Over at Muscular Development, the following question was posed:

Is Iris Kyle bad for woman’s bodybuilding?

The primary complaints about Iris Kyle is that she’s too big, and not feminine enough to be Ms. Olympia. Here are several of the responses:

“She’s bad for the sport, but what are you going to do? Ban her for being too muscular?”

“Iris is Ms. Olympia because she’s the best bodybuilder.”

“With a girl like Cathy LeFrancois out there why not go for a more feminine look?”

The conversation remained fairly tame, until a female poster by the name of sadie7879 responded with the following:

So what about the men? The men look like cartoon characters… they are grossly out of proportion for the typical male form. We should outlaw drugs in general? That’s why there are natural shows. Go to those if that is your preference. Just as some of you guys do not appreciate muscular women, I assure you that most of the female population do NOT appreciate the amount of muscle on male pros either…so they don’t go to shows. I suggest that if the women bother you, you go to the f**kin bathroom or something while they are on stage.

Hypocritical double standard BS all over this thread.

Gallery of the top 10 women bodybuilders from the 2009 IFBB Atlantic City Pro, Lisa Aukland, winner.

Want more Lisa Aukland? Check the Female Muscle archives, or check out the following pages:

– 2008 Ms International Third Place Lisa Aukland Finals Gallery

– Lisa Aukland: Three in a Row

– Backstage at the 2008 Arnold

1st: Lisa Aukland

2nd: Kristy Kawkins

3rd: Nicole Ball

4th: Brenda Raganot

5th: Klaudia Larson

6th: Benincia Lopez

7th: Gayle Moher

8th: Jennifer Sedia

9th: Mah-Ann Mendoza

10th: Beverly DiRenzo

Images Courtesy of Dream Wear Online

Bling! Bling! It’s all about the bling!

At least that what the St. Charles Sun reported this weekend in a story called, Female Bodybuilders: It’s All About Suit.

“The suit is the most important thing,” said competitor Michele Wood of Chicago. “You have to have a blinged-out suit.”

This begs the obvious question…female bodybuilding knows where it’s been, but does it realize where it’s heading? Yes, we all know the secret. Let’s not pretend we don’t. Many outside the realm of female bodybuilding dislike overly muscular women.

So there is a phase shift taking place. In many ways this shift brings a needed balance to the sport of female bodybuilding. It’s nice to have a place on the spectrum for all women to compete. From the muscular to the bikini. Personally, I like muscle.

“Your suit fit can mean first or last place.”

But I want to ask you a question: should the sport of female bodybuilding be all about the suit and its bling? Or should it be all about the body? Many of the competitors feel that bling is extremely important.

“You can’t get on stage without a suit,” she (Ardizzone) said — and if you want to win, it better be good.

This is a viable question, and one that needs to be asked. Should it be all about the bling? And is it truly all about the bling?

I decided to compile several links to stunning images, and female bodybuilding galleries and pics that have appeared on Female Muscle over the years. These are some of the best of the best. Enjoy!

Peggy Schoolcraft. 5 eye-popping images of bodybuilder Peggy Schoolcraft. She is gorgeous, has a deep, rich tan, and is flat out a pure pleasure to look at.

Kim Klein. This gallery of female bodybuilder Kim Klein is from the 2008 Arnold Classic.

Big Muscle Babes. Top 25 pictures. Four galleries featuring classic images.

Backstage at the Arnold. These images were taken backstage at the 2008 Arnold Classic.

Kate Kyptova. Talk about awesome abs! Kate may just have an 8-pack.

If you’d like to explore more pics from Female Muscle’s past, check out gallery posts, and home grown galleries.

Female Bodybuilding Galleries

Female Muscle Favorites, A -G. Over 80 amazing galleries including Anita Ramsey, Bikers, Bikinis, Boxing, Cars and Women, Denise Masino, Fitness, Gayle Moher, Gladiators, Glutes and many more.

Female Muscle Favorites, G-R. More female muscle favorite galleries including Hip Hop Women, Krisztina Sereny, Anja Langer, Loren Powers, Lourdis, Monica Martin, New York Muscle Club, Quads and many more.

Female Muscle Favorites, R-Z. The last gallery set in the female muscle favorites series. Sets include Sandra Wickham, Sharon Bruneau, Storm, Teagan Clive, Threesome, Vilma Caez and many more.

Homegrown Talent Galleries. Nearly 200 women and galleries featuring top female bodybuilding, fitness, figure and bikini home grown talent. Galleries include Katie Madden, Fannie Barrios, Katie Couric, Nikki Crawford, Milamar Flores, Ines Jimenez, Debbie Laszewski, Monica Martin, Coral Moody, Lauren Powers, and tons more!

2009 Arnold Classic Gallery. 8 galleries from the 2009 Arnold Classic including images from Iris Kyle, Pro winners, Amateur winners, Fitness, Figure, Backstage, Men’s gallery, Ms. International, and many more.

Lori Braun Blog Galleries. A collection of galleries featured on the Lori Braun Blog including Farah Fawcett, Brandi Chastain, Valentine’s Day 2008, Fabulous Moolah, Retro Lori, Girls beating up smaller girls, Powerful photos, Ms. Olympia 2006, and over 80 more!

Rachel was the first ever Ms Olympia, and looking at her physique you can see a momentous difference from the female bodybuilders of today. Is this good or bad? Depends who you ask, many say that female bodybuilding has progressing for the better with increased muscularity and conditioning – but it seems more say the “progress” harmed female bodybuilding.

Which side are you on?

Click on the banner above to go the website

Some text from them: The NxLabs Hardcore Bodybuilding Challenge is easy to enter if you are up to the task. Enter the contest with some basic information, set some realistic goals, submit your photos, track your progress and get your friends, family and most likely new fans to vote for you. Random prizes and a grand prize of an Endorsement Contract with NxLabs® and a trip to the 2010 Arnolds will be awarded. The challenge has three rounds of Judging. There is one presentation round at Prejudging (Preliminary) and another presentation round at the Semi-finals. The Finals are then judged by the NxLabs® advisory/athlete panel

2008 Arnold Classic

Yaxeni Oriquen won the 2008 bodybuilding portion, click here for scoresheets plus a wide array of photo galleries of the female bodybuilding. Gina Aliotti won the 2008 figure portion, click here for photo galleries and full figure coverage. Now retired Kim Klein won her second Arnold fitness title, click here for scoresheets plus a wide array of photos galleries of the fitness division.

2007 Arnold Classic

Iris Kyle won the 2007 bodybuilding, Mary Lado won the figure division and Kim Klein won the fitness division. Click here for full results and scores of the 2007 Arnold Classic.

2006 Arnold Classic

Iris Kyle won the bodybuilding, Mary Lado won figure and Adela Garcia won the fitness, click here for galleries and more from 2006.

2005 Arnold Classic

Yaxeni Oriquen won the bodybuilding, Jenny Lynn won the figure and Jen Hendershott won fitness.Click here for over 450 photos from the 2005 Arnold Classic

She won six Olympias from 1984 – 1989.

Here’s a clip showing her both posing and training:

Valentina Chepiga. Lori Brain interviews 2000 Ms. Olympia Heavyweight Champion, Valentine Chepiga.

“To win Ms./Mr. Olympia is the highest point in the career of every bodybuilder. Because the dream of my life came true, I was very excited and happy. My life became more interesting and filled with events. I appear and will continue to appear at various bodybuilding competitions as a guest poser or just a guest. I also take part in video and photo shootings.”

Anita Ramsey. Interview with Anita Ramsey. Part 1. Part 2.

“Everyone at the gym I trained at asked me if I was one (a bodybuilder) so I opted to try it so when I was asked I would say “yes, I am” instead of “What’s a bodybuilder?”

Ben Weider. Lori Brain interviews Sir Ben Weider.

“I believe that Rachel McLish and Cory Everson were the 2 most influential female bodybuilders in the last 30 years”

Juliette Bergmann. Lori Braun interviews Juliette Bergmann.

“Everybody is supposed to know the guidelines especially the judges. The guidelines are specific and a woman bodybuilder is in the first place a woman, a woman bodybuilder is a woman with muscle. I always followed my own feeling about how I like to look like and that is something what no guideline or opinion from judges can influence. The body I show is the body I train for and I like to have.”

Sharee’ Scadron. Lori Victoria Braun interviews Talk Live Bodybuilder Sharee’ Scadron.

Lena Johannesen. Lovely, Lively, Lena: An Interview with Lena Johannesen by Rob Wilkins.

Dina Al-Sabah. Sacrificing to Compete: An Interview with Dina Al-Sabah By Rob Wilkins.

“The first time I ever lifted a weight was in 1991 when I moved to London. Living in a new country and not knowing anyone, I decided that joining a gym would be a fun way to spend time and meet people. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but it was a start.”

Lori Braun. The tables are turned. Lori Braun is interviewed – “Reigning Queen of Female Muscle.”

“Lori Braun is many things, but first and foremost she is the reigning queen of female muscle. Lori’s websites include Female Muscle, a power house female bodybuilding site, Athletic Tube, an upstart video sharing site focusing on the female figure, and of course the Lori Braun Blog. Some call Lori eccentric, some call her wildly creative, but no one calls her dull.”

The female bodybuilding lineup as of today:

Heidi Bagwell – South Carolina
Tess Blair – Pennsylvania
Carmen Brady – Nevada
Michelle Brent – Philadelphia
Diana MacPhee Cook – Florida
Heather Darling – New Jersey
Johanna Dejager – Ontario
Roseanne Desmarais – British Columbia
Melissa Dettwiller – Texas
Anne Sheehan Dudash – New Jersey
Cheryl Faust – Michigan
Marcia Ferguson – Ohio
Kimberly Ferrell – Indiana
Cassandra Floyd – New York
Maryann Glascock – Virginia
Jocelyn Gorman – Michigan
Tammy Jones – Florida
Mary Lynne MacKenzie – Ontario
LaDawn McDay – Michigan
Wendy McMaster – Ontario
Janelle Miller – Texas
Michelle Morrison – Massachusetts
Kris Murrell – Florida
Teresa Nabors Paschal – Alabama
Julie Peavey – Illinois
Christina Rhodes – New Mexico
Penny Ruff – Georgia
Christine Sabo – Arizona
Pam Shealy – South Carolina
Lori Steele – New Hampshire
Tracey Toth – Michigan
Jody Wald – Alberta