Archives for July 2011

WWE Diva Kaitlyn Joins Hardbody


I’m stoked to announce our newest Hardbody contributor, NPC Figure competitor turned World  WWE Diva Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn will be sharing her tales from the road, how she trains and look behind the scenes as a WWE Diva. She has the looks and the personality to match, making her one of the hottest new female stars in the WWE.

Kaitlyn’s Corner:

Well here I am… Dripping sweat, starving and about to wet my pants in seat 7A…. Headed to Harrisburg, PA.

I guess I should explain myself. I don’t normally wet my pants, in case that’s what you were thinking. I’m flying to Harrisburg to tape an episode of Friday night SMACKDOWN. I am currently one of the newest Divas on the roster.

So I arrived at Tampa international Airport to catch my flight, as I do EVERY week and my flight is delayed. Sweet. So half an hour later, I board my flight and just as I pass a screaming baby and think to myself, “I dodged a bullet there, glad I’m not sitting next ‘Stinky McTantrum'”. As I find my row, I’m thankful to have a window seat. Ok, the man in the middle seat seems normal. He looks a little like a hill-billy but who am I to judge? I sit down, put my seat belt on and HOLY FEBREEZE!! What is that smell?? If a donkey and gingivitis had a baby… This is what it would smell like.

This man, who I nick-named “Halitosis Harry (ass)” has clearly missed his monthly bath and most likely uses manure as tooth paste.

So I remind myself that things could be worse (not likely), but I always try to stay positive. It’s only an hour and forty minutes. As the plane went into descent and only 10 minutes to go, I was very thankful that we had a safe flight and that I was able to mask some of the odor by eating an entire pack of Orbitz sweet mint gum (which will undoubtedly give me gas later).

So the plane touched down and I turn on my phone while trying to think of something dumb to post on Twitter.

“Crap”. (that’s not actually what I said… But it’s close enough). It was 5:29 and my connection was going to take off at 5:52! When we got to the gate, I jumped up frantically trying to get to the front. Hey, I don’t care, I’ll push a baby! Especially if he was crying the whole flight. I was not going to get stuck in Charlotte, NC for the night. That means that I would have to fly to Harrisburg in the morning on a TV day.

TV days are ridiculously long and not to mention hella stressful. Plus my bags would be going to Harrisburg without me. That means my clothes, hair products and my cooler with all my food, (of course I bring my food on the road. Once a fitness girl, always a fitness girl), would be out of touch until the next morning.

So, I grabbed my carry-on and held on to my low-rise jeans and sprinted from gate B7 to gate E25! I made it in just enough time to have the yellow strap pulled in front of me and the gate door closed. The lady at the desk wasn’t bothered in the least that I had embarrassing pit stains and was pretty much completely out of breathe.

Man, I do interval sprints! Why the EFF was I struggling to breath? Whatever.

So I begged and pleaded and she let me on and she couldn’t have been more disgusted with the idea of actually helping someone out.

So that brings us up to now. I am so grateful to be sitting next to this clean elderly gentleman, who is quietly reading and smelling very pleasant. I am grateful even though I didn’t get to eat or use the bathroom and now I’M the one that smells like a hill-billy.

My life as a Diva is amazing, exhausting, rewarding, challenging and the best job in the world, but it is most definitely NOT glamorous. I have had the most incredible, (good and bad) experiences and I’ve only been with the WWE for just short of one, whirl-wind year.

My luggage didn’t arrive until 3:00 am… So I did what any HARDBODY would do… And worked out in my wrestling boots at the hotel gym. The first thing I learned about flying: always have your gear, wrestling boots, one dress, a set of workout clothes, make up and undies in your carry on bag for occasions such as this.

That’s all until next time Hardbody peeps!

Follow Kaitlyn on twitter at kaitlynWWE and become a fan on her official Facebook Fan page. Give Kaitlyn a shout and tell her you saw her on HARBDODY. She has a HUGE following on twitter and always good for a few laughs.

 



Women’s Tennis Association “Strong Is Beautiful” Ad Campaign… Strong or Too Sexy?


The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has a new global ad campaign with the tagline “Strong is Beautiful”. This concept isn’t exactly new but it is appropriate and inspiring none-the-less. Well at least that’s how the WTA sees it but others seem to disagree. The WTA photographed 38 of their current stars and plan to use the tagline in TV, print, digital and social media. The imagery is strong and the the execution is well done but will it attract more people to follow women’s tennis? Time will tell. The organization plans to run the campaign for the next two years.

Time.com recently published an article on topic of female sports advertising and apparently some people took issue with the new campaign. The article shared, “But according to a number of sports-media researchers, the campaign — like so many others in female sports—undermines its players’ achievements by sexualizing them, inadvertently or otherwise.”

I’m not sure I agree with that statement but the argument is is that it undermines the athlete’s accomplishments. The piece by William Lee Adams goes on to share,  “Yes, these women are beautiful, but we see lots of cleavage and legs, and it’s set to music that is reminiscent of soft-core porn,” says Nicole LaVoi, associate director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sports at the University of Minnesota. “That might be interesting and titillating, but it isn’t going to make me turn on Wimbledon.”

The commercial that Nicole is referring to with “soft-core porn” remnants is shown below.

I’d be curious to know how Nicole thinks women’s tennis should be portrayed in order to make people tune into women’s tennis.

There are a number of beautifully shot images shown on wtatennis.com, check them out here. The thinking behind the campaign as shared by the WTA…

“We want to develop a closer relationship with our fans and attract a new generation of fans to women’s tennis, and the Strong is Beautiful campaign is one way to get it done. This campaign will serve as a creative marketing platform for our players, tournaments, year-end WTA Championships and the entire sport,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman & CEO of the WTA. “The personal stories are inspirational. The unique combination of athleticism, strength and determination on the court and success, interests and inner beauty off the court is what makes women’s tennis so attractive to millions around the world.”

What do you think?

{democracy:203}

photo via: www.wtatennis.com



Jennifer Cowan Flexes Her Skills at the World Series of Poker


Some of you may know the name Jennifer Cowan from the world of NPC Figure and Bodybuilding. Jennifer started her competitive career in NPC Figure and was told she had too much muscle so she made the switch to bodybuilding. Jennifer “The Beast” Cowan successfully made the switch to bodybuilding at a mighty weight of 114lbs and captured the overall title at the 2008 NPC Junior USAs. She’d likely be a great candidate for the new Women’s Physique division however she has her sights set on a different competition, poker.


Jennifer was one of the women making waves at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), women’s tournament. The Palantine, Illinois resident stayed calm, cool and collected while rock’n a pair of shades and showing off her guns in a black top. When the dust settled Jennifer went out in 7th place earning her $22,750.

Pokernews.com called the action:

On the last hand before the break, Jennifer Cowan raised to 35,000 from under the gun and received a call from Katherine Stahl in the small blind. Carol Tomlinson was in the big blind and said, “How can I fold here, I’m gonna flop the nuts!” before she called as well.

The flop came down {9-Hearts}{8-Spades}{5-Clubs} and it was checked over to Cowan who bet 70,000. Stahl folded but Tomlinson check-raised and Cowan moved all in. Tomlinson made the call and the players turned over their hands.

Tomlinson: {7-Diamonds}{6-Clubs}
Cowan: {K-Diamonds}{K-Clubs}

Amazingly, Tomlinson had flopped the nuts just as she had predicted and was in great shape to knockout Cowan who would need runner-runner to survive. The turn was the {K-Spades} and was as good as it could get for Cowan who made a set and would just need the board to pair to stay alive and win the hand. Unfortunately for her, it came the {4-Spades} and Cowan was eliminated while Tomlinson continued to build on her lead.

Here’s a look at Jennifer when she competed at the 2009 Team Universe, where she took second in the women’s lightweight bodybuilding division. See more photos of her on stage here.

 


Jennifer flexing her guns on the 2009 Team Universe stage.

 

Congratulations Jennifer! See more photos and complete details from the event on pokernews.com.

Lead photo from pokernews.com. Thanks to Ron from GETBIG.com for the story.



Maria Sharapova Has People Talking Tennis Again


Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova is a perfect example of a hardbody woman. WHAT? Sure she may not have the most ripped abs or chiseled set of guns but she has embraced the hardbody state of mind and returns to the Wimbledon finals. She faced an injury that ends many tennis players’ careers but she’s fought her way through it. Maria is one of women’s tennis biggest stars and has people talking about a sport that’s often an after thought.


The 24-year old Sharapova had been struggling to find her groove since suffering a shoulder injury but is in the finals once again. Today she returns to the Women’s Wimbledon Finals in hopes of raising the trophy, a feat she first achieved at age 17. Petra Kvitova, a 21-year old, from the Czech Republic will attempt to keep her from a second title.

Sports Illustrated shared this from Sharapova, “I had so many expectations when I’d come back, and I set myself certain goals. I never really met any of them, to be honest. When you go through something like that, knowing that not too many players have recovered from (shoulder surgery), it’s normal to feel frustrated.”

Many women face challenges in the form of injury and it’s easy to feel sorry for yourself and make excuses. If you want to compete at the highest level of any sport you have to embody a hardbody state of mind. Maria has done that and is one win away from achieving her goal of a second Wimbledon title.

There are a number of examples that could be cited of women overcoming overcome injuries to achieve greatness so what’s the big deal with Maria Sharapova?

The bigger story is that Maria has people talking about women’s tennis again. You don’t have to play it or even care about tennis but you’ll likely hear about it. Like many individual sports you need to have personalities and stars of the game. If you don’t have a few big names in a sport people aren’t going to be interested. TV execs and the tennis industry are delighted that Maria is in today’s finals because she’s a star. What’s Sharapova’s appeal? She’s marketable based not only on her looks but her mental toughness. When you have a super star of a sport you attract casual fans. She’s been on the cover of magazines and makes millions from not only her prize money but also her endorsement contracts.

Whether she wins or loses in today’s finals, Maria has casual fans intrigued and that’s WINNING for women in sports. Follow the action on twitter.com/Wimbledon or tune into your local NBC station.

Photo by: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters



Disclaimer: Reader discretion advised, please consult your physician before beginning any exercise or diet program.