Book Review:The Weider Book of Bodybuilding for Women by Betty and Joe Weider.

Cover with model Shelly Gruwell

The cover of 'The Weider Book of Bodybuilding for Women' from 1981 by Betty and Joe Weider.
This is one of the early books I got when I was a teen starting out in weight training.
Bodybuilding for women was just becoming popular,or even known,for that matter in the late seventies-early eighties period.This book was published by the Weider company that also put out a number of popular magazines like Muscle & Fitness.They were the company in bodybuilding and fitness at the time.Betty Brosmer Weider was the wife of the head of the company Joe Weider.
She was a pinup girl,and model.She was actually an early pioneer in the modern women's fitness movement.So she may have actually written some of the material.But I'll bet Joe,and some copy people wrote it too.
It's very basic.It's written for the new audience of young women who were just starting out in weight training.It's trying to be reassuring to the 'ladies' that weights won't make you masculine,or intimidating.
It features black and white pictures of women in leotards using a lot of Nautilus equipment.Nautilus made all kinds of exercise machines that just look unnecessarily complicated.Rube Goldberg contraptions for exercise that are basically huge expensive machines to do what you can easily do with barbells,and dumbbells.Fashionably constructed out of shiny chrome,and fake tan leather.They went out of business as a gym manufacturer years ago.But they still own a number of home brands like Bowflex,and Schwinn Fitness.
I think most things were made out of chrome in the seventies.

I think the first time I became aware of the existence of bodybuilding was probably seeing the movie 'Pumping Iron'.I must have seen it on HBO.Because I'm certain I didn't see it in a theater.
I was inherently intrigued by the act of humans forcing their muscles to grow.I was really amazed,and pleased to see that other girls,and women felt the same way.So I bought a number of the early women's bodybuilding books.
I would have to say this is one of the poorer books on the subject.There's no sense of the revolutionary spirit of women lifting weights,and becoming strong.It's very safe,and corporate.I doubt I got that much out of it.The fact is lifting weights is lifting weights.Form is form.So while I can appreciate the fact they were trying to give women something to relate to you don't need cutesy little fitness girls to learn how to lift.I read the articles in Muscle and Fitness and they had good picture spreads of male bodybuilders.They did start including real female bodybuilders too.
I did belong to a gym when I was teen(My mother joined and took me along ).But they didn't have that much equipment.Certainly not all those crazy Nautilus contraptions.But it was all a bunch of chrome!
So maybe this book was a little encouragement.But it's very dated and would only be of interest to a collector of early women's bodybuilding books.Or if you're a leotard fetishist.

Multi station weight machine

Women working out on a multi station weight machine.Running shorts,and running shoes.This looks like the kind of set up they'd have in a YWCA gym.
I hope somebody let that poor girl down.

Barbell lunge

Ladies in leotards doing lunges with light weights.

Nautilus glute machine

Goofy Nautilus back,and butt machine.Looks rather....questionable!
"Help! Let me out.I promise I'll be a good girl."
I wonder if one of these is gathering dust somewhere?

Wrist curls anyone?

Here we have a buxom model performing wrist curls.Enjoy.

There's also a chapter at the end of the book on competitive women's bodybuilding which was in it's infancy.Mainly pictures of the current star of the scene Rachel McLish.A very safe,and soft image indeed.

So this book is a minor note in the history of women's weight training.But an interesting glimpse into the mood of the time.
And so much chrome.

The value of Vitamin D and Creatine in surpressing Myostatin.

I came across a link to this article on Muscular Development about Clenbuterol.Which is a Beta2-adrenergic agonist used to treat asthma.It's also used in bodybuilding to spare muscle,and burn fat.
See the MD article for more details.Benefits of Clenbuterol.
You can learn more about the use of Clenbuterol in bodybuilding from this article on Anabolic.org
Clenbuterol is effective,but it also has risks.Personally,I wouldn't want to use it.

There's also some very interesting information about the regulation of Myostatin during exercise and how Clenbuterol affects it.Take Clenbuterol long enough and it raises myostatin.Not a good thing.
The Myostatin issue brings up a fascinating point.Myostatin works like a brake on gaining muscle.
One of the most amazing conditions that exists in the world of muscle is Myostatin-related Muscle Hypertrophy.The animals that have this gene knocking out myostatin are pretty damn freaky looking.

 

A Myostatin deficient Bull

So in the simplest terms;turn down the myostatin and turn up the muscle.This condition has happened to rare humans as well.It may very well be one of the reasons some humans have a major natural advantage in gaining muscle mass.Of course I'm sure that all gets very complicated,and speculative.But lowering the impact of myostatin on your muscles is an exciting idea as a bodybuilder.Now the question is can it be done? There are a number of products that have claimed they can lower myostatin dramatically.So far they look like a bunch of cow manure.You can't take a magic pill.
It has been done experimentally to lab mice by gene editing.That's not something you can put in a supplement.But you may be able to improve the situation by taking Creatine and Vitamin D.
From the MD article;

Certain nutritional supplements are known to inhibit myostatin. Therefore, consuming them should negate myostatin’s hold on muscle growth directly induced by clenbuterol. Creatine is a well-characterized compound that has been unmistakably shown to enhance muscle size and strength. In addition to creatine’s obvious function as a primary energy storage molecule used to regenerate muscle ATP, thus prolonging muscle function, creatine has also been shown to stimulate muscle growth.⁴ More recently, however, a study by Saremi et al.⁵ demonstrated that creatine consumption causes a decrease in myostatin levels in muscle cells, leading to significant muscle growth. In this study, two groups of men performed resistance training with or without creatine for a total of eight weeks. Both groups showed decreased levels of myostatin, but the group that performed resistance training and consumed creatine had a considerably larger decrease in myostatin levels along with greater gains in muscle mass and strength— clearly demonstrating the ability of creatine to reduce myostatin levels, improving muscle growth and strength.
Another potent myostatin inhibitor is vitamin D. As shown in a recent study by Garcia et al.⁶, vitamin D exposure decreased the amount of myostatin found in isolated muscle cells, generating greater muscle growth. In addition to the decrease in myostatin, this study also showed that vitamin D triggers an increase in the powerful inhibitor of myostatin known as follistatin, which increases muscle mass by inhibiting myostatin.⁷ Ultimately, this study indicates that the decrease in myostatin level and activity caused by vitamin D significantly increased muscle fiber size.

Creatine Monohydrate and Vitamin D are easy safe additions to any lifters supplements.I'm sure most amateur bodybuilders take creatine sometimes.But vitamin D levels may not be considered.That's a mistake because vitamin D is important for over all health.
Dr Rhonda Patrick has a great video about the target range for vitamin D and it's benefits.

Vitamin D 
is actually a secosteroid and usually taken as a supplement in the form of D3.
You can of course get it foods,and from sunlight as well.
If you are going to take it as a supplement it might be best to take it with a meal containing green vegetables rich in Vitamin K,and K2.That will help the vitamin D take calcium into your bones rather than depositing it in your soft tissues where it may damage your arteries.
But do please research this for yourself when making any decisions about what supplements to take.After all I'm just some nobody on the internet :)

Keeping your myostatin levels down could have a positive impact on muscle growth over time.If you're trying to build muscle without taking AAS,and other drugs,that could be a real plus.

I'll leave you with a talk from a real hardcore lifter, Stan Efferding, who does believe in the benefits of Vitamin D.

 

2016 Wings of Strength Rising Phoenix

I wish I had a lot to say about this.But it's like a shadow passing through the Bodybuilding world.
Did they even hold it?
Yes they did.Here are the results.
Margie Martin won it again for the second time.
The only video I've seen from the event was taken by a spectator in the audience during the prejudging.It was adequate.I could get some idea of the condition of the competitors.But it was also an amateurish failure on the part of the promoters.I would have watched a live steam if one had been available.Maybe their was one.I don't know?I do try to follow what's left of women's bodybuilding.I may not be doing a very good job of keeping up.But There's not much out there.
Why don't they try to get Amazon to stream it next year like they're doing with the Olympia competition.
And yes,it's disgusting that they basically decapitated Women's Bodybuilding out of the Olympia.They could easily have it before the rest of the contest.On the prior weekend,or on the Thursday before the weekend.But AMI is a business.They don't actually value bodybuilding for it's own sake.Honestly some of the women now on the Olympia stage look like they could be working in Las Vegas,and not as personal trainers.That's what sells to the masses.But the amount of respect I tend to have for common tastes might fill a thimble.I really don't think the object of bodybuilding is to be conventional,and unthreatening to ordinary people.It's for people to push their personal limits,and achieve something awesome.But that's a complicated subject which I may return to in the future.( If I can find time to sit down and klutz at the keyboard )

Now my feelings about the results.And this will be mostly about feelings.I've discovered I don't really watch bodybuilding like a usual sporting competition.It does seem more like a display,performance,or pageant.I don't want to see them run like beauty pageants because that wouldn't be the intent of the sport.It does have to keep the ideal of development.Actual muscle building.Though having different divisions,and weight classes is legitimate.
But I don't enjoy looking at people I don't find attractive.Who does? That's the problem.I try to be a good sport about it though,and not degenerate into cheap meanness.
I'll be honest.I never watched the years of the Ms Olympia that Iris Kyle ( or Kim Chizevsky ) won except for maybe 2013/14.I didn't pay very much attention to Kyle.I may have run a Google image search once,or twice.
Alina Popa is the one I like.I follow her media,and look for pictures of her.She is beautiful,and inspiring.
She came in second a few times to Kyle.Then she got injured in 2014.That was the year the contest was dropped so she couldn't have competed anyway.Terrible luck because she probably would have won.She deserved it.
So Margie Martin ( a woman I had never even heard of ) won in 2015.I thought Popa would have a good chance at it this year.She came in third behind Martin,and Sheila Bleck.
Well expletive deleted that,and the horse it rode in on.
I think they made the wrong decision.She has a polish,and beauty that women's bodybuilding is desperately in need of.I sometimes think women's bodybuilding is trying to commit suicide.Maybe it's just shortsightedness.They see a woman with bulk,and an X frame and give her the trophy.But she doesn't make you gasp,and say Wow!She isn't beautiful,or very interesting.But big.
That's were women's bodybuilding has gone off the track.Cory Everson,Lenda Murray.Anja Langer and others were amazing looking women.Larger than life,and heroic looking.But also truly beautiful to look at.Exciting.Inspiring.

You have to respect Margie Martin .She's a USMC vet,and the mother of four children.She does have the desired X frame.Wide shoulders,and well developed quads.She's not unattractive either.She seems like a nice lady.If you're a fan,fine.Good.She's impressive.

Margie Martin

Now here's why I can't put her in first place.Right to left symmetry is unacceptable.To be blunt,I hate breast implants.They never look better than real breasts.But hers are just wonky.The right goo bag is lower than the left one.I don't know what boob of a surgeon did this work,but he's a hack.But she's responsible for them.She paid for them.That should be a huge deduction.
I think the above picture(pink suit ) is from 2015,or earlier 2016.
I found a few from the contest.(there aren't many online ).So here she is this year.

Margie Martin Rising Phoenix 2016.

Margie Martin.

You can clearly see she still has the problem with the fouled up implants.If bodybuilding has any self respect left,you don't overlook something this glaring.
Now we move on to her lower abdomen.What is going on there? A tattoo? Scars?
It's a mess.
Scars are not someones fault,but...This is bodybuilding.A lot of flaws may not be somebodies fault but they don't get overlooked.I notice that in an instant.Again it should be a deduction.
If it's a tattoo, then 100% the fault of the contestant.And yes I think it matters.Tattoos are a distraction from the muscles,and skin.If they're large,or poorly placed it should count against the person.
We should have higher standards than this.Too many noticeable problems.

Sheila Bleck placed second.A very fine bodybuilder who has had a long career.Great muscle density,and nice symmetry.

Sheila Bleck at the 2016 Rising Phoenix.

She has the kind of high quality physique that should earn top placings in women's bodybuilding.
Some people may find the facial signs of Androgen usage,and low voice bothersome to their sensibilities.That's kind of par for the course in bodybuilding though.
I do think she's a worthy high level competitor.

Alina Popa.No apologies I think she's the best.She's the perfect package of muscle maturity,polished lines,and genuine beauty.She really does embody my ideal for a female bodybuilder.I've seen others I can put in that top tier.But she's the pinnacle.If I have to choose one female bodybuilder I would most want to have the physique of,it's her.

Alina Popa at the 2016 Rising Phoenix.

Alina Popa at the 2016 Rising Phoenix.

Her back was looking spectacular.Great shoulders.Great skin tone,and hair.Her conditioning is very good though the judges may have preferred a more ripped look.I personally feel that can go too far with women.I don't like the skinned chicken look.
The criticism I could make is the left calve.I may be seeing the effects of the left Achilles tendon tear ( And right bicep tendon tear she suffered when she fell on the stairs after her Achilles tear surgery.Painkillers and stairs are not a good combination. )
Her calves have never been her best body parts.They look adequate,but not extraordinary.But honestly it seems to be common to give great bodybuilders some mercy on the calves.I love deep diamond calves.It's a notoriously hard body part to force into growth.
Anyway;I do hope that women's bodybuilding isn't foolish enough to fail to award this amazing women the top trophy soon.

I am going to leave the review here at the top three.If I feel like it I might make a post on the lower finishers.

Book Review:Strong and Hard Women by Tanya Bunsell.

Rene Campbell on the cover of Strong and Hard Women

This book was written by an ethnographer about the female bodybuilding scene in the UK.
I've read a number of academic oriented history books.So I do know the approach to the content to expect.There has to be a consideration of weather or not a book is being written for an insider or general readership.This book is very much written for the ethnographic academia department.It has very little appeal to a general reader.
It's written in academicese.Insider language.It's the kind of book where you know you're going to find the word liminal.I hit it on page 133.I'm surprised she held out that long.
You could make a drinking game out of how many time she uses the word hegemonic,but I'm afraid you'd knock yourself out..The problem with this approach is that it's all in group communication on in group mutually agreed upon concepts.Which could be a bucket of self satisfied academic hogwash for all the average reader would know.I do suspect a certain amount of twaddle emerges from the ivory towers.I had a little groaning,and eye rolling workout trudging through some of it.And no,I'm not an inarticulate idiot who just doesn't 'get it'.I just take it with a grain of salt.
But we'll grant this writer,Tanya Bunsell, means well.

The first problem is she's not a good writer.It's very awkward.Does anyone actually use the word 'Whilst' anymore?It's pretentious,and slogging.Filled with constant references,and quotes from other ethnographers.Most of the beginning of the book is little more than a defense,and apologia of her attempt to study the subject.You could scan through the first 50 pages,and you wouldn't miss much.If you can't affirm it's valuable to study something,and get on with it why waste so much paper?
She doesn't seem to quite know how to position herself in the writing.She admits she has weight trained.And injured herself doing so.She's faced some negative comments from others.She became a personal trainer before she pursued her career in academics.Dated some guys who lift.She's laying out her gym rat cred.But it also feels like she sees herself above it.
Then it's on to the issue of how the ethnographer treats the  subjects.Yes it's a genuine ethical issue of how people should be treated during research,and journalism.Stay detached,or go native?
How do you understand people without becoming immersed?Can you?
And how do you treat them with concern,and protect their privacy.Make sure they don't experience negative consequences by participating in a study of their lives.I do think she's trying to be considerate.She does seem to be using pseudonyms in most cases.Though you may be able to figure out who the women are if you tried.

Bunsell is looking at Women's Bodybuilding from a Feminist philosophical,and political viewpoint.
Do I have to say it doesn't pass their sniff test.Quelle suprise as the French would say.
Of course many feminists have decided that it's a beauty contest  pandering to the male gaze,and compromised by commercial concerns.Many things are.
She also presents the question of whether bodybuilding is a deviant subculture.I don't think that's a fair way of describing it.I'm not saying the author thinks that.But the word subculture gets tiresome.
Bunsell does try to point out the way women are using bodybuilding to achieve a greater sense of self determination.To control,and create their own bodies.We all know the business of bodybuilding is hard on women.But that doesn't mean that most female weight trainers aren't committed lifters who genuinely enjoy the process.Including bodybuilders who have to go through all the difficulties of diet,and stage presentation.I do think that voice is allowed to get across.
There is the real strong point in the book.The voices of the female bodybuilders themselves.Yes,there are statements from the same old braying boys bashing female muscle.And some of the male fans too.But the women are speaking about standing up for themselves,and pursuing their ambitions to gain a muscular body.Their information is worth hearing.It's good material.There's just not enough of it.The two main informants are 'Sarah' and 'Michelle'.They,and others, talk about their attraction to bodybuilding,and the repercussions to their lives.The process and gym work,and the environment It follows 'Michelle' through a contest with the accompanying miseries.
She does go into the dreaded dark side,spooky steroids! And into the private wrestling sessions that some female bodybuilders make income from.(Which is spookier)
Of course she was going to cover these subjects.It's the usual.Maybe a little better informed than most.She was nervous when someone came into her flat,and deposited her growth hormone in her refrigerator.Luckily the fuzz didn't bust down the door.There is also discussion of the brutal labor of the gym.The risk of injury.The sacrifice of dieting.The general scene of macho body violence.
I don't think she's giving in to much sensationalism on these subjects to give her credit.
There's the issue of this being written in England.It feels much more insular,and behind the times in the bodybuilding world.I think that impression is accurate.It's sure not California.Maybe Brits are more shocked by these women.There aren't that many high level competitors from the UK.
Bodybuilding is more limited there.So is the whole fitness scene.Many of the basic life issues are the same of course,but I did notice the difference.

The book isn't very long.166 pages including the notes.Unlike bodybuilders,it doesn't have much meat on it's bones.There's it's main weakness.It's simply light in content.Not much that's fresh,unique,or especially insightful.It could be considered valuable to have an ethnographic study of women's bodybuilding.I'm sure it would be to ethnographers.So thanks for that.I don't happen to be one.But at least that angle has been covered now.
( Let me take a moment to compare it to the work done in the book "Caught in the Pulpit" by Daniel Dennett,and Linda LaScola. Dennett is a professor of Philosophy,and cognitive studies.LaScola is a qualitative researcher.That's not the same thing as an ethnographer.But they are approaching a similar set of issues of research into the life processes,thoughts,and feelings of their subjects.Which happen to be ministers leaving their vocation.There's not as much political analysis.But they do a fine job of bringing the voices of the people through to the reader.It's a more engaging human study.)
There aren't too many visuals.A striking photo of Rene Campbell is on the cover.But there are only a few black,and white photos inside.I have to admit one of the subjects is difficult to recognize as female.I think she's since gone into strongman/woman competitions.So there's the aesthetics conundrum again.

Recommendation:Don't bother buying it unless you're really intrigued by the ethnographic approach.
Most of this material has been better covered in other works.You could get it from a library,and read the sections quoting the women themselves to get the best out of it.
But I'm not saying it's without value.It's an addition to the limited number of serious works on women's bodybuilding.

Bodybuilding Book Reviews.

I'm going to write some reviews of Bodybuilding books.I don't really see that many reviews of books about bodybuilding online.Not too many long form well written ones anyway.
I hope I can do an interesting,and engaging job of it.

I am a good reader.I'm a life long serious lover of books.My reading comprehension was tested when I was a child,and found to be above average.I'm happy to have that gift.
Math would be another matter unfortunately.

I've read hundreds of books.I started out as a kid reading children's books of course.Then on to Sci-fi,horror,and a little fantasy.
I became fascinated with studying history as a teenager.
Native Americans,General American history,War history.I've been reading lately about the creation of religious literature.
I've also read a great deal of classic poetry,and fiction.Shakespeare,Proust,Mann,Melville,Twain etc..
I feel like everything you read has the power to enrich your understanding of humanity.

So I hope I can bring a bit of that to this little corner of the world in the gym.

The superiority of injectable to topical testosterone.

An article by Daniel Gwartney,M.D. on the safest way for men to use HRT Testosterone.It turns out that injections are best.The skin gels that are being promoted by pharmaceutical companies are higher risk,and not as effective.And of course all oral AAS can cause liver stress.
It's understandable why people don't want to inject drugs.It's painful,and anxiety provoking.Needles carry a significant stigma,and can transmit disease when used improperly.But under the administration of a competent physician it would be the best way to use AAS for therapy.
It's just sad to see the impact of the irrational criminalization of AAS making it harder for people to use these drugs more safely.

Injectable testosterone is safer than topical 

Jerry Brainum on the question; Are BCAAs overrated?

I asked a question for Jerry Brainum on the Generation Iron Fitness and Bodybuilding Network on YouTube.Happy to say he answered.
The fact is you do get enough BCAAs from animal protein sources in food.You don't need extra BCAAs as supplements during a workout.
That's what I thought from what I've heard.But it's good to get Jerry's expert insight on this.