And I mean REALLY caught my eye.

Now, don’t misunderstand me – all of the images in the Home Grown Talent gallery are a pleasure to look at. But some of them…well…as Emeril Lagasse might say, kick it up a notch.

From fitness and figure, to homegrown bikini girls and massive female bodybuilders. It’s all there. If you want it, we have it.

You might disagree with my choices. If you do, let me know. Here are some of my favorites from the gallery:

Femalemuscle Favorites

I hear Ashley wants to armwrestle my fellow blogger Patricia.

Stop by for a free chat, and then go private if you dare.

[source: acogelos.org }
Araceli, que se diplomó en Fisioterapia por la Universidad Blanquerna, ha colaborado en numerosos programas de radio y televisión, y ha escrito para periódicos y revistas. Participó en la realización del documental “Everest, Mountain without Mercy” de la Nacional Geographic y participó en el rodaje de la película “Siete años en el Tíbet” (de Brad Pitt) como ayudante de cámara. Igualmente fue protagonista del documental “Mujeres y K2” de la Nacional Geographic.

LOLO JONES, 100-meter hurdles

Lolo Jones’s journey to the Olympics began in a most unlikely place, the basement of a church in Des Moines.

Jones’s mother, Lori, and her five children lived a peripatetic existence. Jones said they moved almost constantly, staying one step ahead of rent collectors, and the children attended a new school every year. Jones said her father was not around, that he was in the Air Force and when he got out, he bounced in and out of jail.

“We were living at the bottom of a church when I was in third or fourth grade,” Jones said. “I don’t know how long. First thing I knew I was going to camp there and next thing I knew we were living in the basement. I’d sneak up before the kids came to the camp like I had just arrived there. It was weird.”

Brian Moss, our Shemuscle colleague, has published an amazing photographic retrospective of his wildly famous, popular, and groundbreaking New York City Gym at betterbodies1982.com

Přijd´ ke mně, když máš problémy a já ti poradím. Jestliže tě budou ostatní ponižovat, zastanu se tě. Když tě všichni opustí, já zůstanu s tebou. Rozveselím tě, když ti bude smutno. Pokud uroníš slzu, začnu plakat. Jestliže tě budou ostatní nenávidět, já tě budu mít ráda. Já budu mluvit pravdu, když ostatní budou lhát. Přijď za mnou, jestliže ti okolí nebude rozumnět, a já tě pochopím. Navštiv mě v nesnázích a podám ti pomocnou ruku, protože opravdoví přátelé zůstanou vždy spolu a nikdy jeden druhého nezradí…

katkakyptova.blogspot.com/

via amaz0ns bookmarks

Toute jeune, j’étais déjà très active. À l’âge de deux ans, je courais et grimpais partout. Mes parents avaient quoi devenir fou! Quand j’ai eu 4 ans, ils m’ont inscrit à des cours de ballet classique. À 5 ans, c’était le patinage artistique et, à 8 ans, le ballet jazz que j’ai d’ailleurs poursuivie près de 8 ans.

Au secondaire, j’étais très timide. Pour passer le temps, je faisais beaucoup de sport, surtout de la natation et je faisais un peu de gymnastique dans le cadre des cours d’éducation physiques. Ce sport me passionnait et j’aurais voulu poursuivre pour faire de la compétition, mais les écoles de gymnastique étaient rares à l’époque. Après le secondaire, je suis entrée sur le marché du travail et j’ai laissé de côté toutes mais activités.

Ms. Fitness Canada 2004, Ottawa 1ère place

via sylviatrembley.com

Swintayla Marie Cash (born on September 22, 1979), better known as Swin Cash is an American WNBA player who plays for the Seattle Storm. A prolific scorer and rebounder, as well as a capable ball handler and defender, she helped lead the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team to national titles in 2000 and 2002. In her second WNBA season, she led the Detroit Shock to their first ever WNBA title.

Cash was an All-American at the University of Connecticut (UConn). She won the NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Championship with the UConn Huskies in 2000 and 2002. She also helped lead UConn to an undefeated 39-0 season in 2002.

Cash was selected by the Detroit Shock in the 2002 WNBA Draft, second overall. After leading the Shock’s resurgence in the second half of her rookie season, she then led the Detroit Shock to their first WNBA Championship title in 2003. She played in the 2003 WNBA All-Star Game and won the gold medal with the U.S. women’s basketball team at the 2004 Olympic Games.

In the off-season, Cash has appeared as a studio analyst on ESPN’s NBA Fastbreak, according to ESPN.com.

via wikipedia

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
Published: July 17, 2008

BEACH volleyball has sand, sun, skimpy clothing, sea spray and spirited, two-against-two action to recommend it. But not every would-be volleyball player has access to a beach. That’s O.K.
“Volleyball is a game you can take anywhere,” said Misty May-Treanor, 30, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist in beach volleyball who, with her partner Kerri Walsh, will represent America in Beijing next month.

Jacqueline’s Blurbs About me: My name is Jackie I am a Personal Trainer/Nutritionist & Fitness Model. I have just returned to Australia after spending time in Venice California. As a trainer I enjoy pushing my clients to their limits. Seeing success in them continually inspires me.

“Life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away ”

Female 37 years old Gold Coast – Qld / Venice Beach CA, Queensland Australia Last Login: 7/13/2008

Jacqueline’s MySpace Site

and here is a nice link to Pink Video at Wembley: “Pink – I’m Not Dead Live – I’m Not Dead Tour DVD”

Palmetto Cup – NPC, Figure C, 1st
South Carolina State – NPC, Figure C, 1st
South Carolina State – NPC, FigureOverall Winner

2008

Atlantic USA Championships – NPC, Figure B, 1st
Junior USA – NPC, Figure E, 2nd

stats via musclememory

NPC Figure competitor Ashley Dew was selected as the FigureRX spotlight athlete for the 2008 NPC Atlantic USA Championships, held on March 22nd in Norcross, Georgia.

source bodybuildingweekly

Elena advanced to the semi-finals at Wimbledon this year, losing in straight sets to Venus Williams.

MANILA, Philippines—This petite fashionista could lift a sack of rice—wearing four-inch heels. Now, if only stilettos were made of sturdier stuff.

Ruby Gan, a powerlifter, could do squats, in sexy heels, with 134 lbs of weight stacked over her shoulder. But that would be only for sheer “fun.”

“The heels would not be able to stand the pressure, and I would end up with injuries,” Gan said, laughing.

The buoyant owner of Schu and Myth, footwear and fashion boutiques, Gan is just as passionate about fashion as she is about lifting weights. To this day, the 2008 gold medalist in Master 1 category (56-kg class, benchpress) has managed to keep both worlds separate.

No one in the fashion circle knows this svelte lady is a hardcore powerlifter. Sure, they might have guessed this mother of two grownup boys hits the gym regularly. But no one in the gym would even think she’s a fashionista since she’s usually in loose old shirts borrowed from her sons.

Because protein is so important for building muscle, competitors eat plenty of protein-packed chicken and turkey. But Heather has to rely on egg whites – nine a day – for hers.

Clearly it’s no yolking matter as the 28-year-old recently posed her way into pole position to be crowned Natural Physique Association Yorkshire Champion at Batley Frontier.

She said: “I’ve only met one other vegetarian bodybuilder. But there are people more amazing by far – like a blind bodybuilder I saw compete.”

Jenny Gaidoukevitch
personal training and groupslessen in Oegstgeest
www.sunnysport.nl
www.sunnysport.hyves.nl

sportschool:
Felter Sport&Health Centrum
june 2008 Leiderdorp Netherlands

Excerpt: “Stuczynski was only days away from leaving for the United States Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Ore., where she hopes to continue a remarkable ascent in this event. It was only four years ago that her coach watched her in a basketball game and persuaded her to pick up a pole for the first time.

Now, at 26, Stuczynski holds the American record, clearing 16 feet ¾ inches at the Adidas Track Classic in May. Only one woman in the world has vaulted higher: Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia, at 16-5 1/4. The qualifying round at the United States trials is Wednesday, with the finals next Sunday afternoon.

“Going into this thing she had so much stacked against her,” Stuczynski’s coach, Rick Suhr, said. “She’s not a gymnast. She has no gymnastics background. She has an unproven coach. She doesn’t come from a pole-vault area.”

Link to nytimes article

A good collection of seemingly amateur photos and an active discussion thread. MYSPACE FEMALE BICEPS

a group member: “fitmommy”

Jodi Fonfa is 42-years-old with three children, but she’s in better physical shape than most high-school cheerleaders. She has worked as Sharon Stone’s personal trainer; held the title of Miss National Fitness Champion; and most recently, reports daily to her office at 24 Hour Fitness, where she’s a master instructor.

Though Fonfa looks like she should be on the cover of Muscle & Fitness magazine, she’s not the type of mother who wakes her children up to the sound of a trumpet, requesting that they give her 20.

“It’s about keeping a healthy attitude,” she said. “I just want them to have fun and enjoy life without taking it so seriously.”

source(reviewjournal)

Fonfa’s nine-year-old daughter, Haley, manages to do just that through dance. “(Dance) makes me feel really cool,” Haley said. “And it’s really fun.”

A member of two competitive dance teams, Haley practices for nine hours each week, and also spends additional time working on her moves.

“When I’m working on choreography, she’ll come in and do the dancing with me,” Fonfa said. “She has her opinions too. She’ll tell me what (moves) she thinks should go where.”

For the most part, though, it’s Haley taking cues from her mom. “She’s really nice and she teaches me a lot of stuff about dancing,” she said.

Fonfa also teaches her how a healthy body can impact your life. “I try and make (fitness) more about health, rather than looking a certain way,” Fonfa said. “A healthy lifestyle is a choice. It’s not something you do to fit into a dress.”

At least the photos are nice

Marta Vieira da Silva: (born February 19, 1986 in Dois Riachos, Alagoas), better known as Marta, is a Brazilian women’s football striker, considered the best female soccer player in the world. She plays as a midfielder for Sweden’s Umeå IK, and was a member of the Brazilian National Team that won the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She was also named the Golden Ball (MVP) at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship (six goals in tournament), in which Brazil finished fourth. She is the 2006 and 2007 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year. In the 2007 Women’s World Cup, she won both the Golden Ball award as the best player and the Golden Boot award as the top scorer. (source: wikipedia

1991 European Amateur Championships – IFBB, HeavyWeight, 4th

1992 European Amateur Championships – IFBB, HeavyWeight, 3rd
World Amateur Championships – IFBB, HeavyWeight, 8th

1993 World Amateur Championships – IFBB, HeavyWeight, 3rd

1995 World Amateur Championships – IFBB, HeavyWeight, 1st

source MuscleMemory

http://www.marjokrishi.com/

After I graduated from High School, I went to University in sports. There I started to practice weightlifting where I did very well as a junior and became a national champion as well. My best lifts when I was doing weightlifting were: Snatch 80 kg, Clean & jerk 105 kg, Total 195 kg.

While I was training for weightlifting, I started to work all my muscle groups to gain more power for the sport. At the same time I also practiced rugby for a year as well. I started to compete in BB competitions, but was not ready for this until I gave up weightlifting and told to myself to work seriously on my bodybuilding. So I started to train seriously for BB at the end of 2003, but was still competing in weightlifting too.
more from Oana’s website

In 2006, after a lot of hard work, I finally won an international trophy, and then the nationals in my country. This makes me work even harder, maybe to one day be in the IFBB or a pro. :-)

I am an ambitious person and I want to be the best at what I do. I am honest, like to help people when they need me, and like to work very hard. I also love nature, good people, good music and a good glass of wine. :-)

I’ve graduated from two universities, one in sports and the second in kineotherapy, I also have a Masters in sports and work as a trainer at school for weightlifting and bodybuilding.

Tatiachamp (Bulgarian living in Salt Lake City) has 88 homegrown videos on youtube…quite nice

Danse contemporaine, Compagnie Corps et Ame

source: flickr

日本vs中国vsRussia♪　China vs Japan vs Russia♪
ご無沙汰ちゃんで～～～す♪お元気でっかぁ？？？
昨日は、超明るいコレットちゃんとかも参加のデイブさんのセミナー観に行ったついでに、中国チャンプのBB選手リリーちゃんと撮影しましたぁ。その後は、リリーちゃんに本物中華料理を食べにつれってもらいオリンピックのコインやら・・を頂きつかの間でしたが、日中友好関係を築きました☆中国では、リリーちゃんはオリンピック選手扱いで、BBの審判もされていて、ワールドゲームも優勝しているのに、また来年も出場するそうです・・・。あっぱれぇ＝＝３
今度は、NYプロショーでは、大会後に日中のトレバトルを開催いたします♪コレットちゃんも出るので応援しよぉっと☆

It refers to Sandy Vu, FLICKR photo posted by KAFBB

Sandy Vu Calves Video HERE

We also like Monica’s pleasing explanation of how she started working out as reported at Figure RX: “I had 3 older sisters who I had to defend myself against, LOL. I really did, I started working at the age of 12 at a coffee shop and in order to learn how exactly to defend myself I took up boxing. Any money I made went to my personal trainer, Chris Cardonia, from the Bellmore Kickboxing Academy in New York. We would weight train together and I noticed how fast my physique developed. I loved boxing but that was where my relationship with weight training took off. I did a bit of soccer in middle school but I liked boxing, it sounded tough and it was fun!”

Dana is a fitness competitor with amazing muscle definition and a perfect figure.

This is a lift to weight ratio of 2.5257. A nice video report from Fox Tv Houston.

Kathy “Shake ‘em Down” Williams, a 5′5″ policewoman from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada is a fine example of the new breed of women boxers who step into the professional boxing ring after first getting a thorough schooling in the fundamentals as amateurs. Kathy is a two-time Canadian national amateur champion who also represented her country in international tournaments in Sweden and Finland.

Kathy was born on 8 September 1967 and grew up in Montreal, Quebec. She attended Bishop’s University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (double major in Business and Psychology and a minor in French).

She began her boxing training at age 11, at a sports camp, when she was living in Montreal. She discovered that she really enjoyed it and continued for three years, but she quit because “there wasn’t much women’s boxing happening at that time”. Her interest in competing was rekindled in 1993 while she was attending police college and saw a boxing and kickboxing show that included two women. “I was watching them thinking I could beat them” she says.

source: womenboxing.com

When she returned to Thunder Bay, she called up Tony Pimentel, the trainer she has been with ever since. At that time there was only one other female at his Doggs Gym, so she sparred mostly with men. Kathy says they were very supportive when she started, and were always giving her tips and pointers.

She had her first amateur bout in Cambridge, Minnesota in May 1994. She went on to win Ontario Provincial titles in 1994, 1995 and 1996 and Canadian national titles in 1995 and 1996. Her winning performance in the first women’s nationals in Canada got her into the Canadian edition of Sports Illustrated, and won her an award for best prospect at the tournament.

She fought as an amateur in Minnesota again in May 1996. In May 1997 she was on the Canadian national women’s team that competed in Sweden and Finland. The Canadian boxers won both of these dual meets and Kathy won both of her bouts. She defeated Erika Långström of Sweden 8-6, and also won an award for best Canadian boxer.

Kathy was joined at Doggs Gym in Thunder Bay by Tracey Stevens, who also competed as an amateur before turning to professional boxing. Kathy told me they were the only girls in the gym for three years but were joined in 1997 by Katie Burton and two other female amateurs. Kathy says the gym is a close knit club who do lots of activities together, which makes it easier in the gym where they all spar together. Trainer Tony Pimentel is also the Canadian national team coach.

Master Sgt. Tina Robinson squats 300 pounds at the fitness center at an air base in Southwest Asia. She was named “Strongest (female) in the AOR” recently after placing first in the women’s category of an Air Forces Central powerlifting competition. Sergeant Robinson, deployed from Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., is the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron first sergeant. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Domonique Simmons)

Source Air Force Link, April 2008

Stroudsburg resident Michelle Bothun took home first place honors in the novice division of the natural bodybuilding competition on May 14. Bothun, 37, also won second place in the masters 35-plus division as well as third for the open division. The masters 35-plus division includes those who are 35 years and older, while the novice competition is strictly for beginners. Once a competitor wins the novice competition, however, they can no longer compete for that division.

During the open competition, all contestants of any age and weight class can compete.

“I feel great,” said Bothun about her victories. “Overwhelmed.”

This year there were 70 bodybuilders competing. Out of the 70 contestants, there were only 12 female bodybuilders.

“The ones competing that day looked very ripped and vascular,” Bothun said. “That’s what the judges are looking for.”

Bothun’s next goal is to win the bodybuilder competition in Trenton, N.J. on Aug. 23. Like her last competition, it is a pro-qualifier.

From the Tiraspoltimes, Tiraspol, Moldova, April 2008 “Some of Pridnestrovie’s women are flexing their muscles – and bringing home gold medals as a result. In the regional bodybuilding finals in Odessa, PMR took first prize for female body fitness. In May, Tiraspol will host an international bodybuilding tournament.”

Tiraspol (IPA: [ti.'ras.pol]; Russian and Ukrainian: Тирáсполь; Moldavian Cyrillic: Тираспол) is a city in Eastern Europe, the capital and administrative center of the separatist Transnistrian region, and the second largest city in Moldova (as internationally recognized). The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River. The city has many different light industries. Among them are the production of furniture and electrical goods. (wikipedia)

Tiraspol was founded by the Russian general Alexander Suvorov in 1792.[1][2] The city celebrates its anniversary every year on October 14.[3]

From the BBC: “The bulk of it, between the rivers Dniester and Prut, is made up of an area formerly known as Bessarabia. This territory was annexed by the USSR in 1940 following the carve-up of Romania in the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact between Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s USSR. Two-thirds of Moldovans are of Romanian descent, the languages are virtually identical and the two countries share a common cultural heritage.