What should be female bodybuilding

35 years ago, women's bodybuilding began with the struggle for perfect proportions. What does the ideal female bodybuilder look like now?

For a long time, there has been an endless debate in the arena of female bodybuilding. On one side of the barricades there are girls resembling models in terms of complexion, on the other - muscular “iron ladies”. Grace against deep relief, amazing proportions against mass - for many years neither side managed to achieve an overwhelming advantage, although at first the palm rightfully belonged to the "models", and that moment is now commonly called the golden age of female bodybuilding.

Years of grace

1. Lisa Lyon

The amazing beauty and grace of Lisa Lyon's body, which is now considered insufficiently pumped even at the fitness bikini championship, has long been the standard for all training girls. It was Lisa who became the first world famous bodybuilder. At the institute, she became seriously interested in kendo swordsmanship, based on samurai techniques. Sport was given to Lisa with difficulty, and primarily because of the weak top. The girl began to correct the situation with the help of iron. She not only became stronger, but also built herself an amazing body, beautiful and proportionate.

It was Lisa who came up with the idea of demonstrating muscles using dance moves. This added even more grace to her graceful figure with parameters 93-61-89 and a weight of 54 kg with a height of 162 cm. By the way, it was Lisa who was the first of the bodybuilders to appear for Playboy magazine.

2. Rachel McLeish

Another beauty - graceful Rachel McLeish - won the gold of "Olympia" in 1980 and 1982, and was also the second in 1981 and 1984. The girl studied ballet since childhood, but in high school she was seriously distracted from it and returned to her hobby only at the age of 17. It was too late to dream of a big stage, but the girl's energy was in full swing, and Rachel went into the "iron" sport. Competitive career in major championships did not last long. It was a kind of phenomenon: compared to the rest of the participants, McLeish looked more like a model than an athlete.

course to mass

3. Corey Everson

In the life of the future champion and bodybuilding legend Cory Everson in 1981, a terrible thing happened - blood clots were found in the three main veins of her left leg. Excellent physical fitness, multiplied by a bunch of taboos, helped to avoid fatal consequences. In particular, doctors forbade her to give birth, and fitness has forever become a vital necessity to help prevent relapse.

Steel willpower, as well as amazing genetics, were included in Corey's "basic package". In 1984, she put an end to the era of half-models, half-athletes in the bodybuilding world and firmly established herself at the top of the pedestal. Her competitive career, which will last six years, can be called a real era, during which future trends will be identified. The amazing Corey has consistently won the Olympia gold every year out of those six.

The Four Horsemen of the Female Fitness Apocalypse

4. Lenda Murray

Everson retired in 1989, ending the golden age of women's bodybuilding. New requirements and the brutal aesthetics of massiveness gradually laid grace and harmony of proportions on the shoulder blades. The next Olympia champion was the American Lenda Murray, whom Muscle and Fitness magazine once called the prototype of the women of the future. Murray did not leave Olympus for eight years in a row.

In 1996, she was moved to the second step of the podium by Kim Chizhevsky. A purposeful and very positive athlete took gold six times, and then quite unexpectedly went to a new, more light category - body fitness. The public liked this transformation into a miniature young lady, but Kim did not achieve significant achievements in this field.

5. Iris Kyle

While Chizhevsky and Murray were arguing for gold, Iris Kyle was progressing at a rapid pace behind them. At some point, it blossomed so that to this day no one can move Kyle from the top. This year, Iris will turn 41, and this is not the limit, because the same Murray ended her career at 42. Who will replace Iris? Most likely, after Kyle, the throne will be inherited by the Romanian star Alina Popa, who is now 36 years old. She is considered one of the strongest female bodybuilders, and she has everything to take the Olympia gold.

It was these four athletes, who invested incredible strength and a huge amount of time in building their bodies, that led to the change of the golden age of female bodybuilding to another era - a time when ladies pump muscles in the name of mass and only secondarily for the sake of proportions. Ready for a lot, they inspire incredible respect, but distort the very concept of female fitness on an unrealistic scale.

Blood and sweat. Workaholics

6. Larissa Reis

The consequences of the transformation of girls for the sake of a gold medal delighted, horrified, amazed and frightened, but did not initially fulfill the most important function: the popularization of sports among women. Looking at Murray, Chizhevsky or Kyle, the ladies, who saw the “gym” sign in front of them, cautiously quickened their steps, fearing that just being near such a place would make the biceps progress. In order to somehow improve the situation, a lightweight sexy version of female bodybuilding appeared - body fitness. She started at Olympia in 2003 and gave the world a completely different format of athletes.

They are not as pumped as the older sisters, much less prominent, and they also walk around the stage in heels, sparkle with a white-toothed smile and shine with an impressive bust oiled with oil. A bright representative of body fitness is Larissa Reis.

A sexy blonde, a former star of erotic magazines, she is not the owner of serious titles, but she is incredibly famous in her environment. And of course, these girls are much more popular among men than female bodybuilders.

Have the Reiss athletes made female fitness less intimidating? Definitely. Has he become more attractive to the average young lady? Hardly. Larissa demonstrates the form that was given to her by blood, sweat, calluses and, in fact, daily workouts. Total: a figure that still does not correspond to the majority's idea of femininity. Moreover, it is simply unattainable for an ordinary girl.

The era of fitonies

7. Natalia Melo

Few people like this term, for many it generally evokes an association with medicinal teas. Nevertheless, the girls, who are called fitonies, have become a whole layer of sports culture, the heyday of which began in 2011, with the appearance of the “fitness bikini” nomination at Olympia.

Moderately muscular and almost non-relief contestants were called upon to finally put an end to the disputes on the topic of the results of women's work in the "rocking chair". A toned body, a pumped-up ass, but nothing more. Even the cubes on the stomach could take away points, as well as the obvious separation of the muscles. Training could hardly be called hard work, some girls were engaged in a year or two, after which they got into major competitions.

One of the brightest representatives of the nomination, Natalya Melo, the owner of the golden statuette of Olympia, began to win competitions with an amateur sports background and several months of training in the gym. The girl was the personification of what any housewife can look like, with good proportions and spending several hours a week on training.

In the early years of his competitive career, Melo was often called the Brazilian fallow deer, but now the phrase "hot horse" is increasingly used. The girl has grown significantly, and the relief has become noticeably deeper. The larger Melo became, the lower her grades were. The rising star of the bikini fitness has gone into a slightly different aesthetic, and meanwhile, a new model of women's athletic bodies has appeared.

8. Ashley Kaltwasser

Ashley Kaltwasser has already become the champion of Olympia twice. Graceful, proportionate and graceful, she conquered the judges and fell in love with the whole training world. There was even a saying: “As long as Ashley is on the pedestal, you don’t have to worry about a fitness bikini.” Compared to last year, Kaltwasser has grown a little. Whether she will chase the mass, one can only guess.

You can argue about tastes for a long time, but one thing is for sure: such a phrase as “brain fitness” will settle in modern realities for a long time, displacing the primary task of a healthy lifestyle - physical education and proper nutrition in order to maintain good shape and excellent health. On the one hand, it's not bad, because the rocking chair is an excellent alternative to clubs and excessive drinking. The main thing is that pumping the deltoid, trapezium and, of course, the gluteal muscles does not become the only meaning of life.