Alison Brundage

[zig563]

Well Zig.....I stay moving.   I'm trying to unlock a partially frozen left shoulder using trigger point therapy on myself with some limited success.  ( remember that tool and book I told you about?)   Every time I push upper body workouts I seem to tweak my shoulder/scapula a bit.  No doubt there is some tear in the rotator cuff ....not uncommon at my age.   I am able to push the wave ski action without difficulty because all the force  is low ( not above my head) .   Drag getting old...but it is what it is what can I say?   I just do what I can....stop if it hurts and try to evaluate how I can make what's hurt better.   Anyway...good to hear from you.   Stay in touch.
ALISON

I have the same type shoulder issues as you know Alison. Maybe even worse and yes you must keep moving that area in particular. After a big surgery on one of mine they had me doing rehab at home within days just to keep the scar tissue from building and it freezing up. I have tried the trigger points and continue with it...some success...some of the points are hard to get at which is where the tools come in...or even balls.

I'll write you soon with some other interesting things I've learned and that have been effective with stretches, movements, and light weights being used to strengthen the labrum as many of us (me too) have overused certain  parts of the shoulder and not worked the back as much. The pain in front is often from not working in the back and poor posture or leaning the shoulders forward.

You look great. Talk to you soon and hope all is well!

[alison brundage]

Got both at Amazon.com.  DMSO and strong menthol massage of the trigger points in my shoulder girdle have increased my range of motion and shoulder power without pain in the gym.  I go carefully in the gym.  By the time you hit my age...most of us walk around with rotator cuff tears already.

ALISON

then                                                now

[alison brundage]

[alison brundage]

Merry Christmas  !!!!!






Keep moving and enjoying your days.........
ALISON
71 1/2 yr old...and still movin !

...this one's from the way-back-when era.........................83 or so???

[beowulff]

Merry Christmas, Alison.

[alison brundage]

Merry Christmas, Alison.

Thanks !!!!!!...luv you guys
Alison

[mooveeguy]

Alison, with regard to the pics of you snorkeling, were they recent? Were the pictures taken with an underwater camera or a camera in a waterproof housing?

[alison brundage]

Nikonos underwater camera....1980 or so...Oahu

[jg300]

Hi Alison! Thank you for sharing your life stories. I found them very interesting. I am impressed by how you looked even before you started bodybuilding, especially the picture where you were carrying a surfboard on page 20 of this thread. It is hard for me to believe that you didn't lift weights back then. Take it as a compliment from me.

I have a few questions for you out of curiousity and because I like the way you tell your stories. These questions all refer to the time from your childhood to adulthood but before you started bodybuilding.

- When did you first notice that you had muscles? How did you notice them?
- As a child, teenager, or even as an adult (before you started bodybuilding), did you ever "explore" your muscularity by flexing in front of a mirror in private? If so, how did that go?
- Were there people who admired or were curious about your muscles and asked you to flex for them?
- Was there a time when your muscles "disappeared" or looked less toned under a layer of fat or were they always toned like in your pictures?

If you have time, it will be great to see more pictures from the pre-bodybuilding era. I am also curious to see how you looked as a child and/or teenager.

[jg300]

P.S. The smiley is supposed to be a smiling face. It appears to be grinning instead of smiling. Lol.

[alison brundage]

- When did you first notice that you had muscles? How did you notice them?
I was a little girl.  My dad had a used furniture store.  He'd always be moving furniture from one place to another....and I'd help him.  My parents called me "Powerful Katrinka"  .  Powerful Katrinka  was a comic strip character popular in the 1930's






** Was I ever fascinated with my muscularity as a child or teen?   NO !   I was VERY self conscious.  I absolutely hated how I looked.  I was made fun of as kid in school for being muscular.  Remember I graduated HS in 1963.   Muscular women then were considered "queer".   Popular girls were very thin and feminine.

**Were there people who were fascinated about my muscularity and who asked me to flex?  No.  That came later when I was in my mid 30's and began lifting weights and bodybuilding for the first time in my life.  By then it was popular. Of course that healed a lot of wounds I had about who I was as a naturally muscular woman.  When WSP came out and stories about muscular women were printed I loved it. Finally I had a new sisterhood of women who were like me.  Two of my first friends I met while in competition were Pillow and Kay Baxter.  It was comforting to have friends such as these women.

** Was there ever a time when my muscles disappeared ?
No, I'm 72 now and still look muscular as I did when I was in my 20's
 This was taken a couple of years ago.


I was in my 20's here.  Never lifted a weight other than this turtle.

I won the first FBB competition in Hawaii where I lived after 6 months of training.  You don't add much muscle if any in 6 months.  I never took steroids.  I won every FBB contest I entered in Hawaii...can't count.   Probably 80% (or more) of the muscle I ended up with was what I started with.  What I learned was how to pump up and control in posing what I already had.  I had excellent advice in coaching early.  That happened pretty much by chance.  I never sought out a coach nor to be a FBB and compete in contests.  I was feeling fat and joined a gym to merely get in shape.  Through that gym I met a fellow who was a weight trainer for the U of Hawaii football team and worked with Bil Starr ( he wrote The Strongest Shall Survive) .   Both these guys ( my coach Steve Dussia and Bill Starr) came out of eastern USA and rubbed elbows with the guys at York weights in Pennsylvania.  They were experts in weight training.  Steve saw my potential and conned me into training for the very first FBB contest in Hawaii.  It was all an adventure...an experiment.  The gym I trained in was all hand made other than an Olympic set and a power rack.  It was all constructed out of pipes and pulleys just for me in Steve's backyard.  I trained in total isolation.  I was very fortunate to have this experience.  I love weight lifting to this day and am extremely grateful to those who helped and encouraged me.


Steve Dussia my coach and good friend... posing practice for a doubles competition .  He took this pic BTW...on a timer.  He developed it in his bathroom.  Everything was old school .  Steve made bodybuilding fun for me.  Great times we had !  An adventure

Alison

I assumed most of the early women were naturals.  I was pretty naive as to the steroid issue until after I quit in the early 80's when it was fairly obvious there was chemical help happening. I was old then ( coming into my late 30's) and with steroids on the scene there was no point in my continuing competition.   I think I was not alone in this exit....other naturals left as well.   End of that era.
ALISON

[alison brundage]

Old pics....I don't have many on the computer

That's my mom who was probably my age ( 70's ...maybe late 60's ) when the pic was taken.  She was very physically capable .



I was about 20 here...that was before I started surfing.  I began surfing in my later 20's. 





It was this surfing activity that grew my arms, shoulders and back

[jg300]

Thanks for the detailed response and pictures! It seems to me based on your pictures that you were no that muscular before you began surfing. Your muscles started to show after you started surfing. Of course I'm only basing it on the pics you've shown and the black and white pics are small so I cannot see much detail there.

It is so awesome to have a bodybuilding legend such as you who is so humble and willing to chat with her fans.

[alison brundage]

Hey...I'm happy to be considered a legend and to have a fan.  I'm nothing special . 
Yes the obvious muscular look appeared more so after surfing. As a kid I was stocky.  Bill and I lived in  Hawaii where the waves were intense and large.  We both had night/evening jobs and surfed together every day  there was waves.   I had a natural tendency to gain muscle mass with activity.  Mesomorph type

The waves we rode were big.  This is me riding Sunset Beach in a ladies professional surfing contest

[jg300]

The waves look really high. You must be a good surfer.