Female bodybuilders are some of the hardest working members of the wider fitness community. Their gains are a triumph of discipline, ambition, military-precise training and nutrition, and with the return of Ms Olympia to the Mr Olympia Weekend, as well as the resurgence in popularity of the female bodybuilder on Instagram, outstanding female bodybuilders are sculpting stunning physiques and breaking records. The names on this list are some of the biggest in bodybuilding, from young female bodybuilders in their 20s, to mature female bodybuilders competing well into their 50s. Download our FREE comprehensive prospectus today, and learn more about how we can help you achieve your fitness goals!
Training: Weight Training For A Better Body
More from ABC
Female bodybuilding is the female component of competitive bodybuilding. It began in the late s when women began to take part in bodybuilding competitions. Female bodybuilding originally developed as an outgrowth of not only the late nineteenth-century European vaudeville and circus strongwomen acts, Bernarr Macfadden 's turn of the century women's physique competitions, and the weightlifting of Abbye "Pudgy" Stockton , but also as an outgrowth of the men's bodybuilding. The contest formats of men's events during the s to the mids had often been supplemented with either a women's beauty contest or bikini show. These shows "had little to do with women's bodybuilding as we know it today, but they did serve as beginning or, perhaps more properly, as a doormat for the development of future bodybuilding shows. Prior to , bodybuilding had been considered strictly a male-oriented sport.
Nutrition: Food For A Better Body
There are plenty of women out there who are pushing it in the gym, working harder than the guys to pack on muscle and achieve stunning physiques. We scoured social media to find some of the fittest, most built women around, and came up with a list of ladies who we guarantee will get you motivated to hit the gym a little or maybe a lot harder. Follow these fit women we're crushing on for inspiration, workout ideas, and motivation.
Middle-aged women are turning to bodybuilding — and they've got the edge on their younger rivals. Slip backstage at a bodybuilding competition and you'll find a mirrored metropolis behind the scenes. Each competitor will have staked out their own area and populated it with bejewelled bikini-shaped cases, high heels and snacks. The snacks are body hacks. Coca-Cola or port wine dilates the veins and makes them pop pleasingly because of the high sugar content. Potato chips provide a burst of carbs, the intake of which will have been carefully rationed over the past months, and salt, which dehydrates. Similarly, black coffee, a diuretic, draws water away from the skin surface to make muscle more defined. Women wearing silk robes and thongs flit between the hair and makeup stations for touch-ups, or take their place at a tanning tent. There's a lot of "pumping up" going on — getting blood flowing to the muscle by using weights — and the last-minute run-through of posing routines. Some women are as young as teenagers.
