This sleek and muscled 25 year old from Austin, Texas is Melissa Merritt. Melissa won the Figure Overall title in Las Vegas at the Fitness America World Championships on November 21, 2008. Melissa just ran a Fitness Bootcamp with fellow fitness stars Abby Marie and Brenda Mikalajunas. Abby Marie is also being trained by Melissa.
Stay at home Mom, IFBB Bodybuilder, former IFBB Figure Pro and fitness model Karen Zaremba. Karen was born on January 27, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan.
Contest History: 2003- Michigan Novice Bodybuilding championships- overall 2004- Central States Figure championships- overall 2005- Junior USA's - third place Class A 2005- Junior Nationals- third place class A 2005- NPC National Figure Championships- second place class A, earned IFBB pro card 2007 Europa Super Show - 8th place lightweights
Melissa Dettwiller was born on November 12, 1977 in Houma, Louisiana. She is a female bodybuilder and fitness model. Melissa actually began her bodybuilding training at the age of 15. She combines the sleek form of a fitness model, and the size of a bodybuilder which makes her very popular online.
Contest History: 2004 NPC John Shermann Classic (Houston, TX) – 1st Place 2005 NPC Southern Classic (Jackson, MS) – 2nd Place 2005 NPC Jr. Nationals - 2nd Place 2005 NPC Louisiana State Championship - 1st Place 2005 NPC USA Championship - 10th Place 2006 NPC Jr. Nationals - 3rd Place 2006 NPC USA Championship - 7th Place 2007 NPC Team Universe Bodybuilding - New York - 1st place
Laura Coleman is an up and coming fitness model and competitor. She's 5'7" and weighs 127. I was only able to find two competitions Laura has been in, she placed 4th at the 2005 Los Angeles Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships, Class F and she came in 1st in Figure F at the 2007 Los Angeles Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships. Laura has appeared in Oxygen, Ironman, Muscle Mag and Muscular Development. And as far as I can tell, she is in a relationship with retired IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Eryk Bui.
Dora Trikoupis is a National Figure Competitor, a Fitness Model and she does online training and nutrition. She has competed in:
2006-Eastern USA Championships-Figure: Class A (4th place) 2007-Bev Francis Atlantic States Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Championships-Figure: Class A (10th place) 2008-NPC Mike Francois Classic Bodybuilding and Figure Championships (8th place) 2008-NPC Lehigh Valley Bodybuilding and Figure Contest (3rd place) 2008-NPC Junior National Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure Championships (13th place) 2008-NPC USA Bodybuilding and Figure Championships (10th place)
Fawnia Mondey (Fawnia Mondey-Dietrich) was born in September 24th,1975, in Kamloops, BC Canada. She has appeared in Flex, Muscle & Fitness, Oxygen, MuscleMag International, American Curves, and Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness. Fawnia is a dance instructor, fitness model, producer, actress and columnist. Ever notice how these ladies diversify?
Contest History: 1st Canada's Edmonton Champion 95/96 1st Canada's Western Champion 95/96 1st Canada's Rookie of the Year 95/96 3rd Miss Hawaiian Topic - British Columbia, Canada 97and 99 1st place 1999 Muscle & Fitness Mania Women's Lightweight Bodybuilding 2nd place 2003 BC Championships Figure – short 5th place 2003 Sophie’s Swimwear Pageant 9th place 2004 Canadian Nationals Figure – medium 3rd Place 2005 Emerald Cup Figure 5’3” - 5’4” 2005 NPC Pittsburgh Amateur & Pro Show – up to 5’4”
And this lady also wrestles. No not for the WWE, she REALLY wrestles as in she got 4th place at the FreeStyle Wrestling B.C. Provincials in 1993.
And if she still looks familiar and you don't know why, she's appeared in "The Outer Limits", "The X Files" and "Millennium".
IFBB Figure Pro Erin Stern is from Wellington, Florida. She's a fairly new face, but I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of her. Before entering competition, she competed in track and field at the University of Florida. Her specialty was the high jump and hurdles. When she's not competing, she works in the real estate industry. Contest history : 2003 NPC, Gainesville 2008 NPC National Figure, won F class (over 5'7") and got her IFBB Pro Card.
This 5'8", 136 pound beauty can bench press 193 lbs, deadlift 230 lbs, and squat 230 lbs.
This stunning young lady is NPC figure competitor Jodie Minear. Not only has Jodie got a great physique, but those piercing green eyes could stop anyone in their tracks. Jodie appeared in the 2009 FLEX Swimsuit Issue.
Contest History: 2008 NPC Ronnie Coleman Classic, Figure: Overall, Figure: Class D (1st) 2008 NPC Figure Nationals Figure: Class F (2nd)
Kristina (Tina) Rojas is an IFBB Fitness pro athlete and personal trainer from McAllen, TX. One of the people that helped train Kristina is Fitness Olympia and Fitness International Champion Adela Garcia. Working with Adela must have payed off because Kristina earned her pro card at the age of 20.
Contest history: 2007 NPC John Sherman Classic Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Championships - 1st place 2007 NPC National Championships - 1st place 2008 IFBB 15th Annual Sports/Fitness Weekend and Europa IFBB Super Show - 9th place 2009 IFBB Europa Super Show and Supplement Expo
Canadian IFBB Professional bodybuilder Cindy Phillips. She was born on October 31, 1983 in Nova Scotia, Canada. Cindy is currently studying criminology at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Contest History: 2003 Nova Scotia Championship - 2nd (LW) 2004 Canadian Nationals - Junior (under 21) champion 2005 Nova Scotia Championship - 1st (MW & Overall) 2006 Canadian Nationals - 2nd (MW) 2007 Canadian Nationals - 2nd (MW)
IFBB Pro figure competitor, fitness model and certified personal trainer, Catherine Holland was born on March 21, 1980 in Portland, Oregon. This lovely young lady holds BS and MS degrees in Exercise and Sport Science from Oregon State University. In addition to Figure Competitions, she is a business owner and instructor of Celebration Boot Camps. She has competed in the:
2004 NPC Northwest Natural Figure Championships: Overall 2005 Oregon Ironman Figure: 1st place over 5’6” 2005 Emerald Cup Figure: 7th place 5’6-5’8” 2006 Emerald Cup Figure: 13th place 5’6-5-8” 2006 NPC Jr. National Figure Championship: 9th Place Class D 2007 NPC Jr. National Figure Championship: 12th Place Class F 2007 NPC Figure Team Universe: 16th place Class F 2007 NPC Figure USA’s: 16th place Class E 2008 Emerald Cup Figure: 2nd place Class F 2008 NPC JR USA Figure Championship: 1st place class E 2008 NPC JR NATIONALS Figure Championships: 1st place, Class E, and new IFBB FIGURE PRO
You can see and learn more about Catherine at her website: http://www.catherinefitness.com/
INBF - NANBF Figure Pro Elizabeth Beardslee (occasionally you'll see her name spelled Elizabeth Beardsley)
This lovely young lady has competed in: 2006 XPEL Best Body Swimsuit Contest - 1st place 2006 Natural Hercules International - INBF, Figure Short, 2nd place 2006 INBF Best Body / Naturalmania Bodybuilding & Fitness Extravaganza- 3rd place 2007 XPEL Best Body Swimsuit Contest-3rd place 2007 Northeast America - INBF, Figure-3rd place 2008 XPEL Best Body Swimsuit Contest, Tall Class-6th place
One of the things that I like about doing this blog is that I get to feature all types of women here. And thank you to the people out there that have commented on the diversity of the women I've presented.
Today's entry is Katka Kyptova. Katka is a fitness competitor, bench press competitor, personal trainer, coach and Pilates instructor. She was born on September 19th, 1983 in Mladá Boleslav, in the Czech Republic. She stands 5'5, and weighs from 138.9lbs contest weight to 169.7lbs off season.
This is beautiful Italian IFBB professional Cristiana Casoni.
Cristiana is 5'4 and weighs 136 pounds. She was born on July 11th, 1968. Cristiana has been in the fitness scene quite awhile as you can see here in her contest history.....
1997 IFBB Italian Pro Fitness, 5th place 1997 IFBB Norway Pro Fitness, 11th place 1998 IFBB Arnold Classic And Internationals, 14th place 1998 IFBB France Pro Fitness, 9th place 1998 IFBB Italian Pro Fitness, 8th place 1998 IFBB Jan Tana Pro, 16th place 1998 IFBB Fitness Olympia, 11th place 1999 IFBB Mid-West Pro Fitness, 3rd place 1999 IFBB Olympia, 12th place 2000 IFBB Rimini Pro Fitness, 6th place 2005 IFBB Toronto Pro, 5th place
And it looks like Cristiana is coming back. Here's a clip on YouTube of Mauro Sassi training Cristiana for the Atlantic City Pro Bodybuilding 2009 (September 11-12).
Of all the the female fitness models I've done on this blog, Monique Minton is hands down the favorite. This lovely figure competitor and spokes model has scored again, appearing on what I think is her second Flex Magazine cover. And this five foot, ten inch, one hundred and fifty pound, half filipinia beauty has added to her contest history since my first write up. In addition to her other figure competitions, you can now add 1st place at the 2009 NPC USA Bodybuilding & Figure Championships. Yes Monique took first place!
What's next for her? Well I have heard rumors of a possible MMA career. Over at PureFight they have an interview with Monique after she won a gold medal in the no gi division at Naga Europa. You can see it here. Can you imagine Monique Minton in the steel cage?
This young lady is Julie Comer, a NASM certified personal trainer that according to her BodySpace page, wants to become a female fitness model. I think she's already there. Julie started out training when she hit 175 pounds after a knee injury and look at her now. Another example that you CAN reach your goals. You can find out more about Julie at her website: http://www.juliecomer.com/ Or check out her Bodyspace page here: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/fitjulie/
Here's another look at the beautiful Lisa Cheng, aka "The Hong Kong Spider Woman".
I can't find a lot of info on Lisa except for her contest history:
Asian Championships (2007) - Women Body Fitness 160cm, 7th place Asian Championships (2007) - Women Fitness 160cm 4th place Asian Championships (2008) - Women Body Fitness, 3rd place Asian Championships (2008) - Women Fitness 160cm, 4th place
I really wish I knew if she was thinking about continuing with her MMA training.
Michiko Nishiwaki (Nishiwaki Michiko) , was born on November 21, 1957 in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan. She is a former female bodybuilder, powerlifter, actress, fitness trainer, stunt woman, martial artist and fight choreographer. Michiko started out, as a lot of fitness stars did, in gymnastics. She looked into bodybuilding when she noticed how large her legs were when compared to her upper body, hoping that weightlifting would give her better symmetry. Michiko became a powerlifter, Japan's first female powerlifting champion and eventually Japan's first female bodybuilding champion. This was very unusual for a woman in Japanese society at that time. She also opened three fitness clubs with her brother. Michiko began her acting career in 1985 when she caught the eye of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. (How many careers has Jackie Chan launched?) She appeared in his film "My Lucky Stars" a Hong Kong martial arts/comedy film as a Japanese fighter. Michiko landed several roles in Hong Kong movies after that, usually playing a villain or a femme fatale. After that, she returned to Japan, but then went to Thailand and made a few more films. Eventually she landed in the US and began a career as a stunt woman appearing in a lot of movies you may have seen, but had no idea that she was in. As a stunt woman she appeared in Blade, Man on the Moon, Charlie's Angels, Rush Hour 2, The Scorpion King, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, Memoirs of a Geisha and Resident Evil: Extinction. She also worked on 2009's Afro Ninja as Yuko. Michiko has stunt doubled for Lucy Liu in four films and Kelly Hu in one.
Here she is in a clip from her first movie, "My Lucky Stars"...
You can find out even more about Michiko at her website here: http://www.geocities.com/michikonishiwaki/index.html
This beautiful young lady is Linda Minard. She is an actress and fitness model born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Monterey Bay, California. Now I hope you are sitting down reading this. Linda is married and the mother of four children! And she is almost forty! That should inspire anyone out there! And talk about active, she has tried her hand at Judo, Karate, tennis, shot-put, discus, triple jump, hurdles, sprint relays, cheerleading, mountain biking, snowboarding, trapeze catches, rock climbing, adventure running, and natural bodybuilding. Is that enough?
As far as her acting goes, she is in a movie with Steven Seagal called "Driven to Kill" and is working on another film called "The Red Rooster".
She earned her Pro card at the 2008 FAME Canadian Nationals and I'm hoping we see a lot more of this lady up on the stage and the screen.
And here is the lady that handed Satoko Shinashi her first loss, Hisae Watanabe. Hisae was born on October 21, 1980 in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. She has been competeing since 2002 and is a former DEEP Ladies' Lightweight champion with a MMA record of 19-6-0.
