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Created: 01 December 2014 01 December 2014

Nadia Moussa is featured on our cover this month and in the image at the top of this page – she is currently one of this country’s leading ladies insofar as the women’s muscular physique (aka figure) discipline goes. Ditto for Marie-Ève Delorme (below), who was featured on the cover last month. Both of these incredible competitors have won top titles at Physique Canada competitions this year – Nadia won at the National Classic, held in June; Marie-Ève won at the Canadian Championships, held in October – and both can boast that they earned their titles legitimately by training and competing drug free.

Marie-Ève Delorme, October 2014

Nadia and Marie-Ève proved their drug-free status by being members of Physique Canada, which has the most rigorous drug-testing program for physique sports in this country. Unique to the organization is that they test competitors in and out of competition, which is the most effective way to go about it. As a result, Nadia was tested out of competition in May, and then again in competition in October. Marie-Ève was tested in competition in July, and then again in competition in October. Furthermore, both competitors can also be called up to be tested at any time, since that’s one of the obligations when you’re one of the organization’s Tier 1 Pro competitors. To the best of my knowledge, there’s not another female physique competitor in Canada with any organization who can claim to be drug tested as rigorously as these two were in 2014 – that makes Nadia’s and Marie-Ève’s accomplishments all the more noteworthy, since the physiques they displayed at the Physique Canada competitions were nothing short of sensational.

Nadia Moussa, October 2014

So without question, Nadia and Marie-Ève are, at present, two of Canada’s best. Still, this article isn’t only about those two individuals; it’s also about all of the women competing in physique sports, and how they far and away outnumber men nowadays. This topic is not new – it is something I wrote about at the beginning of this year – but it is worth repeating again as the year closes, because the sheer number of women competing is changing the landscape of competitions now and in the future.

As I wrote in January, currently women outnumber men in physique competitions by about 2:1. In other words, two-thirds of the participants at any given competition are female. There’s a new discipline for men called men’s sport physique (aka men’s physique) that is enticing more men to the stage than bodybuilding is these days, so the number of men showing up has started to improve, but, in my opinion, the influx of males won’t reach the point where they overtake the number of females. So when it comes to physique competitions, women lead – now and in the future.

Marie-Ève Delorme, October 2014

Another area where women are leading is in the excitement they bring to the stage, which is something I became acutely aware of when I formed the SAF (Serious About Fitness) fitness-modeling organization years ago. SAF is for women only and the shows are unparalleled in terms of fun and enjoyment for the competitors and, of course, the audience members. The women who enter tend to really know how to perform. Physique Canada’s shows aren’t as flamboyant as SAF’s, but the women aren’t scared to flex their muscles and present themselves well for the audience. In contrast, most organizations run the new men’s physique division with no posing whatsoever – the men simply do quarter turns, which people find more than just a little bit odd, not to mention boring. Quarter turns? That’s all? In fact, the lack of a skilled or interesting performance by the contestants on the stage is why some have sarcastically nicknamed the discipline “men’s bikini,” much to the chagrin of those competing. On the flipside, when the women compete, whether it’s in women’s muscular physique or women’s athletic physique, they tend put more flair into their presentations – and that makes for a much more interesting event.

Nadia Moussa, June 2014

Without a doubt, the women are really at the forefront in physique competitions these days. But probably what’s more important to note is this: Nadia and Marie-Ève, this year’s leading ladies, are also leading by example by showcasing how far one can go with drug-free training, which makes them an inspiration to all the women competing. Obviously, with 2014 over and with such great success on the women’s side, the year 2015 certainly looks even brighter for women’s physique events in Canada. We can’t wait!

Doug Schneider
SeriousAboutMuscle.com Founder and Publisher