Some Special Announcments

With the FitGems Awards officially behind us until next year and my mind and body FINALLY in a better state, it’s time to move forward with FitGems Nation and beyond. As I mentioned on social media, I had a few special announcements to make.

• Earlier I began After the Final Callout on Instagram, which will showcase former competitors as well as post information and tips on how to live post-competition. We have yet to make a post, but that will change this weekend with our first post. We will also be launching a Facebook page as well. 
• Some of you are aware of Physiques of Women’s Wrestling (PHOWW), which focuses on the physiques of female professional wreslters of the past, present, and future. We silently launched a Discord server, but we will be making a blog for PHOWW in the coming days. All of our wrestling posts will be going there rather than our main blog going forward, with the exception of a few things. So yes, PHOWW is expanding. 
• Next Saturday (April 22) is Lauren Rutan’s birthday and beginning this Monday, we will be celebrating her life and accomplishments in the female muscle world (which is to us, the most decorated of any female muscle athlete EVER) dubbing April 17-22 Lauren Rutan Week (we did something similar for Monica Brant and Christine Pomponio a few years ago)
• Monday-Life outside the world of muscle
• Tuesday-Weightlifting
• Wednesday-Powerlifting
• Thursday-CrossFit
• Friday-Physique competitions in the NPC/IFBB
• Saturday-Birthday blog post celebrating Lauren’s greatness
• In the coming days, we will be launching our latest project called Fitness ModelVerse, which will be showcasing not only the female athletes and models but the photographers as well. Our aim is to make this a networking format for current and aspiring female fitness models and photographers. There will be an Instagram, Facebook page, and Facebook group. 

I know it seems like a lot, but I’m at a point where I feel like I can do this without too many issues moving forward. If you have any questions about these announcements and potentially what lies ahead, email me at fitgemsnation@gmail.com or DM me on your favorite social media platform (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

One Door Closes, Another Opens...Shine at Home Series Update and YouTube Annoucement

A couple of weeks ago, we attempted to launch a series called the Shine at Home Series, where we would give our account to female fitness personalities to do as they please. Two weeks ago, we were able to pull it off with IFBB Figure Pro Silvia Henry with great results. Last week, we tried to do it with NPC Nationally Qualified Figure Competitor Andrea Villalobos and things did NOT work out like we hoped. Too many technical issues on my end as far as Instagram goes. After thinking long and hard about this, I did not want to put anyone else through it so unfortunately I have decided to discontinue the Shine at Home Series on Instagram. But this did let me ponder on what I could do next. We are in crazy times right now, and I want to make FitGems Nation as active as I can during all of this.

For whatever reason, I remembered that in the very early days of FitGems Nation, I launched a Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/FitGemsNation). The channel only has four videos (a Skype interview I did with Diana Stanbeck and two mini-interviews I did with Nicole Duncan and Towanda Smith when I attended Wrestlemania 27) and I didn't fix it up in any way, shape, or form. I just posted the videos and went about my day. Remember..this was during the heydays of FitGems Nation.

A few days ago, I decided to fix it up and not let my channel look so plain. Not only did I updated the logo from the old school one to the current one, but I made playlists highlighting different aspects of the fitness world, including photoshoots, contests, interviews, and more, and of course made sure to have all the social media links on there. With that being said...I want to propose this to all of you: I want to make this channel a channel for YOU, as in I want to post YOUR content on here. If you have any videos you want on our channel (contest, photoshoots, behind-the-scenes, fun stuff, etc.) we will gladly host your material on our YouTube channel for free. I don't plan on monotenizeing it as I never created FitGems Nation for the money. This channel will be for exposure of your own brand.

If you would like to have your videos featured on our YouTube channel or have any questions about our channel and what we are doing, email us at fitgemsnation@gmail.com.

10th Annual FitGems Awards Time...and THE REOPENING OF OUR HALL OF FAME!!!

I literally can't believe we have been doing this for 10 years, but my goodness, here we are: the 10th Annual FitGems Awards are upon us! For the ninth straight year, we're doing the FitGems Awards, where we honor the best of the female muscle world from this past year. We will be using Polldaddy for the third straight year. Voting will begin on Wednesday, December 26 and will end at 11:59 Eastern Time on January 14th, 2019. As far as the number of categories are concerned, this is easily our biggest yet:

PRO CATEGORIES

Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Pro Women's Physique Competitor of the Year
Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year
Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year
Most Improved Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Most Improved Pro Women's Physique Competitor of the Year
Most Improved Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year
Most Improved Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Most Improved Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year
Rookie Pro Women's Bodybuilder of the Year
Rookie Pro Women's Physique Competitor of the Year
Rookie Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year
Rookie Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Rookie Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year
Underrated Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Underrated Pro Women's Physique Competitor of the Year
Underrated Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year
Underrated Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Underrated Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year
 
AMATEUR CATEGORIES

Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Amateur Women's Physique Competitor of the Year
Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year
Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year
Breakout Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Breakout Amateur Women’s Physique Competitor of the Year
Breakout Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year
Breakout Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year
Breakout Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year
Underrated Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Underrated Amateur Women’s Physique Competitor of the Year
Underrated Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year
Underrated Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year
Underrated Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year

MISC. CATEGORIES

Fitness Ambassador of the Year
Social Media Star of the Year (Instagram/Twitter/Facebook/Snapchat, etc.)
Moment of the Year
Photographer of the Year
Fit Celebrity of the Year
Female Sports Athlete of the Year
(NEW FOR 2018) Crossfit Athlete of the Year
(NEW FOR 2018) Female Strength Athlete of the Year
(NEW FOR 2018) Female Super League Athlete of the Year
(REVAMPED FOR 2018) Fittest Female WWE Superstar of the Year (Raw/Smackdown Live)
(NEW FOR 2018) Fittest Female NXT Superstar of the Year
(REVAMPED FOR 2018) Fittest Female Wrestler of the Year
Physique Paysite of the Year
Physique Paysite Model of the Year
Promoter(s) of the Year
Fitness Clothing Line of the Year
Team of the Year
Male Trainer of the Year
Female Trainer of the Year

And of course, we have the BIG category of them all...the FitGems Nation Woman of the Year! This goes to the fitness personality that had the most impact in the industry in 2018. Whoever wins this award will AUTOMATICALLY sit out from this category in 2019 as a way of keeping this particular award’s winners as fresh as possible, even if 2019 ends up being better than 2018. Past Woman of the Year winners include Juliana Malcarne, Monica Brant, Dana Linn Bailey, and Wendy Fortino, who made history last year by becoming the first-ever 2x Woman of the Year.

This year's Woman of the Year nominees are...

Shanique Grant
Natalia Coelho
Cydney Gillon
Candice Lewis-Carter
Whitney Jones
Myriam Capes
Jennifer Worth
Jen Widerstrom
Ashley Kaltwasser
Charlotte Flair
Alexa Bliss
Ronda Rousey
Mandy Rose
Tessa Blanchard
Juliana Malacarne
Missy Farrell
Bojana Vasjaevic
Angelica Teixeria
Alina Popa
Stefanie Cohen

Voting for Woman of the Year will also begin on December 10 and will go on until 11:59 Eastern on January 7th.

If you want to know EXACTLY when we will begin voting, make sure to follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/fitgemsnation) on December 26 as that's when we will make the official announcement to begin voting. Also, for the first time, we will be using our Facebook and Instagram accounts so you can see all the nominees visually (I know, this should have been done a long time ago, but hey...live and learn).


Oh yeah...ONE. LAST. THING.


We're reopening the Hall!!! Yep, after a longer-than-it-should-have-been hiatus, the FitGems Hall of Fame is reopening to put in the greatest names the fitness world has ever seen.

Here is the criteria to be eligible for the FitGems Hall of Fame:

1. This is a FEMALE COMPETITORS Hall of Fame, meaning no guys (at least not right now)
2. The competitor(s) must either have competed for at least a decade or total of 10 years OR she has retired and it's been at least 5-10 years since their last competition
3. They can be from any federation, even ones from the past
4. The inductees can be living or deceased.

The FitGems Hall of Fame Class of 2019 will be voted on by select people within the fitness industry. The inductees will be revealed one by one, the week of the FitGems Awards Winners reveal and they will officially be inducted into our Hall of Fame the week before the 2019 Arnold Sports Festival. 

Those currently in the FitGems Hall of Fame are:
Adela Garcia
Rachel McLish
Iris Kyle
Kim Chizevsky
Lenda Murray
Cory Everson
Monica Brant

Who will join them? We will find out soon enough.

It's a lot of work to get all of this together, but this is one of the many things I love doing each year. I can't thank you all for your support of FitGems Nation these past ten years. What started out as a little blog has turned into so much more, and it's all because of you. And I truly feel the best is yet to come for FitGems Nation. Thank you all for joining me in building something special for you. Here's to 10 more years, and best of luck to everyone the next few weeks!

Super League: Our Candid Thoughts

All photos belong to Super League's Facebook page.

This Saturday, there will be an event that potentially could change the course of bodybuilding forever, if the creators have it there way. In Las Vegas (coincidently where the NPC USAs will be taking place as well over the weekend), there is a league called the Super League. This was created by Dorian Yates, a 6x Mr. Olympia, with Gal Ferreira and Stan Efferding as league officials. It's being sponsored by Nike and Bodybuilding.com, which will be broadcasting the event LIVE from their site as well as YouTube. Their focus is Men and Women with SUPERHUMAN form and SUPERHUMAN function. They don't view themselves as a pageant contest. Rather a contest where bodybuilding meets powerlifting. Your look DOES matter, but leave the baby oil and tanning at home for this. The inaugural event will feature Mike O'Hearn and Team LA against Toney Freeman and Team ATL this Saturday. Celebrity Guest Athletes include Mike and Toney, as well as Rich Piana, Kris Geithin, Iris Kyle, and maybe CT Fletcher (he recently had heart transplant surgery, so I highly doubt he will participate, but I could be wrong on that).

Rather than tell you what the Super League is about, I'll post the link to the site for you to check it out for yourself: http://superleague.live/. Looking at the Super League at face value...it has potential. I truly think it can be something special. My problem is I don't think it was publicized enough to truly prepare for the event. Yes, word of mouth is a powerful thing (trust me, I know this from experience), but no one is gonna give two craps about it if you don't PUBLICIZE it. You can have the greatest event in the world, but no one is gonna care if you don't let people know about it and let them know about it often. I say this because their Youtube channel has just 553 subscribers and a little over 17,000 total video views on YouTube (they have posted interviews with a few of the competitors). I would hope there would be more, especially to get this truly up and running. Their Facebook page has a little less than 2,000 likes. Now they did step it up a tad the last couple of weeks but I think should have been pushed to the moon WAY before now, but this is just one guy's opinion here.

With that being said, let me be clear on this...I HOPE the Super League succeeds. The idea and concept of this is awesome. It shows that bodybuilders are just as much athletes as any other athlete in sports. They are seemingly wanting to bring actual fitness back to the forefront in this age of social media where looking hot and sexy is the norm moreso than the actual destination and journey (more on that in a future post). It will be interesting to see how the inaugural show goes this weekend and how they will follow it up in Vegas during Olympia weekend. Super League 2 will take place on September 16 in the Las Vegas Arena, where the best of the United States will take on Brazil's finest. Like we said, we're rooting for the Super League to succeed. Any platform that can give bodybuilders a chance to showcase their talents get the o-kay from us. We'll be keeping a close eye on this one over the weekend. Best of luck to everyone involved where competing or putting it together. Here's hoping this truly IS the new era of bodybuilding they claim it's supposed to be.

For more on Super League, check out their website at http://superleague.live/. Also, you can view the event LIVE this Saturday on YouTube at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mg7a7Rj_F4. Follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/superleague.bodybuilding and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/superleague.live and https://www.instagram.com/superleagueathletes.

8th Annual FitGems Awards...VOTE HERE!

For years, we have used Mister Poll as our official FitGems Awards voting platform. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, we are going to be using Polldaddy for our voting platform going forward. We apologize for how late this poll has taken to get up and we hope to do better in the future.

You can vote once a day until February 1st at midnight eastern time. After that, votes will be tallied and winners will be announced on Friday, February 3rd. Best of luck to everyone and congrats to all the nominees!



PRO CATEGORIES













AMATEUR CATEGORIES














MISC. CATEGORIES
















Remember, you can vote once a day for each category until February 1st as midnight Eastern time, with winners to be announced on February 3rd. Good luck!

IFBB Bikini Pro Potentially Heading to WWE?

Editor's note: All photos belong to their respective owners

IFBB Bikini Pro...future WWE Diva?

In early March, all eyes were on Columbus, Ohio during the Arnold Sports Festival, which could explain why what I'm about to say might have fell under the radar. We noticed that IFBB Bikini Pro Eboney Chipman made an interesting post on March 6th:

JAYSUS!!!!
DID I JUST GET A MESSAGE FROM THE WWE ASKING ME TO COME TO TRY OUT #DIVA 󾌯󾌯

󾍁󾍁󾍁󾍁󾍁󾍁󾍁󾍁󾍁󾍁󾍁

— Eboney Chipman (@EboneyFitness) March 6, 2016

As you know from our previous posts, we do our best to highlight any fitness personality that enters the rankings of sports and entertainment. Of course, we have been checking to see if anymore has come out of it, and less than a week later, she revealed on Twitter that she sent in her application. Now the waiting game begins for her. Most women from the fitness industry have gone on to have great success such as Torrie Wilson, Lisa Marie Varon (Victoria), Lexi Kaufman (Alexa Bliss), Ashley Sebera (Dana Brooke), and Celeste Braun (Kaitlyn). And do we even need to mention a certain fitness model who became a 7x WWE Women's Champion and currently youngest female WWE Hall-of-Famer of all time? Should she get this opportunity, we think she could do very well. She has the height, beauty, and athleticism to have a good career in WWE. We will keep you all posted on how things go with Eboney and if WWE will be part of her future going forward. From all of us at FitGems Nation, we want to wish you best of luck, Eboney!

Potentially coming to a WWE arena near you...

For more on Eboney, follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Ann Titone Retires from Competition

(Photos belong to NPC News Online)

Ann's signature figure pose...one last time.

The Olympia had plenty of moments like they do every year, but one that will have a significant change in the figure division is the retirement of top competitor Ann Titone. Click here to read her full retirement announcement.

If you watched the Olympia webcast or was there live during the finals, Ann's retirement is no new news to you, but today on Facebook, she goes into deep discussion of WHY she's calling it a career. Sometimes, you have to listen to your body more than your heart. It will let you know when it's time to say goodbye, and for Ann, the 2015 Figure Olympia is her swan song. But with a career that spans over 40 shows, over 20 Top IFBB 5 placements, 6 wins, and being on the Arnold and Olympia multiple times, Ann can leave the competition world with her head held high. I got to witness first hand how amazing she is at the 2015 Arnold, and in my personal opinion, the figure division is losing a heck of a competitor, but will be gaining a person who has been there and has went from the bottom to the top of the division and willing to share her advice and know-how of the industry to the next generation of competitors.

On behalf of FitGems Nation, congrats Ann on an amazing career on the stage and best of luck to you in your next chapter!

#ThankYouAnn! 

To keep up with Ann, follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Marc Thyssen's 2014 Olympia Photoshoots

Our good friend Marc Thyseen (FitGems Award nominee for Best Photographer) has returned to the United States to do several Olympia photo shoots. He will be shooting at Red Rock, Vegas Desert, Ghost town and exclusively at Venetian Resort Pool.

Packages available are Bronze, Silver, Gold & Platinum. He has done some amazing work and has worked with several of our favorites, including Christine Pomponio-Pate, Monica Brant, Larissa Reis, Felicia Romero, the 1st-ever Bikini Olympia champion Sonia Gonzales, 3-Time Figure Olympia champion Nicole Wilkins, 7-time Fitness Olympia champion Adela Garcia, and many other top competitors.

For more on the bookings and pricing, email Marc at marc@marcthyssen.com or check out his website at www.marcthyssen.com for more info on his photo packages. You can also RSVP on Facebook at this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1471420889807250/. Tell them that FitGems Nation sent you!

From left to right, top to bottom: Larissa Reis, Felicia Romero, Heather Dees, Sonia Gonzales, Adela Garcia, Christine Pompoino-Pate

Monica Brant

Christine Pomponio-Pate

Miss WWE Fitness Diva Tournament (Big Cross-Promotion Event)

Which past/present WWE Diva will be crowned Miss WWE Fitness Diva less than a week before Wrestlemania 30?! Photo credit to the original photographers. Put together on Picmonkey.

WWE will be celebrating a milestone this year, as it will be hosting the 30th Anniversary of Wrestlemania on April 6th at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. To celebrate this historic mark in sports-entertainment history, Diva Physique, Fit Model TV, and FitGems Nation are teaming up to host a special event: the 1st-ever Miss WWE Fitness Diva Tournament! Beginning on Monday, January 6th, you get to vote for who you feel is the fittest WWE Diva of all time! 16 women from WWE's past and present have been selected based on their incredible physiques, from the most muscular to the leanest to the most out-of-this-world figures, these woman did their parts in being above and beyond awesome when it comes to having Diva bodies in pro wrestling.

The women are (in no order):

Eve Torres

Chyna

Beth Phoenix

Victoria

Natalya

Trish Stratus

Ivory

Mickie James

Torrie Wilson

Michelle McCool

Tori

Jamie Keyes

Jazz

Sable

Jacqueline

Kaitlyn

First round of voting begins on January 6th and end on January 26th. The eight women who get the most votes will go to to the next round, which will begin on January 27th and will end on February 16th. Final Four voting will begin on February 17th and will end on March 9th. On March 10th, the Miss WWE Fitness Diva Championship round will begin and voting will conclude on March 31st. Miss WWE Fitness Diva will be announced on April 2nd. Tiebreakers will be done as needed during the end of each round, and they will be one-day tiebreakers. 

BOOKMARK THIS LINK: http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/587645/. You won't be able to access the ballot until Monday, though. 

Best of luck to everyone. May the fittest prevail!

For more on the sites that are hosting this event, check out the links to their main sites and social media links below:

Diva Physique

Main website: http://www.divaphysique.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/divaphysique

Twitter: https://twitter.com/divaphysique

Instagram: http://instagram.com/divaphysique

Fit Model TV

Main website: http://www.fitmodeltv.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fitmodeltv

FitGems Nation

Main website: http://www.fitgemsnation.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fitgemsnation

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fitgemsnation

Instagram: http://instagram.com/fitgemsnation

3rd Annual FitGems Awards: And the Nominees Are...

Thank you to everyone that nominated their favorites for the 3rd Annual FitGems Awards! Without further ado, here are the nominees:

COMPETITOR CATEGORIES 

Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Iris Kyle
Yaxeni Oriquen
Brigita Brezovac
Debi Laszewski
Alina Popa
Isabelle Turell

Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Nicole Wilkins
Ava Cowan
Erin Stern
Kat Rameriz
Candice Keene
Ann Titone

Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year
Adela Garcia
Tanji Johnson
Nicole Duncan
Michelle Blank
Tina Durkin
Stacy Wright

Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year
Nicole Nagrani
Sonia Gonzales
Amanda Latona
Jamie Baird
Nathalia Melo
Vanessa Campbell

Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Michelle Brent
Amanda Alger
Kira Neuman
Kimmie Morgan
Judy Gallard
Cynthia Colon

Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year
Wendy Fortino
Allison Moyer
Joni Neilson
Allison Frahn
Shelly Albetta
Cheryl Davis

Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year
Amanda Hatfield
Lisha Dean
Meredith Miller
Sheri Vucick
Whitney Jones
Viko Newman

Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year
Diana Graham
Candace Grayam
India Paulino
Noe Alexander
Skye Taylor
Jennifer Rankin

Amateur Physique Competitor of the Year
Jill Rudison
Jillian Reville
Rachel Baker
Tracy Bodner
Susie Fuller Torres
Dana Bailey

International Female Bodybuilder of the Year (Pro or Amateur)
Brigita Brezovac
Debi Laszewski
Alina Popa
Yaxeni Oriquen
Maria Rite Bello
Dayana Cadeau

International Fitness Competitor of the Year (Pro or Amateur)
Myriam Capes
Jodi Boam
Regaine De Silva
Mindi O’Brian
Oksana Grishina
Minna Pajulahti

International Figure Competitor of the Year (Pro or Amateur)
Larissa Reis
Rachelle Chase
Tracey MacDonald
Emily Stirling
Rosa Marie Romero
Candice John

International Bikini Competitor of the Year (Pro or Amateur)
Nathalia Melo
Jelena Abbou
Dina Al-Sabah
Justine Monro
Noemi Olah
Willeke Verhaar-Davis

Breakout Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Monique Jones
Brigita Brezovac
Alina Popa
Sarah Hayes
Claire O’Connell
Angela Salvagno

Breakout Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Sabrina Taylor
Candice Keene
Ava Cowan
Ann Titone
Teresa Anthony
Alicia Harris

Breakout Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year
Michelle Blank
Jodi Boam
Camala Rodriguez
Nicole Duncan
Myriam Capes
Stacy Wright

Breakout Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year
Christina Vargas
Diana Graham
Nathalia Melo
Vanessa Campbell
Jennifer Andrews
Jamie Baird

Breakout Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Michelle Cummings
Amanda Alger
Cynthia Colon
Pat Wentz
Pam Franklin
Judy Gallard

Breakout Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year
Tracey MacDonald
Yolanda Alvarado
Sue Knott
Essence Moneti
Laura Bailey
Wendy Fortino

Breakout Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year
Amanda Hatfield
Paula Williams-Guliman
Sheri Vucick
Regan Grossman
Meredith Miller
Cicely Kyle

Breakout Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year
Sherrie Carnicle
Candyce Graham
Diana Graham
India Paulino
Noy Alexander
Rebecca Staggs

Breakout Amateur Physique Competitor of the Year
Rachel Baker
Nikki Warner
Tracy Bodner
Cheryl Cooke
Dana Bailey
Jennifer Robinson

Inspirational Competitor of the Year
Mah Ann Mendoza
Tanji Johnson
Mikalia Soto
Jennifer Gates
Mandy Henderson
Ann Titone

Comeback of the Year
Mah Ann Mendoza
Amanda Hatfield
Helle Neilson
Mindi O’Brien
Dorit Silverman
Jennifer Gates

Competitor Who You Would Love to See Return To the Stage in 2012
Valerie Waugaman
Danny-J
Christine Pomponio-Pate
Jenny Lynn
Heidi Sullivan
Lenda Murray

Fitness Personality of the Year (Model/Trainer/Spokesperson)
Brittany Beede
Jillian Michaels
Jennifer Nicole Lee
Danny-J
Aubrie Richeson
Jamie Eason

Moment of the Year
Jr. Nationals 2011, where every figure class winner was of color (first in NPC history)
First-ever IFBB event in India (Sheru Classic)
First-ever Arnold Class Europe Fitness
Mindi O’Brien announcing retirement from fitness
Dayana Cadeau and Mah Ann Mendoza announcing their retirements from female bodybuilding at the Olympia
Nicole Nagrani winning the first-ever Bikini International  


MISC. Categories 

NPC Show of the Year
Nationals
Jr. Nationals
Jr. USAs
USAs
Team Universe
North Americans

IFBB Show of the Year
Olympia
Arnold
Ft. Lauderdale Pro
St. Louis Pro
Toronto Pro Supershow
Sheru Classic

WBFF Show of the Year
Worlds
Alberta
New England
Quebec
Eastern US
B.C.

Promoter(s) of the Year
Jack and Ann Titone
Stryker X
Ed & Betty Pariso
Tim Gardner
Jon Lindsay
Brent Jones

Organization of the Year
IFBB
NPC
WBFF
INBF
NABBA
Fitness America/Universe

Female Physique Site of the Year (non-competitor) (NOTE: FitGems is NOT eligible due the fact that FitGems is running the contest)
Siouxcountry
Promoting Real Women
Hardbody News
Rx Girl
Fitness Rx
Fit Model TV

Female Competitor Blog of the Year
Ashley Cooper (http://ashleycooperfitness.blogspot.com)
Mindi O’Brien (http://mindiobrien.blogspot.com/)
Stacy Wright (http://stacywrightfitness.blogspot.com/)
Ester Alexander (http://estheralexander.blogspot.com)
Nikki Roxx (http://healthhugsandheadlocks.blogspot.com/)
Cindy Phillips (http://cindyphillips.blogspot.com/)

Facebook Female Fan Page of the Year
Brittany Beede
Ava Cowan
Monica Brant Fan Page
Danny-J and Aubrie Richeson the Sweaty Betties
Tracy Bodner
Tonya Burkhardt-IFBB Fitness Pro

Photographer of the Year
Marc Thyssen
Bill Comstock
Dan Ray
Isaac Hinds
Jeff Binns
Mike Eckstut

Blogger of the Year
Jason Adams
Isaac Hinds
Dean Sucich
GeneX
Carl Burkins (dallas3)
Area Orion

Industry Blog of the Year (by a fan, industry member, company, etc.)
Promoting Real Women (http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com)
Hardbody News (http://www.hardbody.com/news)
KrivStudios Blog (http://krivstudiosblog.wordpress.com/)
Fit Model TV (http://fitmodeltv.wordpress.com)
Area Orion (http://areaorion.blogspot.com)
Female Muscle Universe (http://femalemuscleuniverse.blogspot.com)

Industry Facebook Fan Page of the Year
Fit Model TV
Siouxcountry
Promoting Women in Bodybuilding Fitness and MMA
Hardbody News
No Division Left Behind; Women’s Bodybuilding
Marc Thyssen Photography

Female Celebrity Muscle of the Year
Elizabeth Hasslebeck
Kelly Ripa
Hope Solo
Poppy Montgomery
Celeste Bonin (WWE’s Kaitlyn)
Trish Stratus

Physique Paysite of the Year
HerBiceps (www.herbiceps.com)
HDPhysiques (www.hdphysiques.com)
KrivsStudio (http://www.krivsstudio.com/)
Female-Power (www.female-power.net)
Awefilms (www.awefilms.com)
Femflex (www.femflex.com)

Male Supporter of the Year
Jason Lannigan (Sioux)
Jason Adams
Curt James
Jack Titone
Carl Burkins (dallas3)
Isaac Hinds

Female Website Site of the Year
Mandy Henderson (www.mandyhenerson.com)
Stephanie Wilkes (www.stephaniewilkes.com)
Ann Titone (www.anntitone.com)
Brittany Beede (www.brittanybfit.com)
Monica Escalante (www.monfit.com)
Tanji Johnson (www.tanjijohnson.com)

Supplement Company of the Year
Scivation
Gaspari Nutrition
BSN
Top Secret Nutrition
MAN Sports
Optimum Nutrition

Team of the Year
Team Bombshell
Total Package
Team Brownie
Tanji Johnson’s Save Fitness
Team O’Brien
Oddo's Angels


Trainer of the Year
Jack Titone
Kim Oddo
Noel Fuller
Shannon Dey
Mindi O'Brien
Erik Ledin

To vote for your favorites:

1. Email your votes at admin@fitgemsnation.net (Put 2011 FitGems Awards in the subject line) YOU CAN VOTE ONCE PER DAY PER EMAIL. No daily mutiple emails will be accepted. Those will be thrown out.
2. If you have Twitter, you can tweet your votes to http://twitter.com/fitgemsnation and use the hashtag #2011FitGemsAwards. Remember, if you do this, state the category as well as your choice for that particular category. YOU CAN DO THIS AS MUCH AS YOU CAN...JUST MAKE SURE YOU DON'T GO TO TWITTER JAIL! LOL...
3. If you're a member of the following sites, you can send me your votes via private message:

• Siouxcountry (under cray17)
• RxMuscle (under FitGems)
• FTVideo (under cray2005)
• Unreal Muscle (under FitGems)
• Muscular Development (under cray17)

4. You can vote on our online poll at http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/543717. Vote as many times as you can here!

Do you have to vote for ALL the categories?! NO, however...It would be nice if you could, though. To the nominees: let your fans know that you are nominated for awards and get them to vote for you! All voting stops when the ball drops in New York (which means Midnight/11 Central). In other words, when New York City rings in 2012, no more votes will be accepted. Winners will be announced in mid-January.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE PARTICIPANTS!!!

The Warrens to be on National TV

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

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 at FitGems Nation congratulate Mindi on an incredible journey, and we wish her the best of luck in the next chapter of her life!

2011 Olympia Webcast Details

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.

More on Jenny Worth's Fitness Return This Weekend

This weekend, IFBB Fitness Legend Jenny Worth will be making her return to the stage as a guest poser during the 2011 Southern States Championships! We posted a blog post about her return here a few weeks ago, and now we have more details to reveal about her return to the fitness 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

From FitGems Nation, we send our best wishes to Jenny in her return to the stage and hopes this could lead to bigger things in the future! We'll do our best to get an interview with her after her guest performance. No guarantees, though.

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.

2nd Annual FitGems Awards Show Has Been MOVED

Dear FitGems Nation readers, followers, fans, and supporters:

Apparantly, I was told TODAY that the family might be going out of town on Monday, which was originally when the FitGems Awards were scheduled to take place. If that's the case, I won't be near a computer to do the awards. However, there's a chance we might not be going. But to keep down confusion, the award show will be rescheduled for January 21st at Noon Central time. I repeat, the show is moved from January 17 to January 21. The time will remain the same (Noon Central time).

I apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused some of you.

C-Ray
FitGems Nation

2nd Annual FitGems Awards Ceremony

Thank you to everyone that voted in the 2nd Annual FitGems Awards! The amount of votes I received were beyond what I expected for this, and I can't thank you all enough for voting. The ceremony will take place on January 17th at Noon Eastern time. That's when all the awards will be announced, including four special awards that were not voted on by the public:

Photo Shoot of the Year
FitGems Inspirational Award
FitGems Memorial Award
and the award that Jenny Lynn received last year, the Legendary FitGems Award

Next week, I'll reveal the names of the recipients of each of these special awards.

Join us LIVE on January 17th here at http://www.fitgemsnation.net/page/fitchat-1. Hope to see many of you at the 2nd Annual FitGems Awards Ceremony in about a week or so! Remember: Dress to impress! LOL. :)

The Fit-Bod Talk Show...Siouxcountry's LIVE Radio Show!

This past week, Jack and Ann Titone launched the Fit Bod Radio show as the newest radio show for top female physique site Siouxcountry. The well-renowned trainer and IFBB Figure competitor have been supporters of the site for seemingly forever, and now they are doing their part in helping it expand by providing the site with its first-ever LIVE broadcast!

The first guest on this historic show were Kayde Puckett, Nicole Duncan, Camala Rodriguez and Erin Riley. Yes, for the debut show, four top IFBB Fitness Pros were a part of this show. Very good stuff! A lot was talked about, including fitness incentives, food porn, and something about Kayde I've never knew about. I highly recommend that you find some time to listen to this inaugural show.If you haven't heard it yet, or want to here it again, go to this link:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-fit-bod-radio-show/2010/12/29/the-fit-bod-radio-show

Their next show will take place next Thursday (January 6, 2011) at 7PM Central Time, with Trainer Erik Ledin, Jason Adams & IFBB Bikini Pro Christy Meritt as the show's guests!

As each show ends, I'll make a blog post the next day so you can all check them out for yourselves, for those that can't listen to the live broadcasts. And on the day of broadcasting, I'll post the information on the FitGems fan page where you can listen to them LIVE.

Congrats to Jack and Ann on this latest accomplishment!! :)

"M2-NRG" with Jenny Worth; SAT SEPT 18th @ 10:00AM (and also every Wednesday and Saturday)

For those in the California area, if you want to get a great workout in with a top IFBB legend, come down to Long Beach tomorrow for a new workout class called M2-NRG, by M2 Fitness Pros. Below is the description:

RESERVE YOUR SPOTS!! Come kick up the HEAT with Fitness Champ Jenny Worth in this HEART PUMPING, super Fat Blasting, High NRG... A TOTAL Strengthening Body Weight & Core conditioning workout that will leave you SUPERCHARGED... it's 100% effective and 100% Kick-ass... AND it's on us!!!

And for those that want to do this every week, you can join Jenny and FEEL THE HEAT with "M2-NRG"
every Wednesday morning at 5AM and Saturday morning at 10am @ the M2 Studio in Downtown's LB. For more info, go to http://www.m2fitnesspros.com/events/event/show?id=3114248%3AEvent%3A2190.

Join legendary IFBB star Jenny Worth in SoCal for an awesome workout
brought to you by M2 Fitness Pros!

Introducing FitGems Blog Contributer for Bikini...Lizzy Ostro!

FitGems Nation is thrilled to announced that Lizzy Ostro has joined the FitGems blog family as a blog contributor for the bikini division! Here's an introduction from Lizzy herself:

First I would like to say hello to all of the FitGems Nation fans!! I am so excited to be contributing to this website. I have a huge passion for all things fitness, and this website happens to be one of my favorites on that front.


So by now I’m sure you’re wondering, who am I? My name is Lizzy Ostro, some may know me as Fit Lizzio. I was born and raised in Arizona and although the summers can be brutal, I love this state.


Growing up, I was definitely a tom boy. Sports have always been a part of my life. I dabbled in volleyball, soccer, and basketball, but baseball (yes, baseball, not softball) and flag football were my favorites. I was always the only girl on the team for both sports, and the first practice of every season was always the same. I got weird looks from my teammates and their parents. “A girl?!?! What is she doing here?!?!” By the time the first practice was over, the questions were gone. I had proven to them that I wasn’t your typical girly girl and that I could keep up with the boys with no problem. From age 11-14 I was the quarterback for my flag football teams, and from age 11-16 I was the starting first basemen on my baseball teams. I played with the same baseball team for 3 of those years and we became a family. We travelled together, had pool parties, and practiced our hearts out. Baseball was our life and it gave me a lot of the qualities that I still carry with me to this day. Many people will say that baseball is a lazy sport, but that wasn’t the case for me. I took practices just as seriously as games, and put my heart and soul into the sport. At the age of 15, I started high school and tried out for our nationally ranked baseball team. I made first cuts and was finally released as the very last cut. The team just didn’t know what to do with a girl as far as locker rooms, and travelling. I had the talent, but politics beat me. For the 3 days of tryouts, I can honestly say that was the hardest I have ever worked in my life. I didn’t want them to think I couldn’t keep up with the boys, so my 5’2, 98 pounds frame did EVERYTHING that all of the high school boys did. This includes 30 diamond pushups that I vividly remember. Previously I had barely been able to perform 10 of them, but I wouldn’t let myself give up and to this day, I remember the feeling in my arms and body. The effort I put into those tryouts was purely my heart’s desire.


So what does any of this have to do with a fitness website?? Well it brings me to today. After quitting baseball, competing in high jump on my high school’s track team, and eventually giving up sports all together after high school, I found myself as a lazy person. Fast food was a twice daily occurrence, and I didn’t know what to do in the gym. I tried to go every once in a while my freshman year of college, but looking back, the workouts were ridiculous. Treating myself to Coldstone and sushi after my half-ass elliptical sessions also didn’t do much for me. ;-) Luckily I had a fast metabolism and I managed to stay skinny, but it was more of a “skinny-fat.”


In the summer of 2007, I walked into a studio called Lifts and met my first personal trainer, Bret Contreras(The Glute Guy.) Bret changed my life. His belief was that women can lift weights, and they can lift heavy. He taught me how to deadlift and squat and I had finally found my inner athlete again. I never missed a workout, and 3 years later, I am now a bikini competitor, healthy living coach and advocate, and working my way into the fitness modeling industry.


December 2008, I had been working out for over a year, but wasn’t eating quite right. I ate a lot of processed foods and my physique wasn’t looking the way I wanted it to despite the workouts that I put in. I decided that I wanted to compete and immediately began eating clean and in better proportions. July 2009, I competed in my first bikini competition and placed 2nd in my class. It qualified me for a national show, and made me fall in love with the sport. The things I gave up and the work that I put in was HARD. For 6 months I worked out 6-7 days a week, ate completely clean, and completely transformed my body. When I stepped on stage on July 18, 2009, I knew that all of my hard work was worth it. I have never had a happier feeling in my entire LIFE than I did on that day.


I’m excited to share my journey to the national stage with all of you. I spent my off season putting on some quality muscle, and am now shedding the winter weight to reveal my new physique. I am now 15 weeks away from my first national competition and excited to see the fruits of my labor!


I am going to show you all that the bikini division is NOT “easy.” The division gets a pretty bad reputation from both those who don’t take it seriously and also those who take it a little too far with their “stage presence”, making it look like a T&A show. The serious and dedicated bikini competitors work JUST as hard as the figure and bodybuilding girls and I am determined to prove that to those who doubt it.


Please feel free to comment and share your opinions! If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will be sure to answer them all.

I hope you are all looking forward to her posts about the bikini division. For those with Twitter, you can follow her at http://twitter.com/lizzio36. Also visit her website at http://www.fitlizzio.com/ and her blog at http://fitlizzio.wordpress.com/. You can also view her FitGems Nation profile page at http://www.fitgemsnation.net/profile/LizzyOstro.