Who's the Strongest Woman Bodybuilder of All Time?

[huge285]

STEVE WENNERSTROM, the IFBB Women's Historian, poses the question: Is BECCA SWANSON the strongest competitive woman bodybuilder of all time?

41817

http://www.rxmuscle.com/the-women/999-is-becca-swanson-the-strongest-woman-ever-to-compete-in-bodybuilding.html

[vboissiere]

When did Becca do a bodybuilding show?!? If she did, then she is by far. Jill Mills should also be in the conversation. She did some bodybuilding as well as winning world titles in powerlifting as well as the 1st Worlds Stongest Woman...

[huge285]

When did Becca do a bodybuilding show?!? If she did, then she is by far. Jill Mills should also be in the conversation. She did some bodybuilding as well as winning world titles in powerlifting as well as the 1st Worlds Stongest Woman...

Did you read the article? She won 3 Overall titles in 1998.......lol

[vboissiere]

Did you read the article? She won 3 Overall titles in 1998.......lol

I responded then read. Cart before the horse. My bad...

[Swede]

A woman over at md has seen her 200 pound female bodybuilding friend rep 540 on the bench 3 times RAW.


LOL

[Ryan.]

MD? pfft...

[DIESELGIRL]

A woman over at md has seen her 200 pound female bodybuilding friend rep 540 on the bench 3 times RAW.


LOL

Yeah she is talking about Heather Darling. Several years back at the last Womens Extravaganza in NJ she did a raw 500lb bench on stage. What a joke that was. 3 spotters and all of them were straining during the spot. It was pretty cheesy.

[Swede]

Yeah she is talking about Heather Darling. Several years back at the last Womens Extravaganza in NJ she did a raw 500lb bench on stage. What a joke that was. 3 spotters and all of them were straining during the spot. It was pretty cheesy.


and then all of a sudden she did 530 raw 3 reps lol.

[Ryan.]

and then all of a sudden she did 530 raw 3 reps lol.

FST-7 can do anything...

[Nuckin Futs]

not bashing, but I find it hard to distinguish a difference between male and female BODYBUILDERS, when the women are so chemically enhanced, that their test levels are higher than the average man, as well as being on countless other drugs.. basically, I'm not impressed by their performance!

A bodybuilder is a bodybuiklder.. the women should be compared next to the men!

[Mr X]

not bashing, but I find it hard to distinguish a difference between male and female BODYBUILDERS, when the women are so chemically enhanced, that their test levels are higher than the average man, as well as being on countless other drugs.. basically, I'm not impressed by their performance!

A bodybuilder is a bodybuiklder.. the women should be compared next to the men!

Are you still taking all your meds? I told you to never skip a day.

[Nuckin Futs]

Sorry sir, I won't forget to take them again!

[FBBFan]

superb article... steve is a hero.
strong women have the genes to compete also in BB.
my 2 cents

[crashcrew56]

It's funny that this article was just put up today, because I met her at my gym yesterday. Also from watching her train for a little while yesterday, I'm going to say that yes she is the strongest women BB, I think there should also be a youtube video up of the workout soon.

[lou0178]

Did you read the article? She won 3 Overall titles in 1998.......lol
She is by far the strongest. She is bigger than you.

[Ibarramedia]

Another great article by Steve. I may post Becca's pics once my photobucket account resets itself. I have 3 of Becca's DVDs and she is the real deal. :beerbang:
Much respect to her. I also posted clips of Laura Phelps sqautt and bench press several weeks ago in the women's forum. Awesome Woman!

[Curt James]

A woman over at md has seen her 200 pound female bodybuilding friend rep 540 on the bench 3 times RAW.


LOL

Wennerstrom noted that Paula Suzuki benched 352.7 pounds "in the 148-pound class in 1995 and is still fourth on the all-time list in that weight class."

Yowza!

http://www.rxmuscle.com/images/stories/women/WennerstromArticles/StrongestWomanBB/PaulaSuzuki.jpg

And Becca Swanson benched 600? :( Maybe what I need is more estrogen.

Had never heard of Laura Phelps-Sweatt either. Another awesome article by Steve Wennerstrom.

But you can't have an article on strong women physique competitors without mentioning Tazzie Colomb.

5Q4LJ6vZm4g

And in 2003 Annie Rivieccio placed 2nd to Jill Mills in the APF Nationals. She lifted 347 lbs. in the bench, 503 squat, and 473 deadlift. Rivieccio also placed first in the 2002 Women's Extravaganza Strength event.

http://www.bbhomepage.com/bodybuilding/data/518/Annie_Rivieccio1.jpg

[Ibarramedia]

Check this out Curt.

http://forums.rxmuscle.com/showthread.php?t=21678&highlight=laura+phelps

I did not know that Annie competed in a official powerlifting contest and that she benched 347. I have seen that Tazzie clip though. One day I hope to top Becca's lifts. She is almost as strong as some offensive linemen in the NFL.

[Curt James]

^Thank you for the pointer! Incredible. :bowdown:

[Steve Wennerstrom]

Wennerstrom noted that Paula Suzuki benched 352.7 pounds "in the 148-pound class in 1995 and is still fourth on the all-time list in that weight class."

Yowza!

http://www.rxmuscle.com/images/stories/women/WennerstromArticles/StrongestWomanBB/PaulaSuzuki.jpg

And Becca Swanson benched 600? :( Maybe what I need is more estrogen.

Had never heard of Laura Phelps-Sweatt either. Another awesome article by Steve Wennerstrom.

But you can't have an article on strong women physique competitors without mentioning Tazzie Colomb.

5Q4LJ6vZm4g

And in 2003 Annie Rivieccio placed 2nd to Jill Mills in the APF Nationals. She lifted 347 lbs. in the bench, 503 squat, and 473 deadlift. Rivieccio also placed first in the 2002 Women's Extravaganza Strength event.

http://www.bbhomepage.com/bodybuilding/data/518/Annie_Rivieccio1.jpgYES! Both Taz and Annie deserve mention, and they have both competed in powerlifting competitions in the past. My problem was keeping the article to less than book length! :-)) That's why I mentioned that the list of crossover athletes goes on and on. Re Annie.....I believe it was a couple years ago now when she entered the National Powerlifting Championships (don't know what organization it was in), but she placed in the top three in her weight class and beat the woman who had won the class the last few years earlier. My apologies for not mentioning Annie and Tazzie in the article, both are REALLY strong by any yardstick. If any others come to mind, now's the time to mention them!

[Steve Wennerstrom]

In checking back in my files on Tazzie, most of us are familiar with her bodybuilding successes where she won the 1992 NPC USA overall title to turn pro. Since then she has competed in three Ms. Olympias, four Ms. Internationals, and four Jan Tana events (where she finished 3rd on three occasions)...not to mention several other pro shows over the years. As for powerlifting I am aware that she OFFICIALLY benched 182.5 kilos (402 pounds) at a bodyweight of 90k (198 pounds). She was also an active entrant in the Women's Strength Extravaganza shows and performed some impressive strength feats such as squatting 270 pounds for 61 reps, and performing 43 dip repetitions at a bodyweight of 169 1/2 pounds. As the good-natured saying goes, "She's stronger than a yard of garlic". :-))

[Jude2]

Tazzie is a beast period. She trained at my gym for many years. She walks around at about 200 pounds lean all year. She has been huge for over 25 years. She is stronger than most guys in the gym. Even though she is one of the strongest women around, she is nice as can be. She is still huge and over 40.

[IF I TOOK ROIDS I'D BE MR OLYMPIA]

and then all of a sudden she did 530 raw 3 reps lol.
lol the female RAW bench record is 390

[IF I TOOK ROIDS I'D BE MR OLYMPIA]

lol at the stupid article (gear shouldnt count)



http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr149/massturbater/Capture-12.jpg

[Jude2]

Tazzie can still bench over the RAW record of 292. I have seen her bench 300 for a couple of reps in a tank top at 198#. I don't like the bench shirts either.

[Curt James]

YES! Both Taz and Annie deserve mention, and they have both competed in powerlifting competitions in the past. My problem was keeping the article to less than book length! :-)) That's why I mentioned that the list of crossover athletes goes on and on. Re Annie.....I believe it was a couple years ago now when she entered the National Powerlifting Championships (don't know what organization it was in), but she placed in the top three in her weight class and beat the woman who had won the class the last few years earlier. My apologies for not mentioning Annie and Tazzie in the article, both are REALLY strong by any yardstick. If any others come to mind, now's the time to mention them!

No apologies necessary, good sir. Those are two of my favorites and so, of course, I looked for them in your article. You're the king historian while I'm just a fan with a penchant for Google. ;)


In checking back in my files on Tazzie, most of us are familiar with her bodybuilding successes where she won the 1992 NPC USA overall title to turn pro. Since then she has competed in three Ms. Olympias, four Ms. Internationals, and four Jan Tana events (where she finished 3rd on three occasions)...not to mention several other pro shows over the years. As for powerlifting I am aware that she OFFICIALLY benched 182.5 kilos (402 pounds) at a bodyweight of 90k (198 pounds). She was also an active entrant in the Women's Strength Extravaganza shows and performed some impressive strength feats such as squatting 270 pounds for 61 reps, and performing 43 dip repetitions at a bodyweight of 169 1/2 pounds. As the good-natured saying goes, "She's stronger than a yard of garlic". :-))

Annie's a powerhouse, too, and has done very well in physique. I do love the Google and Tim Fogarty's Web site, as well. MuscleMemory.com offers that Rivieccio's competitive bodybuilding career includes the Overall NPC Nationals title in 2003, a 4th place finish the following year at the Ms. International, and three Ms. Olympia appearances, placing as high as 3rd in 2006. See http://musclememory.com/show.php?s=Annie+Rivieccio&g=F


Tazzie can still bench over the RAW record of 292. I have seen her bench 300 for a couple of reps in a tank top at 198#.

:bowdown:

[crashcrew56]

I don't understand why gear wouldn't count

[Sean Katterle]

Becca Swanson is the strongest but she's also the heaviest by far. At the peak of her powerlifting career she was walking around at 230 pounds bodyweight.

I've seen Jill Mills and Annie Rivieccio (spelling?) compete at the APF Senior Nationals in L.A. and they're both really strong too, but they're lifting in the 165s and 181s and they didn't put up the #s that Becca did under similar conditions (which isn't surprising since they were weighing 40+ pounds less!) Jill was the best at strongwoman though, getting much, much farther in the sport than Becca did (Swanson had problems with injuries when she tried out strongwoman.) But, the rumor is that the World's Strongest Woman show wouldn't let Becca compete when she was in her lifting prime because she wasn't the kind of image they wanted for the competition's champion.

Pound for pound Bev Francis is probably ranked # 1 on the raw bench and deadlift.

[Steve Wennerstrom]

No apologies necessary, good sir. Those are two of my favorites and so, of course, I looked for them in your article. You're the king historian while I'm just a fan with a penchant for Google. ;)



Annie's a powerhouse, too, and has done very well in physique. I do love the Google and Tim Fogarty's Web site, as well. MuscleMemory.com offers that Rivieccio's competitive bodybuilding career includes the Overall NPC Nationals title in 2003, a 4th place finish the following year at the Ms. International, and three Ms. Olympia appearances, placing as high as 3rd in 2006. See http://musclememory.com/show.php?s=Annie+Rivieccio&g=F



:bowdown:Eeeesh! You're starting to sound like me. :-)) As for Muscle Memory, I respect Tim's effort, but he only posts the placings the women achieve from contest results he gets - mainly the larger contests. So, you won't find that Annie Rivieccio won the HW class at the 1988 NPC Atlanta Championships, or that she finished 2nd HW at the NPC Georgia in 1989 (the contests that kick-started her competitive career), and so on. Many women competed extensively at local, state and regional shows before they ever entered a national-level event, and I feel that it's important to point out that most competitors - male or female - toil for years before achieving major successes. Some, of course, never do, but those who don't win a major contest still deserve to be recorded for posterity. I have file cabinets full of them. Just my 2cents..............

[Curt James]

Eeeesh! You're starting to sound like me. :-))

That's a great compliment! :)


As for Muscle Memory, I respect Tim's effort, but he only posts the placings the women achieve from contest results he gets - mainly the larger contests. So, you won't find that Annie Rivieccio won the HW class at the 1988 NPC Atlanta Championships, or that she finished 2nd HW at the NPC Georgia in 1989 (the contests that kick-started her competitive career), and so on. Many women competed extensively at local, state and regional shows before they ever entered a national-level event, and I feel that it's important to point out that most competitors - male or female - toil for years before achieving major successes. Some, of course, never do, but those who don't win a major contest still deserve to be recorded for posterity. I have file cabinets full of them. Just my 2cents..............

Share those file cabinets with Tim. He's always been receptive to e-mails and to making corrections and additions.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v108/curt_james/Rx/musclememorytext.jpg

[email protected]

[Steve Wennerstrom]

Becca Swanson is the strongest but she's also the heaviest by far. At the peak of her powerlifting career she was walking around at 230 pounds bodyweight.

I've seen Jill Mills and Annie Rivieccio (spelling?) compete at the APF Senior Nationals in L.A. and they're both really strong too, but they're lifting in the 165s and 181s and they didn't put up the #s that Becca did under similar conditions (which isn't surprising since they were weighing 40+ pounds less!) Jill was the best at strongwoman though, getting much, much farther in the sport than Becca did (Swanson had problems with injuries when she tried out strongwoman.) But, the rumor is that the World's Strongest Woman show wouldn't let Becca compete when she was in her lifting prime because she wasn't the kind of image they wanted for the competition's champion.

Pound for pound Bev Francis is probably ranked # 1 on the raw bench and deadlift.You raise a great point about bodyweights. I admit I'm no expert when it comes to the mathematics of considering strength in a pound-for-pound comparison, but if there is a math whiz out there, who might be considered the strongest pound-for-pound powerlifter/bodybuilder? And might that be a much lighter lifter than those mentioned here?

[Jude2]

Becca Swanson is the strongest but she's also the heaviest by far. At the peak of her powerlifting career she was walking around at 230 pounds bodyweight.

I've seen Jill Mills and Annie Rivieccio (spelling?) compete at the APF Senior Nationals in L.A. and they're both really strong too, but they're lifting in the 165s and 181s and they didn't put up the #s that Becca did under similar conditions (which isn't surprising since they were weighing 40+ pounds less!) Jill was the best at strongwoman though, getting much, much farther in the sport than Becca did (Swanson had problems with injuries when she tried out strongwoman.) But, the rumor is that the World's Strongest Woman show wouldn't let Becca compete when she was in her lifting prime because she wasn't the kind of image they wanted for the competition's champion.

Pound for pound Bev Francis is probably ranked # 1 on the raw bench and deadlift.
How much did Bev bench and deadlift, at what bodyweight?

[Steve Wennerstrom]

How much did Bev bench and deadlift, at what bodyweight?Back in 1981 Bev raw benched 331 pounds in the 181-pound class. She was one of the first, if not the first to bench over 300.

[Steve Wennerstrom]

A mind-blowing fact regarding the evolution of women's powerlifting.......Jan Todd's mark of 1,041 as the first female to surpass the 1,000-pound total 32 years ago would now rank only 10th on the world all-time list IN THE 114-POUND CLASS !!!!!!!!

[vboissiere]

I think I recall reading in a Powerlifting USA (about a two tears ago) that Becca was the number one ranked woman not only by total, but by formula- wilks (sp?).

[Bolan]

Bev Francis bar none.........

[vboissiere]

Yeah she is talking about Heather Darling. Several years back at the last Womens Extravaganza in NJ she did a raw 500lb bench on stage. What a joke that was. 3 spotters and all of them were straining during the spot. It was pretty cheesy.

She was using Jimmy's technique...

[~gymdiva~]

does Elena Sieple have a place in this discussion as well?

[Steve Wennerstrom]

Sure! Elena also entered a strongwoman competition a few years back and did very well. So does Heather Lee, Shannon Hartnett (a 600.8 squat in the 165-pound class in 2008), Deborah Sorensen (2nd in the HW at 1985 NPC USA) with a 540 pound DL in 1994, Deb Widdis the 2002 NPC Rocky Mtn HW winner who has squatted 623.9 in 2006, Lisa Nawrocki with a 530 DL in the 198-pound class, Majik Jones with a 402 DL at a bodyweight of 105 pounds in 1984, and Nancy Belliveau who DL'ed 363.8 pounds at a bodyweight of 96 pounds......like I said, the list goes on and on.

[Sean Katterle]

How much did Bev bench and deadlift, at what bodyweight?

She pulled 475 pounds but I don't recall if it was at 165 or 148. I'm gonna guess she got that as a 165er.

[Ibarramedia]

For Becca to bench in the 600-625 range is still an awesome feat regardless of weight class or bench shirt. That's like 2 guys benching 300 pounds.....

[Swede]

For Becca to bench in the 600-625 range is still an awesome feat regardless of weight class or bench shirt. That's like 2 guys benching 300 pounds.....


well ....No.

because she isn't benching 600 if shes wearing a 34598273049587x 934857398047 layers of super nasa plyoumouth sdifhsdkjfalkndbfkjh suit.

[IF I TOOK ROIDS I'D BE MR OLYMPIA]

bench shirts should be outlawed.. like maybe if you broke the 391 WR then perhaps give it a go for shits and giggles.. you aren't fooling anyone

[Big Barry]

'Becca' is insanely strong for a woman. If she was a man she would still be insanely strong at those poundages.

For a woman to total over 2000lb is also very hard to believe. She'll never get the credit she deserves unless she proves she was born with 'ovaries', lol.

Amazing lifts.

[Sean Katterle]

'Becca' is insanely strong for a woman. If she was a man she would still be insanely strong at those poundages.

For a woman to total over 2000lb is also very hard to believe. She'll never get the credit she deserves unless she proves she was born with 'ovaries', lol.

Amazing lifts.

Becca's all woman no matter what supplements she took to build the strength levels she did.

She deadlifted 683 pounds in a suit so, it's safe to guestimate that in the classic style (no suit, no bench shirt and walking out the squat) that she'd have been good for a 600 squat, 365 bench and a 600 pull for a 1565 raw total @ SHW which is still amazing.

[huge285]

Very few MEN on here (with a bench shirt) can bench press 600! That's insane for a woman!

[huge285]

She has ten times as much test to. She isnt a woman anymore brother!!


There have been tons of women on all kinds of drugs and no one has ever come close to 600lbs.............let's just give this lady her due rewards!

You really think RONNIE COLEMAN was the greatest bber of all time because he used the most drugs? Not even close!

[crashcrew56]

Very few MEN on here (with a bench shirt) can bench press 600! That's insane for a woman!


Fuck yeah, I don't think most people understand what it's like to have 600lbs in your hands and benc it, even with a shirt one. I've done it once, and that shit was intense. Drugs asside, that is an unreal lift, and now Becca says she's natural and she's still strong as fuck.


For the Becca Swanson fans out there, here's a bicep workout she did at my gym, with two of my friends

9KjaXsxACac

[Ibarramedia]

There have been tons of women on all kinds of drugs and no one has ever come close to 600lbs.............let's just give this lady her due rewards!

You really think RONNIE COLEMAN was the greatest bber of all time because he used the most drugs? Not even close!


Agreed Dave. Gotta Respect Becca. She just did the unthinkable. Enhanced or not. Shirt or not. :beerbang:

[Sean Katterle]

Very few MEN on here (with a bench shirt) can bench press 600! That's insane for a woman!

Oh, that's not true anymore. One of my training partners was raw benching 300 @ 165 and we worked with him on getting his double ply shirt dialed in and he hit a 540 with it in competition. There's plenty of lifters in the bodybuilding world who have more physical strength than a 600 pound, double ply shirt bencher. They'd just need to waste their time figuring out the shirt's groove and working on their lockout to handle the 600. And, months later, their chest and shoulders wouldn't be any stronger (might even be weaker as many shirt bencher's raw benches drop when they train too much in the shirt), the connective tissue in your arms would be stronger and your triceps would probably be too and you'd have a bunch of nearly useless knowledge about how to wedge yourself into a restrictive, rebounding piece of fabric ahd how to use it to move weight off of your chest while laying on a bench.

[Sean Katterle]

There have been tons of women on all kinds of drugs and no one has ever come close to 600lbs.............let's just give this lady her due rewards!

You really think RONNIE COLEMAN was the greatest bber of all time because he used the most drugs? Not even close!

It's Becca's deadlift that really sets her apart from the pack. Pulling close to 700 pounds in a competition, regardless of what kind of deadlift suit she wore or what kind of supplements she took, is crazee for a female lifter!

[Steve Wennerstrom]

does Elena Sieple have a place in this discussion as well?Along with the several 'Strongwoman' events she has entered over the past several years, Elena won her weight class and the 'Best Lifter' award at an APA sanctioned powerlifting contest in 2004. Her total was 1,255 pounds. Her site notes she has squatted 500, benched 315 and deadlifted 475. It did not note her bodyweight or where she performed these lifts. They're still impressive nonetheless.
But her bodybuilding exploits have been truly distinguished. She has entered 8 NPC Nationals, and 2 NPC USA's and never placed lower than 4th.

2000 Nationals 2nd LW 2003 USA 3rd MW
2001 Nationals 3rd LW 2005 USA 2nd LtHW
2002 Nationals 4th MW
2004 Nationals 2nd LtHW
2005 Nationals 3rd LtHW
2006 Nationals 2nd LtHW
2007 Nationals 4th LtHW
2008 Nationals 1st LtHW

Having earned her pro qualification in 2008, Seiple has not yet entered a pro event.