Save Women's Fitness Now!

IFBB Flex Pro Next Weekend

2012-02-11T22:01:00.001-08:00

Next weekend (February 18th), two weeks before the Arnold, the IFBB Flex Pro will take place in Saint Monica, California, which will showcase the fitness divison. Minus a couple of names, nearly ALL the competitors will step on the Arnold stage, which makes this contest a big one. Depending on what happend at the Flex Pro, this could very well be an indicator for how the Arnold could end up. This will also be the first contest under the new rules and regulations that the IFBB laid out last year, which includes only the winner getting an Olympia invite as opposed to the top three in past years.

Here's the loaded line-up for next weekend's event:

Adela Garcia
Allison Ethier
Bethany Cisternino
Camala Rodriquez
Jodi Boam
Michele Mayberry
Myriam Capes
Oksana Grishina
Paula Gulman-Williams
Sheri Vucick
Tanji Johnson

For more info, visit their website at http://www.flexprochampionships.com/.

2012 Fitness International Invite List

2011-12-22T11:31:00.000-08:00

It's OUT!!!! The 2012 Arnold list has just been released, with 17 names for the Fitness International! Did you favorites make it on there?

2012 Fitness International (17)
Michelle Blank
Jodi Boam
Myriam Capes
Regiane Da Silva
Tina Durkin
Allison Ethier
Adela Garcia
Oksana Grishina
Tanji Johnson
Diana Monteiro
Julie Palmer
Kayde Puckett
Camala Rodriguez
Daniella Ruban
Kizzy Vaines
Sheri Vucick
Bethany Wagner

There will be more Arnold-related posts as we get closer to the big event. Until then, congrats to everyone that made the list! 2012 Arnold...here we come!!

The Warrens to be on National TV

2011-11-16T10:10:00.001-08:00

Photo credit: Bodybuilding.com

It's awesome to see those in our industry to be part of mainstream television. On her Twitter account (http://twitter.com/trishwarren), Trish Warren mentioned that her and her husband Branch will be on the Discovery Channel in the near future! Here's her exact Tweet:

Branch and I filmed a documentary for the Discovery Channel, I will keep you posted on when it will air!

So as soon as I hear word of this, I'll pass this information down to you all. So, if you haven't gotten the Discovery Channel, now would be a great time to get it. Congrats to the Warrens! Hope many of you all tune in!

Mindi O'Brien Retires from Fitness

2011-10-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

Fitness lost one of its top competitors today, as Mindi O'Brien announced via Youtube today that she is retiring from fitness competition. It sucks to leave a sport or anything you love for so long due to an injury. She's had a great career spanning 14 years, with great routines and what some people call one of the best physiques in fitness history, capped off by her trademark arms that would give any female bodybuilder a run for their money. Some of her highlights include competing in 6 straight Fitness Olympias (although she was qualified for 7, but skipped out of this year's show due to injury) and 5 straight Arnold Classics. She would finish her career at the first-ever Arnold Classic Europe, placing 6th.

Photo credit: RxMuscle.com

Here's a video of Mindi during her trip to Spain (including her fitness routine and posing round) and announcing her retirement from fitness:

What does the future hold for her? We're unsure, but we think she will stick around in the fitness industry in some form or capacity. We over at Save Women's Fitness Now congratulate Mindi on an incredible journey, and we wish her the best of luck in the next chapter of her life!

Tanji Johnson Wins Arnold Classic Europe Fitness

2011-10-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

Photo credit: Rx Muscle

History was made this weekend at the first-ever Arnold Classic Europe took place. Tanji Johnson, one of the top competitors in fitness and according to many a future Fitness Olympia and/or Fitness International champion, will forever be in the history books as the first-ever Arnold Classic Europe Fitness champion. Bethany Cisternino took 2nd, Regiane DeSilva took 3rd place. Here are the full results as well as scorecard for this historic event:

1. Tanji Johnson
2. Bethany Cisternino
3. Regiane DeSilva
4. Myriam Capes
5. Tina Durkin
6. Mindi O'Brien
7. Diana Monteiro
8. Kayde Puckett

Photo cradit: IFBBPro.com

Congrats to Tanji on the win, and to everyone that competed at the Arnold Classic Europe! You all made history this weekend!

IFBB Advisory Rule about Competition Contracts and No-Show at Finals

2011-10-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

This was released last week, from the IFBB:

Credit: IFBBPro.com

Let's start with the athlete competition contract ruling. There are those that take their time and want to see who else is competing and maybe they will wait until the very last minute to send in a contract. With this new ruling, that will be reduced dramatically as competitors MUST submit their contracts no later than a month (30 days) before the competition they plan to enter. And if they DO wait, they gotta pay up to the tune of 200 dollars. So make up your mind early, folks, and go ahead and submit those contracts.

As far as the no-show at finals are concerned, good ruling on that as well. If you make it, don't bail out unless you have a legitimate excuse. If you're literally feeling like you're gonna pass out, then you clearly excused from the finals. Your health is more important than a trophy and a spot at the Olympia. But if you're skipping to be skipping, you better hope it's a VERY GOOD excuse, because it's gonna cost ya $1,000. And until it's paid off, you will be kept from competing elsewhere.

While I personally love these rulings, some of you might not. What are YOUR thoughts on the new IFBB rulings? Post them below.

NPC Fitness Spotlight for October 2011: Amanda Hatfield

2011-10-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

This month's NPC Fitness Spotlight belongs to someon who has returned to the scene after being away from the fitness scene since 2004, Amanda Hatfield!

Photo credit: Fitness Rx

Looking at the picture above, some of you think you might have seen her before. If you were following this sport around 2004-2005, chances are you have. She used to go by the name Amanda Swallow. She was ALL OVER the paysites with her explosive biceps and overall muscularity. She was doing exceptionally well during her first run, then out of nowhere, she disappered, not to be seen until now.

With a new name in Amanda Hatfield, she didn't waste any time in making a name for herself in the fitness division. In her first show back from a five-year hiatus, she won first place at the NPC Julie Palmer Ultimate Showdown this past June in Toledo, Ohio and qualifying to compete in Fitness Nationals at Team Universe, where she claimed fifth in the short class. She recently competed in the North Americans, where she won her class and ALMOST won her pro card that night as well. She did more than just win her class at the NAs, she she restored her status as one of the division’s top contenders, and she's currently on Kriv Studios and HDPhysiques, with her biceps as impressive as ever. Expect more sites to feature her and quite possibly a pro card in the VERY near future. I think I can speak for everyone when I say...WELCOME BACK AMANDA!!!

Photo credit: Fitness Rx

COMPETITION HISTORY (as Amanda Hatfield)

1st Place Short Class-North Americans 2011
5th Place Short Class-Team Universe 2011
1st Place-Julie Palmer Ultimate Showdown

IFBB Fitness Spotlight for October 2011: Kayde Puckett

2011-10-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

This month's IFBB Fitness Spotlight belongs to one of the newer competitors in IFBB, Kayde Puckett!

Photo credit: Muscular Development

Kayde is from Northern Virginia, now residing in North Carolina! While her parents wanted her to do dancing and piano, she wanted to do martial arts when she was little. Her parents decided to let her do martial arts, and from there was the beginning of what would be the start of a great fitness career ahead of her. It was during her martial arts days that led her to discover weight training. She began to pick up weights at age 14 ana hasn't looked back since. That and her martial arts training (which she continued through college) paved the way for her to become a fitness competitor.

When she moved to Raleigh, I was unable to find a martial arts school that would fit her needs. It turned out to be a blessing in disquise as she focues more on weight training anf found fitness in the process. When she saw her first fitness show, she was instantly hooked. She began to train for fitness in April 2008, and a year after that, at the NPC Team Universe in 2009, she won the overall fitness title and her pro card, and she's now an IFBB Pro.

Kayde will be making history this month as she will participate in the first-ever Arnold Classic Europe. With her successful track record, the sky's the limit for what she can accomplish in the IFBB fitness division.

Photo credit: Lift Studios/Isaac Hinds

COMPETITION HISTORY:

10th Place - Europa Show of Champions, Orlando, FL (April, 2010)
8th Place - NY Pro Fitness Classic, New York, NY (April, 2010)
14th Place - Fitness International, Columbus, OH (March, 2010) - Pro Debut
7th Place - IFBB World Championships, Como, Italy (October, 2009)
1st Place Tall Class and Overall(Earned IFBB Pro Card) - NPC Team Universe and National Fitness Championships, New York, NY(September 2009)
3rd Place - NPC Jr. Nat's, Chicago, IL(June 2009)
4th Place - NPC Jr. USA's, Charleston, SC(May 2009)
1st Place - Carolina Clash, Kannapolis, NC(Oct 2008)
2nd Place - SC Excalibur, Charleston, SC(Aug 2008)

For more on Kayde, visit her website at http://www.kaydepuckett.com/.

New Olympia Qualifications for 2012 and Beyond

2011-09-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

For those unaware, the 2012 Olympia is aiming to be more elite with some new changes. Here's the official IFBB Advisory Notice on Olympia qualifications, beginning next year:

Photo credit: IFBB Pro

When you stop to think about it, it's a great way to make the Olympia more special then it already is. Yes, this does mean there will be LESS competitors on the Olympia stage from this point forward, but the Olympia is supposed to represent the absolute BEST of this industry, right? I have no problem with it. Besides, For those divisions that might lack a few competitors, invites could be issued. So placing in the top 3 in ANY competition is still important, as it can do a long way in possibly seeing yourself on the Olympia stage beginning next year and the years to come. Also, there's men's and women's physique that's going to be part of the Olympia soon. The rest of this year's shows are NOT affected by this rule. This will take place at the start of the 2012 season.

I'll admit, when I first heard about these changes, I wasn't too keen on them in terms of women's fitness is concerned, as there are not as many shows for fitness as there are for figure and bikini. But after reading this, my worries died down...for now, at least. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how much this will truly affect women's fitness.

What are YOUR thoughts on the new Olympia qualifications? Do you think this will positively or negatively affect women's fitness? Post your thoughts below or send a Tweet to us at SaveFitnessNow.

NPC Fitness Spotlight for September 2011: Babette Mulford

2011-09-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

The NPC Fitness Spotlight for September 2011 belongs to Babette Mulford!

Photo credit: FitnessRx

Babette is an NPC Fitness Competitor from Iowa. She was, as most competitors were back in their days as a child, and active person, doing water ski, soccer, track, flaggirl, and cheerleading, among other things. Prior to becoming a fitness competitor, she competed in figure and bodybuilding. In fact, she started out as a bodybuilder (as it was the only thing offered for her at the time), then she went into fitness, then did figure for a while (as well as a few marathons) and now she's back home in fitness. Her journey started when she was part of a dance team and danced at an intermission of an area bodybuilding competition. She stayed after the intermission and totally fell in love with the sport. Her love has transformed into a lifestyle that has seen her place very well in several competitions, as she strives to one day become an IFBB Fitness Pro.

Photo credit: FitnessRx

COMPETITION HISTORY
2011 IFBB North American Championships3rd
2011 NPC Team Universe & National Fitness Championships6th
2010 NPC Junior USA Championships1st
2010 NPC Team Universe & National Fitness Championships4th
2010 NPC Junior National Championships3rd
2009 NPC Team Universe6th
2009 IFBB North American Championships3rd
2009 NPC Junior National Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships5th
2008 NPC Junior National Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships5th
2007 NPC National Championships8th
2007 NPC Junior Nationals Bodybuilding, Fitness And Figure Contest4th

You can learn more about Babette in an interview she did with Jason Adams of Promoting Real Women at http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com/2010/12/babette-mulford-interview.html.

2011 Olympia Webcast Details

2011-09-14T09:08:00.001-07:00

The good folks at Bodybuilding.com will once again be providing a free webcast of the Olympia, taking place this weekend. Here's the direct link to the Olympia webcast:

http://streaming.bodybuilding.com/2011-olympia-webcast/

Mr Olympia prejudging, Ms Olympia Finals, Fitness Olympia Finals & Bikini Olympia Finals will take place on Friday evening. with the finals of Mr Olympia & Figure Olympia taking place on Saturday evening.Women's prejudging will not be live via Webcast, however the prejudging is usually taped by Bodybuilding.com, so they will probably post the video a few days after the Olympia has concluded.

IFBB Fitness Spotlight for September 2011: Adela Garcia

2011-09-07T17:56:00.000-07:00

With the Olympia this month, the IFBB Fitness Spotlight for September 2011 was a no-brainer. This month's IFBB Spotlight goes to one of the most successful IFBB fitness champions in history: Adela Garcia!

Photo credit: Muscular Development

Adela is arguably THE top fitness competitor in the world today, and for good reason. She's competed (AND WON) many titles, including multiple Fitness Internationals and Fitness Olympias.She was born in Cabrera, Dominican Republic and raised in San Juan Puerto Rico along with two older brothers. For those wondering, yes, she was a tomboy. Growing up active, she tried anything and everything you could think of in sports, including volleyball, softball, and basketball. This wasn't a sport, but there was a time that she (along with her brothers) putting forks in electrical outlets to see if they could see their skeletons!! Crazy, huh?! Despite all of that, there was one sport she never officially participated in, and it's the main sport that is credited a lot for fitness competitions: gymnastics. She wanted to take gymnastics classes, but financial issues kept her from doing so. So what did she do? She tried cartwheels and back-walkovers at home and kept myself busy playing games with my two brothers.

At the age of 17, she was introduced to weight training. In college, she joined the Army’s ROTC program, After being in the ROTC for a couple of years, she decided to take a trip throughout the states to learn English. While I visited California, I remember a couple of people suggesting that I try to compete in a fitness show. She was a bit skeptical because she did not have any type of dance background to compete. She declined that time and moved back to Puerto Rico in 1995. During that time, she taught aerobics classes and did some personal training at the gym on a military base. It was there where she saw a poster for the NPC Armed Forces Fitness Championships in North Carolina. She entered that contest and ended up placing second and was immediately hooked from that point on. She would compete in more local and nationals shows until 1999, where she took the overall fitness title at th 1999 USA Fitness Championship and earned my IFBB pro card. And the rest, as they say, is history.

There have been many great fitness competitors to come and go, but Adela has proven time and time again that she's among the all-time greats, and she hopes to cement her place in history at the 2001 Olympia, as she will be looking to win her 6th Fitness Olympia title, a feat no other fitness competitor has ever accomplished. When you think of fitness, bottom line, there's no one who solidifies the sport more than Adela Garcia.

Photo credit: Fitness Rx

COMPETITION HISTORY:

2011
Arnold Classic-first place

2010
Fitness Olympia-first place
Arnold Classic-first place

2009
Fitness Olympia-first place
Europa Super Show-third place

2007
Fitness Olympia-first place
Houston Pro Figure-third place
Arnold Classic-third place

2006
Fitness Olympia-first place
Arnold Classic-first place

2005
Sacramento Pro Fitness-first place
Fitness Olympia-third place
Arnold Classic-second place

2004
Fitness Olympia-first place
Arnold Classic-first place

2003
IFBB New York City Pro Fitness-Overall
IFBB Fitness International-second place

2002
IFBB GNC Show Of Strength Fitness-second place
IFBB Fitness Olympia-fourth place
IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Fitness-Overall
IFBB Atlantic States Pro Fitness-Overall
IFBB New York City Pro Fitness-Overall
IFBB Fitness International-fourth place

2001
IFBB Fitness Olympia-fourth place
IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Fitness-third place
IFBB Fitness International-third place

2000
IFBB Jan Tana Classic Pro Fitness-second place
IFBB Fitness Olympia-fifth place
IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Fitness-fifth place
IFBB Atlantic City Pro Fitness-sixth place
IFBB Fitness International-eighth place

1999
NPC USA Fitness Championships-Overall (IFBB Professional Qualifier)

1998
NPC Junior National Fitness Championships-second place short class
IFBB North American Fitness Championships-sixth place short class
NPC National Fitness Championships-eighth place short class
NPC USA Fitness Championships-ninth place short class

1996
NPC Pennsylvania Fitness Championships-fourth place
NPC National Fitness Championships-twelfth place

1995
NPC Europa Sports Fitness Championships-second place

For more on Adela, visit her website at http://www.adelafitness.com.

NPC Fitness Spotlight for August 2011: Alissa Carpio

2011-08-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

This month's NPC Fitness Spotlight belongs to Alissa Carpio!

Photo credit: Fitness Rx

Alissa has been a certified personal trainer since 2002. A year after she became a personal trainer, she decided to enter the world of physique competitions. She has went on to compete in fitness, figure, and bodybuilding. She has placed in the top 5 at five national competitions, including a win at the 2010 Jr. USAs in Fitness. Her main goal is to one day earn her pro card in fitness.

In addition to fitness competitions and personal training, she's also a freelance writer for health, fitness, pregnancy, and babies. You can view some of her work on Bodybuilding.com, MAX Sports & Fitness, Pampers.com, Bodysport.com, Fitness & Physique, and Faith and Fitness.

Photo credit: Fitness Rx

COMPETITION HISTORY:
2011 Team Universe, Fitness 6th Place, Class C
2010 NPC Junior, Fitness Tall Class (2nd)
2008 Junior Nationals, Fitness Class C (4th)
2008 Junior USA, Fitness Class C (1st)
2008 NPC Pittsburgh, Fitness (3rd)
2007 NPC National Fitness Championship, 6th Tall
2007 NPC Maryland Grand Prix, Overall Women's Bodybuilding
2006 NPC Team Universe Championship, 8th - Fitness Tall
2005 NPC National Fitness Championship, 3rd Tall
2005 OCB Battle of Blacksburg, 1st - Women's Novice, 2nd - Open
2005 NPC Junior USA Championship, 1st - Fitness Tall
2005 NPC Pittsburgh Championship, 1st - Fitness Tall
2004 NPC VA/DC State Championship, Overall Fitness
2004 NPC Bethany Howlett Classic, Overall Fitness
2004 NPC Tournament of Champions, 1st - Figure Tall
2004 NPC BodyRock & Monica Brant, Overall Fitness

For more on Alissa, visit her website at http://www.alissa.net/.

IFBB Fitness Spotlight for August 2011: Trish Warren

2011-08-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

This month's IFBB Fitness Spotlight goes to one half of the arguably THE top IFBB couple in the game today and a future mother, Trish Warren!

Photo credit: FLEX Online

Trish would describe herself as the "small town country girl with dreams as big as the Texas sky". She was on a cheerleading scholarship, which she did for a couple of year, and then decided to enter fitness competitions. She joined a small gym and hired a trainer and began my journey to being a top fitness star. That gym would be the very place she would met a man named Branch Warren. Little did anyone expect what would go down after that for BOTH Trish and Branch.

Trish would go on to win her very first competition, the Ronnie Coleman Classic in 1999, and from that point on, she was hooked. She would win her pro card in 2002 at NPC Nationals, and from there on she would go on to compete in many events, including the Arnold and Olympia. Along the way, she has refined her routines and her physique to be one of the best in the world. In fact, Trish is currently the number THREE fitness competitor on the planet, right behind Adela Garcia and Tanji Johnson. Her journey to being THE best will have to take a backseat, though, and for VERY good reason. Announced last month (July), Trish and Branch are expecting their first child together!! Congrats to the Warren family! I have no doubt in my mind that when the time's right, Trish will return to the stage and pick up right where she left off; aiming to win the Fitness Olympia and/or Fitness International title and prove to the world that she is the best.

Photo credit: Muscular Development

COMPETITION HISTORY:
1999 Ronnie Coleman Classic 1st
2002 Jr. Nationals 1st and Overall
2002 Nationals Earned Pro Card
2008 NY Pro Fitness 2nd (qualifed for 1st Olympia)
2008 Houston Pro 10th
2008 Fitness Olympia 9th
2009 Arnold Classic Fitness International 7th
2009 NY Pro Fitness 2nd
2009 Fitness Olympia 10th
2010 Arnold Classic Fitness International 4th
2010 New York Pro Fitness 2nd
2010 Fitness Olympia 3rd
2011 Arnold Classic Fitness International 3rd

For more on Trish, visit her website at http://www.trishwarrenfitness.com

Cheerleading competitions for potential fitness competitors?

2011-07-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

This has been brought up a few times, so I'd thought I'd bring it up here. How many of you have looked into high school/college cheerleading competitions to recruit potential fitness competitors? The numbers have increased in cheerleading big time, and weight-training has become more of a staple for cheerleading than ever before. From what I've seen personally, some cheerleaders wouldn't look out of place whatsoever in a fitness show. What are YOUR thoughts on looking at cheerleading competitions for potential fitness competitors?

Trish Warren to Sit Out 2011 Olympia

2011-07-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Trish on having a baby!
Photo credit: GMV Bodybuilding

Earlier today, Isaac Hinds mentioned that a top Fitness Olympia competitor would be sitting out this year. It's not been confirmed that Trish Warren will NOT be a part of the 2011 Fitness Olympia, and for good reason...she's having a baby! Big congrats to Trish and her hubby Branch on their upcoming bundle of joy.

You can read the full story on Hardbody News.

No doubt Trish will be missed on the Olympia stage this year, and no doubt the fitness top 6 will experience a shake-up as well. In my honest opinion, she was going to be a major favorite, right behind Tanji Johnson, to take Adela Garcia's title this year. It will be a while before we see Trish on stage again, but knowing her she'll return sooner than later.

On behalf of everyone at Save Women's Fitness Now, congrats to the Warren family!

Jenny Worth Returns to Her Roots This Weekend!

2011-07-05T22:23:00.000-07:00

For those attending the NPC Southern States Championships this weekend (July 8-9) are in for one heck of a treat. Jenny Worth will be guest performing at the show! For the first time since having her child, she will be back on stage to perform a fitness routine.

According to Jenny, she's doing it for the love of the sport that's made her a star in the first place, women's fitness, and with this performance, she hopes to put women's fitness back on the map and hope to get people talking about Jenny again. During her interview with FitGems Nation earlier this year, she mentioned that she wouldn't mind returning to compete when she felt the time was right. Could this guest appearance be the beginning of a comeback for the 2001 Fitness International champion? I wouldn't put it past her, as many people have said that she's among the best to never win the Fitness Olympia title. That will remain to be see whether she returns to competition, but it will be great for those attending the Southern States to see an IFBB Fitness legend on stage.

The show will start at 7PM Eastern time, with her appearance taking place around 9pm July 8th. Below is the location of the show and where and who to contact for tickets and more information about the Southern States:
WAR MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM
800 NE 8th Street
FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA
TICKETS AND INFO: contact
PETER W. POTTER, USA SPORTS PROMOTIONS OF FL
phone: 954.763.2718 - email: usasports@juno.com

We wish Jenny the best of luck in her return to the stage and hopes this could lead to bigger things in the future! For more on Jenny, visit her website at http://www.jennyworthfitness.com and visit her Yahoo fan club at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jenny_worth, and "like" Jenny Worth Fitness on Facebook.

NPC Fitness Spotlight for July 2011: Jennifer Bishop-Kernaghan

2011-06-30T22:22:00.000-07:00

This month's NPC Fitness Spotlight was chosen from the Facebook fan page, Jennifer Bishop-Kerneghan!

Photo credit: FitnessRx

Jennifer is a NPC figure turned fitness competitor from Mississippi. Sdisplayed a penchant for ambition and She began entering and won quite a bit of beauty pageants near her home in Mississippi. But she wanted to expand her horizons, so she decided to move to Jupiter, Florida. It was then that her life would change forever.

Jennifer went into in the mortgage industry but found out quick that she didn't want to do that for the rest of her life. Out of nowhere, she applied for a position at a gym in Jupiter and quickly realized her passion: health and fitness. She started as an aerobics and spin instructor and quickly moved into full-time personal training.
She began to get attention from the gym-goers there, and after some talks here and there, it was clear that she was destined to compete in physique competitions. She has dabbled in a few figure shows, but most of her career has been in fitness competitions. She has competed in quite a few fitness shows, with her recent show (Jr. Nationals) placed 4th. Each competition moves her one step closer to every National competitors dream: becoming an IFBB Pro.

Photo credit: FitnessRx

COMPETITION HISTORY

2011
Jr. Nationals- 4th Place Class C

2010
Fitness Team Universe - 6th Place
Fitness Jr. Nationals - 9th Place
West Palm Beach Anna Level - 1st Place Fitness Medium and Overall Winner
Diamond Classic - 1st Place Open and 2nd Place Over 30

2007
Sunshine Classic - Fitness Overall Winner and 2nd Place Figure

2006
Sunshine Classic Fitness - Fitness Overall Winner and 2nd Place Figure

2004
Florida State Figure - 5th Place

2003
Gold Cup Figure - 3rd Place

For more on Jennifer, visit her website at http://www.jlfit.com/.

IFBB Fitness Spotlight for July 2011: Myriam Capes

2011-06-30T21:31:00.000-07:00

This month's fitness spotlight belongs to the highest ranking fitness competitor in Canada, Myriam "Mimi" Capes!

Photo credit: Flex Online

Myriam is a IFBB Fitness Pro from Canada. She began her fitness career at the tender age of 17. Before becoming a fitness star, she was a gymnast. Mimi would obtained her pro card in 2006. Her first year as a pro, she would qualify to compete in the 2007 Fitness Olympia. She would finish 18th of 19th in the competition. While that's near the bottom of the list, being able to compete in the Olympia in your first year as a pro is an accomplishment in an accomplishment in itself.

In her first year, she brought am impressive physique to the stage, but it was obvious things were gonna have to change a bit in order to make a major impact in IFBB Fitness. The following year, she refined her physique to a more streamlined, judge-pleasing look, and her routines became more and more entertaining. She also went from blonde to jet black hair, which took a lot of people by surprise at the time, but from what I've heard, she made the right choice. In 2009, things began to take shape for her as she returned to the Olympia and placed 6th, a FAR cry from 18th place. She would follow that up with her first Arnold in 2010, placing 8th at the Fitness International. Her 4th place finish at this past Olympia, along with her 5th place finish as this year's Arnold makes her the highest ranking Canadian fitness competitor of all time. Many feel it's only a matter of time before she nabbed her first pro fitness win, and it wouldn't surprise anyone if she becomes a future Fitness Olympia and/or Fitness International champion. She has the routine, physique, personality, and drive to make it happen.

Photo credit: Flex Online

COMPETITION HISTORY

2011 IFBB Toronto Pro Super Show-2nd
2011 IFBB Fitness International-5th
2010 IFBB Olympia-4th
2010 IFBB Europa Super Show-2nd
2010 IFBB Europa Show of Champions-3rd
2010 IFBB Fitness International-8th
2009 IFBB Olympia-6th
2009 IFBB Europa Super Show & Supplement Expo-2nd
2009 IFBB Europa Show of Champions-2nd
2009 IFBB New York Pro Fitness-5th
2008 IFBB Atlantic City Pro-4th
2008 IFBB 15th Annual Sports/Fitness Weekend & Europa IFBB Super Show-7th
2008 IFBB Houston Pro Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Contest-13th
2008 IFBB New York Pro Fitness-9th
2007 IFBB Olympia-18th
2007 IFBB Santa Susanna Bodybuilding And Figure Contest-2nd
2007 IFBB Europa Super Show-NP

To visit her website, check it out at http://www.myriamcapes.ca/.

Tonya Burkhardt to do "24 Hours of Booty"

2011-06-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

Photo credit: IFBB Pro

I got this email from Tonya Burkhardt, and I wanted to share this with all of you. Please help out Tonya however you can.

I accepted the challenge once again of participating in 24 Hours of Booty. 24 Hours of Booty conducts annual 24 hour cycling events, which increase public awareness and support for cancer research and programs, while raising funds to support the LANCE ARMSTRONG FOUNDATION and local cancer organizations. I rode 123 miles last year and am still planning on riding post surgery and rehab this year.

I am asking you to help by supporting my fundraising efforts with a donation. Your tax-deductible gift will make a real difference in the cancer community. It is faster and easier than ever to support me as a 24 Hours of Booty participant - you can make your donation online by simply clicking on the link at the bottom of this message. If you would prefer, you can also send your tax-deductible contribution to the address listed below.

Any amount you can give, great or small, helps in the fight against cancer. I greatly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress! Thank you so much!

Click here to visit Tonya's personal page.

NPC Fitness Spotlight for June 2011: Lishia Dean

2011-06-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

This month's NPC Fitness Spotlight belongs to Lishia Dean!

Photo credit: Fitness Rx Magazine

Lishia Dean is a fitness competitor from Greensboro, North Carolina. She's been part of the fitness industry most of her life, whether it be competing, or being a personal trainer, or being a powerlifter. Somehow, someway, Lishia has seemingly always dedicated her life to fitness.

Her journey began when she took a group exercise class for a PE course at Western Carolina University. She became certified to teach and was promoted to the Coordinator and went on to be certified in Personal Training. After graduating college, she started to do some powerlifting, and did pretty well for herself, as she reached a deadlift max of 370lbs raw at a weight of 139lbs in 2004. So yes, she's one of those competitors who really IS as strong as she looks. That same year , she decided to compete in her first fitness competition, the Elite Muscle Classic, and would win the Overall there. Two weeks later, she was part of the NPC Nationals in Dallas, TX. From that point forward, she's been competing in NPC Fitness hoping to one day get her pro card.

Her personal journey to one day be part of the IFBB has allowed her to help many people along the way. She was a Wellness Director at the YMCAs for a number of years in NC and FL, as well as venturing out as far as Canada and Australia. With her dance background, she has been able to help choreograph routines for many competitors, pro and amateur. With her accomplishments thus far, it seems like the next logical thing for her is to finally get that pro card and take her talents to the pro stage.

Photo credit: Muscular Development

COMPETITIVE HISTORY:

2011
Jr. USAs: Fitness Class B (2nd)

2010
Team Universe: Fitness Medium (3rd)
Jr National Championships: Fitness Class B (4th)

2008
Team Universe: Fitness: Medium (3rd)
Junior Nationals Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships: Fitness: Class B (2nd)
Junior USA: Fitness Class B (4th)

2007
National Bodybuilding & Fitness Championships: Fitness Class B (3rd)
Team Universe Bodybuilding & Fitness Championships: Fitness Class B (5th)
Junior National Bodybuilding, Figure & Fitness Championships: Fitness Class B (3rd)

2004
National Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championship: Fitness: Medium (10th)

For more on Lishia, go to her website at http://www.lishiadean.com/.

IFBB Fitness Spotlight for June 2011: Nicole Duncan

2011-06-09T21:51:00.000-07:00

This month's IFBB Fitness Spotlight goes to all-around Southern girl Nicole Duncan!

Photo credit: Arnold Sports Festival website

Energetic, amazing, innovative. Those words come to mind when one thinks of Nicole Duncan. Nicole is one of the most energetic fitness competitors on the scene today, and one of the most talented as well. A Georgia girl through and through, she She became the 2006 NPC National Fitness Champion, which catapulted her to the rankings of the IFBB.

Ever since she won her pro card, she has climbed steadily into the top of the IFBB Fitness division. She has a great physique, but what she's best known for is her amazing energy during her routines. In fact, shortly after the passing of Michael Jackson in 2009 (may he Rest in Peace), she decided to incorporate a few of MJ's moves into her routine, and from everyone I've talked to, there were showstoppers.

Earlier this year, I actually had the chance to see Nicole in person during Wrestlemania 27. She was about a week or so out from competing at the New York Pro Fitness at the time. She was very sweet to everyone and yet made sure no one got out of line (hey, wrestling fans aren't the most gentle people on Earth. I should know. I'm one of them. LOL).

Truly one of the leader's in today's women's fitness division, this former Atlanta Falcon cheerleader is doing her best to entertain the crowd through her fitness routines, and it shows. Look for her to continue her path to becoming one of the best in IFBB women's fitness history.

Photo credit: Fitness Rx Magazine

COMPETITIVE HISTORY:

2011 IFBB New York Pro Fitness-8th
2011 IFBB Fitness International-10th
2010 IFBB Fort Lauderdale Pro Fitness-2nd
2010 IFBB Fitness Olympia-9th
2010 IFBB Europa Show of Champions Fitness-8th
2010 IFBB Fitness International-10th
2009 IFBB Ft. Lauderdale Pro Fitness-2nd
2009 IFBB Fitness Olympia-8th
2009 IFBB Atlantic City Fitness-4th
2009 IFBB Europa Super Show Fitness-3rd
2009 IFBB Fitness International-14th
2008 IFBB Fitness Olympia-11th
2008 IFBB Europa IFBB Super Show Fitness-3rd
2008 IFBB Houston Pro Fitness-5th
2008 IFBB New York Pro Fitness-4th
2007 IFBB Palm Beach Pro/Am Fitness-7th
2007 IFBB Europa Super Show Fitness-10th
2007 IFBB New York Pro Fitness-7th

For more on Nicole, visit her website at http://www.fitnicole.com, and follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/FitNicInc.

Mindi O'Brien to Make Fitness Return at Toronto Pro Supershow!

2011-04-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

As announced on Muscle Insider (http://www.muscle-insider.com/content/mindi-obrien-compete-toronto-pro-supershow) Siouxcountry (http://www.siouxcountry.com/showthread.php?t=15891), IFBB Pro Mindi O'Brien is returning to the fitness stage for the first time since the 2009 Olympia! And what better way to make her fitness comeback than at in her home country of Canada at the IFBB Tornoto Pro Supershow on June 17-18! For those that don't know, Mindi reinjured her back by cracking her L4-5 vertebra during the 2009 Fitness Olympia, and recently returned to the stage for a bit as a figure competitor. Now this summer, she will be returning to her home in fitness, and it's only fitting that she does it in front of her friends, family, and fellow competitors. We at Save Women's Fitness Now wish Mindi nothing but the best of luck to her in her fitness return!

Mindi from 2008 Olympia
Photo credit: Muscular Development

Here a video of her 2009 Arnold routine, by Team Andro:

Regaine Nails a Victory in Germany (2011 FIBO Power Pro Fitness Results)

2011-04-17T08:55:00.000-07:00

The clear favorite going into this competition was Tanji Johnson, but due to passport problems, she could not make it to Germany, leaving Camala Rodriquez as frontrunner for the FIBO Power Pro Fitness, just coming off of a win the past weekend in New York. But two other fitness competitors had different ideas in mind. Regaine Da Silva emerged from the pact to pull off a big victory, her first pro win (I think) of her career, giving her big momentum heading into this year's Olympia and showing that she's no fluke in fitness. Diana Monteiro, in her pro debut, took runner-up honors and will join Regaine and Camala (who placed 3rd) in the 2011 Fitness Olympia. A great showing of talent overseas, and everyone that competed needs to be commented for their efforts. Congrats to you all!

RESULTS:
1. Regiane DaSilva
2. Diana Monteiro
3. Camala Rodriguez
4. Liudmila Somkina
5. Minna Pajulahti
6. Stacy McDowell
7. Ryall Graber-Vasani

SCORECARD:

Camala Shines in the Big Apple (2011 IFBB New York Fitness Results)

2011-04-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Camala Rodriquez on winning the IFBB New York Pro Fitness this past weekend. She was among the favorites to win the event, and she didn't disappoint, nailing a perfect score in the physique round and was first in the routine round. Bethany Wagner continued her accent in the fitness rankings with a 2nd place finish and Michelle Blank make the most of her debut with a great 3rd place finish, thus putting her in the 2011 Fitness Olympia, along with Camala and Bethany. Save Fitness Now blog contributor and fan page administrator Stacy Wright made a huge splash as well in her pro debut with first callout in the physique round and an entertaining routine in the routine round. Victoria Larvie, fellow fan page administrator, placed 11th in a tough field of competitors. We at Save Women's Fitness Now are extremely proud of every single fitness competitor, especially the turnout for the pros this year. It's clear that women's pro fitness is alive and well in the Big Apple! :)

IFBB New York Pro Fitness Results:
1. Camala Rodriguez
2. Bethany Wagner
3. Michelle Blank
4. Kristina Rojas
5. Jodi Boam
6. Stacy Wright
7. Carrie Simmons
8. Nicole Duncan
9. Hollie Stewart
10. Sylvia Tremblay
11. Victoria Larvie
12. Allison Ethier
13. Ryall Garber-Vasani
14. Tamee Marie
15. Stacy McDowell
16. Venus Nguyen
17. Melissa Frederick

NPC Fitness Spotlight for April 2011: Meredith Miller

2011-04-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

This month's NPC Fitness Spotlight belongs to Meredith Miller!

Photo Credit: Muscular Development

Meredith Miller is a fitness competitor from Ohio. Like many competitors, she works a very active job. She is a competitive gymnastics coach for Integrity Gymnastics in Plain City, Ohio, and also dopes personal training on the side. She loves dogs, in fact she has two dogs by the name of Pudd and Elvis. At times, they would actually sleep on the bed while she would sleep on the couch! No, I'm not making this up!

With her physique, she could have easily done figure, but chose to go the fitness route mainly due to her gymnastic background and her love for performing on stage. She's an international competitive gymnast.

Meredith has consistently placed in the top 3 in her National competitions thus far, with a top five finish at the Arnold Amateur this year. It wouldn't surprise us to see her nail that coveted pro card and compete with the elite ladies of the IFBB.

Photo credit: Fitness Rx Magazine

COMPETITIVE HISTORY

2011 Arnold Amateur, Fitness Tall Class (5th)
2010 IFBB North American Championships, Fitness Class B - Fitness (2nd)
2010 Team Universe, Fitness Tall (3rd)
2010 Jr National Championships, Fitness Class C (3rd)
2009 Arnold Amateur, Fitness Med Class
2007 NPC Ohio State Overall Fitness Champion

For more on Meredith, check out her interview with Physiqueness here.

IFBB Fitness Spotlight for April 2011: Oksana Grishina

2011-04-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

This month's IFBB Fitness Spotlight goes to one of the most amazing fitness competitors our there today, Oksana Grishina!

Photo credit: Muscular Development

There are fitness competitors....and there are fitness ARTISTS. When one thinks of Oksana Grishina, you can't help but think of the team "artist". In every fitness competition she's ever entered, she's entered as a fan favorite. People anxiously await her turn to the stage at every competition she's ever entered. Very few competitors can grab the attention of the audience like Oksana. On top of her jaw-dropping routines, she has an incredibly built physique to go along with her routines, making her one of the most complete fitness competitors in the world today.

Oksana is from Kaliningrad, Russia. When her father was assigned to Riga, Latvia, she took gymnastics at an early age by her mother as a way to unleash her energy. It worked and she was hooked on it ever since. Fitness was and is a big part of her life. She went a University in Kaliningrad and earned a degree as a specialist in Physical Training and Sports. During that time, she organized her own ballet entitled “Antares”. I also worked as a choreographer with children at the Tchaikovsky School of Music and Art in Kaliningrad.

At that time, there were no gyms in Kaliningrad. When the first gym opened in 2002, a friend suggested that she work as a fitness and aerobics instructor. From there, trainers mentioned that she should try fitness. It didn't take long to see that fitness competitions were for her. In 2005 and 2006, Oksana was awarded the title of “Best Non-Olympic Sportswoman of the Year” in the Kaliningrad Region, while winning fitness competitions on the international stage at the European and World Championships, finally earning her IFBB pro card to compete in the 2007 Olympia.

She now lives in the United States for over three years and now live in California. She's still a personal trainer, fitness consultant and fitness model, as well as play the piano and act in her spare time, which has been a big part of her fitness routines. It's only a matter of time before the judges wake up and realize how amazing of a talent they have with Oksana.


Photo credit: Fitness Rx Magazine

COMPETITION HISTORY
1993 “Master of Sports of Russia” in Rhythmic Gymnastics
2000 Kaliningrad State University Diploma DVS, Specialist in Physical Training and sports; Teacher
2004 “Master of Sports of Russia” in Bodybuilding
2004 “Master of Sports of Russia of International Class” in Bodybuilding
2004-6 Russian Championship, Overall Fitness Champion
2005-6 Awarded Best Non-Olympic Sportswoman of the Year in the Kaliningrad Region
2005 European Championship, Overall Fitness Champion
2006 World Championship, Overall Fitness Champion
2007 All Star Pro Fitness, 3rd Place
2007 Europa Super Show, Fitness, 16th Place
2007 IFBB Olympia, Fitness, 7th Place
2008 New York Pro Fitness Classic, Fitness, 7th Place
2008 Arnold Classic, Fitness, 10th Place
2009 Arnold Classic, Fitness, 9th Place
2010 Phoenix Pro, Fitness, 4th Place
2010 Arnold Classic, Fitness, 5th Place
2010 IFBB Olympia, Fitness Division, 5th Place
2011 Arhold Classic, Fitness, 8th Place

For more on Oksana, go to her website at http://www.oksanagrishina.com.

IFBB Pro Stacy Wright- In the Studio March 9, 2011

2011-03-09T12:14:00.000-08:00

2011 Arnold Amateur Fitness Results

2011-03-08T21:49:00.000-08:00

Congrats to all the fitness competitors at the Arnold Amateur this past weekend! Diana Alemida was your overall Arnold Amateur fitness champion (winner of short class), while Aguiar Fernandez won the tall class. Here are the full results for them:

2011 Arnold Amateur Fitness Results

Short Class

1. Diana Alemida - Overall
2. Guryeva Olga
3. Paula Williams-Gulman
4. Shalimar Wilder
5. Samantha Kinnish
6. Maria Laura Cervelli
7. Stephanie Yu
8. Gloria Mohninger
9. Toni Wheeler

Tall Class

1. Aguiar Fernandez
2. Czine Szilvia
3. Dvortsova Tatiana
4. Jayla McDermott
5. Meredith Miller
6. Tiina Kasvi
7. Valeria Cristiane Aprobato
8. Angela Beavers

2011 Fitness International (Full Results)

2011-03-08T21:44:00.000-08:00

Here are the full results of the 2011 Fitness International. Adela Garcia won her 4th Fitness International title, amid a bit of controversy, according to some. More will be spoken about this later on this week. Congrats to all the competitors!

2011 FITNESS INTERNATIONAL

1. Adela Garcia
2. Tanji Johnson
3. Trish Warren
4. Camala Rodriguez
5. Myriam Capes
6. Bethany Wagner
7. Regiane Da Silva
8. Oksana Grishina
9. Tina Durkin
10. Nicole Duncan
11. Erin Riley
12. Daniela O'Mara
13. Allison Ethier
13. Sylvia Tremblay

2011 Arnold Amateur Competitors List (Fitness Division)

2011-02-09T07:08:00.000-08:00

The 2011 Arnold Amateur list has been released. Here's the list of fitness competitors that will compete at the Arnold Amateur. There are 10 competitors in the short class and eight competitors in the tall class. Congrats to everyone that's on the list (in ALL divisions)! :)

Fitness Short Class (10)
Diana Paula Monteiro Noronha de Alemida (Brazil)
Maria Laura Cervelli (Argentina)
Samantha Kinnish (Australia)
Gloria Mohninger (Calgary, Canada)
Guryeva Olga (Russia)
Dawn Scholey (United Kingdom)
Stephanie Yu (Rochester Hills, Mich.)
Toni Wheeler (Morehead, Ky.)
Shalimar Wilder (Charleston, W.V.)
Paula Williams-Gulman (Hayden Lake, Idaho)

Fitness Tall Class (8)
Valeria Cristiane Aprobato (Brazil)
Angela Beavers (Smyrna, Ga.)
Tiina Kasvi (Finland)
Jayla McDermott (Trophy Club, Texas)
Meredith Miller (Westerville, Ohio)
Deborah Sizemore (Charleston, W.V.)
Czine Szilvia (Hungary)
Dvortsova Tatiana (Russia)

NPC Fitness Spotlight for February 2011: Shelly Howard

2011-02-08T13:25:00.000-08:00

This month's NPC Fitness Spotlight goes to figure competitor turned fitness competitor, Shelly Howard!

Photo credit: Muscular Development

Shelly is one of those individuals who lives and breathes the fitness lifestyle. In 1992, she began helping overweight individuals pass their Physical Readiness Tests (PRT) while serving in the U.S. Navy. After 4 years in the Navy, she ended up becoming a personal trainer at Gold's Gym Hawaii. After marriage, she was hired as Fitness Specialist at the Naval Hospital, where she helped active duty and post-rehab patients get back on the road to fitness after injury or illness.

When she moved to Japan for a while, that's when the fitness bug kicked in. She's one of the few competitors to have competed in fitness, figure, AND women's bodybuilding. In addition to competing, she's a personal trainer and fitness coach. She's also coached a few figure competitors here and there as well. She's recently returned to fitness after competing in figure for a while. Fitness is where she can showcase her physique a bit better, as she tends to come in a bit harder than what is preferred in figure these days. Should she continue to stay in fitness, expect her to make a major run in attaining that exclusive pro card that few have been able to earn.

Photo credit: Muscular Development

COMPETITION HISTORY
2010 4th Place Fitness, Class B, IFBB North Americans
2010 2nd Place Fitness Over 5'3", 3rd Place Masters Figure 40+ Tall, Emerald Cup

2009 10th place Figure Class F, 3rd Place Masters Figure, Class D, IFBB North Americans

2008 6th place Tall Class, NPC Nationals, Atlanta GA
2008 4th place Tall Class, NPC Jr USAs, Charleston SC
2008 1st place Tall Class, NPC Metrolina

2007 Figure Nationals, New York, tied for 16th
2007 Jr Nationals, Chicago, IL, tied for 16th

2005 3rd place Masters Figure Tall, North Americans, Cleveland OH
2005 5th place Figure Tall, Body Rock, Fairfax VA

2004 8th place Figure Tall, North Americans, Cleveland OH
2004 11th place Figure Tall, Junior Nationals, Chicago IL

2003 5th place Figure Tall, Sacramento Championships, Sacramento CA

2002 5th place Figure Tall, Emerald Cup, Bellevue WA

2001 1st place Fitness Tall and Overall, Okinawa Japan

2000 2nd place Bodybuilding, Okinawa Japan

1999 Top 15, Galaxy Competition, Venice Beach CA
1999 Bodybuilding, Springdale MD

1996 Galaxy Competition, Venice Beach CA

For more on Shelly, visit her website at http://www.trainingbyshelly.com/index.htm.

IFBB Fitness Spotlight for February 2011: Tanji Johnson

2011-02-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

This month's IFBB Fitness Spotlight belongs to one of the best competitors in the world today, Tanji Johnson!

Photo credit: Iron Bizz

When you think of IFBB Fitness, you can't help but think about Tanji. Her passion for the sport is second to none, a true ambassador to the sport. She's always been an athletic person, competing in track and field and being captain of the dance team in high school and serving for her country as part of the United States Air Force Academy. She ended up graduating from the Academy with a B.S. in Humanities and a commission as an Air Force officer.

She started to compete in 1998, so she's been doing this for quite a while. This year will mark her making this year her 13 year in fitness, with her being a IFBB pro for 10 years! She has competed in numerous Arnold and Olympias, with last year being the closest she's ever been to winning the Fitness Olympia title. In addition to competing in fitness, she has formed a team and movement called Tanji Johnson's Save Fitness. She created this in hopes of helping resurrecting the fitness division, by holding seminars and training camps. She even went on to showcase her athletic prowess on national television, as she appeared on NBC's American Gladiators as "Stealth", who was short on words but not on talent. While she has accomplished a LOT in her career, I feel that the best is yet to come for this amazing individual.

Photo credit: Rebodybuilding.com

COMPETITION HISTORY:
2010 Fitness Olympia 2nd
2010 New York Pro Fitness 1st (6th Pro win)
2010 Fitness International 3th
2010 Arizona Pro Fitness 2nd
2009 Fitness Olympia 2nd
2009 Atlantic City Pro 2nd
2009 Fitness International 10th
2008 Fitness Olympia 5th
2007 Fitness Olympia 4th
2007 Europa Pro Fitness 2nd
2007 All Star Pro Fitness 1st (5th Pro win)
2007 Fitness International 4th
2006 Fitness Olympia 4th
2006 Europa Pro Fitness 1st (4th Pro win)
2006 All Star Pro Fitness 1st (3rd Pro win)
2005 Emerald Cup 1st (2nd Pro win)
2004 Fitness Olympia 8th
2004 Fitness International 9th
2002 Jan Tana Fitness Classic 2nd
2002 Toronto Fitness Classic 1st (First Pro Win)

For more on Tanji, visit her official website at http://tanjijohnson.com/OfficialSite/ and her Save Fitness site at http://www.savefitness.net/.

Tribute to Jack LaLanne, "The Godfather of Fitness"

2011-01-24T06:28:00.001-08:00

As you all probably have heard by now, Jack LaLanne, considered by many to be the "Godfather of Fitness" passed away Sunday afternoon due to respiratory failure due to pneumonia. He inspired millions of people all over the world to get active before fitness became a well-known phenomenon. He helped make fitness a big part of many people's lives.


Photo credit: Tri Star Products

In my honest opinion, if it wasn't for Jack LaLanne, there would be no Kiana Tom, no Jillian Michaels, no Jennifer Nicole Lee, no Jamie Eason. Dare I say this...but fitness would probably be a mere afterthought right now if it wasn't for Jack. If there was anyone who defied "fitness icon", it was Jack. He lived, breathed, and slept fitness for what seemed to be his entire life.

I'm too young to remember his shows, but I do remember seeing his many infomercials about his juicer and wanting to own one (which I will buy soon). He seemed so vibrant and full of energy. I'm always like "Why can't more people live by his example?" Who knows? Maybe there's that someone out there who will be that next true fitness icon. Yes, there are those fitness experts that come and go, but very few have the longevity as Jack did and still does. Because of that, he will continue to motivate others to live healthier lives. Gone but truly not forgotten, and won't be for quite some time.

On behalf of FitGems Nation and the MILLIONS of people you have inspired over the years to live healthy lifestyles, thank you for giving people a reason to live. Thank you for being an inspiration.

"Love live living long, and loving every minute of it!"-Jack LaLanne

Fitness Week on Promoting Real Women (Day 3)

2011-01-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

Jennifer Nash interview:
http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com/2011/01/jennifer-nash-interview.html

Tips on Choreographing A Routine by Viko Newman:
http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com/2011/01/tips-on-choreographing-routine-by-viko.html

Also on the Promoting Real Women fan page, Jason has posted several Youtube videos of several competitors from the past and present of women's fitness.

Fitness Week on Promoting Real Women Blog/Fan Page (Day 2)

2011-01-21T22:44:00.000-08:00

Blog by LeslieRae Newton called Sacrifice:
http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com/2011/01/sacrafice-by-ifbb-pro-leslierae-newton.html

Stacy Wright films a short video:
http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com/2011/01/stacy-wright-fitness-week-video.html

Blog by Debbie Fowler titled Fitness At Any Age:
http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com/2011/01/fitness-at-any-age-by-ifbb-pro-debbie.html

Fitness Week Kicks Off on Promoting Real Women Blog/Fan Page

2011-01-20T22:09:00.000-08:00

Today began Fitness Week at the Promoting Women fan page and blog. Big ups to Jason Adams on creating this special week, as the fitness division is one of the most exciting parts about this business and they deserve as much recognition as they can get.

Jason kicked it off in a big way with an interview with the one and only Carol Semple:
http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com/2011/01/carol-semple-interview.html

Seriously, how big is that to get a former Fitness Olympia champion to kick off Fitness Week?! :)

He also posted a poem by fitness competitor Babette Mulford:
http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com/2011/01/poem-by-babette-mullford.html

To close out Day One, he posted a You Asked It segment with one of the youngest and most talented IFBB Fitness Pros in the world today, Victoria Larvie:
http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com/2011/01/you-asked-it-with-victoria-larvie.html

If you haven't join his fan page and are following his blog, you might need to start doing that. As I've mentioned in the past, Jason's a great person to know and is one of the guys who truly respects this industry. If you think the kickoff of Fitness Week was impressive, just wait until you see what happens over the next six days. You might get a special treat from yours truly "Hint Hint".

Anyways, hope you all enjoy Fitness Week on Promoting Real Women!!

Pledge for Pushups (Stacy Wright's Fundraiser)

2011-01-19T12:23:00.001-08:00

Stacy's going to be "pleding for pushups" to raise money for the 2011 season!
Photo credit: Muscular Development

To help raise money for the 2011 competition season (her first as an pro fitness competitor), IFBB Pro Stacy Wright has created her own fundraiser, by pledging for pushups! She's challenging herself to see how many pushups she can do, and you out there can pledge any amount per pledge. 10 cents per pushup, 10 dollars per pushup, 50 dollars per pushup...whatever you can pledge will do. This is definitely one way to put the FUN in FUNdraising.

My hats off to Stacy for coming up with a unique way to not only get money to compete, but to establish herself as someone who's willing to go the extra mile to make a name for herself and stand out.

To get involved please email Stacy at Stacy@StacyWright.net with your pledges! She will be post the final pushup video on her website blog. When that happens, we'll let you all know when that will take place.

Good luck to you, Stacy!

IFBB FIBO Pro Germany

2011-01-16T21:10:00.001-08:00

For those that don't know, there is going to be an IFBB show in Germany this year (on April 16, to be exact)! This is a special contest, as this is the ONLY contest to be held in Germany and one of the few outside the U.S. This is also one of the few contests for competitors of women's fitness this year as well.

As of press time, there are only TWO competitors for women's fitness, and they are Minna Pajulahti and Regiane Da Silva. However, not on the list but hoping to compete in women's fitness are Camala Rodriguez and Stacy Wright.

IFBB Fitness competitors: if you want a chance to see a different country and compete to get a chance at competing in the Fitness Olympia at the same time, I highly encourage you to enter this contest. If you need money, send out emails to your fans, family, and friends. Post it on your websites and Facebook fan pages and profiles. A little can go a LONG way.

For more on the FIBO Pro, go to http://www.pro-championships.com/index.php.

Hope to see many of you make the journey to Germany in a few months!

NPC Fitness Spotlight for January 2011: Paula Williams-Gulman

2011-01-02T22:26:00.000-08:00

The first NPC Fitness Spotlight of 2011 goes to Paula Williams-Gulman!

Photo credit: Bodybuilding.com

Paula is among one of the must muscular fitness competitors in the NPC right now. Her muscle maturity is nearly second-to-none in the sport, which has helped her out in her fitness routines. Showing off her biceps has become somewhat of a trademark in her routines as of late. Her muscle maturity should come as no surprise as she's been competing and being a fitness instructor and personal trainer for 15 years. She was part of the Ms. Fitness USA federation for 10 years, and then moved to the NPC and has competed for 5 years. This year will be her sixth year in the NPC, as she aims to earn her pro card and join the IFBB elite.

In addition to being a NPC Fitness Competitor (as well as a Judge), she's a wife and mother of two girls, a PTA member, a soccer mom, a small business owner (She runs Paula's Personal Training) and a dog lover.

In 2010, she came ever so close to getting her pro card, placing in the top 3 at the Jr. Nationals and North Americans, and winning a couple of shows in the process. 2011 might be the year for the self-proclaimed "Firecracker" of the NPC Fitness Division.

For more on Paula, visit her website at http://www.paulaspersonaltraining.com/.

Photo credit: Muscular Development

COMPETITION HISTORY:
2010 IFBB North Americas-3rd
2010 NPC Junior Nationals-6th
2009 NPC Junior Nationals-9th
2009 NPC Jr. USAs-3rd
2008 NPC Team Universe Fitness-5th
2008 NPC Northern Classic-1st Figure Masters, 2nd Fitness
2008 NPC Junior Nationals-3rd
2008 NPC Bill Pearl High Desert Classic-1st
2008 NPC Empire Classic-1st
2008 NPC Emerald Cup-1st, 5'3 and Under Fitness, 4th Masters Over 35 Figure
2008 NPC Vancouver USA Natural Classic-5th Figure Short, 2nd Fitness
2007 NPC Emerald Cup-5th Figure

IFBB Fitness Spotlight for January 2011: Camala Rodriguez

2011-01-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

The first IFBB Fitness Spotlight of the year 2011 belongs to rising star Camala Rodriquez!

Photo credit: Bodybuilding.com

Camala is one of the IFBB's top rising superstars in any division these days. Camala won her class in both fitness and figure at the NPC Rocky Mountain and NPC Northern Colorado in 2008. In 2009, she just needed one contest to become an IFBB Pro, and that contest was the 2009 Jr. Nationals. She would not only win her class (Class C), but she would also end up winning the overall fitness title as well. Her exotic looks, crowd-pleasing routine, and balanced physique at the show was ready to take on the pros the following year, and, well...let's just say her rookie year is one that could set the tone for her for years to come in the pro rankings.

2010 was one of those years that a pro competitor can only dream about, but takes forever to attain what Camala did. Camala competed in the 2010 Phoenix Pro, and in her pro debut, she placed third, which guaranteed her a spot at the 2010 Fitness Olympia, which went on to become argualy the most star-studded one to date. She would get an invite to the 2010 Fitness International, and placed 6th place, which is awesome for a rookie competitor. Her next contest would be the Europa Show of Champions in Orlando, where she would end up winning her first pro show. Her last contest of the year would be the 2010 Fitness Olympia, where she placed a respectable 10th place, making her one of the 10 best fitness athletes in the world today.2011 will see Camala compete in the 2011 Fitness International and hopefully another Fitness Olympia. If her 2010 year is any indication, expect Camala to take the IFBB fitness division to new heights in 2011 and beyond.


Photo credit: Muscular Development

COMPETITION HISTORY:

2010 IFBB Olympia-10th
2010 IFBB Europa Show of Champions-1st
2010 IFBB Fitness International-6th
2010 IFBB Phoenix Pro-3rd
2009 NPC Junior Nationals-1st Class C and Overall Fitness Champion
2008 NPC Rocky Mountain-1st Class D Figure, 1st Class B Fitness, Overall Fitness Champion
2008 NPC Rocky Mountain-1st Class D Figure, 1st Fitness Tall, Overall Fitness Champion

FitGems to Interview Jenny Worth in 2011!!!

2010-12-30T12:53:00.001-08:00

FitGems Nation is honored to announce that in January 2011, we will be conducting an interview with one of the biggest fitness legends of all time, 2001 Fitness International Champion and top Fitness Olympia finalist Jenny Worth!!!

Jenny from 2001 Fitness Olympia
Photo credit: Jenny's Facebook

This has been in the making for months via Facebook. It was going to be a cool email interview like I've done with all my interview thus far (except for Diana Stanback begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting), but things took an interesting turn. Jenny decided that she would like to do it via audio. So I have the honor and privilege to interview this amazing legend. But I don't want this to be just any interview; I want it to be special, which is why I want YOU, the FitGems Nation, to be part of this special event.

In addition to the questions I've already made for Jenny, I will select five questions from all of you out there. How you do submit your questions? Simple...leave your question(s) below as a comment or email them to me at admin@fitgemsnation.net (Please put Jenny Worth Interview in the subject line).There's no limit to how many questions you can submit, but keep in mine that I'm only going to choose FIVE, and please...no pointless questions, please. We're all adults here. BTW, you have until January 8th. I will choose the best questions and send them to Jenny on the 9th.

For those that have followed and supported FitGems since 2008, I can honestly say that this is arguably the biggest things that has ever happened for the site, to interview one of the true queens of not only fitness, but of this entire industry as well. To say that FitGems is looking forward to interviewing Jenny would be an understatement. Looking forward to seeing all your questions for Jenny!!! :)

Jason Adams to Dedicate Blog/Fan Page to Fitness Division in January

2010-12-27T18:04:00.000-08:00

For one week in January, Jason Adams, founder of the Promoting Real Women blog (http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com) and fan page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Promoting-Women-In-Bodybuilding-Fitness-and-MMA/112681648755406), will dedicate his blog and fan page solely to the NPC/IFBB Fitness division.

As part of this special occasion, he will be doing a section on his blog called You Asked It, with IFBB Fitness competitor Victoria Larvie. You Asked It is a section in Jason's blog where you get to ask competitors questions and they will respond back with their answers to them.

So for all fitness competitors, If you have some ideas for Fitness Week on Promoting Real Women or want to be involved in some way, shape, form, or fashion, please let Jason know by adding him to Facebook under Jason Adams or emailing him at elway78@netzero.com.

I'll be letting you know more details about Fitness Week on Promoting Real Women in the coming days.

2011 Fitness International Invite List

2010-12-27T17:46:00.000-08:00

Congrats to those that got invited to the 2011 Fitness International at the 2011 Arnold Sports Festival! The 2011 will take place on March 3-6, 2011.

Myriam Capes

Regiane Da Silva

Nicole Duncan

Tina Durkin

Allison Ethier

Adela Garcia

Oksana Grishina

Tanji Johnson

Daniela O’Mara

Erin Riley

Camala Rodriguez

Sylvia Tremblay

Bethany Wagner

Trish Warren

NPC Fitness Spotlight for December 2010: Lena Squarciafico-Mishin

2010-12-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

This month's NPC Fitness Spotlight belongs to one of the top fitness stars in the country right now, Lena Squarciafico-Mishin!

Photo credit: Muscular Development

Lena's an amateur competitor from New York (Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY now living in Long Island). She's been in competitive gymnastics since the age of 11. Like a good deal of fitness competitors, she was into competing in many sports and staying fit. After retiring from competition, she decided to coached part time and played around in the gym with her students.

In November 2002, she was convinced by a friend at work into joining a gym in order to break up the work day and relieve some stress. Lena headed straight to the weight room. As she started to lift, her body responded very quickly and developed fast. Her muscle began to explode like crazy, and then she made that decision to compete.

Up to this point, Lena has done it all in the female muscle industry. She's competed in bodybuilding, fitness, and figure competitions. She loves to show off her physique and routines, whether it's on stage, webcam, or paysite, Lena has developed quite a fanbase. With her incredible muscularity, figure didn't seem like the ideal competition for her, as she would place low in the figure events. She's also gave a try at bodybuilding as well. However, it seems like fitness could be her calling. In 2010, she had one heck of a breakout year, as she won her class a couple of times and only a point or two shy of becoming a pro this year. With 2011 just around the corner, you can rest assure that Lena will be aiming to get that pro card that she rightfully deserves. And with her success in fitness these days, it seems to be that NPC fitness will be her ticket to IFBB stardom.

Photo credit: Muscular Development

COMPETITION HISTORY:

2004 - (March) NY Metropolitans - 1st Place Fitness and Figure (Tall class)
2004 - (June) Atlantic States - 2nd Place Fitness 3rd Place Figure (Tall class)
2004 - (July) Body Rock - 2nd Place Fitness (Tall class)
2004 - (July) Kim Klein Empire States - 1st Place Figure, Fitness (tall class) and 1st Place Heavy weight Bodybuilding
2004 (August) Team Universe (Figure Nationals) 11th Place (class E)
2004 (September) North American Championships (National Show) - 3rd
Place Figure Masters - 10th Place Figure open.
2004 (November) Eastern USA - 1st Place Fitness and Figure (Tall class)
2007 NPC Junior Nationals Bodybuilding, Fitness And Figure Contest-3rd
2007 NPC Team Universe Bodybuilding, Fitness And Figure Championships-8th
2008 NPC Junior National Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships-6th
2009 NPC Team Universe-3rd
2010 Team Universe,Fitness Tall-5th
2010 NPC Junior USA Bodybuilding Championships, Fitness Tall Class-1st
2010 IFBB North American Championships, Fitness B-1st

IFBB Fitness Spotlight for December 2010: Tina Durkin

2010-12-02T15:29:00.000-08:00

This month's IFBB Fitness Spotlight belongs to someone who has been making major strides in the IFBB fitness division in a short amount of time: Tina Durkin!

Photo credit: Muscular Development

Tina is an IFBB Fitness Competitor from Sandusky, Ohio who's been an IFBB pro since she turned pro at the 2007 NPC Nationals. Her life was pretty much about sports during her high school and college career, competing in softball, basketball, ran track, cheerleading, intramural volleyball at WSU. In 1996, she joined the US Air Force Reserves. It was at this point where her life changed forever, as she began to go to the gym on a regular basis and met her husband at a step aerobics class. In 2000, Tina graduated WSU with a BS in Business Management and later that year, the couple got married and moved to California. Three year later, she got pregnant and had a baby girl, which she describe on her official website, it was "the most wonderful and worst thing happened to me (her)". Sick the entire time she was pregnant (which for those that don't know, it's nine months) she had an emergency C-Section. Going though that made her decided to go though the neccesary diet and training to compete, which was something she wanted to do ever since she was a teenager.

In 2005, after doing some research she found WTF (Women's Tri-Fitness). She ended up competing that year in Vegas that year and placed 15th out of 200 women, which was awesome for a first-time competitor. The following year, she entered a local Ms. Fitness competition and qualified for Ms. Fitness in Vegas which was a long time dream. She then discovered the phenomenon know as Mike Davies, and boy did things turn out awesome for her after that!

Throughout her entire NPC career from 2006 to 2007, she was in the top 5 in every show she entered. After she turned pro in 2007 at the NPC Nationals, she received an invite to the 2008 Fitness International, where she placed 11th. After the Arnold that year, she would have back surgery that would keep her out all year. When you have back surgery and you're a fitness competitor, things don't usually look so well for you. But it didn't stop Tina from making her presence felt. She would be invited back to the Arnold the next year, and would qualify for the 2009 Arnold with a 5th place finish. Tina's reaction after she received her 5th place check was priceless, as you would have thought she's won the competition. That's how big of a deal it was for her to be back after being out a year and to place that high in such a huge competition.

From that point forward, it's been nothing but awesome stuff from Tina, with back to back Arnold and Olympia appearances. Her routines are very energetic, and she might possibly have the best complete physique package of all the fitness competitors today. At this point in her career, the only way Tina can go is up. Don't be surprised to see her get a 4th straight Arnold invite and her first fitness win sometime in 2011.

Photo credit: Muscular Development

COMPETITION HISTORY:
2010 Ft. Lauderdale Pro Cup Fitness, 3rd
2010 Fitness Olympia, 7th
2010 New York Pro Fitness, 4th
2010 Arnold Ms. Fitness International, 7th
2010 New York Pro Fitness, 4th
2010 Ms. Fitness Olympia, 7th
2009 Fitness Olympia, 5th
2009 Europa Show of Champions, 5th
2009 New York Fitness Pro, 3rd
2009 Arnold Ms. Fitness International, 5th
2008 Arnold International, 11th
2007 NPC Fitness Nationals, 1st*
2007 NPC Team Universe 3rd
2007 NPC Jr. Nationals 1st **
2006 NPC Fitness Nationals, 4th
2006 NPC Ohio Championship, 1st
2006 NPC Jr. Nationals, 3rd
2006 NPC Indianapolis Championship, 1st ***
2006 NPC Julie Palmer Showdown, 1st

* Overall Winner (Earned IFBB Pro Card)
** Overall Winner
*** National Qualifier

For more on Tina, check out her website at http://www.tinadurkinfitness.com.

2010 Ft. Lauderdale Pro Fitness Results and Routines (Updated with Full Results and Scorecard)

2010-11-20T20:48:00.000-08:00

Here's the top 5 results from the 2010 Ft. Lauderdale Pro Fitness:

1. Kizzy Vaines
2. Nicole Duncan
3. Tina Durkin
4. Ryall Graber
5. Allison Ethier

And the rest of the pack:

6. Deana Martinez
7. Tamee Marie
8. Michelle Craven
9. Michele Mayberry
10. Sylvia Tremblay
11. Venus Nguyen
12. Kary Odiatu
13. Debbie Fowler
14. Minna Pajulahti
15. Donna Jones
16. Peggy Sue Barber

Scorecard (from IFBBPro.com):

Click on scorecard to view larger size

And a big thank you to RxMuscle for posting some routines from the show.

Tina Durkin: http://www.rxmuscle.com/videos/c-interviews/2278-tina-durkins-fitness-routine-at-the-2010-ifbb-ft-lauderdale-cup.html

Nicole Duncan: http://www.rxmuscle.com/videos/c-interviews/2277-nicole-duncans-fitness-routine-at-the-2010-ifbb-ft-lauderdale-cup.html

If there are more routines posted, I'll post them here.

2011 IFBB Pro Schedule (Fitness Only)

2010-11-14T19:42:00.000-08:00

Here's the fitness shows schedules for 2011. This was just released not too long ago.

Women's Fitness Pro Show Lineup
Photo credit: IFBBPro.com

For the ENTIRE list of shows for each division, go to http://www.ifbbpro.com/news/2011-calendar-of-events/.

Interview with Trish Warren

2010-11-14T17:01:00.000-08:00

In 2010, Trish Warren had the best year of her entire fitness career. With a new routine and redefined physique, The Black Mamba showed the world why she's among the best in the industry today, placing in the top 5 at the Fitness International and almost winning the 2010 New York Fitness show, before finishing her year with a third place finish at the 2010 Fitness Olympia, making her the third-best fitness competitor in the world right now. Heading into 2011, the only way for her to go at this point is up! Trish was very gracious to conduct an interview for the Save Fitness Now blog.

Trish Warren @ 2010 Fitness Olympia (Third Place)
Photo credit: RxMuscle

Save Women's Fitness Now (SWFN): To start this interview, may you tell us a little bit about yourself.
Trish Warren: I am a very busy woman! I own Maximum Logistics, a full service freight forwarder. We handle freight for large companies, who ship worldwide and domestically. As many know, I am married to IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Branch Warren, and I am very involved with all of his contest preparation from cooking, filling website orders, and helping him manage his appearances and schedule. We also have our 15 year old nephew Trevor living with us! He was falling behind in school, so we decided to take the challenge and help him get back on track! He is an amazing athlete, so now I have homework duty and athletic events daily. On top of all of this Branch and I have been booked nearly every weekend for appearances. I have literally seen the whole world over the past 3 years! Between all of this I still find the time to do my routine, cardio, and workouts, it’s not always easy but I still manage to work it in to my day! My day begins very early, and ends very late!

SWFN: When and how did you get involved in fitness?
Trish: I have always had a passion for gymnastics, competing, and sports. I played every sport possible in high school, and went on to cheer in college. I began strength and conditioning training very early after suffering a complete knee reconstruction. After 2 years of cheering, I wanted to switch my focus to something else. I knew I could compete in the fitness category due to my background, so I hired a trainer to help me achieve my goals. My first competition was in 1999.

SWFN: What are your greatest accomplishments in your fitness career this far?
Trish: Being able to finally say I am top 3 in the World! I still can’t believe it!

SWFN: In your own mind, how has the sport of women’s fitness changes over the last decade?
Trish: I think the routines have changed from gymnastics type routine to a entertaining routine! Jen Hendershott helped to achieve this during her career, and it made the fitness girls think outside the box and become more creative! I think it is always interesting and fun to see who is going to come up with the most unique and memorable routines!

SWFN: Early in your career, you competed in figure. Now you’re in fitness. What made you decide to make the change?
Trish: I competed a lot from 1999 to 2004, which took a tole on my knees. I had surgery on my left knee, and my right was getting very weak. I wanted to still compete but needed to let my body rest. I asked Jim Manion if I could compete in figure for that year, and he approved it for me. Once I felt like my body could sustain routine work again, I went back to fitness.

SWFN: How is it to be married to one of the top bodybuilders in the world, Branch Warren?
Trish: It is absolutely amazing! Branch and I had been friends for 6 years prior to dating. I always knew we would be great together but couldn’t bring myself to take the plunge. Once I gave finally gave in and went on a date with him, I knew he was my soul mate! We have an amazing marriage and help each other achieve goals that seem impossible! He is my best friend and I am blessed to have such a wonderful husband.

SWFN: To a lot of fans' eyes, you looked INCREDIBLE in 2009, in particular the Olympia. But the judges apparently didn’t see it that way, as you were next to last place, which had a few people…well, they weren’t happy with it, to put it nicely. Personally, how did you feel about it?
Trish: I was a bit disappointed but after listening to what the judges want, I totally understood why I placed 10th. I personally don’t like to be that muscular. I went home from there and began working on a new training strategy.

SWFN: You came in 2010 almost a brand new competitor, different physique and different routine. And so far, so good, as you placed 4th at the Arnold and 2nd at the New York Pro Fitness. Do you like your new look better, or is this something that you need time to adjust to?
Trish: I love the way I look now. I feel like I have my pre 20's physique back! I often get mistaken for my nephew’s older sister, and he is 15.

Trish @ her first Fitness International in 2009
Photo Credit: Ironman Magazine

SWFN: It was mentioned on an interview with RxMuscle that you have stopped weight training altogether (yeah…weight lovers are hurting a bit. LOL). However, that doesn’t mean that you have stopped training intensely. From what I’ve seen, it looks like you train harder than you’ve ever done in your entire career! May you give us a breakdown of your new workout regimen?
Trish: I do train way harder. I incorporate a lot of routine sequences into my workouts. I am not strong on routine, so by adding these things in, it has helped my routines flow better. I am now doing all body weight exercises with plyometrics. I train to complete failure or for timed intervals. I normally do reps of 100-300 or 2-3 minutes with a short break in between.

(Editors's note: DANG, Trish is BEAST!!!)

SWFN: Personally, while both a great physique and great routine are very important in fitness, do you see one more importantly than the other?
Trish: Fitness is defined by a routine so I think the routines should be weighed heavier. I will say that I have to work my butt off to bring my routine up to a top 3 routine if I want to remain a top 3 competitor! I have began working on that challenge and I hope it shows come March.

SWFN: How did it feel to place in the top 3 at the Fitness Olympia this year (2010), and automatically qualify for the 2011 Fitness Olympia?
Trish: I still get chills thinking about it. I went into the Olympia hoping for a top 6 spot, and was blessed with 3rd. It has taken me so long to even get into the first callout much less become 3rd in the world! I am very greatful, but also know I have to keep working hard to stay at the top!

SWFN: Will you be preparing for the 2011 fitness season a bit different than your breakout year in 2010, or is it one of those “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” deals?
Trish: I have been working on new routine stuff since the Olympia in hopes to bring my routine up to match my physique. I normally wait until after the holidays to begin any type of routine training but the new changes have me a little worried! I always want to bring a better overall package when I step on stage! I think that with routines involved you always have to work on being better than your last performance.

SWFN: What would you do to improve the NPC/IFBB fitness division? Is there something you’re doing NOW to help improve the NPC/IFBB fitness division?
Trish: I think that by bringing back the mandatories and making the routines count double will help! I am encouraging a lot of new girls to try fitness this year. I train with them so they can see that even at my level we all deal with the same obstacles. I am also going to have workshops prior to the Ronnie Coleman and the Branch Warren to offer my knowledge and assistance to any athlete that has an interest in the fitness division.

SFN: Which fitness competitor from the past do you admire the most?
Trish: Suzie Curry, she in my opinion had it all! She was beautiful, had a tiny fitness body, and could rock the routine round! She was what fitness was all about, and she was a class act!

SWFN: For any woman that wants to be a fitness competitor someday, what advice would you give to them?
Trish: To realize that even the top pros struggle on their routines or physiques. It’s never too late to learn new things! Be willing to try something different! I had to completely change the way I train, and because I did it landed me a top 3 finish at the Olympia!

SWFN: After your competitive days are over, how would you like to give back to women’s fitness?
Trish: I will remain involved by promoting shows with Branch and always taking the time to offer assistance, or advise to any upcoming fitness girl! There is no dumb question, I understand that some girls do not have the knowledge that I do, and I want to help educate them so they too can achieve all of the fitness goals and dreams.

SWFN: Finally, How can people reach you if they ever want to get advice from you? (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, personal website, etc.)
Trish: trishfit@yahoo.com, www.trishwarrenfitness.com, www.myspace.com/thetrishwarren

A new Trish in 2010, better than ever.
Photo credit: Ironman Magazine

Once again, a big thanks to Trish for taking the time to do this interview for Save Women's Fitness Now. I know you have to be invited to compete in the Fitness International in March, but I think it's a safe bet that Trish will be getting an invite without any trouble whatsoever. Trish is looking to outdo 2010, and to be honest, I think she can do it. On behalf of Save Women's Fitness Now, we wish you nothing but the best of luck to ya, Trish!

SAY HUH?!?! Less Pro Fitness Shows than Bodybuilding in 2011?!

2010-11-07T20:58:00.000-08:00

he official schedule has not been released yet for 2011, but as far as things go for 2011, fitness might have a smaller presence in 2011 than in 2010 and in previous years. There's been a pretty lengthy discussion on Siouxcountry about this.

The shows that will take place next year are:
Fitness International (invite only)
New York Pro Fitness (open to anyone)
Canada show
Germany show
Olympia (invite only)
Chicago (open to anyone but qualifies for 2012)
Ft Lauderdale (open to anyone but qualifies for 2012)

So for Americans, your options are far less than they've ever been,unless you want to travel to Canada or Germany. IFBB Fitness competitors, if you don't want your sport to die out, I'd suggest you come out in big numbers at these shows. For most of you, the only main option is the New York Pro Fitness. As I've said over and over and over, I LOVE the fitness division to death. This division is what led me to the complete world of female muscle in the first place.

I can preach about this all day, but it doesn't mean a thing unless you stand up for your own division and compete! Promoters put out a lot of money to run shows, and when few enter to compete, the promoters feel like they wasted their money. That's a big reason why the Phoenix Pro (among others) will NOT be bringing back fitness next year; it's not worth the time. PLEASE prove them wrong and come out in strong numbers at the next few shows.

The fans and supporters of this division can only do so much. They are stepping up and standing up for the fitness division; it's time for the competitors to do the same...while they have a division to compete in.

Changes to IFBB and NPC Fitness

2010-11-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

There are some changes being made into the fitness division beginning for the IFBB in a few short weeks for the NPC next year. Personally I think they are for the better, and I'll explain why below the official advisory notes (from IFBBPro.com)

CHANGES TO NPC FITNESS:
Beginning in 2011, the emphasis in Women’s Fitness will be the fitness routine and will be scored as 1/3 on Physique/2-Piece Swimsuit and 2/3 on the 2 Minute Fitness Routine. The 2 Minute Fitness Routine scores will be doubled. The mandatory movements within the routine, in no specific order, in Women’s Fitness are as follows:

* Push Up (of any kind)
* High Kicks
* Straddle Hold
* Side Split

The Physique/2-Piece Swimsuit round will be judged during prejudging and the 2 Minute Fitness Routine will be performed and scored during finals. It is suggested that finals begin with the 2 Minute Fitness Routine.

All trophies should be awarded to Fitness athletes in their routine outfits.

The Overall comparison will happen immediately after all awards for each height class are given out.

For the Overall comparison, Fitness athletes will be judged wearing their routine outfits.

Source: http://www.npcnewsonline.com/news_2010BOGnotes.cfm

Honestly, I think it's great that the fitness division has mandatory moves again and I also agree that the majority of the fitness judging needs to be from the routine, yet it doesn't make the physique round seems unneeded at the same time. Having a routine is a major part of fitness, so having it count more makes a lot of sense. Bottom line, you can have a VERY nice physique, but if you're routine isn't up to snuff, you could be on the outside of the top 5 easy. We'll see this take affect at the Ft. Lauderdale Cup on November 20th and in the NPC next year.

Good luck to all fitness competitors with these new changes! :)

NPC Fitness Spotlight for November 2010: Viko Newman

2010-11-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

Save Women's Fitness Now is kicking off our monthly NPC Fitness Spotlight with someone who I feel will be a future IFBB Fitness Pro: Viko Newman!

Photo credit: Muscular Development

Viko is a NPC Fitness Competitor from Olympia, Washington. In 1983 after her high school graduation, she went to live with her father in Japan for a while. For those wondering, yes, she is of Japanese decent. She met my husband Mark there who was in the US Air Force, who taught her how to work out. She was training in a gym on base with all guys. Being the only female, she was taught how to lift heavy and eat heavy int he process. I was soon squatting 200 and benching 145. She was a pretty strong individual at the time (she still is, but in a different way) After gaining a good deal of weight (not all of it was muscle), she decided that the look was not her thing and decided to find a way to obtain a "fitness" look. Needless to say, that look was better for her in the long run.

She started to compete when she turned 30 years old. Hey, you're never too old to start, as long as you are committed. She entered a local fitness show in Florida and won in fitness and in bodybuilding, in addition to wining in benching the most reps with ½ my weight. For that, she did 93 reps with 60 lbs! 2nd place girl only got 71 reps! From there, it was the beginning of more and more shows.

In her quest to becoming a pro, she is a part of IFBB Pro Tanji Johnson's Save Fitness team, which Tanji put together to help reignite the fitness division. With Tanji by her side, and the constant improvements that Viko has been making on her routines and physique, it's only a matter of time before Viko gets that rightful IFBB Pro card and compete with her idols. Who knows, we might see the teacher and the pupil share the stage at a future Arnold and Olympia soon!

Photo credit: Muscular Development

COMPETITION HISTORY:

2010 NPC Junior USA Bodybuilding Championships, Fitness Medium Class (3rd)
2010 Team Universe, Fitness Medium (5th)
2010 Emerald Cup, Figure: 5'3" to 5'4" (4th), Overall Fitness Winner, Fitness > 5'3" (1st)
2009 Team Universe, Fitness Medium Class (5th)
2009 Washington State, Figure Overall, Fitness (1st), Figure Short Class (1st)
2007 Emerald Cup, Fitness Class B (2nd), Figure Class C (4th)

For more on Viko, check out her interview with World Physique at http://www.worldphysique.com/vikonewmaninterview.html?reloaded=true

IFBB Fitness Spotlight for November 2010: Stacy Wright

2010-11-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

It's time to kick off the monthly IFBB Fitness Spotlight, and it's an honor to announce that this special blog feature will begin with regular blog contributor, Stacy Wright! :)

Photo credit: Bodybuilding.com

Stacy Wright is an IFBB Fitness competitor from Charleston, West Virginia. She has competed ever since 2005 during the amateur circuit in hopes of becoming an IFBB Fitness Pro.

Sports has been her thing for quite some time, especially during high school. She was part of the varsity cheerleading team in high school during her senior year. They would practice their cheers in the morning and hit the weights in the afternoon. From that point on, the weights became her best friends. She would end up taking her lifting hobby one step further a year later in college. During this time, she would end up meeting her soon-to-be husband Andrew. She would get married in 2004, and started to compete a year later.

Stacy started off doing Fitness America shows (the ones they USED to show on ESPN) for a couple of years. She started to see others come in better than her and decided to step her game up in a big way and brought in a tighter, more defined physique and harder routines, and in 2007, it showed as she became a favorite in the NPC fitness circuit. In 2010, at the NPC Team Universe, her journey to the pro rankings came to fruition when she not only won the Fitness Tall class, but she won the overall fitness title as well. This would earn her the prestigious pro card and a spot among the pros she's emulated and aspired to be for years. I have a feeling she's going to do great as an IFBB Fitness Pro.

Photo credit: Muscular Development

COMPETITION HISTORY (From latest to first):

2010 Member of Team USA
2010 1st Place Fitness Tall and Overall NPC Team Universe. EARNED PRO CARD.
2010 2nd Place NPC Junior Nationals Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure and Bikini Championships
2010 1st Place Pittsburgh Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure and Bikini Championships
2009 4th Place NPC Team Universe
2009 4th Place NPC Junior Nationals Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure and Bikini Championships
2008 1st Place NPC Collegiate Fitness National Championships
2008 8th Place NPC Junior Nationals Bodybuilding, Fitness, and Figure Championships
2007 1st Place Pittsburgh Bodybuilding, Fitness, and Figure Championships
2007 1st Place Tall and Overall NPC Upper Ohio Valley Bodybuilding, Fitness, & Figure Competition
2006 Fitness and Bikini Universe Competition
2006 6th Place Kumite Classic: Fitness and Bikini America Competition
2005 Kumite Classic: Bikini America Competition
2005 4th Place Karen Miller Cardinal Classic Figure Competition

For more on Stacy, go to her website at http://www.stacywright.net/index.htm. From there you can find out more about Stacy and Andrew.

IFBB/NPC Fitness Competitor Monthly Spotlights Coming Next Month

2010-10-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

On the first Monday of each month, beginning in November, I'll be highlighting a fitness competitor from the IFBB as well as the NPC. They can be competitors from the past or present. I'm hoping to try and highlight as many fitness competitors as I possibly can. This was supposed to have started last month, but didn't happen due to personal reasons, and I apologize for that.

The first IFBB and NPC Fitness Competitor Monthly Spotlights will be revealed on Monday, November 1. If you have any suggestions on who I should spotlight for in the future, please email me at save_fitness@yahoo.com with your recommendations, or leave me a comment below.

ATTENTION ALL IFBB FEMALE PROS!

2010-10-21T13:30:00.001-07:00

IFBB Pro Tammy Patnode has been asked if any existing pros would be interested in a 2011 pro show for the upcoming women's physique division. Who is eligible? IFBB Pros of Women's Bodybuilding, Fitness, and Figure. If you're a figure or fitness competitor who's been marked down in the past due to being too muscular, or if you're a female bodybuilder who has been deemed far too small, this is definitely for you. If you're interested, leave a comment below, or email me at admin@fitgemsnation.net and will forward all your messages to Tammy.

You have a voice in what happens with this division. Please take advantage of this!!!

Embrace the Off Season

2010-10-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

The off season is when we make our biggest changes! Embrace it! Don't let the time fly by and let your guard down and let your training and dieting go down hill. Take the time to embrace that muscle maturity, bring up lagging body parts, or strengthen those weak areas. It's what you do in the off season that is what you reveal as you start dieting down! Don't let the off season bring you down! Be excited about it! It brings about change and improvements! So to those of you competing soon, Best Of Luck To You! For those of lingering in the off season- Make this your best off season yet!!!! (and don't forget- HAVE FUN!!)

Stacy Signs Contract with Top Supplement Company

2010-09-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

Save Women's Fitness Now contributor Stacy Wright signed a contract with Labrada Nutrition this week! Everyone know that being signed to a good company can mean opportunities for the competitor. Things just seem to get better and better for Stacy these days. Not only does she win a National contest, she wins an overall fitness title, becomes a pro, and now this. Things can only get better for her from here on out. Congrats Stacy!! :)

Photo credit: Muscular Development

Myriam Capes's Showstopping Routine at the Europa Super Show 2010

2010-08-16T21:41:00.000-07:00

In her mid-20s, Myriam "Mimi" Capes has been dubbed as one of the future top stars in IFBB fitness. Her energetic routines and streamlined physique are proof positive of that. For the third straight year, Myriam took the runner-up position at the Europa Super Show, but it's not stopped her from being considered a force to be reckoned with in the fitness division. Look for Mimi to do some SERIOUS damage at this year's Olympia.

RxMuscle posted a video of her great routine from the show. Click on the link below the picture to view it. :)

http://www.rxmuscle.com/videos/c-interviews/1888-myriam-capes-top-rated-fitness-routine-at-the-2010-ifbb-europa-super-show-pro-fitness-competition.html

Bethany Wagner Wins Europa Super Show Fitness

2010-08-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

With one of the best physiques in fitness today as well as a great routine, Bethany Wagner won the 2010 Europa Super Show Fitness contest! Myriam Capes for the thrid straight year ended up placing 2nd, while everyone's favorite fitness "grandma" Shannon Meteraud placed 3rd, making all three fitness stars qualified for the 2010 Fitness Olympia, which is shaping up to be one of the most star-studded events in history.

Here's the full results of the fitness part of the Europa

1. Bethany Wagner*
2. Myriam Capes*
3. Shannon Meteraud*
4. Regiane DaSilva
5. Allison Ethier
6. Alti Bautista
7. Ryall Graber
8. Sonja Bruce
9. Traci Redding
10. Daniela OMara
11. Kristina Rojas
12. Hollie Stewart
13. Cinzia Clapp
14. Stacy McDowell
15. Autumn Edwards

*Olympia qualified

Congrats to the Olympia qualifiers and everyone that competed in this big contest this past weekend! :)

Save Fitness Now is now on Facebook

2010-07-24T21:41:00.000-07:00

In addition to the blog and Twitter, I've finally created a fan page dedicated to helping spread the world about the NPC and IFBB fitness division and help reignite the fire and passion of it. If you're on Facebook, please "like" us! :)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/SaveWomensFitnessNow/135101573195195

Tracey Greenwood Says Goodbye to IFBB Fitness

2010-07-21T10:40:00.001-07:00

One of the top fitness competitors of all time says "adios" to IFBB Fitness competitions.

Considered by many to be arguably the best fitness competitor to not win the Fitness International nor the Fitness Olympia, Tracey Greenwood has decided to call it a career after competing for over a decade to the IFBB, winning several titles and being a top placer at many Arnolds and Olympias. Like many of you, Tracey has been one of my favorite fitness competitors. Her strength in her routines are unmatched, and she always brings out one of the hardest yet most complete physiques, making her a big fan favorite. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to see her on stage, but for those that have, she was a highlight for everyone.

Here's the press release from FMG, her management:

FMG PRESS RELEASE

July 20, 2010 - For those of you in attendance at the 2009 IFBB Fitness Olympia, you unknowingly saw the last competition of IFBB Fitness icon Tracey Greenwood. After a long and wildly successful fitness career in both the NPC and IFBB, Tracey has decided she will be retiring from competition due to lingering injuries and just moving on in life in general. Yes, Tracey had thought about retirement previously and honestly we laughed it off and told her that she still had her best in her and not to retire. That was in 2008 when she won the IFBB Houston Pro Fitness, IFBB Atlantic City Pro Fitness, won the IFBB Europa Super Show Pro Fitness for the second time and finished second at the IFBB Fitness Olympia. That same year she was voted the FLEX Magazine Women’s Athlete Of The Year. Glad you listened to us Tracey! In 2009 Tracey started off the year placing third at the IFBB Fitness International, won the Atlantic City again and unbeknownst at the time, finished her career in third place at the IFBB Fitness Olympia.

This doesn’t mean you won’t still see Tracey. She is an expediter at almost every major NPC national competition, along with all the competitions in the NPC New York-Metropolitan district, is doing her share of emcee work, is a personal trainer and continues to promote both the NPC Tracey Greenwood Classic and NPC Deleware States.

Although now retired, rest assured that at 41 years old, Tracey’s physique can still stand right up there with any IFBB Pro Fitness competitor old or new. And in the end, she’ll always be “Trixie” to us!

On behalf of every fitness competitor and fan out there, thank you so much Tracey for everything you've given to this sport. May you continue to be an inspiration outside competing, and may God bless you as you enter the next chapter in your life! :)

Camala Rodriguez Preps for 2010 Olympia (Back Training)

2010-06-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

This year, Camala Rodriquez prepares to compete in her first-ever Fitness Olympia competition against the best fitness talent this industry has to offer. RxMuscle has an interview with Camala on her road to the Olympia, as well as pics and details on her back training.

http://www.rxmuscle.com/rxgirl/rx-girl-articles/1595-countdown-to-vegas---camala-rodriguez-trains-back.html

Look our for her website to be open soon! :)

Stacy Wright Interview with Promoting Real Women

2010-06-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

As you all know, NPC Fitness competitor Stacy Wright competed in the 2010 Jr. Nationals and placed 2nd in her class, just one place shy of a pro card. She was interviewed by a great supporter of fitness (as well as the entire female muscle industry), Jason Adams. He runs am amazing blog site called Promoting Real Women. I would highly suggest you bookmark his website and ladies, if you haven't done it yet, I would schedule to do an interview with him.

For Stacy's interview, go to http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com/2010/06/stacy-wright-interview.html. For the Promoting Real Women blog, go to http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com.

2010 Jr. National Fitness Results

2010-06-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the 2010 Jr. Nationals, where 11 pros were crowned for fitness, figure, and bikini. There were three classes for fitness, and all the class winners became IFBB pros! Debbie Fowler (Fitness Short), Michelle Blank (Fitness Medium), and Autumn Edwards (Fitness Tall) won their respective fitness classes, with Autumn as your overall fitness champion. Here's the results of the event:

Overall
1. Autumn Edwards

Class A
1. Debbie Fowler (New IFBB Pro)
2. Sandra Augustin
3. Babette Mulford
4. Amy Peterson
5. Tracy Winters
6. Paula Williams-Gulman
7. Sara Bankemper
8. Tracie Soder

Class B
1. Michelle Blank (New IFBB Pro)
2. Rachel Johnson
3. Cinzia Clapp
4. Lisha Dean
5. Michelle Yeager
6. Kristine Koontz
7. Leigh Ann Yeager
8. Danielle Delikat
9. Jennifer Bishop

Class C
1. Autumn Edwards (New IFBB Pro)
2. Stacy Wright
3. Meredith Miller
4. Tamee Marie
5. Sandra Fields
6. Heather Skaar

In addition, a HUGE congrats to Save Fitness Now contributor Stacy Wright on placing 2nd in the Fitness Tall class. Stacy has shown us her journey via the Save Fitness Now blog, and we hope she continues to share more fitness tip and discussion with us for the foreseeable future.

Personally, I'd thought the numbers were great this year for the Jr. Nationals. Next time the fitness competitors get to shine will be July 9-10 at the Team Universe, where the top 2 women in each fitness class will become IFBB Fitness Pros!

Congrats to all the fitness competitors that competed this past weekend, as well as all the competitors in the other divisions! :)

Want to try Fitness, but don't know where to start...?

2010-06-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

Seems SOOO complicated to do fitness, but I hear it over and over again! "I would love to do fitness, BUT...(insert excuse here)". There are NO excuses! There are no more mandatories! If you love to train and push your body... if you love to move to music, we can figure it out! Please feel free to message me and I'll be happy to answer ANY of your questions regarding prepping for a fitness show! I can help you come up with a theme, choreography using your strengths, help you find suit and costume designers... you name it! I'll figure it out! And if I don't know, I'll find someone who does! Stop sitting back letting others have all the fun! Decide today to do fitness, I guarantee you'll be SO glad you did!!!
Stacy
StacyWright.net

Email me your questions or comments to Stacy@StacyWright.net!

Fitness CAN return to Masters Nationals with YOUR HELP!

2010-06-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

Help is SORELY needed!

Siouxcountry and FitGems Nation member Leslie Thompson needs your help in getting fitness back to the Masters Natiionals. She needs 10 committed ladies to pull this off. For those wondering, the Masters Nationals will be on July 23-24, 2010, but she needs an answer as soon as THIS SATURDAY if you can. Here's what she had to say on Siouxcounty:

Please help if you know of any Masters figure girls that want to try fitness or any Fitness girls that are over 35! This could be a huge step in getting us another pro qualifier back !

OH and remember there are no more Mandatory moves you have to do anymore! So if you have a dance background, or martial arts or are just strong or flexible there are all kinds of women and routines that will do well now!

If you are interested please do not hesitate, shoot me a mail at Lann1011@yahoo.com.

If you want to discuss it with Leslie, you can do so via her email (above), or via Siouxcounty. She goes by the name lann1011.

4 Weeks To Go...

2010-05-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

I've got four weeks to go until Jr Nationals! Just making sure each day I do everything I'm supposed to do. That way- at the end of the journey, I know I've given 100% no matter the outcome! I plan on leaving it all on the table... or should I say leaving it all on the stage! Stay Tuned!...

~StacyWright.net

NPC Fitness Competitor Stacy Wright: Intro

2010-05-12T20:25:00.001-07:00

Hey! It's Stacy Wright here! I'm a national level NPC Fitness Competitor! I began competing in the NPC in 2007 and have worked hard to make improvements each and every year! I love this sport and would love to share with you my journey! Please feel free to check out my website at StacyWright.net!

Free Save Fitness Instructional DVD Give-Away at Siouxcountry

2010-05-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

Top IFBB Fitness Pro Tanji Johnson is giving away a copy of her Save Fitness Instrutional DVD at the end of the month! The DVD is a 2 hour comprehensive instructional DVD on the mechanics of training for a Fitness competition. Definitely a must-own DVD for all fitness competitors by one of the best in the business today.

For details on how to enter, visit Siouxcountry.com.

Tanji Johnson...Bringing the Motivation.

2010-04-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

All credit goes to Siouxcountry for bringing this to my attention. You want a motivational video? I GOT your motivational video!

They don't call Tanji a fitness LEADER for nothing! :) Join Siouxcountry, the number one board for all things female muscle, to discuss the video.

http://www.siouxcountry.com

Liza Hughes Speaks Out on Bodysport

2010-04-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

Liza Hughes speaks on where the fitness competitors are. I'd highly advice you to read the article in full:

BodySport Article: "Where Are All The Fitness Pro's"

The entire article is definitely a must-read, but this line definitely hit home "It starts with leadership and ends with teamwork." Fitness competitors support the heck out of each other. It's apparent in Siouxcountry, it's apparent at pro/amateaur shows. Now it's time that that love, respect, and support back to them. If there are those willing to keep fitness alive, it's only right that we do our part.

List ways you can think of to help fitness strive in the comments below.

IFBB Fitness NXT?!

2010-03-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

On Siouxcountry's Let's Save Fitness board, I brought up a suggestion on the board that I would like to share with all of you.

For those that don't know, I'm a HUGE fan of wrestling, and I'm hooked on their new show WWE NXT, where 8 "pros" are teaching 8 "rookies" the ways of the trade in WWE. It's actually not a bad show.

While I was watching it, I was wondering...what if some of the ladies did something similar to that, but, of course, tailor it to the fitness world. Take a NPC competitor or any female that wants to be a fitness competitor or even THINKS she wants to be a fitness competitor one day, and have them being taken under their wing by a IFBB Fitness Pro. Yeah, I'm aware of teams and support groups out there right now, such as Jacked Up Divas, Team Brownie, Performance Ready, etc. But here me out on this one.

For example, let's take about 10 IFBB Fitness Competitors (Pros) and 8 NPC competitors or women who would like to be fitness competitors that are NOT in any federation (Rookies). Show them what the fitness division is about, have them live together, train together, for about 16-18 weeks or so (estimated time). In between those times, they meet with other "Pros" and "Rookies" and be evaluated from time to time. After the 16-18 week training period, all the "Rookies" will compete amongst each other in a fitness competition. The winner would either a) qualify for NPC Nationals to get a pro card or b) go on to get a pro card and get an invite to the Arnold on the following year. Personally, I don't know which of the two options would be better would be better.

This is nothing more than a mere though I had, so feel free to chime in on your thoughts? Could this be something that can help boost the division and bring forth new blood to IFBB and NPC fitness? Sound off in the comments below.

To ALL Fitness Competitors...Let Your Voice Be Heard

2010-03-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

As mentioned earlier, Save Fitness Now was created to help reignite the flame of the NPC/IFBB fitness division. Now, I'm calling for any and ALL fitness competitors to speak up. Let your voices be heard by becoming a writer for Save Fitness Now. You can submit writings as little or as much as you want to. This is YOUR platform to help spread the word about women's fitness and get it back to where it was once before. Fans and industry members, if you would like to write in your thoughts about fitness, you can submit them to me as well.

Please send all of your writings to save_fitness@yahoo.com, and put SFN Submission on the Subject line. You can write your submissions on the email or via Microsoft Word and send them to me as an attachment.

Hope to hear from many of you soon. Let's keep fitness alive! :)

Siouxcountry's Let's Save NPC & IFBB Fitness Board

2010-03-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

For those that are part of Siouxcountry (the premeir board for fitness and ALL female physique divisions), Sioux has created a board thread on the site entitled Let's Save NPC & IFBB Fitness. If you've a member of the site, go to the thread and post your ideas on how fitness can be saved. If you haven't joined, I highly recommend you join the board, as not only will you get a better understanding of what women's fitness is, but what each divison is. A haven for all female competitors.

The link to the Lets's Save NPC & IFBB Fitness board:
http://www.siouxcountry.com/forumdisplay.php?f=198

The main site:
http://www.siouxcountry.com

It's Time to Save The Fitness Division!!!

2010-03-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

A quick introduction of who I am. My name is C-Ray. You are probably familiar with me through names such as cray17 on Siouxcountry, Muscular Development, and NUMEROUS female physique message boards. I also run FitGems Nation, among other things. The reason I started FitGems Nation was because the respect of the athletes I have in this industry. The reason I became a fan in the first place was because of a cool thing called the fitness division, more specifically the Fitness America Pageant on ESPN2 and its competitors such as Julie Shipley-Childs, Tanya Merryman, Kelly Gignilliant, Nicole Rollolazo, Allison Either, Valerie Brown-Stephens, and more. From there, I've come to discover the NPC and IFBB fitness divisions and was blown away by the talent there: Adela Garcia, Jenny Hendershott, Tanji Johnson, Tracey Greenwood, Julie Palmer, Julie Lohre, Stacy Simons, Heidi Sullivan (Fletcher), Shannon Meteraud, Trish Warren...there's quite a bit of talent.

However, fitness has been on the decline ever since figure and bikini have come to play. Absolutely NO disrespect to any of the other female physique divisions, but fitness is arguably the most entertaining division of all the female divisions out there. Creativity, high-energy, personality, dedication...all of that is in the fitness divison. For fans, they are in awe of what they can do. For photographers and those that take video, capturing their routines on film is like watching poetry in motion. In the NPC and IFBB, there's just nothing like women's fitness. So I'm stratching my head into seeing why fitness is at an all-time low.

Is it the work that is needed? The time that's needed? Now enough contests? Not enough competitors stepping up? Too many not going into the pros after their winning their pro card? I wish I knew the answer, but I don't. What I DO know is this: something needs to be done, or fitness will be nothing but a distant memory.

Hence why this blog was born. I created this blog to reignite the fire and passion that the fitness division had during its birth. Call it an attempt as rebirth, if you will. This is not a one-person thing, or a few people that will be able to make the changes and advancements. This is going to require EVERYONE's help. Current and past fitness competitors, industry experts, fans, the whole nine yards! It's time that everyone (myself included) stepped up and see that fitness stays alive!

IT'S TIME TO SAVE FITNESS NOW!!!!