Virginia Sanchez Spotlight

I was born in Madrid, Spain, and I started to train lifting weights at my 17 years old, because of my father was a great sportsman. Just as I touched my first weight I fell in love with that and that feeling. I felt powerful like never before.

I always was shocked by beautiful and strong women in comics, and I decided to be one of them.

I like my job, I like to help and motivate people to get healthy, fit, and to feel better with themselves.

I train hard around two or three hours daily. It's my life, and I train even more before a contest or championship. I like to workout very hard every muscle, but I love to exercise my legs.

 

 

Dani Reardon Spotlight

My name is Dani Reardon. I am 23 years old and compete as an IFBB PRO in the women’s physique division. I have a masters degree in exercise physiology and absolutely love learning about the human body. I strongly believe in positive affirmations, a strong mind and consistency.

Aside from the hard work of training and eating correctly I also thrive on educating others on what I know and believe in.I feel as though giving a reason why something is done is just as important as telling someone what to do. I look forward to answering questions, and helping you reach your desired goals with nutrition and training manipulation.

Pro Card- NPC Nationals, (ATL, GA) 2012
2nd place- Southern States (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) 2012
1st / overall- Mid Florida (Orlando, FL) 2012
2nd place- SouthernUSA (PCB, FL) 2012

See more of Dani on Facebook & Instagram

Rose Brunner Spotlight

Rose Brunner is an IFBB Physique Pro, fitness model and personal trainer/nutrition consultant. Her healthy lifestyle began at an early age. Her mother was an aerobics instructor and there was never processed or "junk food" in the home. Sweets and "cheat meals" were saved for special occasions. Little did she know this would set the foundation and become her way of life.

Her bodybuilding career began in 1989 where she competed in women’s bodybuilding and mixed pairs. After getting married, she took time away from the sport to focus on her family and raise her two children. Rose returned to the stage in 2011 in the figure division. Figure was a great foundation to return to the sport but something was missing. In 2012, she switched to physique and fell in love with the sport all over again. The posing, the routines, and the energy from the crowd was all she needed to know this is where she belongs, it was the missing piece. With the help, support and guidance of Luis Santa, Rose received her pro card at Masters Nationals in Pittsburgh where she took 2nd place in class A.

Her philosophy of personal training goes beyond the gym. Health and fitness embodies not only the outer physical appearance of strength, commitment and hard work but also how it affects our soul. It breeds confidence, courage, empowers our soul, strengthens our spirit.

See more of Rose at rosebrunner.com, Facebook, Twitter & Tumblr

Abbye “Pudgy” Stockton

In our final Strong Women in History segment, I’d like to honor Abbye “Pudgy” Stockton - the Godmother of Modern Female Bodybuilding & Fitness.

Wikipedia - Abbye "Pudgy" Stockton (August 11, 1917 in Santa Monica, California – June 26, 2006) was a professional strongwoman and forerunner of present day female bodybuilders, who became famous through her involvement with Muscle Beach in the 1940s.

Abbye Eville was born on August 11, 1917, and moved to Santa Monica, California in 1924. She acquired the nickname "Pudgy" as a child, and the name stuck, even though she weighed approximately 115 pounds at a height of 5'2". She began dating UCLA student Les Stockton during her senior year of high school; they were married in 1941.

Stockton and her husband were frequent visitors to Muscle Beach, where they primarily worked on acrobatics and gymnastics. One of their most famous feats involved Pudgy serving as the "understander", supporting Les (180 pounds) over her head in a hand to hand stand. Pudgy quickly became a media favorite, and was included in pictorials in Life, Pic, and Laff. She was also featured in the newsreels Whatta Build and Muscle Town USA, as well as ads for Ritamine Vitamin Company and the Universal Camera Company. She estimated that she was featured on the cover of forty-two magazines by the end of the 1940s. She posed with many of the top male bodybuilders of the time, including John Grimek and Steve Reeves.

In 1944, Stockton began writing a regular column on women's training, "Barbelles", in Strength & Health magazine, then the most influential fitness magazine in the world. She also helped organize the first sanctioned weightlifting contests for women. The first of these contests with a sanction from the Amateur Athletic Union was held on February 28, 1947 at the Southwest Arena in Los Angeles. In that contest, Stockton pressed 100 pounds, snatched 105 pounds, and clean and jerked 135 pounds.

Physique contests for women were virtually non-existent in the 1940s, and Stockton held only one such title during her career - she was named "Miss Physical Culture Venus" in 1948. She was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame in 2000.Pudgy and husband Les had a daughter. Les died on April 19, 2004 at the age 87 from melanoma. Abbye died on June 26, 2006 at the age of 88 from complications due to Alzheimer's disease.

 

55 year old female bodybuilder Michele Ward

Once I started gaining size I loved it and was addicted. Canadian bodybuilder Michele Ward is an effortlessly elegant woman. Whether dressed to kill in a sexy cocktail frock or relaxing in jeans and jumper, she exudes femininity and class.

But stick a loaded barbell in front of her and this fabulous 55-year-old becomes an iron-pumping animal hell bent on building muscle!

Michele, who ha a 23-year-old son, only picked up her first weight in 2004 at the age of 46.
But she has been determinedly pumping iron ever since, and has built a truly breath-taking physique.

Read more at RealFemaleBodybuilding 

Strong Women: Miss Robinson

Miss Robinson could support 1560 lbs with her shoulders.

Sherri Gray Spotlight

I thought I would give everyone a little background about myself to get to know me a bit on a personal level. I am married with 2 children.

I work full time as an Instrumentation Engineer for a Pharmaceutical company and also work part time as a personal trainer at 2 local gyms.

My husband, John, is the owner of Custom Home Furniture Galleries here in Wilmington and is my biggest supporter. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the love and support of my husband and children. I began competing in 2007, but started in the Figure division.

I did several shows and won a show and placed 2nd in another, but the following year I was being told I was too muscular for the physique they were trying to direct Figure. The judges suggested I switch to bodybuilding.

I thought I would take their advice and see how I liked it. I started training in the spring of 2008 to compete in bodybuilding by changing my diet a bit and my training style. I did my first show in April of 2009 where I won my class and the overall. I also did Jr.USA’s and placed second that same year.

I decided to stick with the bodybuilding because I enjoyed it and felt it fit my personality my style of training. I trained hard and competed at the Arnold Amateur in 2010 where I placed 2nd in the Middleweight division.

In September 2010, I competed at the North Americans and won the Middleweight division in both the Open and Masters 35+ classes. I truly enjoy the challenge of bodybuilding and watching my body change by how I train and eat.

I have developed a passion for it and hope my habits set a good example for eating clean and staying healthy for my kids, family and friends.

See more of Sherri at sherrigrayfitness.com, Facebook & Twitter

Circus Strongwomen

Before bodybuilding & fitness, there wasn’t much demand for muscular women outside of the Circus Sideshow. Here are a few nameless women that paved the way so long ago.