to good knowledge and less social stigma and I have to admit that is a big change from 1980.

[Maxt]

I tried to make four paragraphs there, but it all got compressed. That may have been too much writing. I do not know what I did wrong-sorry.

[Eddie]

I think this topic of discussion needs to get fired up again.

Especially in the aftermath of the Europa '06, it seems that bodybuilding will soon become Figure.......and maybe Figure will soon become a Bikini pagent, if it ain't one already.

Who's one athlete in the pro ranks today that many of you would say represents the best standard for FBB??

My top 3 choices would be: Betty Viana, Cathy LeFrancois, and Kim Harris.

Gina Davis and Vicki Nixon would be in there but they hadn't been in pro ranks long enough just yet.

[femalemusclefan]

http://img181.echo.cx/img181/4500/dsc040515zz.jpg

Interesting shot... my mom put me in this pose the other day and it actually came out fairly well. More of a classic style of posing, perfect for this thread. Gotta love the mom's that LOVE bbing!!! :) She's a huge support system of mine.

This was from Monday on Memorial Day....

Amanda

Awesome picture Amanda!
Great legs, biceps and vascularity! :)

[Maxt]

One year later-yes Hans, It is great to see the younger ladies coming up through the ranks everybody. I first saw women's bodybuilding before the Ms. Olympia and also went to New York for a few years in a row to watch the Ms. Olympia live with Cory Everson then Lenda Murray when it was held Thansgiving weekend and televised. I am happy with many of the competitors and those young ones who still like a feminine look with muscles. Great photo Amanda. I recognize that landscaping very well nowadays.

[Scott]

I think this topic of discussion needs to get fired up again.

Especially in the aftermath of the Europa '06, it seems that bodybuilding will soon become Figure.......and maybe Figure will soon become a Bikini pagent, if it ain't one already.

Who's one athlete in the pro ranks today that many of you would say represents the best standard for FBB??

My top 3 choices would be: Betty Viana, Cathy LeFrancois, and Kim Harris.

Gina Davis and Vicki Nixon would be in there but they hadn't been in pro ranks long enough just yet.


Come on bro, i like most of your post but u need to get out of that puter chair and start attending some of these shows! The Pro fgiure girls look awesome for example Michelle Adams, Amanda Savall, Jess Paxson, Amy Peters, Alana Hernandez. Halcy Duarte, Natalie Bensen .....etc and they in no way remind me of Hawaiin Tropic bikini models. There is no intent to turn womens bb into what is now figure. Its not easy being a judge (thats why they were judging and i was just simply taking pics) expecially when you have 23 of the most awesome physiques on the planet standing on that stage facing you! Yeah it will be nice if they could be more on the same page and show some consistency but thats life its not consistent!

Anyway i am not trying to flame you the figure girls work hard too and are tired of being lumped as bokini models by us hardcore fbb fans. I know i appreciate figure now more than i did in its inception a few years ago. :sprite10:

[Eddie]

Come on bro, i like most of your post but u need to get out of that puter chair and start attending some of these shows! The Pro fgiure girls look awesome for example Michelle Adams, Amanda Savall, Jess Paxson, Amy Peters, Alana Hernandez. Halcy Duarte, Natalie Bensen .....etc and they in no way remind me of Hawaiin Tropic bikini models. There is no intent to turn womens bb into what is now figure. Its not easy being a judge (thats why they were judging and i was just simply taking pics) expecially when you have 23 of the most awesome physiques on the planet standing on that stage facing you! Yeah it will be nice if they could be more on the same page and show some consistency but thats life its not consistent!

Anyway i am not trying to flame you the figure girls work hard too and are tired of being lumped as bokini models by us hardcore fbb fans. I know i appreciate figure now more than i did in its inception a few years ago. :sprite10:

Well Scott

A lot of the names you mentioned have yet to even win a pro contest, while ones such Mary Lado, Jenny Lynn, Davana Medina have been dominating and they have much softer physiques than the ladies you speak of......so I think you have to think more about what you saying on that matter.

As far as BB goes.......I mean will see man.

You may be right.......but based what I have seen lately, this softness rule does appear to be speading through the competitive physique landscape and soon enough you won't be able to tell a difference between BB and Bikini pagents.

[Maxt]

Amanda Savell and Jessica Paxson have been on quite a roll.

[Scott]

Amanda Savell and Jessica Paxson have been on quite a roll.


Yep Paxson is 23 and has a;lready done something even Mo Brant hasnt done ....won a Pro figure show!

[cbdetroit]

Well Scott

A lot of the names you mentioned have yet to even win a pro contest, while ones such Mary Lado, Jenny Lynn, Davana Medina have been dominating and they have much softer physiques than the ladies you speak of......so I think you have to think more about what you saying on that matter.

As far as BB goes.......I mean will see man.

You may be right.......but based what I have seen lately, this softness rule does appear to be speading through the competitive physique landscape and soon enough you won't be able to tell a difference between BB and Bikini pagents.Ok I have to say something.

First and foremost Women's Bodybuilding will never become a Bikini Pagent. Most figure or bikini contests from what I've come across at BB contests don't want to put on any hardcore Muscle for fear of losing their Femininty. Even though you have some figure competitiors that look like they could easily crossover into Lightweight or Middleweight Class Bodybuilders, Most figure competitors would prefer to have a softer look on their bodies period.

Second of all Ed, the Women are more Symmetrical than ever instead of being Masculinized by the judges and some of the fans (as well as posters) who love their Women to be more Huge Massive and Butch which in return would scare off any Good prospects for the sport and they'll definitely jump ship to figure.

In my opinion, Aesthetic Detail rules in Female Bodybuilding This year's Jr. Nationals, USA's and the IFBB Europa Show is living proof whether anyone likes it or not. So I'm fired up to see how things are going to shape up for the rest of the Amateur and Pro contests of the year.

And Third Ed, no offense but you need to go and check out a live Bodybuilding show as opposed to seeing photos on the web and judge for yourself whether it be local/regional, a national pro qualifier or a pro show. Who knows maybe you would like it.

As for me I've attended the Bodybuilding shows locally in my Hometown as well as attending the North Americans and the Arnolds and I've had fun meet my Heroes, enjoyed myself and I can't wait to do it again in the future.

[Big Rob]

Women training with weights in general has come a long way. When I first found out about bodybuilding, people would think women that built their bodies up had something wrong with them. Or they were looked at as being weird. Therefore you didn't see too many women with tone and shape. Now there's more females open about working out and shaping or building their body up. Even if you look at music videos, the female dancers on there (most) have some kind of tone to them. Female athletes of all sports are more muscular now.....I think its awesome!!