Thursday 27 October 2011

More Column Inches

Yet more mainstream column inches for female muscle in the UK national media.
And once again we have Jodie Marsh to thank for the story.

This time it's not all Jodie though, but a 38 year-old Angela McNamara, who, unlike Jodie (to date), is a champion. It figures that the story would be, not exactly anti-Jodie, but more a don't-get-too-carried-away-with-Jodie story, because the paper which has been running the Jodie stories is The Sun, and this story appears in The Daily Mirror, which has always been the ying to The Sun's yang.

Read the story My Body's Better Than Hers And I'm A Gran here.

And it's worth reading the comments at the bottom too. Along with the usual abuse, there are some spirited defenders of female muscle among Mirror readers it seems. Inspiring stuff. Is the tide really changing? I suspect not, it'll all probably go back to normal now that Jodie's finished her publicity drive.

But I for one am going to enjoy this while it lasts!

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Gym Bodz

I think this may be a morph, but...
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... is there any better motivation for a guy to get up off his fat arse and get to the gym than this? Unfortunately, the gym at my local leisure centre isn't full of beautiful muscular babes. I should know, I go there enough! But I would certainly go there more if it was. So, to do my bit to improve the health of the male population, well, the male population who read my babble anyway, another selection of divine muscle beauty in the gym. Possibly your local gym...

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As soon as you walk in, your female muscle radar on max, you see her. The instantaneous adrenaline rush comes and suddenly your heart is pounding. Your senses heighten, but all you can see, and the only thing on your mind, is her. It's a familiar feeling in the proximity of a muscular woman. The madness.

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Gradually, you get yourself under some sort of control and get on with your workout. But you are keeping an eye on her, you can't help it. When she's doing pushdowns you walk past her, your eyes fixed on her triceps, bringing back the adrenaline rush again, and this time it's so full-on you're shaking a little when you get to your next machine.

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She's still doing pulldowns as you walk back. You feel a little calmer after your set, a little stronger, a little more pumped, a little more confident. You'll go back the same way you came, and get a gander from the front this time. And you're not disappointed, but you're transfixed, you're staring. Did she notice? Shit. Was that uncool?

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You keep your eyes to yourself for a while. But you can't help but peek when she picks up some dumbells in your vicinity. Your heart almost comes out of your mouth as you look up to see she's looking at you. Then she swings round to the mirror and starts to curl those bad boys, and you're sure she wasn't grunting or breathing so heavily before. Is this for your benefit?

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Finished with the dumbells, she stretches and admires herself. Dry-mouthed, you somehow tear your eyes away. Your next exercise means you have your back to her, but you're trying to be cool and everything so you don't change your routine. And your reward for being so good is that she comes and uses the bench diagonally opposite you. You thank the Lord of Female Muscle Karma and check her out again. Her eyes come up and meet yours. For some reason you can't look away. She grimaces with the effort of the final few reps. You're still watching her. She'll probably come over and say something if you don't stop staring. And you've probably got a really dumb look on your face. Stop it! What's wrong with you?

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She does come over when she's finished her set. Just to introduce herself though, much to your relief. She's a Personal Trainer, so it's not exactly a come-on, she wants to give you her card, but it'll do for now. And you surprise yourself by how charming you are (or think you are), but it's charming enough to get her to give you a free sample. Just one or two exercises you say. Give me a few pointers and I might just be persuaded to give you a call. And to yourself you wonder, When did my cajones get so big?

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Now you're in heaven. She demonstrates, you follow. Two exercises turn to three. She seems to be having fun. Is it part of the sales pitch? If it is, it's working. But maybe she does like you. There's only one way to find out.

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That would be cool, she says. I'd love to get a coffee with you when we finish up.
A gorgeous, muscular woman has just said yes to having coffee with you.

And all because you got off your fat arse and went to the gym.

But as you're leaving, the old radar goes off again. And this time the madness descends like an avalanche. You can't focus on anything, your eyes just dart from one pumped, glistening muscle to another. But you have never felt so alive.
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Are we going to get that coffee or are you going to stare at that chick some more?

Err... I think I might do another half an hour. Let's do coffee another time.

Jodie Marsh Takes It Mainstream

There has never been so much female muscle in the UK mainstream press and media. And ONE woman is responsible for it. And, although it should be, it's not Lisa Cross. It's Jodie Marsh.

For those readers outside the UK, Jodie Marsh was once famous for nothing more than having huge boobs. She certainly put in the hours, turning up any day of the week at any nightclub or film premiere where she could flash her tits and guarantee herself a picture in the next day's paper.

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Her career 'moved on' to reality TV. The 'highlights' were Celebrity Big Brother and Totally Jodie Marsh, the concept of which was to find Jodie a husband. No, really. And she actually got married to the winner. Surprisingly, it didn't last.

Then, just over a year ago, these images appeared in the mainstream media.
Jodie Marsh had started bodybuilding!

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At the time, I was, I admit, sceptical. She looks so much better, I thought, but it's got to be just another publicity stunt - the reality TV work was drying up at that stage, and with the breakdown of her 'marriage', Jodie seemed to be heading for the E list.
How wrong I was!

Last January, I stumbled across a show on The Active Channel on UK TV, and there she was, looking even better than in the photos, being trained by Tim Sharp.
The shows are still up on the website, part one is here.

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Then, since the beginning of this month BOOM! Jodie Marsh and her muscles are everywhere. Print media, online 'news' websites, even breakfast TV. She had competed in a pro-am show in September, finishing fifth.

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Turns out that Jodie hasn't completely given up her reality TV dreams. Her journey to muscle has been followed by a TV crew, and the show will be on DMAX in the UK in January next year.

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Now, as I said at the start, this level of coverage for a female bodybuilder is completely unprecedented. And what's more, it's pretty much all positive. And so Jodie has suddenly become a kind of unofficial spokeswoman for the benefits of female muscle.

When I look back at some of the photos of me in my 'heyday' they make me feel physically sick. I look flabby, fat and full of cellulite. I used to loathe my body but now I absolutely adore it. This is the best I’ve ever felt, and the best my body has ever felt too.

Before taking up bodybuilding I was feeling depressed and suicidal. Now I have a new life ahead of me. I have a great new body and I feel at peace with myself.

Anyone who feels fat and flabby like I used to can change that. What I'm saying is try exercise, get yourself off the sofa. You don't know how much your life could change for the better.

I feel proud when I look in the mirror. I still can't believe it's my body. Like, when I look at my abs, I'm just like, f**king hell, I love it so much!

I'm the prettiest I've ever looked. It has totally changed my life, doing this. My self-esteem is higher, my confidence is higher, I feel more secure, feel powerful – I almost feel invincible. I do feel a bit like Superwoman!

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Moreover, it seems that us fellas who like a bit (or even a lot) of muscle on our women are not such freaks after all.

I've never attracted so many blokes in my life. It's been a real eye-opener. Since I became a bodybuilder I've suddenly got about 50 guys interested in me.

It's not hard for me (and you) to understand why this should be. The surprise is that this coverage and these quotes are from national newspapers and national TV networks. Jodie Marsh has single-handedly raised the profile of female bodybuilding to new heights, spoken out about the benefits of muscle building for women, particularly those with low self-esteem, AND made female muscle fans feel like they no longer need to be shy about expressing their preferences. It's quite an achievement.

If you're from the USA, imagine a fading reality TV babe who you never thought was much of a babe. It should be someone who has an annoying accent, and who seemed to be entering the fifteenth minute of their alloted fame time. Now, imagine that she disappears for a year or two, and the next time you see her she is in national newspapers and on NBC or ABC or CBS receiving gushing compliments from interviewers and presenters. Then, in the same mainstream media, results of surveys start to appear in which men who find her and other women with muscle attractive are the majority.

This is what has happened and what is happening here.

And all because of Jodie Marsh...

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Jodie's physique may or may not inspire one, ten, a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand women to go to the gym because they want to feel a bit like Superwoman. She may or may not change the public's perception of muscular women (and the men who adore them). She may or may not continue bodybuilding. But she has given the sport more mainstream coverage than ever. When Andrulla Blanchette won Miss Olympia there was absolutely no recognition in the mainstream media. Jodie Marsh finished fifth in a small UK pro-am competition, and today, the best-selling national newspaper (a tabloid, so take the word 'news' with a pinch of salt) has run a story that tomorrow it will have an exclusive video of Jodie Marsh naked on its website.

So, a national newspaper believes it can attract readers with a naked female bodybuilder. Let me say that again. A national newspaper believes it can attract readers with a naked female bodybuilder.

That, dear readers, is a first. And long may it continue.

Check the Tube Videos page for some of Jodie's TV appearances, which I will put up shortly.

I'll leave you with Jodie's ripped abs.

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Enjoy!

Saturday 22 October 2011

New Tube Video

Check out the Tube Videos page for the gorgeous British fitness model Kizzy Vaines in an artistic short from the UK, I Want Muscle.

More information about the film here, here, and here.

Is Jodie Marsh going to be the woman to bring female muscle into the mainstream in Britain? She's certainly arousing curiosity. She's already prompted a Wow News survey that concluded the majority of men find muscle attractive on women, and other 'news' websites seem to suddenly be actively looking for muscular women. Check this out from the whosjack website: What with Jodie Marsh going all He-Man on us we took a little gander around to find some more well-toned things.

Jodie Marsh?! Who would have thunk it?

Thursday 20 October 2011

Treasures From The Archive: Part I

Recently, I've invested some of my hard-earned in a brand new desktop with the kind of serious memory capacity that a female muscle fan (obsessive?) needs in this day and age. Consequently, I've undertaken the job of sifting through old hard drives to put my collection in some kind of order, and to transfer the best of the older stuff onto the shiny new beast.

This task has been incredibly time-consuming but also incredibly worthwhile. Not only do I now have the bulk of my collection in one easy-to-access place, but I've also been discovering long-forgotten gems.

Seeing these old pics and clips again after so many years is almost like seeing them anew. And I wanted to share some of my absolute favourites here, and I hope you enjoy them too.

This installment of treasures comes from an old laptop covering the years from the US invasion of Afghanistan (2002) to Saddam Hussein's death by hanging (2006). Meanwhile, in the world of female muscle lovin', I was thinking about...

Jennifer Broomfield
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The original muscle girl next door. I loved Jennifer's most muscular pose, so much muscle and definition on such a pretty, young thing. Sadly, she completely disappeared from the world of female muscle fandom, so seeing her again on the old hard drive was a real 'treat'. This picture shows her groin-tingling body off from head to toe. Woof.

Turkish Muscle
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Through the Turkish Sports page I discovered a world of Turkish female muscle. Sadly, it hasn't been updated in over a year, but the content still works so check it out if you've never seen it. You're getting both Meryl Ertunc and Nursel Gurler because I couldn't decide who my favorite was! Why should I have to choose anyway? If you had the choice between Meryl or Nursel and Meryl and Nursel... You see what I mean?

MMMalissa Robles
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Yummy Malissa never looked finer than in this photoset, and this pic sets my imagination running wild. The dress covers and reveals her body at the same time. Her fingers curl around the hem, suggesting even more of her glowing skin is about to be revealed. The veins in her arms are starting to swell. She locks your eyes in her smouldering gaze...

Michelle Ralabate
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Reportedly between 2'6" and 4'11" depending on your source, Michelle was living proof that good things come in small packages. Here she flexes every muscle in this WPW classic. And that hair! They don't do it like that anymore, for sure. Those things might be enough to enjoy the picture anyway. But the fact there are sunbathers in the background takes it to the next level for me. They seem to be trying to look disinterested, but there's so much oiled-up primo female muscle meat right before their eyes that I think they're nursing the biggest hard-ons they've ever had.

Christi Wolf
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Talking of which... I remember one of Christi's videos from way back (Impulse Productions I think) having the tag line The Wolf 'll Have Ya Howlin', which describes her effect on me to a tee. Whether checking out her Muscle Elegance stuff or her wrestling incarnation, Asia, off-season or contest ready, Christi always seemed to be able to make me 'howl'. Here she is at her most ripped. A goddess.

Marika-ka-ka
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Anyone else remember Marika being featured in the TV show Eurotrash? It was promoting a video of hers where she armwrestles, lifts and finally pounds the shit out of a guy on the mat. Although it was a reasonably sympathetic portrait of Marika, I was flat-sharing at the time and had to endure my co-habitants wisecracks about her 'looking like a man' etc. throughout, much to my discomfort. And they were even more scathing about the schmoe! In this pic the (aptly) self-titled Viking Queen is on stage in her pomp. Now, I've never understood the urge some guys have to be smashed up like the schmoe was in Marika's video (though I'll defend his right to be smashed up). I just want to run my hands up and down Marika's hamstrings as they are here. That and a few other things besides...

Susan Kaminga
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One of the sexiest female bodybuilders ever. In a bath. Apparently naked. There's also champagne. And bubbles. And a double biceps pose. Any questions?

Christine Roth
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Like Malissa Robles a few pictures back, the divine Ms. Roth is wearing a dress that both covers and reveals her body at the same time. And what a body it is. A timeless combination of feminine beauty and strong sexy muscle, posts of Christine's old photo sets and clips still elicit gushing responses from fans new and old on female muscle forums today. I've spent a lot of quality time with this picture over the years!

Michelle Baker
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In this, my favourite picture of her, and I guess one of my favourite pictures ever, Michelle's magnificent pecs take centre stage in all their muscular glory. And on the rare occasions I've managed to tear my eyes away from those beautiful rock-hard slabs of femuscle, her smile and big brown eyes slay me again. A perfect woman, beautiful and strong, perfectly dressed and lit. A triumph for the photographer, capturing Michelle at her immortal best.

Trudy Ireland
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Old enough to be my mother, and actually a grandmother even when this photo was taken, Trudy is one guilty pleasure I don't mind 'fessing up to. With a gravity-defying body like hers, age is irrelevant. She was, and remains, an exemplary advert for the benefits of female bodybuilding. Not to mention being one hell of a sexy beast.


Enjoy! More memorable 'Treasures From The Archive' soon.