FitGems to have Hall of Fame

For those that might or might not know, I proposed an idea on the Facebook fan page about possibly doing a Hall of Fame to honor competitors of the past. The response was a definite YES, so thanks to you, we ARE going to do a Hall of Fame. The way it's going to be done is a select panel of competitors and industry members will send in the top 10 competitors they would like to be seen in the Hall of Fame in order, and write down ONE fitness celebrity that has contribute to women's fitness (that's NEVER BEEN a competitor). Here's how the scoring will be:

Whoever they list first will get 10 points, 2nd will get 9 points, 3rd 8 points, 4th 7 points, 5th 6 points, 6th five points, 7th 4 points, 8th 3 points, 9th 2 points, 10th 1 point. The 7 ladies with the highest point total will be put into the Hall of Fame. For the fitness celebrity, it will be the person whose mentioned the most by the panel. In the event of a tie, there will be a run-off vote.

Who is eligible to be in the FitGems Hall of Fame?

1. This is a FEMALE COMPETIORS 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 its been at least 5-10 years since their last competition.
3. They can be from any federation, even ones from the past
4. We ask that if the person is still competing, that they have to competed at least 10 years. 
5. The inductees can be living or deceased. 

The FitGems Hall of Fame Class of 2011 will be revealed the weekend BEFORE the 2011 Olympia. This is not being created as a joke, this is something that I wanted to do to celebrate and honor the past competitors. Who would you like to see be inducted this year? If you follow us on Twitter, use the hashtag #fitgemshalloffame when you send us your suggestions. If you are on our Facebook page, leave a comment in the discussion panel. 

Good luck to all competitors! :)

Black History Spotlight for February 26, 2009-Saryn Muldrow

I'm not gonna front...I just about forgot about this competitor, and if it wasn't for my man AirHarp (go to Siouxcountry and find his posts. He's awesome), I would have completely forgot about her. Thanks man!



Saryn Muldrow is one of the top fitness competitors of all time. She was born in LA in 1964 and has been living in Denmark since age 11. She competed in the bodybuilding and fitness industry for an unbelievable 19 years. During that time, she would go on to win the the Danish, European, and World championships and the Miss universe titles. However, her claim to fame was when she won the Miss Fitness Olympia title in 1996. She called it a career in 1999 after breaking her arm and never regaining the strength needed to compete to the best of her ability. She is now a highly-skilled painter, which was something she started to take seriously in 2002. Her paintings are truly amazing, much like her career. I bet you she will wind up on the IFBB Hall of Fame in a very short amount of time.

For more on the legendary Saryn, click here to view her official website translated in English. For those that want to see her website in her native language, click here.

Black History Spotlight for February 8, 2009-Lenda Murray

Lenda Murray is among the greatest female bodybuilders to ever live. I'm not saying this because she's black. I'm saying this for the simple fact that she has one EIGHT Ms. Olympia titles. No one (male or female) has won that many Ms. Olympia titles. It seemed like she was born to make history. During her high school and college years, she became a record-holding sprinter and varsity cheerleader. While attending Western Michigan, in 1982, Lenda became the second black homecoming queen in the university's history. She then went on to compete in bodybuilding in 1985, and as the old saying goes, the rest is history.

I couldn't find an official website for Lenda, but I did find a Wikipedia page on her, which is actually legit, believe it or not. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenda_Murray for more information on her.

Black History Spotlight for February 3, 2009-Laura Creavalle

Laura Creavelle is considered to be the best female bodybuilder to NEVER win the Olympia. Her credentials are the stuff of legend. She became a pro in 1988, when she won the 1988 IFBB World Amateur Championships in Puerto Rico. A mere six weeks later (that is not a typo, folks), she placed 11th in her pro debut at the Ms. Olympia competition. She would go on to compete in 12 more Olympias before retiring in 2002. To my knowledge, no other female has competed in that many Olympias in a row, which says a lot about Laura. She was also a three-time Ms. International, winning the prestique title in 1990, and again in back-to-back successions (1994-95). She is now enjoying retirement from competition, but still trains three times a week, looking like she is "two years" from competing, according to the IFBB website.

For more on Laura, go to her website at http://www.lauracreavalle.com/.

My Ideal Arnold Amateur Physique list

Earlier, I gave my take on the pros that I would choose to be in the Arnold Classic Physique competiton. Click here to see the pro list I created. Now here are the amateurs I would choose if there were to be an Arnold Amateur Physique contest (all photos are free and belong to their respective original placements):

Tracy Bodner

Sherrie Carnicle

Lindsay Cope

Diana Tinnelle

Ann Titone

Angela Kirkland

Vanessa Adams

Lori Steele

Amanda Swallow

Rachelle Cannon

Nikki Warner

Mavi Gioia

Natalie Ariel

Andrea Swanson

Holly Nicholson

Melissa Detwiller

Ali Huston

Ann Caliri

Grace Rivera


Danielle Rouleau

Jenn Jackson

Barbara Fletcher

Jennifer DeJoya

Jodi Miller

Jamie Reed

Just like the pros, this was not an easy task to pick 25 people. So, if you have anymore to add, please do so under the comments. Who knows? Maybe there will be a physique division in the future? This post, along with the other two post about a physique division are just thoughts, and not reality...yet.

My ideal Arnold Classic Physique competitor list (pro list)

Well, I’ve told you about my physique division proposal. Now let’s just say I was in the Arnold Classic committee, and I was in charge of picking 25 pro competitors for the inaugural physique competition. Who would I pick? Based on my blog post about my physique division thoughts, here are the 25 pros I would choose for the Arnold Classic Physique competition. Feel free to add others below on the comments.

Each of the pictures uses for this blog belong to their respective sites. Click pics to enlarge.

Davana Medina

Valerie Waugaman


Adela Garcia

Kim Klein

Juliana Malacarne


Beni Lopez


Heidi Fletcher

Karen Zaremba

Debbie Leung

Christine Pomponio-Pate

Stacy Simons


Mindi O’Brien

Shannon Meteraud


Macey Boudreau


Monica Brant-Peckham


Tracey Greenwood


Tara Scotti


Vicki Nixon


Dayana Caedeu


Amy Peters

Rosa-Marie Romero


Julie Shipley-Childs


Julie Palmer


Denise Masino

Claire Parmley

Well...there ya go. My "dream list" of competitors for the first pro physique competition. Trust me, this was not easy for me to nail the list down to 25. The amateur list won't be a cakewalk either, but I'll give it my best. Agree or disagree with the list? Leave a comment below, then. For those that were waiting for the pro list (all two of you, LOL), thanks for being patient.

Personal note: If anything was to actually come out of this, I would literally freak out.