2014 NABBA UNIVERSE

[Barry Allen]

MISS TRAINED FIGURE II
       

Who is this woman? She has a very distinctive look to her.

[Timmon]

[Timmon]

MISS TRAINED FIGURE II
     
"Barry Allen"
"Who is this woman? She has a very distinctive look to her."

It's competitor number 3, Italian athlete Lara Guadagni     http://saradas.org/index.php?topic=207585.msg933770#msg933770

[alison brundage]

Timmon......great work.  Big thank-you for that.
A few things that strike me 
1)  The posing suits...my my !   With the number of striated glutes there....they are definitely shown to their greatest advantage !
2) A few girls fell asleep in the tanning booth
3) In general, there's some outstanding work I see with some impressive balance.
4) The larger posing suit tops that hide the edges of the artificial breast implants do a dis-justice to upper torso development.  Distracting.
5) USA left the building...what happened there?

thanks again Timmon...
ALISON

[Timmon]

Timmon......great work.  Big thank-you for that.
A few things that strike me 
1)  The posing suits...my my !   With the number of striated glutes there....they are definitely shown to their greatest advantage !
2) A few girls fell asleep in the tanning booth
3) In general, there's some outstanding work I see with some impressive balance.
4) The larger posing suit tops that hide the edges of the artificial breast implants do a dis-justice to upper torso development.  Distracting.
5) USA left the building...what happened there?

thanks again Timmon...
ALISON

Thanks Alison, hope you had a great Christmas, and hope you have an injury free New Year!

1) Yes, NABBA believe in showing off the physique, so if an athlete is comfortable with a skimpy suit, that's fine, and I'm sure it does no harm to their placing!
2) I guess so, I'm no expert here living in chilly Britain!
3) I think NABBA athletes are amongst the best in the world, but coverage of contests is generally poor throughout the years, so evidence to support my view is hard to come by. I tend to refer to NABBA as the "real" bodybuilding organisation, as they tended to let the athletes go where they wanted to win, but maybe that is also dangerous, and a certain "nanny" set of rules is needed to prevent athletes from harming themselves?
4) Totally agree. FBB's should be Bodybuilders, not Boobybuilders, the current trend for implants is unfortunate. If they looked a bit more realistic, it might help, but athletes just don't normally have large breasts, naturally, so the whole look is spoilt, and because they look so artificial, also unfeminine. But, as has been pointed out to me, if it boosts the individual athletes personal confidence, that is more important than worrying about those that have to look at them.
5) USA have not historically featured strongly in NABBA contests. The organisation originated in the UK, and the premier Universe contest is staged here. Same as European athletes find it expensive to compete in the USA, I guess it's costly to come to Europe for USA athletes, thus both sides of the pond are restricted on appearances. USA have loads of organisations other than NCP / IFBB, and in Europe, the NABBA organisation is the biggest independant we have. If NABBA USA gathered more members, I guess we will see more athletes from the US and Canada. Having said that, NABBA is strong in South America, so maybe North Amarica will "catch up" eventually, but you do have a lot of other organisations to choose from, so that will dilute any NABBA USA growth, I imagine.

[alison brundage]

Thanks for your inputs Timmon.   I'm thankful for your appreciation of the sport and all your contributions here.
Alison

[Timmon]

Overall Figure and awards.

[alison brundage]

Unbelievable.   Figure huh ?!?   ( I'm remembering bodybuilder Rachael McLish in '84)   Times have changed.   Great !!!!   
 I watched the Miss Universe contest last night.  Not much muscles on those bones in the bathing suit contest.  No one with any arm or leg shape.   Straight line top to bottom.   A few breasts n butts but not much else.
ALISON

[Timmon]

Hi Alison,
Yes, NABBA originally introduced Figure, many years before IFBB followed suit, to give a stop gap answer for those athletes "in development" on their way to "main event" or no one would have been able to compete for years due to lack of size! I guess the Universe you saw last night was the beauty kind, rather than a bodybuilding event? It is amazing to remember that there was Miss World in the 70's and before, standard beauty contests. Then, the next step was taken by Rachel, and a few before her showed slightly increased muscle tone, for a woman. Now, the bodybuilding world itself has had to build in levels, to enable those building muscle to compete at various stages of development! The Rachel days were exciting, we never saw anything like it before, women who were prepared to show off their muscles, without fear and in defiance of all who objected. Every event saw even more stunning athletes, more definition, bigger, better, the rate of progress was staggering! Within a few years, Rachel was left far behind, yet in her day, she was unbelievable! Still is today, in my view, but could not win a contest.
In some ways, I wish we could wipe the slate and start again. They were amazing times! The NABBA figure athletes, do remind me a bit of those times, exciting physiques, and lots of flexing.

[alison brundage]

Interesting.  Your explanation makes a ton of sense.   I would be pretty intimidated if there were not some realistic goal.  At the time I was in competition we felt almost a bit discriminated against for having muscle.  Kay Baxter, Pillow and I shed a few post contest tears over some blenderized alcoholic protein drinks  when the less muscular gals seemed to be getting the judges nod.  Yup...times have changed.   How reassuring to me to see all these girls in various classes.  The gates are now open.   Thank God.
Alison