Meet the fearsome yet glamorous female bodybuilders of the early 20th century. It was they who stepped over social norms and trampled traditional ideas about female beauty. They were both strong and brilliant. Judging by their prominent muscles, they were hardly inferior to men in strength.
“Strong women” first appeared in the 19th century. They took part in sporting events and competitions. However, most often they were treated only as another circus curiosity. Unfortunately, it was considered very strange and simply wild for a woman to have a well-developed body. This is why many of these women were seen as spectacles for entertainment.
For example, Katie Brumbach was one of the most famous “superwomen” of the early 20th century. She was born into a circus family and followed in the footsteps of her parents. Her father was a "giant" and her mother was also a "strong woman."
Brumbach took a job with the Ringling Brothers and the Barnum & Bailey Circus as a weightlifter, bending iron bars with her bare hands and lifting her husband above his head with just one arm.
Although these women were seen as an anomaly in their time, they courageously paved the way for modern women could become professional bodybuilders and wrestlers. If these strongmen were still alive, they would give odds to many athletic young ladies.
Boy-women. Female bodybuilders - what happened to them
Spoiler: at least two of them grew mustachesBodybuilding in the 80s and 90s attracted many women into its ranks. Like men, they were ready to give everything for the maximum muscle mass. “Soviet Sport Life&Style” recalls what happened to the most prominent representatives of the bodybuilding scene.
Who she was: the dazzling blonde Rutkowski took 2nd place in the women's Olympia in 1993. Before that, she took 1st place at the US regional bodybuilding championships for five years.
Rutkowski was the epitome of female athleticism. She appeared in advertisements and popular shows, where she campaigned for "muscular feminine beauty" Experts predicted her leadership at Olympia in 1994, but unexpectedly she ended her career.
What happened: The reason for leaving bodybuilding was Rutkowski’s spiritual revolution, as well as problems associated with the use of steroids. Today it is difficult to recognize this 55-year-old woman as a star of the 80s. Denis lost almost all her hair, its color changed from blond to black, and a real beard and mustache grew. Rutkowski travels around the United States on so-called “Bible tours.” She encourages American citizens to read the Holy Scriptures more often.
Corey Everson
Who She Was: 30-year-old London native Candice Armstrong was a beautiful blonde when she first stepped foot into the gym. According to her, what brought her to the rocking chair was the desire to “improve the shape of her butt and legs.” Progress in classes went quickly. Armstrong turned out to be from the breed of “easy gainers”: people whose genetics are predisposed to bodybuilding. However, the girl wanted even more muscles, and she began to use pharmacological drugs.
What happened: “Steroids turned me into a man!” Armstrong said when she was filmed for a British documentary about bodybuilding. The girl's voice deepened, muscles grew, and facial hair appeared. Outwardly, she began to look like a man. Armstrong admits he continues to train on “steroids.” “I like the new body better,” she declares.
Who was: main woman in bodybuilding “zero”. She is also the subject of sharp criticism from the media, where they believed that “this look is killing female bodybuilding.” Reason for criticism: excessive muscles and "masculine" appearance. In the photographs, Kyle really looks more like a man than a woman.
What happened: 43-year-old Kyle works in real estate and trains professional Japanese bodybuilder Hideata Yamagishi. She begins every morning with a prayer, where she thanks God for the victories given to her.
There are many different sports areas in the world to suit every taste. Almost all of them have both male and female representatives. One of the sports that it would seem only men should do is bodybuilding. But women have succeeded here too. At bodybuilding competitions, in addition to huge men who resemble the Hulk from comics, there are also female bodybuilders, whose muscle volumes are sometimes greater than those of men.
Not everyone has the same attitude towards female bodybuilding. Huge, muscular male athletes look more natural than ladies with 40cm biceps. Most ordinary people will say that they are simply becoming more like men.
Naturally, there is no comrade according to taste and color: there are lovers of thin, petite girls, while others like “chubby” ones. At the same time, there are true connoisseurs of such feminine strength among the male sex. Many people like naked female bodybuilders, this is a personal matter for everyone.
A popular thesis is the following words: “The utopia of women’s bodybuilding lies not in the fact that they strive to have an ideal body, but in the fact that their concept of ideal is radically different from the accepted life norms and standards of the majority of people in our society.”
Increasingly popular in Lately is gaining another sports direction - fitness bikini. In this sport, although girls have good athletic development, they do not have large bulky muscles.
But all this does not prevent girls from training in hardcore style today, building up huge muscle volumes. Despite this, almost all famous female bodybuilders who are champions do not experience a shortage of male attention; many have families and children.
Many athletes say that bodybuilding allows them to increase their confidence and overcome some female fears and timidity. Only in such a sport do they feel their freedom and can create the body they want. And they are actually sculptors, because women bodybuilders before and after are just different people. Even today a girl can be fragile and sweet, but in a year she can give any man she knows a head start in muscle development.
Let's look at some outstanding athletes who have achieved serious results in women's bodybuilding and are idols for beginners.
Iris Kyle
The undisputed leader in the number of female champion athletes is the United States of America. The clearest example is Iris Kyle, a black athlete. She is perhaps the most popular bodybuilder, who annually wins the title of Ms. Olympia, despite her age.
Michigan State became the first cradle for the future champion. She was born in 1974 beautiful girl. Who would have thought that such a baby would become stronger than most men in a few decades? As her parents say, the child has been more active than his peers since childhood. Softball was her favorite game. Iris even managed to play for the US basketball team.
By winning the Ironmaiden Championships in 1994, she won her first bodybuilding medal. But only four years later Iris took up this sport professionally.
In 2001, the athlete competed at the Miss Olympia competition, which was the first serious test for her. She dealt with it and won. Three years later, she managed to conquer all the judges in the absolute category. Two years later she was able to repeat her success. From then to this day, he wins this title every year. A lot of female bodybuilders want to be like her. She is the living embodiment of incredible perseverance and ability to work, which is not inherent in the female sex.
The athlete's height is 170 cm, and her weight is 75-76 kilograms during the non-competitive period. During preparation for competitions, the athlete loses body weight to 70-73 kg.
Valentina Chepiga
Miss Olympia 2000 was born in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov in 1962.
As a child, she loved skiing. Twenty-five-year-old Valentina took up bodybuilding in 1998. She trained under the guidance of Yuri Kapustnik. Her champion's path began with winning the Ukrainian Championship. In 1997 she participated in the European and World Bodybuilding Championships and won gold medals.
These victories allowed the Ukrainian to receive the status of a professional athlete. Without thinking twice, she decided to take part in the Miss Olympia competition, the most famous champion competition. And then, in 1998, she took 12th position. She then moved to the United States of America.
Already in 2000, she managed to win the long-awaited victory in this competition. At the same time, experts note that she was able to maintain a female body constitution behind a pile of muscles: with a height of 165 cm, her weight fluctuated around the sixty-kilogram mark during competitions.
Juliet Bergmann
The outstanding athlete from the Netherlands, Juliet Bergmann, became a three-time winner of Miss Olympia, was born in 1958 in the city of Vlaardingen. While little Juliet was growing up, her two younger brothers died. The future champion was very upset by such a loss in her family. The death of the brothers strengthened Juliet, she became more disciplined, independent, and also developed greater willpower.
At the beginning of her sports career, Bergman was interested in journalism and fitness. The athlete herself believes that she has become a bodybuilder since 1983. It was this year that she participated in bodybuilding competitions and made a good impression on the judges.
A year later, she managed to become first at the Dutch Championships. Then, in 1985, at the same championship, she confirmed her unsurpassed level and won again. That same year she participated in the Amateur World Championships. She managed to win it.
After a number of such victories, she began performing in professional competitions. For three years in a row - in 2001, 2002, 2003 - Juliet Bergmann won the Miss Olympia competition.
Lenda Murray
Truly a brilliant athlete. She won the Miss Olympia competition 8 times and at one time terrified other participants.
The athlete was born in 1962 in Michigan. Lenda became interested in sports during her school years. At that time she enjoyed running and also took part in the cheerleading group.
Bodybuilding came into her life in 1985. She progressed so quickly that already in 1989 she turned pro.
It may sound incredible, but she became Ms. Olympia 6 years in a row from 1990 to 1995. In the next two years she became second. After a short break, she again won the title in 2002 and then in 2003. The following year she ended her sports career, finishing in second place at the Ms. Olympia competition.
Yaxeni Orikuin
Venezuelan athlete Yaxeni Oriquin was born in 1966. There were 8 more children in her family, she was the youngest.
After three victories that she received in amateur competitions in 1993, the athlete moved to live and play sports in the USA.
Yaxeni's form peaked in 2005 when she took first place in the Ms. Olympia competition. In addition to this victory, her track record includes victories at Miss International in 2002, 2003, as well as 2005 and 2008.
Since 2007, the athlete’s form began to gradually deteriorate: for example, in 2007-2008 she took 3rd place at Ms. Olympia.
Yaxeni's height is 170 cm. In the off-season, the weight is on average 84-86 kg, and during the competitive season - only 72-77 kg.
Russian female bodybuilders
Let's talk about domestic bodybuilding. It is worth noting that among Russian athletes there are worthy female bodybuilders. But you need to take into account the fact that this is the mentality of the Russian people, that they do not consider the big muscles of a girl attractive and beautiful - this is due to the low popularity of this sport among women.
Of course, not all Russian female bodybuilders can boast of good results at the professional level, so let’s look at the most famous of them.
Natalya Batova
Natalya Batova is the Russian champion in fitness and bodybuilding. The judges always told her that her body was very masculine, with a lot of definition. But this does not stop the athlete; she continues to do what she loves. She also likes to be photographed naked.
Elena Shportun
Today she is one of the most popular Russian athletes. In 2014, she won the World Bodybuilding Championship in the weight category over 57 kg. At the same time, Elena was awarded the title “Miss Olympia”.
Lyudmila Tuboltseva
Winning the title of world champion in bodybuilding is a great achievement that Lyudmila Tuboltseva achieved. In addition, she is a multiple champion of Russia.
Maria Bulatova
During her career, the Yekaterinburg athlete has already become a two-time world champion in bodybuilding. She turned into a pile of muscles in just three years of training. Maria says that she really likes bodybuilding, and admits that the most difficult thing in competitions is the stage at which the competitors are compared.
Lyudmila Kolesnikova
Lyudmila is the absolute bodybuilding champion in Russia. She became famous not only for being an outstanding athlete. She is not against an erotic photo shoot. At the moment, erotic photographs of her with a sword are widespread.
If we compare, Russian female bodybuilders are inferior in almost all respects to the most famous world-class athletes. They are much smaller in size and also look more feminine. Often, women's bodybuilding in Russia is mixed with body fitness and fitness bikini. Probably, Russian girls are not yet ready to look like monsters competing in bodybuilding competitions abroad.
Oldest female bodybuilder
In addition to professional female bodybuilders, there are also famous female bodybuilders in the amateur direction of this non-female sport.
For example, one of the most famous women of the world of non-professional bodybuilding is Ernestine Shepard. In 2012, she entered the pages of the World Book of Records at the age of 74! She was noted in this publication as the most old woman bodybuilder Today Ernestine lives in Baltimore.
Ernestina's form and health amaze all doctors; she can give young athletes a head start. Probably, the words “the main thing is not how old a person is according to his passport, but how he feels” is just about her. No athlete can withstand the intensity of her training.
According to the athlete, ten-mile runs that she makes every morning help her maintain her health, as well as proper nutrition and training in the gym.
During her life, she managed to win two titles and run as many as nine marathons. But, perhaps, her main achievement is her family and marriage, which has lasted for more than fifty-five happy years.
Let's sum it up
Few men would call female bodybuilding a wonderful sport. Not everyone likes naked female bodybuilders. But in fact, whether to do this or not is a purely personal matter. Indeed, if you look at a girl who chose female bodybuilding, before and after she began to actively engage, you can see how femininity disappears. Although femininity among modern girls is perceived as weakness, maybe that is why they start going to the gym to be stronger in every sense of the word.
Almost all Russian female bodybuilders are still far from their foreign colleagues. This is due to a slightly different, more traditional understanding of beauty in Russia.
But it is always worth remembering that female bodybuilders in life are just as fragile and tender at heart as other female representatives. They require the attention and care of loved ones.
Bodybuilding or bodybuilding has become one of the most popular sports today. More and more more people They go to the gym, follow a certain diet, and use various special supplements to build beautiful muscles. Often it all starts with the fact that a person wants to clean up excess weight and get beautiful figure, however, soon the process and result of training captivate a person so much that training turns not just into a goal, but even into a professional sport. Also, often people initially want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger or other famous bodybuilders, and for these purposes they come to the gym to “pump iron.” Among bodybuilders there are not only men, but also women.
Female bodybuilders are far from uncommon today. If until recently such a phenomenon was perceived as a real exotic, which caused heated and controversial discussions, today no one will be surprised to see a girl with powerful muscles. Despite the fact that we are still accustomed to seeing girls as weak and fragile, tender and feminine, girls who are engaged in professional work do not lose their beauty, and you can see this further. Healthy image life, active training, refusal bad habits, pleasure from one’s work, and so on - all this is reflected in the girl’s appearance in the best possible way.
The most beautiful girls bodybuilders photos
Julia Vince
Heidi Vuorela
Ava Cowan
Adriana Kuchl
Amanda Latona
Brooke Holladay
Jennifer Risch
Juliana Malacarne
Kizzy Wines
I present to your attention the TOP 15 female bodybuilders
Brooke Holladay
Blonde with blue eyes She also did dancing and gymnastics as a child, but her soul was more drawn to bodybuilding, so she began lifting and lowering pieces of iron, winning competitions and participating in filming. One might say, the classic fate of a bodybuilder.
Larissa Reis
Larissa was born in Brazil on May 21, 1979, and now lives in the USA, in Las Vegas. Her height is 168 cm, weight 60-64 kg. She took part in Olympia 2009, took first place at the Atlantic City Pro competition in 2009, as well as second place at the 2009 New York Pro and sixth at Figure International in 2010.
Rachel Cammon
Rachel was born, raised and now lives in Denver, Colorado. Her height is 177 cm, and her weight is unknown to us. She is an IFBB Pro Card holder and her most significant athletic honors include first place at the 2008 NPC USA Bodybuilding & Figure Championships, second place at the 2008 NPC CytoCharge Colorado State Bodybuilding Fitness & Figure Championships, and fourth place at the 2012 IFBB Omaha Pro Figure. Rachel has successfully overcome her eating disorder and now believes it is her duty to help others learn to take care of themselves.
Erica Cordy
Erica was born in Minnesota on April 4, 1980, and grew up in South Dakota, and now moves freely around the country and lives in Nevada, Colorado, California, and Florida. She came to bodybuilding after a serious knee injury she received while skiing. It so happened that while restoring the mobility of her leg, Erica fell in love with iron sports and, a few years later, became a famous fitness model, and in 2001 she took first place at the Mile High Natural Heavyweight competition.
Jennifer Broomfield
Jennifer was born on September 5, 1983 in Bolton, Massachusetts, and now lives in Hartford. Since childhood, Jenny was a very muscular girl; in an interview she says that already at the age of seven her muscles were quite prominent and she was terribly embarrassed about her body.
Jennifer Risch
This dancer-gymnast-bodybuilder from California is famous primarily for her large and muscular legs. Jen's calves are truly impressive.
Moorea Wolfie
Moorea may have retired from her bodybuilding career, but many remember this green-eyed former gymnast with big muscles.
Debi Laszewski
In her youth, Debi played tennis and athletics. At the age of 21, impressed by the film “Terminator”, Debi decided to take up bodybuilding professionally. Among her main achievements are third place at Ms.Olympia in 2009, 2010 and 2013, third place at Ms.International 2010 and 2013, as well as second place at Ms.International 2012 and Ms.Olympia 2012.
Heidi Vuorela
Tattooed Swede Heidi is becoming more and more muscular every year. We still haven’t found out how old this blond iron lover is and what awards she has already collected, but it’s clear that the girl has found herself and doesn’t need grades.
Heather Dees
Heather lives in Salt Lake City. Heather Dees earned her pro card after competing at the 2010 NPC Nationals. Of the seventeen professional performances in which Heather took part, she took second place seven times and was a winner twice. In her June 2014 interview, she made it clear that she needed a break and her New York Pro results (she finished only 14th) confirmed this. According to Heather, the main problem that keeps her from the Olympic stage is her health, but fans of the athlete claim that there are other personal reasons involved.
Wendy Lindquist
Wendy was born in Canada and has been actively involved in gymnastics and dancing since childhood. When she grew up, all this was not enough for her and she became heavily hooked on bodybuilding. Soon Wendy began performing both as a pro-athlete and as a fitness model, and also repeatedly took part in Strongman (extreme strength) competitions.
Amanda Latona
Amanda Latona was born on March 27, 1979 in Pittsburgh (USA), her height is 165 cm, and her weight all year round holds about 55 kg. She began her career in show business as a member of a girl group. She sang all sorts of nonsense, but she definitely has vocal abilities.
When Latona signed a contract for a series of concerts and was given a gym membership. Amanda touched barbells and dumbbells and fell ill with the “iron disease.” My quadriceps immediately grew, and with nowhere to go, I had to become a professional fitness model.
In 2007, she moved to live in Las Vegas and in the same year won two regional competitions: she was awarded the championship in the Model America Championships. Amanda also beat out over a hundred competitors in the first ever FLEX Bikini Model Search. Already in 2009, Latona received an IFBB professional card and a contract with Weider Publications. She won (and will still win!) many competitions, we’ll get tired of listing them. Here are photos and videos with Amanda.
Soleyvi Hernandez
In college, Soleivi played football and softball, and at the age of 22 she joined the gym and stayed there.
Dana Lynn Bailey
Dana was born on May 30, 1983 in the USA. Mrs. Bailey began playing sports at an early age - at age 6 she was on the swim team, played basketball, soccer, field hockey, softball and ran track. She started going to the gym after college, with her future husband. And she immediately began to train hard, like male bodybuilders.
In 2006, Dana took part in the first competition and became sixth. After a 2-year break with intensive preparation, Dana took first place at her next competitions. Now Dana works as a personal trainer, fitness model and produces a line sportswear DLB. In 2013, Dana Lynn Bailey came second at Tampa Pro in the Women's Physique Open, won the IFBB Europa Super Show in the same category, and won gold at the Olympia in the Women's Physique category.
Oksana Grishina
Oksana is Russian and she is a star. Grishina was born on March 25, 1978 in Kaliningrad. His debut on the fitness scene took place in 2002 at the Kaliningrad Region Cup. In 2007, Oksana Grishina received a professional IFBB card and immediately began conquering Olympia - in 2007 she became seventh, in 2010 and 2011. – fifth, in 2012 and 2013. - second, and finally, in 2014, Oksana became the first Russian winner of the fiftieth anniversary Olympia in the Fitness category.
Oksana Grishina currently lives in California, USA, with her husband Boris Ivanov, who is also a photographer and her personal trainer. The athlete works as a personal trainer, fitness consultant and fitness model.
