Could a “Getting Physical” Remake Work in 2021?

Back in 1984, a made-for-TV movie called Getting Physical, starting Alexandra Paul. Paul starred in the film as Kendall Gibley, a woman whose weight was causing her to suffer from self-esteem. She decided to take up self-defense classes to lose wright but ended up getting into female bodybuilding after seeing the women in the gym. She would get into it so much that she ends up facing the pros for the championship. However her boyfriend and her dad aren’t exactly too thrilled with her new look. If you want to view the movie for yourself, click here.

For a made-for-tv movie, I didn’t think it was too bad. It strikes me as something that would fit Lifetime, Freeform, or any channel like that. There were some corny and cheesy parts to it, but that was par for the course when it came to movies back in the 1980s. Also for anyone that followed Paul’s career, it’s hard for her to portray a heavy woman (especially with one of her highlights in her career being on the hit show Baywatch) but she was able to pull it off. 

Speaking of pulling if off...could a Getting Physical remake be done in 2021? Personally, I’d say yes, BUT I would change a few things. One, it doesn’t have to be a heavy-set woman trying to get fit. My spin would be a woman who has a dangerous encounter with a man and wanted to take self-defense classes to protect herself. The premise would remain the same: she sees fit women in the gym and gets the bug and dedices to do physique competitions and works her way to the championship, with her boyfriend and dad not being so approving of her look. Another change would be the category that would be represented. At the time of the original movie, only bodybuilding was there for the women. Now there’s women’s bodybuilding, women’s physique, fitness, figure, bikini, and wellness. If it were up to me, I would choose between figure, bikini, or wellness, as I feel those three would be more acceptable to the mainstream audience. I would look-wise aim for figure with a bodybuilding-like style of flexing to it, to give the audience a show. Obviously the championship would not be the Olympia, as the IFBB owns that name. However, it would be cool to see some IFBB Pros in a remake of Getting Physical as part of not only the championship but also in the gym scenes that influence the main star to give muscle competitions a try. 

There’s a lot more to get into when it comes to a remake but this a general thought on it. With that being said, I’ll leave the floor open to you all: Do YOU think a Getting Physical remake will work in 2021? Do you WANT to see this movie getting a modern remake? Which IFBB Pros (or NPC athletes) would you like to see make an appearance in the movie? Which actress would you like to have Alexandra Paul’s role? We will have a follow-up post soon. You can either comment below, leave us a DM on our social media platforms, or email us at fitgemsnation@gmail.com. Looking forward to everyone’s responses!

Fittest Female WWE Superstar of All Time Tournament on July 6th

Over the last couple of months, Promoting Women in Bodybuilding Fitness and MMA  on Facebook held tournaments to determine the best in each division in the female muscle world (outside wellness, as that just started on a global scale). We have decided to get in on the action with having a tournament of our own: We're officially hosting the Fittest Female WWE Superstar of All Time Tournament!

It was hard, but somehow we narrowed it down to 64 of the fittest women in WWE history. They were all determined by their look and overall fitness, NOT by in-ring accolades. Obviously for something like this, there will be some snubs. But we tried to be as fair as we possibly could be. Without further ado, here are the 64 women that will be part of the tournament:

Trinity
Trish Stratus
Billie Kay
Peyton Royce
Stephanie McMahon
Lacey Evans
Nikki Bella
Santana Garrett
Carmella
Dana Brooke
Toni Storm
Michelle McCool
Lita
Terri Runnels
Charly Caruso
Eve Torres 
Natalya
Sarah Logan
Alundra Blaze
Becky Lynch
Torrie Wilson
Sable
Bianca Belair
Eva Marie
Maryse
Christy Hemme
Paige
Mandy Rose
Alicia Fox
Trinity
Sonya Deville
Mickie James
Beth Phoenix
Bayley
Victoria
Jamie Keyes
Melina
Ivory
Candice LeRae
Tiffany
Shaniqua
Molly Holly
Liv Morgan
Kairi Sane
Emma
Natalya
Naomi
Kaitlyn
Chyna
Charlotte Flair
Sasha Banks
Zelina Vega
AJ Lee
Alexa Bliss
Ashley Massaro
Mia Yim
Jazz
Nikki Cross 
Jacqueline
Rhea Ripley
Jackie Gayda
Xia Li
Ember Moon
Brie Bella
Chelsea Green
Tori

Seeding for this tournament were done at random, so their seedings in the tournament are literally just numbers. No advantage or disadvantage whatsoever. Each first-round matchup was shuffled at random as well, with some "HOLY SH.." first-round showdowns that honestly could be later round matches if they wanted to be, including Championship matches. The bracket will be revealed this Friday sometime after Smackdown airs. ALL VOTING WILL BE ON EASTERN TIME! Voting will begin this Monday (July 6) at 11pm, right after Raw and the First Round will end when NXT on July 8th ends at 10pm. Here's how the voting will take place after the First Round:

Round of 32: July 10 at 10pm to July 13th at 11pm
Round of 16: July 15 at 10pm to July 17 at 10pm
Quarterfinals: July 20 at 11pm to July 22 at 10pm
Semi-Finals: July 24 at 10pm to July 27 at 11pm
Championship and 3rd Place: July 29 at 10pm to August 3rd at 11pm

This is being done in fun, so please no bickering if your favorite doesn't win or advance. We do hope that you do enjoy this special event as this could pave the way for future tournaments like this down the road by us someday. Good luck to all the female WWE Superstars and may the fittest one win!

WWE's Newest Pitbull

Credit WWE.com

On Tuesday, WWE announced their latest class of Performance Center recruits, their first class of 2020 and their first class of the new decade. The highlight of the class for most fans is Mercedez Martinez, a 19-year veteran of the ring who has fought her heart out to be part of the WWE. She has competed in WWE a few times in dark matches and more recently to fans as part of the Mae Young Classic. While there are a lot of articles bring written about Mercedes and rightfully so...we are going to focus on someone that wrestling fans MIGHT not be too familiar with right now but will get to know sooner than later: Emily Andzulis.





Nickname "The Pitbull", Emily is from Knoxville, TN, who thrives on competition, as shown via her mixed martial arts (MMA) background and as a contestant on NBC's Titan Games, where she was crowned the first female Titan. MMA was only part of her background, as she also worked as a massage therapist in the Knoxville area. Her life is dedicated to making her sister Sharon Shepard, a bone cancer suvivor, proud. In fact, Sharon was the one that convinced Emily to try out for the Titan Games in the first place. It was clear from the get-go that the people in charge liked Emily a lot as she was featured predominantly in their promotions and throughout the show, even though she didn't end up being the overall champion.Check out her Herculean Pull and Mount Olympus runs here from the first episode of Titan Games. Most also said during the show that Emily was on the verge of going to bigger things down the line, maybe even Hollywood. Well...WWE seems like a pretty big deal, doesn't it?!

Photo credit: Emily's Facebook

It seemed like WWE was a future step for Emily as she was chosen to be part of the April 2019 WWE Performance Center tryouts. The wrestling bug bit her good as she enrolled in the Jacobs-Pritchard Wrestling Academy (JP Wrestling Academy or JPWA for short) shortly after. When you enroll in a school owned and taught by Dr. Tom Pritchard and Glenn Jacobs ake Kane, you know you are serious about wrestling and want to learn as much as you can from two of the greatest minds in the business. Emily proved to be a fast learner as she was able to have a match within a few months of training, against local indy star and fellow JPWA graduate Kenzie Paige Henry. This one match showed how dangerous she can potentially be in NXT or even on Raw or Smackdown. Apparently WWE officials paid attention as she was signed to a developmental contract, making her the first graduate (male or female) from the school to join WWE.




Now...why are WE saying to keep an eye on The Pitbull in WWE? Well...for one, LOOK AT HER PHYSIQUE!!! The woman is carved out of stone! Despite her height, she is downright intimidating by her looks alone. But what can you expect when you do two-a-day workouts that consists of weight training, Crossfit, boxing, and jiu-jitsu. Based off the Titan Games and her workouts she post on her social media accounts, her strength is off the charts, which matches well alongside fellow fitness stars Dana Brooke, Mandy Rose, and fellow Knoxvillian Bianca Belair, among others. Her MMA background will match with women such as Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, and Sonya Deville. Her dedication to making her sister proud can make her an easy face to get behind, but she showed in her debut wrestling match that she is more than capable of being a heel. Besides the obvious backing of The Rock, Kane, and Dr. Tom Pritchard, she also has the backing of current WWE Superstar Natalya. When you consider everything she has and what she can improve on going forward, the only person that is going to stop Emily Andzulis from being a top WWE Superstar...is Emily Andzulis. We have seen what she can do in different platforms, and we are excited to see the NeXT chapter in the life and career of The Pitbull. Good luck Emily!

Photo Credit: Emily's Instagram

For more on The Pitbull, make sure to follow her on her social media accounts, and be on the lookout for her coming to a television near you!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmilyAndzulis75/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/emily_andzulis
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emily_andzulis

Bodybuilding Fatheads?!

As we all know one of the key aspect of the bodybuilding industry is to SEE the physiques on stage and across various platforms, especially with how social media is. But for some reason, I never thought of the idea of Fatheads for bodybuilders. For those that don't know, Fatheads are the number one brand of life-size decals for walls, among other things. NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, and WWE (among other sports companies) have licensed Fatheads that sell really well. Now, I like I said before, for whatever reason, I never considered bodybuilders having Fatheads...until THIS photo of top IFBB Figure Pro Ivana Ivusic was posted on her Instagram a couple of weeks ago:

Photo credit: Ivana's Instagram (https://instagram.com/ivanaivusic)
Photographer: Darren Burns (https://www.instagram.com/dburns_photoflex)

More times than now when Ivana posts photos of her physique (as is the case with every female in the industry) many likes and comments follow. The comment that inspired me to do this blog post came from 1parks1 on Instagram when he commented on the above photo and said, "I need this as a far head wall poster!" That comment hit me like a brick wall. Why are there not any bodybuilding Fatheads in existence? I personally feel they would be big sellers. Imagine this...athletes can buy their favorite IFBB Fatheads as daily inspiration. Imagine waking up and the first thing you see is your favorite bodybuilder on the wall. If that isn't inspiring, I don't know what is. Also, fans can buy Fatheads to have their favorite bodybuilders with them every day. It will be as close to the real thing as they can get in the event they are unable to meet them in person.

So you can get a feel for how a bodybuilding Fathead would look, I took it upon myself to make some concept work of how bodybuilding Fatheads would look. Again, this is concept work, so this isn't real...yet. And of course, this is a female muscle site, so I did all female muscle personalities for the concept work.

Ivana Ivusic

Natalia Coelho

Christine Pomponio

Nicole Wilkins, Natalia Coelho, and Juliana Malacarne

Now...tell me in a straight face why this wouldn't work after seeing those concept works. My personal hope is that one day the IFBB will team up with Fathead to make this a reality someday. Or maybe photographers can strike deals with Fathead or similar companies to sell their works into life-size wallpapers/decals. Until then, if you want bodybuilding Fatheads, you CAN have your own made by Fathard by this link: https://www.fathead.com/custom/. BTW, if the photos don't belong to you, don't send them to Fathead.

What do YOU think about bodybuilding Fatheads? Comment below or let us know on our social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).

11th Annual FitGems Awards Winners

ONCE AGAIN...records were shattered in FitGems Awards voting! Here's the full list of the winners and runner-ups for each category of the 11th Annual FitGems Awards, as well as the top ten finishers of the 2019 FitGems Nation Woman of the Year. Check out our social media accounts (Facebook and Instagram) to view photos of the winners and the top 10 Woman of the Year votegetters. Once again, congrats to all the winners, runner-ups, and nominees!



PRO CATEGORIES

Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Helle Trevino
Theresa Ivancik (runner-up)

Pro Women's Physique Competitor of the Year
Valentina Mishina
Shanique Grant (runner-up)

Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year
Whitney Jones
Tiffany Chandler (runner-up)

Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Sandra Grajales
Cydney Gillon (runner-up)

Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year
Elisa Pecini
Angelica Texieria (runner-up)

Most Improved Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Aleesha Young
Maria Flores (runner-up)

Most Improved Pro Women's Physique Competitor of the Year
Brittany Watts
Patricia Gosseln (runner-up)

Most Improved Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year 
Sara Kovach
Toni Wheeler (runner-up)

Most Improved Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Ashley Soto
Lola Montez (runner-up)

Most Improved Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year
Beatriz Biscaia
Monica Ellis (runner-up)

Rookie Pro Women's Bodybuilder of the Year
Tina Williams
Barbara Carita (runner-up)

Rookie Pro Women's Physique Competitor of the Year
Dana Shemesh
Sheila Bleck (runner-up)
 
Rookie Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year
Anna Adams
Terra Plum (runner-up)

Rookie Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Ashley Jones
Gabrielle Williams (runner-up)

Rookie Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year
Etila Santiago Santos
Hannah Ranfranz (runner-up)

Most Underrated Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Susanna Jacobs
Kristina Mendoza (runner-up)

Most Underrated Pro Women's Physique Competitor of the Year
Ivie Rhein
Heather Grace (runner-up)

Most Underrated Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year
Michelle Gales
Minna Pajulabti (runner-up)

Most Underrated Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Stacy Fujarski
Michelle Lindsay (runner-up)

Most Underrated Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year Breena Martinez
Eli Fernandez (runner-up)


AMATEUR CATEGORIES 

Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Brittany Nicole Larson
Erica Hartman (runner-up)

Amateur Women's Physique Competitor of the Year
Justine Albert
Yarelis Ramos Perez (runner-up)

Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year
Abby Bolton
Molly Prather (runner-up)

Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year
Rita Villarreal
Bernice Higgins (runner-up)

Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year
Daraja Hill
Ashley Parker (runner-up)

Breakout Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Donna Jones
Takeela Reddrick (runner-up)

Breakout Amateur Women’s Physique Competitor of the Year
Jessica Martin
Christina Specos (runner-up)

Breakout Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year
Andrea Larkins
Emilee Clark (runner-up)

Breakout Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year
Cherish Richardson
Charlotte Quillen (runner-up)

Breakout Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year
Hope Harper
Gina Scafoglio (runner-up)

Most Underrated Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Robin Hartman
Jenn Schmidt (runner-up)

Most Underrated Amateur Women’s Physique Competitor of the Year
Hannah Hussein
Hayley Townsend (runner-up)

Most Underrated Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year
Meghan Cassidy
Amanda Reed (runner-up)

Most Underrated Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year
Mandy Harbin
Tricia Mowatt (runner-up)

Most Underrated Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year
Nicole Desmond
Veronica Garza (runner-up)



MISC. CATEGORIES

Fitness Model of the Year
Wendy Fortino
Yarshina Ayala (runner-up)

Fitness Ambassador of the Year
Whitney Jones
Nicole Wilkins (runner-up)

Social Media Star of the Year
Yarishna Ayala
Ivana Ivusic (runner-up)

Moment of the Year
The announcement of the return of Ms. Olympia in 2020
Simone Biles becoming the most decorated gymnast of all time, male or female (runner-up)

Photographer of the Year
J.M. Manion
Will Wittmann (runner-up)

Fit Celebrity of the Year
Charly Caruso/Arnolt (WWE Raw/ESPN)
Paige Davis (Trading Spaces) (runner-up)

Female Sports Athlete of the Year
Simone Biles
Serena Williams (runner-up)

Female Crossfit Athlete of the Year
Katrin Davidsdottir
Tia-Clair Toomey (runner-up)

Fittest Female WWE Superstar of the Year (Raw/Smackdown)
Dana Brooke
Charlotte Flair (runner-up)

Fittest Female NXT Superstar of the Year
Rhea Ripley
Xia Li (runner-up)

Fittest Female Mainstream Wrestler of the Year
Tessa Blanchard (Impact)
Jordynne Grace (Impact) (runner-up)

Fittest Female Independent Wrestler of the Year
Amber Nova
Big Swole (runner-up)

Famale Physique Paysite of the Year
HDPhysiques/Preminum Physiques
HerBicepsPlus (runner-up)

Physique Paysite Model of the Year
Brooke Walker
Cris Goy (runner-up)

Promoter(s) of the Year
Tim Garnder
Chris Minnes (runner-up)

Fitness Clothing Line of the Year
Flag Nor Fail
Booty Queen Apparel (runner-up)

Team of the Year
Underrated Muscle
Cyberbodyshop (runner-up)

Male Trainer of the Year
Matt Allen
Dave Palumbo (runner-up)

Female Trainer of the Year
Wendy Fortino
Whitney Jones (runner-up)



2019 FitGems Nation Woman of the Year

1. Simone Biles
2. Sandra Grajales
3. Helle Trevino
4. Natalia Coelho
5. Whitney Jones
6. Bojana Vasiljevic
7. Shanique Grant
8. Nadia Wyatt
9. Missy Truscott
10. Megan Rapinoe

11th Annual FitGems Nation Ballot is LIVE

Our poll is LIVE! As always, you don't have to vote for each category, but it would nice to vote for as many as possible. You can vote once per day from now until January 1st at 11:59pm Eastern time. At that time, all polls will be closed. Have a wonderful rest of 2019, congrats once again to all the FitGems Award nominees, and best of luck to each and every one of you!


PRO CATEGORIES
AMATEUR CATEGORIES
MISC. CATEGORIES

And our big one...the 2019 FitGems Nation Woman of the Year!!!


Follow the conversation about this year's FitGems Awards by using the hashtag #FitGemsAwards on Twitter and Instagram. Post your predictions on who you think will win...as well as any questions you may have about any of the categories and nominees, or anyone you think got snubbed. Good luck to all!

11th Annual FitGems Awards Nominees

Our 11th Annual FitGems Awards are FINALLY here! Things are going to be a tad different. First off, I want to explain how the categories will work. For all the pro categories, nominees will be selected from Olympia to Olympia going forward, as the end of the Olympia usually signals a "new year" for the IFBB, so everyone that competed in a pro contest after the 2018 Olympia ARE eligible for FitGems Award contention while those that competed after the 2019 Olympia will NOT count until next year. For the amateur categories and miscellaneous categories, it will be judged from January 1st to the conclusion of NPC Nationals, which will be the cutoff for award contention. And this goes without saying...wellness will not be part of our awards until next year.

Some categories have been removed this year (Strength Athlete, Super League) due to not being as visible this year, but those awards could make a comeback in 2020. One HUGE change we made is turning the Fit Female Wrestler of the Year into four different categories: Fittest Female WWE Superstar of the Year (the fittest woman on Raw or Smackdown), Fittest Female NXT Superstar of the year (the fittest woman on the NXT and the NXT UK roster), Fittest Female Mainstream Wrestler of the Year (the fittest mainsteam female wrestler that is NOT under WWE contract), and Fittest Independent Wrestler of the Year (the fittest female wrestler on the independent circuit). With as many female wrestlers as there are now in various locations and federations, just doing one category to narrow them down is an insult to them and to the awards. The awards are still prestigious but now it's more of an even playing field as there are those that only follow certain forms of wrestling.

Voting will begin sometime on Wednesday (December 18th) and will end on January 1st at around 11:59PM. While the poll won't be available to vote for several more hours, here's a look at the categories and nominees for this year's awards:


PRO CATEGORIES

Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Helle Trevino
Margie Martin
Irene Andersen
Nicki Chartrand
Monique Jones
Theresa Ivancik

Pro Women's Physique Competitor of the Year
Shanique Grant
Sarah Villegas
Natalia Coelho
Valentina Mishina
Danielly Castilho
Laura Pintado Chinchilla

Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year

Whitney Jones

Missy Truscott

Ryal Graber

Jaclyn Baker

Tiffany Chandler

Jennie Taddeo

Pro Figure Competitor of the Year

Cydney Gillon

Nadia Wyatt

Sandra Grajales

Bojana Vasiljevic

Ivana Ivusic

Jessica Reyes Padilla

Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year

Elisa Pecini

Janet Layug

Angelica Texieria

Lauralie Chapados

Jennifer Dorie

Ashley Kaltwasser

Most Improved Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year

Janeen Lankowski

Aleesha Young

Susanna Jacobs

LaDawn Mcday

Angela Rayburn

Maria Flores

Most Improved Pro Women's Physique Competitor of the Year

Brittany Watts

Jeannie Feldman

Patricia Gosseln

Anne Lorraine Mohn

Laura Hays

Reshanna Boswell

Most Improved Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year

Tamara Vahn

Liudmila Somkina

Marta Aguiar

Sara Kovach

Toni Wheeler

Alison Burns

Most Improved Pro Figure Competitor of the Year

Tiffani Lapoint

Martina Yabekova

Tanya Chartrand

Lola Montez

Laurelle Martineau

Ashley Soto

Most Improved Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year

Jennifer Ronzitti

Maureen Blanquisco

Camile Periat

Monica Ellis

Monica Goncalves

Beatriz Biscaia

Rookie Pro Women's Bodybuilder of the Year

Tina Williams

Andrea Shaw

Jessica Martin

Barbara Carita

Mona Poursaleh

Marla-Maria Merrithew

Rookie Pro Women's Physique Competitor of the Year

Kimberly Rieck

Sheila Bleck

Sheikha Nguyen

Dana Shemesh

Kayla Murphy

Jacqueline Estrada

Rookie Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year

Terra Plum

Stephanie Jones

Anna Adams

Ashley Packard

Kristy Fenster-Avery

Lauren Carre

Rookie Pro Figure Competitor of the Year

Ashley Jones

Silvia Henry

Autumn Cleveland

Heidi Larson

Gabrielle Williams

Amanda Welch

Rookie Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year

Etila Santiago Santos

Alexandria Ross

Hannah Ranfranz

Allison Yaeth

Calysta Upperman

Celeste Shaffer

Most Underrated Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year

Kim Buck

Pauline Nelson

Kristina Mendoza

Donna Salib

Cris Goy

Susanna Jacobs

Most Underrated Pro Women's Physique Competitor of the Year

Heather Grace

Lauren Rutan

Ivie Rhein

Stephanie Waggoner

Diana Schnaidt

Trisha Vezirian

Most Underrated Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year

Minna Pajulahti

Shannon Siemer

Cong Mou

Viko Newman

Valentina Maria Rodriquez

Michelle Gales

Most Underrated Pro Figure Competitor of the Year

An Da Jeong

Michelle Lindsay

Brittany Campbell

Tiffany Boyer

Dawn Reichley

Stacy Fujarski

Most Underrated Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year

Jasmine Williams

Breena Martinez

Eli Fernandez

Francesca Stoico

Jourdanne Lee

Mariella Pellegrino

AMATEUR CATEGORIES

Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year

Erica Hartman

Dee Joseph

Brittany Nicole Larson

Danielle Willis

Rachelle Cannon

Jeri Bradley

Amateur Women's Physique Competitor of the Year

Lorraine Gonzalez

Justine Albert

Kathrine McLaurin

Yarelis Ramos Perez

Macey Toney

Kimberly Smith

Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year

Anna Adams

Molly Prather

Missy Khasawneh

Stephanie Jones

Abby Bolton

Kristen Morby

Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year

Rachel Shoemake

Bernice Higgins

Ajanel Williams

Sabah Syed

Julia Champlin

Rita Villarreal

Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year

Ariana Brothers

Ashley Parker

Cristal Medina

Mercedes Fernandez

Daraja Hill

Angela White

Breakout Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year

Takeela Reddrick

Kelly Lefevre

Brenda Beitia

Helen Davis

Donna Jones

Nancy Porter

Breakout Amateur Women’s Physique Competitor of the Year

Jacqueline Estrada

Jessica Martin

Danhne Villanueva

Christina Specos

Jada Beverly

Evon Pennington

Breakout Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year

Shayla Jacobs

Emilee Clark

Haley Lisenba

Corina Harkelroad

Kimberley Baliutavicius

Andrea Larkins

Breakout Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year

Yahda Daniels

Melody Zita

Lisa Krause

Charlotte Quillen

Cherish Richardson

Natalia Marrero

Breakout Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year

Charisse Briguera

Krystal Monteiro

Bryanna Barcelo

Hope Harper

Gina Scafoglio

Chantel Hall

Most Underrated Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year

Leann George

Robin Hartman

Kathlee Rutkowski

Janelle Gallo-Riegger

Stephanie Castelluccio

Jenn Schmidt

Most Underrated Amateur Women’s Physique Competitor of the Year

Patti Hanson

Hayley Townsend

Hannah Hussein

Shannon Applegate-Smith

Rachel Newman

Rebecca Libby

Most Underrated Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year

Amanda Reed

Pamela Bartock

Crystal Parrett

Landra Tieman

Meghan Cassidy

Lena Squarciafico

Most Underrated Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year

Tricia Mowatt

Mandy Harbin

Nikki Nozano

Cassandra Bailey

Jen Mezzetti

Ana Melissa Cardenas

Most Underrated Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year

Veronica Garza

Laura Lee Musson

Shannon McClead

Corissa Lorimer

Nicole Desmond

Samantha McIntyre

MISC. CATEGORIES

Fitness Model of the Year

Yarshina Ayala

Wendy Fortino

Tina (Nguyen) Middleton

Mandy Rose

Erin Stern

Ivana Ivusic

Fitness Ambassador of the Year

Mandy Rose

Lauren Rutan

Whitney Jones

Trish Warren

Wendy Fortino

Nicole Wilkins

Social Media Star of the Year (Instagram/Twitter/Facebook/Snapchat, etc.)

Yarshina Ayala

Brittney Terry

Melissa Pearo

Denise Masino

Ivana Ivusic

Trish Warren

Moment of the Year

Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Ronda Rousey becoming the first women to main-event Wrestlemania

Erin Stern returning to the IFBB

Latorya Watts's return to the Olympia after over a year's absence

The announcement of the return of Ms. Olympia in 2020

The announcement of the addition of the NPC/IFBB Wellness division in 2020

Simone Biles becoming the most decorated gymnast of all time, male or female

Photographer of the Year

Joe Bayer

George Kontaxis

Will Wittmann

J.M. Manion

Dustin Raymond

Lou Krivda

Fit Celebrity of the Year

Caroline Pearce (Premier Fighting League/ESPN)

Jenna Wolfe (First Things First)

Charly Caruso/Arnolt (WWE Raw/ESPN)

Paige Davis (Trading Spaces)

Denise Matenopoulo (Home and Family)

Tiffany Coyle (Let's Make a Deal)

Female Sports Athlete of the Year

Simone Biles

Alex Morgan

Megan Rapinoe

Julie Ertz

Amanda Nunes

Serena Williams

Crossfit Athlete of the Year

Tia-Clair Toomey

Kristin Holte

Jamie Greene

Katrin Davidsdottir

Karisa Pearce

Hailey Adams

Fittest Female WWE Superstar of the Year (Raw/Smackdown)

Becky Lynch

Mandy Rose

Charlotte Flair

Dana Brooke

Alexa Bliss

Sasha Banks

Fittest Female NXT Superstar of the Year (this also includes NXT UK)

Bianca Belair

Toni Storm

Rhea Ripley

Candice LaRae

Xia Li

Taynara Conti

Fittest Female Mainstream Wrestler of the Year

Tessa Blanchard (Impact)

Taya Valkerie (Impact)

Britt Baker (AEW)

Tenielle Dashwood (Impact)

Sadie Gibbs (AEW)

Jordynne Grace (Impact)

Fittest Independent Wrestler of the Year

Katie Forbes

Kamille

Amber Nova

Indi Hartwell

Heidi Katrina

Big Swole

Physique Paysite of the Year

HDPhysiques/Preminum Physiques

HerBicepsPlus

FemaleCityFlex

FitVids UK

Muscletease

Kriv Studios

Physique Paysite Model of the Year

Stephanie Marie

Carli Teperka

Brooke Walker

Cris Goy

Katie Lee

Taylor Smuck

Promoter(s) of the Year

Branch and Trish Warren

Tim Garnder

Chris Minnes

Robin Chang

Gary Udit

Jack and Ann Titone

Fitness Clothing Line of the Year

Tapout Fitness

NPC Active Wear

Booty Queen Apparel

Flag Nor Fail

Vanquish Fitness

Nicole Wilkins Collection

Team of the Year

Cyberbodyshop

Underrated Muscle

Team Williams Fitness

Worth It Fitness

Sexy-Strong

Fitness Mafia

Male Trainer of the Year

Matt Allen

Pete Ciccone

Noel Fuller

Justin Miller

Dave Palumbo

Sean Hayes

Female Trainer of the Year

Jennifer Worth

Meriza Deguzman-Ciccone

Whitney Jones

Wendy Fortino

Lauren Rutan

Torrie Wilson

FitGems Nation Woman of the Year
(the fitness personality that had the most impact for the industry in 2019)

NOTE: Once you win this award, you will AUTOMATICALLY sit out the following year as a way of keeping this particular award’s winners as fresh as possible, even if the following year is their best one in their career up to that point. This means last year’s winner, Cydney Gillon, must sit out this year

1. Whitney Jones
2. Missy Truscott
3. Ryall Graber
4. Shanique Grant
5. Nadia Wyatt
6. Becky Lynch
7. Charlotte Flair
8. Tessa Blanchard
9. Mandy Rose
10. Dana Brooke
11. Charly Arnolt/Caruso
12. Simone Biles
13. Alex Morgan
14. Megan Rapinoe
15. Julie Ertz
16. Sandra Grajales
17. Bojana Vasiljevic
18. Lauren Rutan
19. Helle Trevino
20. Natalia Coelho

Once again, congrats to all the nominees for this year's awards! Best of luck to you all!

Oh...heads up...we will be doing our own Decade Awards in the coming days. Yes, you will get to vote on the best in female muscle from 2010 to now. More details on THAT this weekend!

Arnold 2019 Predictions

Photo credit: Arnold Sports Festival website

It's time for the biggest weekend that is NOT the Olympia...the Arnold Sports Festival! Also known as the "kickoff" to the competition season, some of the best in women's physique, fitness, figure, and bikini (as well as the men's divisions) take over Columbus, Ohio, and one of the most simple cities in America becomes the muscle capital of the world for one weekend. There's a very good chance I butchered my predictions here (wouldn't be the first time. LMAO), but here are my predictions for how I think the weekend will play out:


WOMEN'S PHYSIQUE INTERNATIONAL (PREJUDGING AND FINALS FRIDAY)


The Women's Physique International has never had a repeat champion since the contest's debut in 2015. That trend will continue this year as last year's winner and current Ms. Physique Olympia Shanique Grant will not be defending her title. After an amazing year last year for Natalia Coelho, she is considered by many to be the odds-on favorite to win her first major title. People have seemed to forgotten how good Natalia really is despite her success in the industry thus far, but I have a feeling people are going to get a very good reminder of just how amazing of a competitor Natalia really is. Her biggest competitor in my eyes might be a surprise to a lot of you: I have Lauren Rutan challenging her for the title. Lauren is one of the most incredible muscle athletes of all time and her IFBB career has barely begun. She has competed in powerlifting, weightlifting, and CrossFit at the Arnold, and with her competing in women's physique, she will enter a class of her own being the only person (male or female) to compete in the Arnold in four different events. I can't think of any other person that has done this feat. If it indeed comes down to Lauren and Natalia, we are in for a treat. The rest of the field is kinda a toss-up to me. I have Sheronica in 3rd, Valentine in 4th, Antoniette in 5th, and Margita rounding out the top 6. My dark horse for this event is Diana Schnaidt, one of the most underrated competitors in women's physique. Maybe 2019 will be the year she shakes things up there!

My Women's Physique International predictions:

1. Natalia Coelho
2. Lauren Rutan
3. Sheronica Henton
4. Valentina Mishina
5. Antoinette Downie
6. Margita Zamolova
DARK HORSE FOR THE TOP SIX: Diana Schnaidt


FITNESS INTERNATIONAL (PREJUDGING AND FINALS FRIDAY)


2018 saw the post-Oksana Grishina era of the fitness division begin with a bang with Whitney Jones winning 2018 Fitness International title (with a torn ACL!) as well as the 2018 Fitness Olympia, making her the new Queen of Fitness. This weekend, Whitney will be defending her title against some great competition, however there will be no Ariel Khadr (injury) or Myriam Capes (business ordeals) in this year's events. Looking at the field, I expect Whitney to repeat as champion. Ryall Graber, who was the 2018 Fitness Olympia runner-up, to me is her top competitor. I also predict Missy to have her best finish at the Arnold to date. Kate Errington came out of nowhere last year and was the 2018 Fitness International runner-up. I have her finishing 4th because of how good Ryall has been and how improved Missy has become. Definitely not a knock on Kate, mind you. I have Sara and Allison rounding out the top six, with Tiffany Chandler as my dark horse pick.

My Fitness International predictions:

1. Whitney Jones
2. Ryall Graber
3. Missy Farell
4. Kate Errington
5. Sara Kovach
6. Allison Ethier
DARK HORSE FOR THE TOP SIX: Tiffany Chandler


FIGURE INTERNATIONAL (PREJUDGING AND FINALS FRIDAY)


The figure division just gets deeper and deeper each year, with Candice Lewis-Carter and Cydney Gillon running things in 2018 winning the Figure International and Figure Olympia titles respectively. Candice will not be stepping on stage for the foreseeable future and Latorya Watts is still hoping to return sometime this year (still recovering from last year's injury/surgery) as well as no Heather Dees or Ivana Ivusic this time around, leaving Cydney as the odds-on favorite to win her first Figure International title. I see her biggest competition being Nadia Wyatt, who came from almost out of nowhere last year and placed 3rd at the 2018 Figure International. She definitely looked great alongside Cydney and could potentially upset Cydney and win her first major title. Jessica, Sandra, Bojana, and Maria all finished well at the 2018 Olympia, and I personally expect nothing less from them and see them rounding out the top six. One person who I think could shake things up is Wendy Fortino, who will be making her long-overdue Figure International debut. If anyone can make the top six, it's her.


My Figure International Predictions:

1. Cydney Gillon
2. Nadia Wyatt
3. Jessica Reyes Padilla
4. Sandra Grajales
5. Bojana Vasiljevic
6. Maria Luisa Baeza Diaz
DARK HORSE FOR THE TOP 6: Wendy Fortino



BIKINI INTERNATIONAL (PREJUDGING AND FINALS SATURDAY)


For the last couple of years, Angelica Teixeria has ruled the bikini division, but she will not be defending her Bikini International title this year. I feel Janet Layng is long overdue for her first major title, and I do think she has a chance to win this weekend, but because the Arnold is in Columbus and hometown folks do everything in their power to come in at their best in front of their family and friends, I'm going to go with Ashley Kaltwasser to win another Bikini International title. I see Ashley as a SLIGHT favorite but not by much. This might be the tightest contest of the night when it comes to the difference between 1st and 2nd place, but I could be wrong here. Rounding out my top 6 are Elisa, Marcia, Camile, and Frida, who I feel on the verge of a breakout in the bikini division. My dark horse pick is Ashley Jenelle. (NOTE: I had India Paulino on my top 6, but I was informed that she is not competing this weekend. My apologies)

My Bikini International predictions:

1. Ashley Kaltwasser
2. Janet Layng
3. Elisa Pecini
4. Marcia Goncalves
5. Camile Periat
6. Frida Paulsen Stern
DARK HORSE FOR THE TOP SIX: Ashley Jenelle


This is shaping up to be quite the event. For those that are not in Columbus, Ohio this weekend, you can view the festivities at this link: https://www.arnoldsportsfestival.com/visitor-info/asftv/19-asf-livestream/. REDCON1 will be providing over 70 hours of LIVE coverage of all the big events of the Arnold Sports Festival. And we will do our best to keep you all updated on the pro events via our social media platforms. Best of luck to all the competitors this weekend!