Too Big for the World

Irene Andersen's dream has been to make the Olympia stage before she turns fifty and the 48-year-old female bodybuilder has been making the sacrifices to build a physique worthy to compete at that level.  At this critical juncture in the world of competitive female bodybuilding, the sport is barely hanging on, with many of the federations removing it as a competition and instead replacing it with Physique competitions. 

Many female bodybuilders have spent countless hours in the gym toiling away without much external support.  They don't do it for the 'glory' or fame - because for the most part, that doesn't really exist.  Even in the world of men's bodybuilding there is not a huge mainstream appeal with most of it coming from industry insiders and the gay population.

Women bodybuilders face an even more complex situation with muscle and femininity often being opposites in most peoples minds.  However, most of them don't care what others think.  They are strong internally to have to face that kind of judgement on a regular basis, but they are also strong on the outside from all the time spent pushing their physiques to the limits.  The intensity and focus to develop a physique to extreme levels is something that most people will never know.  To understand the mentality and determination that it takes is something unique that female bodybuilders are familiar with.

With womens bodybuilding looking like it is in a transition to less developed physiques, this may be the end of an era in the sport. 

You can support the production of a documentary on the sport featuring Irene and with other bodybuilding luminaries such as eight time Miss Olympia Lenda Murray, IFBB Pro bodybuilder Helle Trevino, and male bodybuilders Kai Green and former Mr. Olympia Samir Bannout.

Check out more and follow progress at their Facebook page.

Oh yeah, we're proud that a photo we took and was first featured here on the site is being used to promote the IndieGoGo campaign :)