Aleesha Young

[pdgde]

Tell me the last time the judges told a male bodybuilder to scale down?..

[wowjerk]

She should never have to get smaller. Bigger is better.

[birmi482]

bigger is better, i agree with you completely. The problem is that judges who are former bb or have vested interests, see this differently. The only solution to this is the introduction of online voting by fans. Unfortunately WOS do not have the guts to do it, they try to appease the mainstream IFBB just in order to get some recognition. They sponsor the Miss Olympia, but could not achieve the inclusion of FBB in this year's contest, while 2020 contest still undecided . This shows it all. Judges have to much power and WOS would have had a good chance to change it, but unfortunately the did not go the whole mile

[crabdone]

Wondering what slimmed leaned down version of Aleesha you saw??  She was absolutely huge with thick slabs of hamstring hanging from her legs and gigantic biceps.  The stage lighting is curiously not always the best light, as well as possibly her distracting long hair covering her at times.  I don't know why also that some people think WoS runs the judging.  They do not.   Side note:  Physique competitor turned bodybuilder Andrea Shaw gave Aleesha a run for her money with only ONE point difference.  Andrea was HUGE but needs slight work on the legs as far as a bit more size and hardness.  Her shape was outstanding.

[Timmon]

Fans deciding whether an FBB, or any athlete, gets her pay packet for winning, or Pro card in the case of Amateurs, is a seriously bad idea!

Like it or not, the sport has criteria to follow. OK, sometimes it is not followed by the judges, to fans and athletes detriment (I myself have written to the IFBB to raise a query about how a contest is run, I have not yet had a reply!), but there has to be a governing body. Judges will always be hated because fans favourites do not win, but judges are often ex athletes or even current athletes, plus officials with much experience.

I don't think it would be fair on athletes to put their sporting careers on the line depending on fans to decide who should win, and with little opportunity for any useful feedback so they can prepare better next time.

On the other hand, a fan opinion vote, might be a bit of fun! Even if it was just to see how far off mark fan thinking is.  The problem is bodybuilding is a visual sport only, results are based on opinion, not who scores the most goals, or who crosses the line only.
Fans are not usually in front of the stage, even if in the audience, and watching on line or sitting in the audience, is not usually the best vantage point to see an athlete clearly.

So I think, love them or hate them,  qualified judges are the best way to decide a winner, even though we all hear of stories from athletes where some results can be somewhat questionable.

Anyway, Aleesha won it, and that seems to be considered the right decision here?

[Timmon]

Tell me the last time the judges told a male bodybuilder to scale down?..

You are right, but maybe the time that should have been done is already past.
I have great respect for Arnold, he is Bodybuilding, male and female. Some of the best FBB's idolise Arnold, he is their inspiration. 
Hear what he says here, in 2015. What he says applies to FBB as well, no doubt.

http://nationiron.com/arnold-schwarzenegger-criticise-todays-bodybuilding/

This is why Fans must never be allowed to decide the winner of a major competition, male or female.

[birmi482]

1. A few years ago, Aleesha was told  by a judge that she had  to loose 20 pounds in order to have a chance, she almost quit the sport!!!!! The IFBB through its judges try to reign in and prescribe to atletes how to look. Their desired look of slimmed down fbbs is contrary to what fans want. Polls show that the two girls with most muscle mass, Nataliya and Aleesha, are the nost popular fbbs.

2. Just compare competition pics of Aleesha from Chicagp to pics from comoetitions a few years ago and you will understand.

3. WOS run the show, because of their "compliance" with IFBB  they have to take their judges. WOS started as a fresh thinking contrarian enterprise when the IFBB wanted to shut down FBB alltogether. A pity that they don't continue the same line

4. Public voting is popular in today's world. I don't know which platform was used, how well advertised it was and who run it. WOS don't have even a proper functioning website,. But I believe that witj right marketing strategy  including all adpects, a wider global audience could be reached and online voting could become a success.

5. Athleted are human beings, the ones who make them clowns are the judges, not the fans

[Old Surehand]

 

[elma]

What do you think about:

a) the ones that train for physique should have the size of a lightweight or middleweight bodybuilder
b) that fbb should only have two categories: heavyweight and superheavyweight

[Timmon]

1. A few years ago, Aleesha was told  by a judge that she had  to loose 20 pounds in order to have a chance, she almost quit the sport!!!!! The IFBB through its judges try to reign in and prescribe to atletes how to look. Their desired look of slimmed down fbbs is contrary to what fans want. Polls show that the two girls with most muscle mass, Nataliya and Aleesha, are the nost popular fbbs.

2. Just compare competition pics of Aleesha from Chicagp to pics from comoetitions a few years ago and you will understand.

3. WOS run the show, because of their "compliance" with IFBB  they have to take their judges. WOS started as a fresh thinking contrarian enterprise when the IFBB wanted to shut down FBB alltogether. A pity that they don't continue the same line

4. Public voting is popular in today's world. I don't know which platform was used, how well advertised it was and who run it. WOS don't have even a proper functioning website,. But I believe that witj right marketing strategy  including all adpects, a wider global audience could be reached and online voting could become a success.

5. Athleted are human beings, the ones who make them clowns are the judges, not the fans

WOS could break away from IFBB (Actually NPC, they use the IFBB name for the moment, but IFBB Elite is the official IFBB, watch for a name change fairly soon) and become their own organisation. But Athletes will have to register with the new organisation of course.
Until then, if they want to be associated with NPC Pro League, they must follow the rules.

A new organisation that relies on fans to vote for the winner, no regulated judges? Hmmm... Maybe the athletes would like to put their sports careers in the hands of unregulated fans, I don't know, has anyone asked them?  A new organisation would probably have to hold contests that include the smaller athletes, unless the intention is to poach from other organisations. What about Bikini athletes? Don't ask me to vote, I would not have a clue where to start!

WOS are probably best to stay in NPC, they came into existence to save FBB. Mission accomplished so far, FBB is back on track I would say. There were hardly any contests at all 3 years ago.  I'd like to see athletes a bit more cut, Physique women seem to have taken over there.

I am sure Judges do not wish to make Athletes clowns! Without athletes, there is no NPC, and I don't see mass desertion at the moment. In fact NPC is doing very well, especially in Europe, where the IFBB Elite league is hemorrhaging Physique women as Elite don't want defined muscle, and they have no FBB at all. So from massive momentum in Elite in 2018, it is NPC Worldwide that are making gains in 2019, Elite have hardly any Physique contests at all.

So, until there is a viable alternative, and maybe WOS are thinking about it (?) we have for smaller women IFBB Elite, and for ripped Physique and FBB NPC  and NPC Pro League. 
I would dread athlete's awards being decided by some fans who may vote for biggest biceps or implants only, with no consideration for the athlete's overall quality.
What would be good to see, I agree, is more consistancy in judging, and fewer nods being given to the better known athletes, because they are better know.... yes it happens.
Unfortunately, this is the sport, and it happens in other sports as well, anyway.

But Aleesha won anyway. And a good sports association should also be giving some consideration to athlete's health. Sure we can continue geting bigger and bigger. But, we already have seen, the numbers of athletes dwindle. FBB numbers are now a fraction of what we had in the 1990's and early 2000's.  Because many women know the health price they will pay in a few years time.

[Timmon]

What do you think about:

a) the ones that train for physique should have the size of a lightweight or middleweight bodybuilder
b) that fbb should only have two categories: heavyweight and superheavyweight

Physique and FBB are different divisions, with different criteria, slightly different posing. Physique was originally brought in to replace FBB, but now is a valuable stepping stone as women develop and move up the divisions. Before Physique, it was Figure that filled that role. 

The criteria for entering Physique and FBB is already defined, and you can see the difference already. Many fans urge Physique athletes to go into FBB, Valentina Mishina is one. But although she looks big, but her next to an FBB and she is swamped. She just got her first win in Physique as a Pro, had she entered an FBB contest, she would have been very low down the placings.

Valentina recently said thanks to the fans who were begging her to swap to FBB, but she said she was listening to advice from the judges, and they said no to FBB, keep going in Physique. She listened, she won.

[birmi482]

WOS has done a lot to keep FBB alive. The big girls have definitively a place in bb land and they enjoy popularity, see the WOS stand at FIBO. But keep in mind that most prominent FBBs are at least 40 years old. There are four notable exceptions: Aleesha and the two Russian Nataliyas and Oana ftom Romania. In a recent insta**** post, Nataliya Amazonka or her social media manager argued that they a handful of powerlifters who would switch to fbb if the criterias changed and they wouldn't be penalised for their size. There are a number of girls who want to push the envelope, they should not be penalized for that. They have the right to do so, we are on open society, and if they want to compete, we should let them, in a class of their own. Other girls who do not want to become freakingly huge, could compete in classic class or Physique

[Timmon]

Yes it is a difficult situation.
Most FBB's are over 40, few new faces. Why? Because to compete in FBB you need to be big. So let a hand ful of powerlifters in to compete, does that resolve the problem?
More needs to be done to encourage Physique women to move on up. but many of them believe that is as big as they want to go, it is getting even tougher for them to reach the top due to the size.

One Physique athlete I spoke to, was champion Arnold 2010 and 11 Amateur, she started in Physique in 2016 thinking there was a big difference between FBB and Physique. "Different Divisions" she said.
"In Physique. I won't have to take so much medication to do well".  She had immediate success in Europe, and turned Pro twice last year. Now, as a Pro,  she is faced with training harder than she ever has, with more medication than ever, to get close to winning, even with the exceptional muscular perfection that she has. Had she turned Pro in 2011, she would have has a similar challenge, but in FBB.

So, the fans may want more size, but by the numbers of athletes wanting to please those fans, I don't see much motivation, do you?  Even Physique contests attract fewer athletes than we saw when FBB was in it's golden age, the fact is, the Athletes are all swarming around Bikini, Wellness etc. And not so many are moving on up.

Make FBB too big to win, and we will be back to square one. History already has shown this.
So women who don't want to get too big, are already stopping in their divisions, no problem there.  Because FBB is a step too far, so we only have an aging group of FBB's, and extending the boundaries even further from Physique, won't do much to help.

[birmi482]

I understand what you say. But the IFBB reputation of sizing down fbb has prevented big girls from strength sports to mi
ove in. i can undetstand that fitness/physique girls do not want to move up, but there are strong and big girls outside bb who would want to move in, given a fair chance in spite of their size. And as I already said, Aleesha and Nataliya Amazonkas popularity is because of their muscle mass

[birmi482]

bodybuilders who are 40 or more: Margie, Alina, Jay, Helle, Irene, Monique, Triple Dee, Sheila Bleck to name the most prominent.

Regarding powelifters not being welcome, I meant to say that the current regime of the IFBB judges punishing girls for size and muscle mass disencourages these bigger girls to join in