Alina Popa winning the Rising Phoenix and the current state of Women's open class bodybuilding.

 

Alina Popa in 2008

Alina Popa finally won the top championship in women's bodybuilding, the Rising Phoenix title.
I'm happy for her.She deserves to be a champion.She's one of the best female bodybuilders in the last twenty years.I'm glad she won the money,and prizes.She's worked a long time for them.
Here's a link to coverage of the show with pictures of all competitors.
Rising Phoenix 2018

Alina suffered a couple of injuries a few years ago.In late 2014 she tore her left Achilles tendon during a sprint workout.During her recovery after surgery she fell due to the cast on her leg,and the effects of the drugs she was taking for pain.She tore her right bicep trying to catch herself.
It took about a year to a year and half to recover.She came in second at the 2017 contest.

She has incredible genetics.It's always crucial for a bodybuilder to pick the right parents.
She's been an athlete most her life.I believe it was mostly track,and field in her native Romania.She moved to Switzerland,and then to the USA.
She's worked for many years on her extraordinary physique.I started watching her years ago before she even started competing at the highest level.
It takes many top bodybuilders years to come close to reaching their potential.She's 40,and the recent Mr Olympia champion Shawn Rhoden is 43.

So here's the thing.She should have won years ago.Now...she's past her prime,been injured,and spoiled her exemplary lines with breast implants.Otherwise known as plastic bags of goo.
I don't know why they kept placing her second to women who just simply didn't look as impressive,and exciting as Alina.She was banging her head against the wall of X frames for years.They had the frames,and mass,but not really that extra something to be winning over Alina if you ask me.Is it merely beauty? It's that yes...and more.It's the thrill of seeing a fully realized muscular physique.It's the Oh My God! moment.It's visceral,and instinctual.It makes you feel awe struck.It's like seeing a super hero come to life.Every muscle group developed and brought to round fulfillment.It's why we watch bodybuilding.It's why it hooks us in the first place.
Alina made me feel that way.
There aren't many female bodybuilders at this point that I can say I genuinely envy their physiques.But her..I do.

I wasn't alone in my appreciation.She's very popular.
And she knows it.I never blame any bodybuilder for knowing it.They have to be self aware, self sculptors.
She did a lot of video.Some of it the usual silly soft short of porn.Bills to pay.The female bodybuilders have to make a living and this is the easiest way to do it and have time to train. Easiest in the short term.In the long term it probably stains their reputation as serious athletes.

Her physique strengths and weaknesses.There aren't many weaknesses.
Great shoulders.Great back.
Her calves were never spectacular.But the judges are usually willing to allow for that.They wouldn't have kept her from winning.But the left calf has never looked completely healed after she ruptured her Achilles tendon.That's significant damage.I think I do notice it.It's atrophied.It just doesn't look healed even though she seems to try to hide it.Every time she has a choice she poses with her left leg pushed far back,and cocked to the side.It certainly looks like an attempt to disguise the calf problem. But you really can't hide anything on stage.
Her bicep seems to have healed enough to not be a noticeable weakness.
The upper body has always been her extraordinary gift.Huge shoulders tapering to a pleasing waist.
The quads are no disappointment either.Her calves were...OK.
But it's the way her upper body dominates that really catches your eye.The classic yoked shoulders.
She has a remarkably striking face too.And a playful sparkle to her eyes.

Sigh.So here's the big one.She finally broke down and gave in.She got the damn bags.
She had said she didn't intend to get implants in the past.Silly me thinking people mean what they say.I should have known the pressure to conform never stops.
The smell of money always wins.Don't tell me the damn judges don't get to these women.
I think they always say,or imply,"hey hon,if you just add massive fake jugs...we'd let you win"
Let you.
So they finally let her win..but only when she got the fakes.

The implants she got are pretty awful.Big skin stretching blister bubbles.
What a lovely image.Blammo!
Great job cosmetic surgeons! You've worked your horror movie magic again.All this completely unnecessary surgery on healthy body parts.Great for business lads.
Oh I can just say they knock her physique off balance.Well yes they do.
The clearly unnatural round balloons make a bodybuilder top heavy.
You can't see the damn Pec muscles either.Don't you think that's kind of important judges? huh?
All other forms of implants are barred.
Breast balloons should be too.
So your boobs deflate? Stop taking testosterone,and getting gritty ripped if you can't live with it.
Because that's what going to happen inevitably.
Maybe it's just a failure to accept reality here.People want all the features increased to an extreme.But it doesn't work like that.Muscles swell,fatty breast tissue shrinks.

I then wondered when was the last time a woman with real breasts won the women's top bodybuilding contest,Ms Olympia to Rising Phoenix?
It might be Valentina Chepiga in 2000? I can't be certain.She got large implants later.
During the 80's to 90's at least some of the implants were smaller.I wasn't always sure in a few cases if they were fake or not.Particularly with the higher body fat during the off season.

I stopped following Popa when I saw what she had done.It was so tiresome,and disappointing.You too? Looking just like all the others.

If she had of won years ago I would have been really happy about it.Now I only heard about it after the fact.Yesterday's news.That's what women's bodybuilding has become.
The attention has shifted to the healthier looking more streamlined physique,and fitness competitors.
In a way The IFBB has shot itself in the foot by it's actions.

International Federation of Bodybuilders....bodybuilders...unless that's hard to sell then we'll redefine the bodies into whatever we can market.
So they dumped women's bodybuilding onto the off ramp.
It's becoming clear to me that it is probably a dying category unless they address the fundamental issues.
Females,drugs,and marketability.It's a hard question.
They need to open up a discussion about where bodybuilding is going,and they don't want to do it.
The athletes have little to no power with the sports owners.
It's the owners/sponsors who unilaterally decide the judging standards by all accounts.

(To go off on the hinky feeling about the judging a bit.
The problem with this niche judged sport.Even if they're trying to be fair,you don't feel like you can completely trust the process.
And the larger question is are the judges being controlled by the owners of the shows?
How could they not be? At the least by tightly stating the judging criteria for it to be inevitable for suspicions to arise.That's bad enough.
I think there's good evidence they did manipulate the placings during the time the Weiders were running the sport.There's a strong story they made sure Bev Francis wouldn't be allowed to win the Ms Olympia.
The strange combination of tacit approval of drug use while downplaying it in the public eye,and implants is a continually weird element in bodybuilding.
I wish they would at least try to get their stuff together and be less hypocritical about it.
There are a lot of issues to unpack about all this.But I was writing off the top of my head.
So we'll see if I want to organize my thoughts more about it in the future.)

Some notes on the rest of the field.
One of the most noticeable aspects about the field is the increasing age of the competitors.Female bodybuilders are an aging lot.Muscle maturity does take time.And it can be a long process to bring up lagging body parts,and create a fully developed physique.But there is a natural law of diminishing returns as aging progresses.The bodies start looking rather slack.The skin has gone through many rounds of weight gain,and loss.And it bears the appearance of it.You start seeing the signs of looser skin around the abdomen etc..and it's harder to bring out sharpness in the low back,and glutes.
I looked through images of the field,and saw this with many of the older competitors.
It's one of the reasons why I think women's bodybuilding is declining.Even with drugs it's hard for women to put on the muscle mass to bring on stage looking huge,and striated.The genetically gifted have a massive advantage.The question is would they go into the bodybuilding category now?
The competitors in women's bodybuilding in the past tended to be younger.
Mainly because they were judging for shape,and attractiveness rather than size.The size and conditioning increase has been marching along,and has left the more conventionally aesthetic considerations in the lighter categories.

Margie Martin came in second after missing last years contest.She's a two time past champion and  still has the development and frame.She did look fully prepared to make a run for another title.
I think her implants are a problem.Too large,round,and hard looking.The absolute opposite of breasts is hard looking.So in bodybuilding...hard everything.
She also has the problem of a noticeable c-section scar,and tattooing on her lower abdomen.
She might try wearing a custom made suit to cover her lower abdomen.I think that should be allowed.I don't know how much judges take scaring into account.
She's an impressive bodybuilder.We'll see if she keeps competing.

Sheila Bleck came in third.I would have awarded her the top prize.There's nothing missing with her.She is lighter than the two top placers.They may want to see more mass on her.But she's a classic well proportioned bodybuilder.No implants.No massive tats,or scars.Great poser.It would be nice to see her win some day.

Helle Trevino,last year's champion,came in 5th.It's surprising they dropped her down this low.She still has the mass.Did they think her conditioning was off? It's probably what cost her.She looked a little flat,and wasn't showing the striations that pop out to the judges.

Virginia Sanchez placed 7th,and carries very dense muscle in her upper body.In comparison her legs don't look as impressive.It's not that they're bad.Her upper body just visually over powers her legs.She's 47 so she's probably reached her level.
She also shows some of the serious issues with women's bodybuilding.
Of course she's been taking Androgenic Anabolic Steroids for years.She's probably also taken estrogen suppressors.So in fact her breast tissue has deflated.She has such low body fat that there's not much to pad her body at all.Her look is maximum hardness.
She shaves her head,and wears a wig.Possibly suffering hair loss due to the androgens she's taking.
And the years of high drug usage,and dieting show on her face.
This is the situation with the older women bodybuilders and what the judges have to work with.
There you have it.

At the end of the view on this.It took me awhile to write it.It's hard to look at now.I remember the old days when there were so many attractive,and compelling athletes.It was a real competition,and people could improve and have something to look forward too. I remember looking forward to getting the magazines.Reading articles about the competitions,And interviews with the athletes.
It's sad it's ground down to this point.And the corporate fools at the IFBB don't seem to know how to rescue it.
They'd have to make some hard changes.They'd have to behave like intelligent mature rational individuals and set some parameters of harm reduction and judging standards that would be very controversial.
There is a real and notable division between what sells to the hard core ( and often fetishistic so-called shmoe ) fan of women's bodybuilding and even a general bodybuilding physique fan base.
At this point it looks like they've sent women's bodybuilding out to pasture to die.

To address my repeated references to breast implants.
It would almost seem like I have a bug up my butt about them.
I do.
They look fake as hell.
Creepy plastic bags straining under the skin...and they're too damn big now.They're gross.
I didn't grow up seeing this much fake hardness when I was a kid.There was a lot more emphasis on  looking healthy,and somewhat relatable.
Most of the bodybuilders still looked beautiful,and graceful.They allowed them to keep a little subcutaneous fat,and they weren't forced to become the size of farm animals to have a chance to win.
I know I'm not alone in wanting to see more classic beauty in bodybuilding.It's a growing movement.

At the end of the day,as they say...
Female Bodybuilders can do what they want.
The organizations can do what they want.
The sponsors can do what they want.
The fans can watch it,or care,or not.

I'm just kind of shaking my head,and shrugging is all.I'm not trying to sound as angry as I do.I am bothered by it.But that's the way it goes.There's nothing I can do about it.We all have faded passions.I can move on.I have many interests.
As sorry as I am to lose former favorites...that's the breaks.
I love muscle...but this is about too much else now.
I'll keep lifting.I still love the fundamental iron culture.
But the onstage version of the ripped circus? I take a look at it when I feel like it now.
It's past it's prime,and entered it's decadent phase now.
Oh well.

NPC USA Women's Bodybuilding 2017,and the case of the freak implants.

Yvette Bova

I happened to be follow a link from Muscle Insider to their contest photo coverage of  the NPC USA bodybuilding contest.I looked up the Women's Bodybuilding division..I was looking at the field of competitors,and found this picture.I can honestly say I have no idea why this women was in a bodybuilding contest.
This isn't what a bodybuilder looks like by any definition I knew of.
I got nuthin'
There were only five women in the whole bodybuilding division.Four in the heavy weight.One in the light heavy.She was the light heavy.So she won the division.Sigh.
I looked her up.She's a USAF veteran.Well,I thank her for her service.
She's also a porn actress.How unsurprising.
These implants are so utterly ( or should I say udderly ) grotesque as to defy belief.
Of course I've seen similar cartoon balloons on strippers.That's exactly the problem.This woman doesn't look like an athlete.She looks like a sex worker.
I have to wonder why they even allow these buffoonery boobs to be produced as medical devices?
I would think that implanted medical devices have to be approved by the FDA.
Yep.I looked it up.So at what point do they say enough?
Something short of the Hindenburg?
Breast reconstruction with implants after mastectomy?
Replacing a lost body part with a prothesis is common practice.
Abnormal formation of the breasts leading to plastic surgery?
Understandable.
But this? This isn't really an issue of augmentation as such.It's a radical form of sexual fetishization surgery. Have we gone beyond personal liberty into self harm here?
Women with abnormally large natural breasts will sometimes have them reduced due to severe back pain.And if these massive implants were damaged,or ruptured,it could cause a severe problem.
I don't like the idea of protecting people from themselves in general.There are considerations of informed consent,and harm reduction that reduce bad consequences.
But I wouldn't have any part in approving this by a medical board,hospital,doctors,insurance companies...or the FDA.
Common sense got up and rolled off.

I could put up other pictures of her.But what's the point.
She has trained with weights.But the entire front of her body is dominated by these basketballs straining under her skin.
I could say she has a short torso,bad abs,and she's at the age she should be in the master's division.But it's all beside the point.
I don't intend this as a mere attack on one individual either.The problem is general.She just got caught up in this mentality.But that's a bigger issue.
( the woman who won had implants,tattoos on her breasts,heavy make-up,and BBQ tan )

I've tried to find the NPC ( National Physique Committe) and IFBB ( International Federation of Bodybuilders ) rules online.
The NPC has many different divisions,and a plethora of rules.
Here are the NPC Bodybuilding Rules.
I can't find anything about implants,and site injections.

Here's the IFBB rule on implants,and site injections for Men's Bodybuilding for 2017.The Women's Bodybuilding division was discontinued a few years ago

IFBB rule on implants,and extras.

 This should be the standard for ALL Physique,and Bodybuilding.
 They should ban ALL implants.

They won't.
And because they won't the competitors will keep getting implants.About an estimated 80% of the women in all divisions.Ponder that one for a moment.Organizations claiming to be representing physique,and fitness effectively demand that women mutilate their breasts.

At the least they could impose some sane limits on size.
But at this point I don't think they care much about the Women's Bodybuilding division.It's hanging on by a thread.Why even have standards?
They act like they're giving the hens some chicken feed before consigning them to the fryer.A small courtesy.
The NPC,and IFBB ( which are not genuinely separate organizations ) are run strictly as businesses.
The more mainstream 'fitness' has become,the more money they make.And it's concentrated in a few companies,and individuals.Bikini girls pay entrance fees.They're anxious for approval,and success.Mainstream mutts want to see bikini girls.So ka-ching.
Good bye actual Bodybuilding.

Yes I know it's not much of an actual sport to begin with.It's a kind of beauty pageant for people who torture themselves with weights.But it used to be fun to watch.
Now it's too often dull,cringey,and sad.

Jackie Paisley - Dead at 54.Her burst boobs ruined her health.

Jackie Paisley died at the age of 54 on March 17,2017.She was a female bodybuilder who competed from the 1980's to her retirement in 1991.Her Wikipedia entry shows how successful she was too.I was watching bodybuilding at the time,and remember her.She was tall,and leggy,and a very expressive poser.
She really wasn't one of the athletes I followed closely at all.Not the body type I could identify with.
But she seemed like a nice positive person.She certainly had plenty of fans,and media coverage.
There's a large gallery of pictures of her on this 80's muscle blog.
You can see she was an impressive woman.
Women's bodybuilding was booming in the 80's,and it seems somebody spotted her natural gifts and told her she could make it onstage.She had a fast rise up the ranks,and competed at the highest level.She won the Ms International in 1989.She competed in three Ms Olympia's.
She retired in 1991 at the young age of 26.
Bodybuilding is a damn hard thing to do.It's sad but not surprising when people stop competing at a young age.It seems she didn't feel like the demands of competition were worth it anymore.

She went home to Arizona,and worked in training,and nutrition.She had been a music student,and posed for this statuesque photo.

Jackie Paisley playing the violin.

I do remember at the time seeing the progression of her career once she got on the national scene.The earliest photos show her before she got implants.She had a well developed but flat chest.It followed the usual trend with female bodybuilders.She started out with her real breasts,then boom,big hard implants were installed.Of course the drugs,and dieting reduce their breast tissue.But it was depressing to see how many women thought artificial breasts were a necessary addition.
At that time in the 1980's breast implants were becoming more generally popular.There's a sensationalistic but entertaining 1997 movie called Breast Men that portrays a fictional account of the rise of silicone breast implants.Silicone implants made by Dow Corning became the fake boob of choice.It was softer,and more pliable than saline.A lot of women got them.Many of them came to regret it horribly.They claimed it made them extremely ill.Dow Corning was sued into bankruptcy though the company survived.There is information about the whole controversy in this Wikipedia article on breast implants.Fair warning there are graphic pictures.
There were subsequent studies that claimed that the risk of silicone implants was exaggerated.That they weren't proven generally dangerous.
This 1997 story from the New York Times includes the following quote;

In recent years, tens of thousands of women have claimed that they suffered a host of health problems from silicone-filled breast implants, including hardening of the breast tissue, implant rupture and disabling disorders that resemble autoimmune disorders like lupus.

There is abundant evidence that silicone implants ruptured at rates far higher than initially suggested by manufacturers. But the vast majority of recent scientific studies has found that the rate of autoimmune diseases in women with implants is about the same as for the general population.

  This 2015 article from Forbes takes the other side of stating that the whole lawsuit onslaught was financially motivated,and a debacle of the real science.It reviews a book "Silicone on Trail;Breast Implants and the Politics of Risk" by Dr Jack Fisher.The article author Henry I. Miller takes a strong counter stance against the concerns over silicone implants,and places blame on FDA head David Kessler for overstepping his authority and using his power to suppress a safe medical device.

I do believe in healthy debate.And I understand the antipathy to David Kessler.He comes off as a self righteous crusader.But he may have been correct in his caution.
It's also clear we have a classic case of battling greed.Dow Corning didn't put enough research into how large bags of  soft silicone placed over the chest cavity would actually affect the patients health in the long run.When the lawyers got involved in this conflict.They had a field day with it.They hit the jackpot.Sick mutilated women against a cold corporation.It's one of the most notable recent cases of a major company being devastated by class action lawsuits.

I'm not a medical expert,or lawyer.But I can smell the bullshit.Silicone breast implants might not be statistically proven to cause a whole range of  common autoimmune disorders.But they can cause problems when they leak.And they can,and will leak in time.They can develop mold too.I've seen a number of images of capsules full of murky goo pulled out of women's bodies.I did enough online research to believe the women,and doctors who claim they can be damaging to women's health.

Jackie Paisley claimed to be suffering from silicone toxicity in this 2013 article in Iron Man magazine.
She had had surgery,and was asking for support.
She posted this YouTube video on December 9,2012,

I think you can see her health has deteriorated.
She's talking about her medical history with her silicone implants.
She had developed pain in her left chest,and shoulder.This would have been about 2005/6.
She had surgery to remove the old implants,and replace them with a new set.She claims this surgeon failed to notice,or inform her,that there was silicone leakage.He failed to clean out the silicone that had leaked.
She seems to have become distrustful of mainstream medicine as well,and started pursuing alternative therapy.Following Naturopathy , and Allopathic  healing ideas.
Which is in fact Pseudoscience.Sadly this melange of antiquated intuitive ideas is attractive to people.Though her disappointment with mainstream medicine's failures in her case are understandable.See Alternative Medicine for the bigger picture.
She continued feeling ill,and talked to other surgeons about having her current implants removed.Unsurprisingly she had problems with insurance coverage,and couldn't afford treatment.
She eventually had surgery in Atlanta by a breast implant specialist; Dr Susan Kolb.
Kolb is a legitimate surgeon.But she also has ideas that could be described as out there.She believes in all kinds of woo in addition to scientific medicine.Still Dr Kolb has been very involved in care for silicone leakage victims.
Jackie had the implants,and about 10 lymph nodes removed in 2011.
She had a mold infestation and went through a course of antifungal,and antibacterial treatment.She said she was treating herself with an antibacterial treatment.( more about that in a bit )
During this whole crisis she had become dependent on Benzodiazepines which she had been using for her insomnia problem.It's basically a tranquilizer.These drugs can cause dependence,and withdrawal problems.
Jackie went through a very difficult time during withdrawal.She had spells,and seizures which were very frightening to her.
Then she goes on to claim she had some unique genetic issues.She claimed she did research,and found she had some kind of vitamin D problem.She claimed she had found something she's calling "the genetic code"
Oh dear.It sounds like nonsense.No real idea about what she thought she had discovered.Gene polymorphism regarding vitamin D?
Some people do have such a condition.But I have no idea how this person with no medical education believed it effected her health issues.
She never published anything about these claims.
She mentions doing a podcast with Dave Palumbo.This would have been an episode of Heavy Muscle Radio.I tired to listen to it.But there's only a repeat of another show where that show was listed in the order.It's not available.

A friend of hers named Derwin White published an appeal on the Inside Edition Facebook page by Allison Pease.You can also read it here on Area Orion.
Pease is saying Jackie was helping her,and "used her knowledge to identify “The Genetic Code” to help others become healthy through herbal supplements rather than medication."
I'm afraid this is where she may have started taking some dangerous substances.
This is an interesting interview conducted by Derwin White  on the site Muscle Insider.Here she talks about the treatment for the fungal,and bacterial infections.

Q. Tell us about the progression of your health problem.

A. I was given two years for recovery. Ten lymph nodes were gone. I had steady recovery, but used antifungals, which made me feel horrible, and killed the mycoplasmic bacteria with Miracle Mineral Supplement, a natural but powerful bacteria-killing solution similar to bleach, for up to six months before and after surgery. My recovery has been slow but getting better. Tapering off the medicine I was on for sleep has almost been worse than the surgery! By this February 11, it will be two years, and I think I will be a new person.

That substance called Miracle Mineral Solution is poison.I don't know what else to call this horrible swill.It's either sodium chlorite, or chlorine dioxide solution.It's bleach.
People selling this as a medicine have been prosecuted. 
I certainly hope Dr Kolb wasn't recommending this noxious stuff.
I have no idea why Jackie would have thought this was a good idea.
I don't object to people taking supplements.I also don't object to people making their own informed decisions regarding their health.
But this is simply out of bounds.There is no conceivable benefit to this caustic solution.
I wish she had of had better medical advice. 
Clearly a part of the problem was she couldn't pay for it,and couldn't get insurance.We're back to  the American tragedy of proper health care being a luxury for the rich.
She went on about her ideas on gene receptors,and illness.Since she had no education in this area I could only call this her speculation.She also claimed to be treating her disabled son in some way.
( The question of silicone implants affecting babies has been examined.It's unlikely to contribute to health problems. )
She sounded hopeful at the end of this interview.It's sad things didn't turn out that way.

It does seem like the whole cascade of health problems started with the implant leakage.I don't have the information to say what actually caused her death in the end. ( The death certificate would have information if it ever becomes available ).
The damage from the implants? She may have succumbed to the impact of the bleach solution on her long term health.She may have suffered a relapse of her drug dependency.Though that seems unlikely.
It's awful the poor thing had to go through this misery.
I'm sorry for the melodramatic title about the burst boobs.
But it does seem like the implants were a kind of land mine she stepped on.
RIP Jackie.