Bodybuilding was initially considered the manliest of the manly sports, but thanks to
changes in attitudes, health, and perceptions about beauty, as of the 1970s, there are countless
female bodybuilders in the world.
Having covered the top male bodybuilders in a previous video, it was only natural that
we followed up with a list of the top female bodybuilders, breaking things down in a similar
fashion by analyzing their physique first and then also taking other things into account
like the amount of accolades they've received or the amount of fame they were able to gain.
So, get your spray tans, thong bikinis, and supplements ready as we break down the top
10 most extreme female bodybuilders!
Jodie Marsh
We begin our list with Jodie Marsh, who is the youngest female bodybuilder on this list
and one of the few who weren't a part of the "Golden Age of Female Bodybuilding" that occurred
in the 1980's.
Like most women on this list, she came from a modelling background in her native Britain,
where she is now relatively famous as a media personality, columnist, model, and actress.
While she may have never reached the size or bulk of some of the women on this list,
it's safe to assume that the "culprit" (if you want to call it that) behind that is the
fact that she's always prided herself as a "natural bodybuilder", meaning that she abstains
from using any performance enhancing drugs to enhance her physique to or add bulk.
So, while a lot of women on this list have been huge proponents of body positivity, they
were all looking at it from a different perspective than Marsh, who wasn't attempting to be unnaturally
huge in order to be taken seriously as a bodybuilder or fitness competitor.
It's that, combined with her fame in the UK, that places her as the first entry on this
list, she’s doing things the right way - which should help keep her both active (in the world
of fitness competitions) and alive (in general), something that sadly cannot be said for everyone
on this list.
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Sharon Bruneau
Sharon Bruneau is a retired French-Canadian bodybuilder who was born in Timmins, Ontario
in 1964.
The most decorated and famous female bodybuilder in Canada, it's safe to say that she was a
trailblazer for women in the bold/cold North.
Like others on this list, she started out as a model, something she found success in
until she contracted a serious case of pneumonia, which ended up lowering her weight to a near
gaunt level.
To get healthy again, she began training with weights, and after finding that she was both
adept at putting on muscle and landing gigs as a fitness model, she truly found her calling.
She ended up putting on over 50 pounds of muscle during her peak and has been on a lot
of fitness magazine covers for rags like Muscle & Fitness as well as Flex.
Did we mention she was a trailblazer?
Well, we meant it, as she was one of the first ever female bodybuilders to be signed to Weider
Health and Fitness publications as a representative (from 1991 to 1998).
After she retired from bodybuilding in 1994, she had an equally impressive career as a
fitness competitor and then as an actress, making her one of the first triple (or quadruple)
threats in the bodybuilding arena and also on this list!
Yaxeni Oriquen
Yaxeni is one of the most famous international bodybuilders on this list.
She was born in Cabimas, Zulia, Venezuela as the youngest of nine children.
A natural beauty, she grew up as a model and had dreams of becoming an actress.
At the age of 23, though, she decided to dedicate her life to bodybuilding and by 1993 found
that she was a natural, winning four amateur contests and winning her professional card
after winning the Ibero/Central American Championships.
She decided to use that as an opportunity to pursue the American dream not long after
and did just that, moving to the US and piling up accolade after accolade over the years,
with her most impressive showing being her Ms. Olympia title in 2005.
That makes her the most decorated and successful Venezuelan bodybuilder of all-time, and also
one of the most decorated female bodybuilders in general, as she's won five Ms. International
titles as well (in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2012), proving that she's as consistent
as she is great.
Tonya Knight
If there's a golden age of female bodybuilding, Tonya Knight has to have been a part of it,
as she competed during the 1980's, an era in which most of the women on this list were
active and in their primes.
Knight loses a few points, though, because she has a controversial history as someone
who has apparently circumvented the rules (which, to be fair, is more common than not
in the world of bodybuilding, especially in the 80's).
IFBB officials presented "strong evidence" that she was using someone else's urine to
pass tests before competitions which lead them to revoke some of her placements
and championships, namely the 1989 Ms. International competition where she placed first (and the
1988 IFBB Ms. Olympia where she placed 4th).
Beyond that she also had to return her prize money of over $12,000, which is a lot of money
now but was definitely a lot of money in the 80's, especially for female bodybuilders.
The reason she is on this list at all, though, is that she overcame that bad press and got
back on the right path, winning the Ms. International title in 1991 "without incident".
She retired not long after, but she had already proved her point, that she didn't need to
cheat to win in an era where everyone was cheating to win.
Rebekka Armstrong
If this list proves anything it's that there are a few different paths that one can take
to make it into the professional bodybuilding realm, from those that came from the wrestling
world or those that came from playing sports in their youth.
Rebekka Armstrong didn't follow the typical path, however, but she was definitely a household
name before she began her career as a fitness competitor, depending on which house you're
asking, as she was a Playboy Playmate.
As Playmate of the Month in September of 1986, it seemed like the world was her oyster, however,
things took a bad turn when she found out that she was HIV positive in 1988.
After she attempted to escape dealing with her newfound status for a couple years by
doing drugs, she eventually came to grips with her sickness and decided to become an
advocate for those less fortunate than she was.
She announced to the world that she was HIV positive in a September 1994 issue of The
Advocate magazine, and with the help of Hugh Hefner and Playboy, she helped create an AIDS-awareness
campaign.
She actually didn't start bodybuilding until about a decade after that, placing first at
the 2004 Muscle Beach contest (and winning her first three contests), which was part
of her plan to stay healthy and to continue to beat her disease.
As an open lesbian, she's also been a huge role model for people everywhere, and considering
that she contracted HIV in the 80's, she is a definite success story from a time when
there were so few.
Nikki Fuller
Female bodybuilders aren't as well known for their bulk as their male counterparts, well
that is, most aren't, but there are always exceptions to the rule, and one of the biggest
exceptions to that rule is Nikki Fuller.
Born in 1968, Fuller was an absolute beast at her peak mass, coming in at over 250 lbs.,
with biceps that reportedly measured over 20 inches.
To attain that mass she lifted tremendous amounts, with some of her best lifts coming
in at over 315 lbs on the bench press and over half-a-ton (1,100 pounds) for multiple
reps on the leg press back in the day before fake plates were even an option.
A highly decorated fitness competitor, she also transitioned into wrestling, like many
women on this list, and while she never quite became the household name that other bodybuilder-turned-wrestlers
like Nicole Bass or Chyna did, she did have a respectable career as an actress appearing
on television shows like Ally McBeal, Arli$$, Just Shoot Me! and Nikki.
She was even in a commercial for Right Guard Extreme deodorant with Dave Chapelle, which
makes her one of the biggest triple threats on this list (bodybuilding, acting, and wrestling),
with the most impressive IMDB to boot!
Betty Pariso
Betty Pariso is a legend in the world of bodybuilding and of all the women on this list definitely
had the longest and most storied career.
Born in 1956 in Kentucky, Pariso (who was born Betty Slade) was a natural athlete who
grew up on a farm where she excelled playing sports in high school and attracted the attention
of numerous track and field scouts at different colleges around the area.
Always in shape, Pariso didn't start actually bodybuilding until later in her life when
she was in her 30s, something that she initially did to stay fit and put some weight on when
she felt that she was too thin and "stick" like.
She first competed in amateur bodybuilding competitions in 1988 and by 1996 had earned
her pro card (at the 1996 NPC Nationals).
In doing so, at the age of 40, she became the oldest woman to earn an IFBB Pro Card,
proving that age isn't anything but a number and that it's never too late to pursue one's
dreams.
Beyond that, Pariso didn't actually retire from professional bodybuilding until 2010,
meaning that she was competing well into her 50's but not only that, excelling, as she
ended up winning her second pro title in 2009 at the age of 53.
Thanks to her amazing career, she's won numerous accolades as well, like winning the NPC Nationals
or receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at Europa Dallas.
As a pure bodybuilder, she's probably the most decorated on this list, but because she
never made the switch over to professional wrestling she isn't as high on this list as
others simply because she doesn't have the name recognition that others have, but in
the world of bodybuilding you can't get much bigger than Pariso.
Nicole Bass
Nicole Bass was perhaps best known for her membership on the "Wack Pack", a loose collective
of interesting guests that appeared on The Howard Stern show back during its heyday (if
by heyday you mean the days in which Stern was extremely politically incorrect).
Bass' physique was so impressive that the reoccurring gag on the Stern show was that
she had to be a man, something that understandably upset her as she tried many times over the
years to prove that she was in fact born a woman.
She joined the Stern show back in 1993 after appearing in the pay-per-view television event
The Miss Howard Stern New Year's Eve Pageant but what many fans of that show didn't know
was that she also was a decorated bodybuilder and wrestler, like many women on this list.
Perhaps even more than a lot of the bodybuilding wrestlers, though, she was extremely decorated
as a fitness competitor, winning the NPC Nationals in 1997 and also participating in basically
every tournament possible between the mid-1980's and late 1990's.
She began her wrestling career after retiring from bodybuilding in 1998, joining Extreme
Championship Wrestling during the first half of that year, which lead to a contract with
the then World Wrestling Federation (where she debuted as the bodyguard for fellow female
wrestler Sable during Wrestlemania XV).
Sadly, like other women on this list, Bass died a premature death but because of her
wide and varied career, it's safe to say that she'll never be forgotten.
Lisa Marie Varon
Lisa Marie Varon also made her living as a bodybuilder and female wrestler but what differentiates
her from people like Nicole Bass or Chyna is that she had a lot more accolades in the
world of bodybuilding and fitness competitions than she did in the ring.
Varon started her career in fitness competitions back in 1997 when she joined ESPN2's Fitness
America Series and within a couple years was placing high at competitions around the United
States, including a second place finish at a fitness event in New York (which lead to
her earning her International Federation of Bodybuilders Professional Fitness Card).
It was through those competitions that Varon happened to meet Chyna, who encouraged her
to join the world of female wrestling, and from there the rest is history as Varon became
a two-time WWE Women's Champion (as well as gaining accolades in the then rival Total
Nonstop Action Wrestling under the name Tara), where she became a five-time TNA Knockouts
champion.
Chyna
Now, Chyna is definitely the most famous name on this list but because she was obviously
a lot more well known for her professional wrestling career than her career as a bodybuilder,
we're sure that some of you will take issue with her spot on this list.
Regardless of whether or not Chyna, whose real name was Joan Laurer, had a lot of accolades
as a bodybuilder, she will still forever be remembered as one of the most physically impressive
women to walk the planet.
Laurer was also so physically imposing that she often wrestled against men or was a bodyguard
for other female or male wrestlers, which meant that she (like a lot of other women
on this list) had to deal with accusations of whether or not she was a "real" woman.
Beyond her wrestling and bodybuilding career, Chyna did a lot for the body positivity movement,
appearing in Playboy twice.
She was also a pioneer in plastic surgery, as her original breast implants actually ruptured
during a wrestling match, which combined with her sad final days prove that while she was
a beacon of hope for women everywhere she was never completely comfortable in her own
skin, which is really just so sad considering she’s loved worldwide and consistently tops
lists like these.
Rest In Peace, Chyna.
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