Helle Nielsen is one of the world’s top female bodybuilders. At 5-foot-5 and around 165 pounds in contest shape, Helle possesses one of the most incredible physiques in women’s bodybuilding. She is known above all for her incredible size and the phenomenal conditioning she displays onstage — a female version of the former Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates.
IT BEGAN IN RURAL DENMARK
It all began in a tiny town named Sønderborg in rural Denmark. Helle was a gymnast from the age of 3 and competed in various other sports including horse riding and track and field. Both her father and her sister (who is disabled) worked out. At the age of 17, Helle joined a gym and started training seven days a week. Her body quickly responded: when she started, she weighed 128 pounds; within a year of training, Helle had added 20 pounds of muscle and wanted more. She quickly realized she had great genetics for bodybuilding.
DENMARK’S QUEEN OF DENSITY
Inspired by 4-time Ms. Olympia Kim Chizevsky, Helle started competing. At the age of 22, won the heavyweight and overall at the Danish Nationals in 1998 — her first show. The following year she competed at the World Championships in Australia and impressed bodybuilding writer Steve Wennerstrom who dubbed her “Denmark’s queen of density” in his column in Flex magazine.
COMPETING AT THE THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS SHOW
Helle became the first female pro from Denmark since Lisser Frost-Larsen in the early 1980s and won the Jan Tana Classic in 2003 on her pro debut. A few months later, at just 27 years-old, she placed fifth in the heavyweights at the Ms. O — the most prestigious show in women’s bodybuilding. After spending a few years building up her personal training business, Helle made a comeback in 2011 and won the FIBO pro show in Germany and competed in the Ms. O in Las Vegas.
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’
Helle continues to compete at the pro level. In 2012 she moved from Denmark to California and now trains at Gold’s in Venice — the “mecca” of bodybuilding.
Look out for this outstanding athlete, she only knows one way, and that’s forward!