"2011 was a new year for me my year to shine, pushing myself in the gym, lifting heavy and achieving all that I can. I wasted no time going into the NPC USA Championships right after winning my class at the West Cost Classics in March. I took 1st place at the USA’s winning my class and receiving my IFBB Pro status, a dream of mine that I have always wanted. All of my hard work at the gym and prepping has paid off. It feels amazing when you put your mind to something, have a goal and you can achieve it.
All I know is when I want something I go after it and let nothing and no one in my way. You can say aggressive but I say passionate about what I do. Now it all starts here, prepping for my first Pro Debut in October at the IFBB Titan Grand Prix in Culver City. Looking forward to what the future has in store for me and just feeling extremely blessed with life, I couldn’t do it with out my friends and family supporting me."
Narmin Assria
IFBB Bikini Pro
Editor's Note
Ok, well first and foremost -- kudos & congratulations to New IFBB Bikini Pro Narmin Assria, and also thank you for giving up a quote for the blog -- it's greatly appreciated. We wish Narmin lots of luck at the IFBB Titan Grand Prix. I predict she will do very will in open competition; however, she is petite and will have to be come up with strategies to hold her own against the taller women on the circuit. I think she'll be just fine.
"My win at the West Coast Classics, wow how to describe it, amazing, incredible, all my hard work paid off!! It was wonderful to step back on stage this year & win my class. It’s the beginning of my new journey, nothing can stop me now.
I prepared for the show for about 3 months with my amazing coach Kim Oddo. I don’t know what I would have done with out him by my side. My next goal is to win my Pro Card, and honestly it’s right around the corner, I am in prep for the USA's which is in less then 4 weeks away, held in Las Vegas. I am eager to see all my beautiful competition this year, we all deserve to be on that stage! I can’t wait to rock that stage in a couple of weeks. All this is a blessing to me, and a dream come true!!"
Narmin Assria
NPC Bikini Champion
A Placing is just that
This blog celebrates Figure & Bikini athletes that display impressive physiques, achieved through serious training, sensible eating, and logical supplementation. The women portrayed on this site, are deemed by its webmaster, to be at such an advanced physique-level, that they are above reproach for something as trivial as less than stellar placing - or even a bad year. Judges' scorecards are often influenced by factors outside the ladies' control, and whether or not you want to admit that physique competitions are political or not -- is entirely up to you.
Sometimes, with visting the sites and looking over hundreds of photos (taken by several different photographers, manipulating different effects from lighting to resolution), I'll see a competitor that probably got a bum deal from the judges, who I think could have potentially won her class -- or at least taken runner-up. Physique sports are subjectively based. And whereas the judges' will is evniced by who wins the shows, bloggers and sitemasters' will is carried out by whom they choose to feature. Just because you "won" a show on the scorecards, does not necessarily mean you'll be covered and promoted to that extent on the sites and magazines.
Amber Shepard Hayes has everything in her arsenal to be a great Bikini champion at the NPC level. And let me qualify that last statement with a strong admonition -- "FOR NOW."
Here is an athlete that defies many of stereotypes floating around about bikini. She does train - and she trains hard. She's done strength competitions, yet has a body as soft and toned as the runway models you see on drink ads (which never drink!). Amber competed in the 2011 NPC Charlotte Cup - she didn't the win the show, nor did she win her class.
What irks me the most about Bikini & Figure, albeit to a lesser extent, is that the Women at local shows are usually competing at the behest of close friends and sometimes even family. A poor placing to a new contestant could mean anything from passion to defeat. Some people just don't want to undergo the eight to twelve weeks of prep, the tanning, the traveling, time off from, etc, just to show up take a bad placing.
I look forward to promoting this wonderful athlete and I hope we continue to see her on the Bikini stage. She has a bright future -- but she needs to keep knocking on the door. She has good muscle, nice legs legs, excellent presentation, and if the photos speak true -- she stands confidently and happily under the stage lights. FigureBikini.com is proud to present this wonderful rising star to our always-growing audience!
BIKINI ON FILM!
This is a brand new channel, so get over to it and Subscribe + Add "TheFitSolution" as a friend on Youtube. I can't stress how important this type of medium is. Sure, this is a great way to get publicity for your business, personal training endeavors, and/or just to network with other athletes and potential sponsors. All of the benefits listed are big reasons why you, as a Figure or Bikini competitor, should be on youtube (at least on some level); however, there's an even bigger reason.
After all the training, all the boring meals, all the tanning, all the travel, all the stress on romantic, family, and social relationships that comes from this lifetsyle you've chosen, THERE IS A VERY IMPORTANT LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. You are a role model -- and if you choose to be a good role model, one of the greatest contributions you can make, is to offer a hand to all the women coming up after you.
Talk to you friends, significant other, coach, and/or anyone you trust in your camp, about setting up a channel and making vlogs. Don't just make videos doing bicep curls or the sexy type video showing off your nice legs or your pretty face. You are more than a nice body and a pretty face. You are more than a nice body and a pretty face. That wasn't a type-o. If some men think of you as nothing but a sex object, don't let whatever the fuck is wrong with them, keep you from becoming a superstar. It's ok to look like a woman, just because you don't have 19" arms doesn't mean you to don't bust your ass training hard in the gym and eating the same boring food bodybuilders have to east six times a day. You are a legitimate athlete in a legitimate sport - SO SPEAK UP, BE HEARD!
Get a $15 webcam at Walmart, think about a topic, write down some notes, and get started. Your channel, like your website, facebook, and twitter, will further market you, but it will also help many women looking to follow in your footsteps -- AND it will increase your fanbase!
Young girls, teenage girls, young adult females -- they need strong, healthy women to look up to. Women need to know that building muscle and eating clean, isn't reserved for meathead guys. They need to know they can take care of their bodies and live better, happier lives, with TONS of ambition and self-confidence in all things that they do.
Bikini is still an interesting sport to watch - largely because the judging criteria seems to be far more subjective than in any other physique sport. For the women, the muscularity seems to become less and less of an issue as you go from female bodybuilding to women's physique to fitness to figure, and then finally to the division in question. For bikini, there seems to be a very strong emphasis on femininity, shape, color, hair & makeup, and overall presentation.
Narmin Assria, who recently took first place in her class at the 2011 NPC West Coast Classic, seems to have all the tools needed to start winning overall titles at the national level. In an usual twist (for the physique world), it seems that taller is better in Bikini. In bodybuilding, the more compact shapes of the 5'7-5'10 athletes seem to fair better against the taller, less-full bodies on stage. In this particular contest (and not much different than others I've studied), Narmin was defeated by the Class F, Overall winner (as in separated by Classes B, C, D, and E!).
So we continue learning about this relatively new division, but one thing's for sure --- Narmin Assria is a name to watch!
Stephanie Ann is doing great work! She's an ambitioius college student, competing in Bikini and serving as a wonderful role model by making great videos that cover a variety of topics. This video is one of her shorter ones, at just under one minute, but she also have videos (like her contest day one) that are nearly half an hour in duration. We've discussed doing an interview in the future, but I wanted to share her wonderful channel with you today.
