IS BIGGER BEST IN WOMEN'S BODYBUILDING ?
The answer to the question in the title of this article could be answered with a simple...or maybe not so simple..... NO!
With the NPC Nationals just finished for 2011, the question was raised to me again as it has been for many years. Is it better to be bigger? Should I be the biggest in the heavyweight class to be noticed? Is size really important? Don't heavyweights always seem to win the overall. Don't you have to be big to ever hope to be competitive in the pro ranks? And of course all of the above mentioned questions depend on just what an individual perceives as 'big'.
The answers to these queries may be surprising when the numbers are broken down along with who has been successful and what has transpired over the past two decades.
For purposes of this article I have chosen to go back to 1990 and cover the past 22 years right up to our current overall winner – heavyweight Michelle Cummings. It's a very interesting journey.
Almost from the very beginning of bodybuilding competitions for women, the fear of just how big the women might get has been a hot topic with the entire spectrum of opinions as to the positives and negatives within the sport's advancing years. Undeniably there has been an evolution in the overall muscular development of the female, but has it been as dramatic as many say?
In it's earliest years, the heavyweight class experienced changes in just what qualified as a heavyweight. In fact, in the very beginning there wasn't even a heavyweight class. In the very early 80's any competitor weighing over 114 pounds was a middleweight. The heavyweight class made its first appearance in 1982. At the IFBB World Amateur Championships the heavyweight division didn't arrive until 1986. Since then, and at the NPC Nationals, the weight that qualified as a heavyweight has changed occasionally. In 1991, a 130-pound competitor was a heavyweight. Today 140 pounds puts a contestant in the heavyweight class.
If there is a downside to being a heavyweight, it would be that if you do weigh a shade over 140 pounds it's likely you will be competing against women who can outweigh you by as much as 40 pounds or more. No other weight class carries that kind of wide poundage variance within the class. On the upside, however, if you are a heavyweight and you win the class, odds are in your favor that you have the best chance to win the overall – with a past history of overall champions at the NPC Nationals that can support that fact.
SO DOES SIZE REALLY MATTER?
Many ask what constitutes a “true” heavyweight. There is really no hard and fast answer to that question, but based on the past 22 years, a weight of 180 pounds seems to be the magic mark that sets the biggest-of-the-big apart from the rest of the heavyweight class. In ten NPC National contests over the past 22 years, contestants over 180 pounds did not appear. But on 16 occasions in those same 22 years competitors did weigh in at over 180 at various NPC National events.
In 1990 where a field of 29 women competed in the HW class, Nicole Bass was the heaviest competitor at 175 pounds and there were only two entrants over the 160-pound mark. But the eventual winner that year was Nikki Fuller weighing 149 pounds.
A year later Pennsylvanian Kim King earned the HW class victory at a mere 131 ½ pounds. No competitor weighed over 180 and only two were over the 160 mark. In the years since King's victory, no other HW competitor has weighed less. King also won the overall.
The 1992 Nationals did not produce a competitor over the 180-pound mark, as New Jersey's Laura Bass won the HW class weighing 145 pounds. The event was particularly competitive with future USA overall champion and Ms. Olympia runner-up Denise Rutkowski placing third, while fifth-placer Annie Rivieccio – a future NPC National overall winner and third-place finisher at the Ms. O – both competing at under 140 pounds. In a sizable field of 31 HW's at this contest, the heaviest contestant weighed 157 pounds.
The 1993 National event featured two competitors over the 180-pound mark for the first time. Nicole Bass tipped the scales at 190 ½ pounds, with Florida's Ann-Marie Crooks checking in at 183 ½. Neither won the class in a field of 25 contestants. The winner was Florida's Yvonne Vazquez who weighed in at just 143 pounds.
The 1994 Nationals was a carbon copy of '93 with two competitors topping the 180 mark. Nicole Bass upped her bodyweight to198 pounds finishing sixth, and Ann-Marie Crooks dropped to 180 pounds - nearly missing the HW victory finishing second. The victory went to another Floridian, Rozann Keyser, weighing 148 pounds. Sixteen women entered the HW class at this event.
In 1995 just 11 contestants entered the HW class with only the ever-present Nicole Bass topping the 180-pound mark at 192. But the HW victory went to Minnesota's Chris Bongiovanni who weighed 142 pounds. So, in the six years from 1990 to 1995, no NPC National HW winner weighed over 150 pounds.
The 1996 Nationals would, however, show a dramatic swing from the previous six years. The 23-women field featured three competitors weighing over the 180-pound mark. Nicole Bass once again led the HW class weigh-in falling just a 1/4-pound short of 200 at 199 ¾ pounds. Ann-Marie Crooks tipped the scale at 185 ¾, and Lesa Lewis added her 180-pound physique to the trio. In the final placings, Bass finished second, Crooks placed third, and Lewis landed fourth. The winner was Texan Betty Pariso, and her bodyweight of 153 ¼ pounds was the heaviest among the HW winners since 1990. Seventeen women in this HW class weighed over 148 pounds. And among those were three future NPC National overall champions. Lora Ottenad at 169 pounds failed to place. But ten years later in 2006 and at a bodyweight of 170 she won the NPC National overall crown. Seventh-placer Annie Rivieccio would win the 2003 HW and overall National titles, and Sixth-placer Heather Foster would claim the 2000 NPC National HW and overall titles. Finally, eighth-placed HW Sheilahe Brown, weighing 148 pounds, would go on to win the NPC USA Physique division overall in 2011 - 15 years later!
With Nicole Bass taking the runner-up slot in 1996, the 1997 NPC National HW title was well within her grasp, and grasp it she did with a bodyweight of 204 pounds. She also captured the overall National title becoming the largest female competitor ever – at 6-2, 204 pounds – to win the NPC Nationals. Bass was also the only contestant over the 180-pound mark as Lesa Lewis weighed in at 174 pounds. Of Bass's 204-pound bodyweight, it was pointed out at the time that Shawn Ray had weighed 205 at the Mr. Olympia two months earlier. This impressive 1997 field also included an emerging star named Iris Kyle weighing 150 pounds and placing fourth.
Nineteen ninety-eight saw just one competitor top the 180 mark among 18 contestants – and it was Ann Marie Crooks at 191 pounds – the heaviest she had ever competed. After having placed in the top four on three previous outings at the NPC Nationals, her eighth-place finish at this event was crushing. And as the antithesis to Nicole Bass's victory a year earlier, the HW division in 1998 went to Floridian Christi Wolf at a shredded 136 ½ pounds – the smallest HW winner since Kim King in 1991.
Another of Florida's seemingly endless line of fine HW competitors, Sharon Robelle won the 1999 NPC National HW title weighing in at 140 pounds. Meanwhile in a field of 14 contestants, Californian Jasmin Johnson was the heaviest competitor at these Nationals weighing in at 190 pounds. She finished 11th.
Entering the new millennium there was a four-year drought on competitors weighing over the 180 pound mark at the Nationals. But on the other hand, the average weight of the entrants of the HW class was on the rise. In 2000 New Yorker Heather Foster won the HW and overall titles weighing 160 pounds. Chasing Foster was Lora Ottenad in second at 170 pounds. Fourth-place went to 150-pound Sheilahe Brown in a field of 17 contestants.
In 2001 it was 145-pound Pennsylvanian Beth Roberts in a large field of 29 competitors winning the HW and overall titles. Of the 29 women entered in this class, none were heavier than 165, but 12 topped the 150 mark.
Another large field of 25 HW's competed in 2002 with 143-pound Sarah Dunlap winning the HW and overall crowns. Lurking in this outstanding HW group was 168-pound Heather Policky (Armbrust) placing fifth. Bonny Priest placed seventh, and Gina Davis – a future NPC National overall winner - was a distant 13th. Heather Darling topped this 2002 field in weight - checking in at 178.
In the largest NPC Nationals field during the years from 1990 to 2011, Annie Rivieccio nailed down the top HW spot and added the overall title in 2003 to earn pro status on her ninth entry at the Nationals. Rivieccio weighed in at 156 pounds, as did runner-up Mimi Jabalee. Lora Ottenad claimed the third spot weighing 170 ¾. Another outstanding up-and-coming star who also weighed in at 156 pounds was sixth-placer Sheila Bleck. The heaviest competitor among the 32 entrants was Amber DeLuca at 175 pounds.
Two competitors over the 180-pound mark in 2004 broke the string of four years without a 'big' HW at the NPC Nationals when Heather Darling at 191 pounds and Ella Williams at 182 checked in. Darling and Williams placed 15th and 16th respectively. But the interesting story at this contest was Texan Gina Davis who captured the HW and overall titles at 156 pounds. More impressive was the fact that she had finished 13th in 2002, 7th in 2003, and first at this event. Second went to Lora Ottenad weighing 172, with 162-pound Mimi Jabalee, and Isabel Turell at 170 also in the 16-contestant HW field. Most notably, 14 of the 16 HW entrants weighed over the 150-pound mark. The 2004 NPC Nationals also marked the inclusion of the new light-heavyweight class which may have accounted for the drop from 32 contestants in 2003 to 16 in 2004.
In 2005 one contestant reached the 180 mark when Amber DeLuca weighed in right at 180 pounds in the 22-woman HW field. Heavyweight class winner Mimi Jabalee checked in at 150 pounds – a drop from the 162-pound weight she posted a year earlier. Also in this class was 169-pound Lora Ottenad placing 5th, Sheila Bleck at 157 pounds placing 11th, and Sheilahe Brown placing fourth at 159 pounds.
The 2006 NPC Nationals saw Washington's Lora Ottenad finally earn her HW victory and the overall title for good measure. Ottenad won the class weighing 170 pounds – the heaviest HW class winner since Nicole Bass in 1997. In winning the Nationals in her fifth effort, Ottenad was a picture of consistency when it came to her contest weight over the years. In 2000 she weighed 170, in '03 she weighed 170 ¾, in '04 she checked in at 172, and in 2005 she dropped slightly to169. On all five entries at the Nationals she finished in the top five (second twice). Two contestants topped the 180 mark in the 25-woman field. Heather Darling at 189 ½, and Gabrielle Nicander at 183.
In 2007 and 2008 no HW competitor weighed in at over 180 pounds, although future NPC National HW and overall champion Kris Murrell came close at 176. With 15 HW entrants, Florida's Bev DiRenzo won the HW class weighing 149. Future NPC USA Physique winner Sheilahe Brown finished eighth weighing 162. In 2008 Sheila Bleck took top honors in the HW class weighing 154 pounds. She also added the overall NPC National title. Of the 20 entrants in this HW division, Shelly Fields was the heaviest at 173 while finishing 14th.
When Kris Murrell finished fourth at the 2007 Nationals she was the heaviest competitor in the contest at 176 pounds. But in 2009 she took the opportunity to shed seven pounds and the effort paid off in dividends. Not only did she win the HW class at 169 pounds, she also captured the overall title. Among the 18 contestants in this HW class, Heather Darling placed 16th weighing 189 pounds and was the only competitor over the 180 mark. Robyn Mentgen at 176, and Monique Jones at 174 approached the 180-pound threshold, and both would soon win major titles – Mentgen the 2011 NPC USA overall, and Jones the 2010 IFBB North American overall – to earn their pro status.
The 2010 NPC Nationals HW class showed just 10 entrants – the smallest HW division dating back to 1990. Pennsylvania's Amber Defrancesco won the HW class weighing 148 pounds. The largest competitor among the ten entrants was Veron Thornhill at 178.
So, with just one competitor topping 180 pounds in four previous years at the Nationals, it came as a surprise to see four competitors weigh in at over 180 in 2011. The field of 17 competitors was also impressively large. Only two entrants weighed less than 150 pounds, with Kimberly Vay leading the way at 189 pounds finishing 16th. Nuriye Evans and Heather Darling both weighed in at 185 placing 15th and 12th respectively. Mary Cain rounded out the foursome at 180 to place 9th. Eventual HW and overall winner Michelle Cummings checked in at a well-distributed 150 pounds. The four women weighing over 180 pounds in this class was the most since 1996 and the most ever dating back to 1990.
There are also several facts that were uncovered in this extensive look at the NPC Nationals heavyweight class. The average weight of the HW winners from 1990 to 1999 was 149 pounds. And from 2000 to 2011 the average weight of the HW winners was 154 pounds - only a five pound increase over a 10-year period. And only once did the largest competitor in the class – Nicole Bass in 1997 - win the division over the 22-year span. Taking Bass out of the equation, the next largest HW winner was 170-pound Lora Ottenad in 2006. So, the assumption might be that if you are a muscularly balanced, proportionate, well-conditioned competitor with a genetically sound structure and weighing somewhere between 149 and 154 pounds, your chances are pretty good when the final points are tallied.
And as for the perceived decline of women's bodybuilding, it doesn't appear so – at least in the HW class of the NPC Nationals. The average number of yearly HW entrants from 1990 to 1999 was 20. The average number of yearly HW entrants from 2000 to 2011.........20.
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