Women in bodybuilding

Danisa Masuku
YES, she can!South Africa-based Zimbabwe born female bodybuilder Regina Jonga is a living example that women can gain the same ratio of muscle mass compared to men during strength training.

Actually women reportedly gain as much size and sometimes more strength than men. Scientists in this field say, the difference is in that men begin with more muscle mass and more strength.

In light of this fact, why do we have less female bodybuilders, in Zimbabwe particularly?

a�?Women underestimate themselves. This is even aided by that men also tend to undermine them,a�? said fitness trainer Simon Gama.

Jonga is the reigning Ms Zimbabwe and represented the country at the Arnold Classic in South Africa in May this year where she came sixth.

Because of her exploits, the National Federation of Zimbabwe Body Building and Fitness (NFZBBF) has invited her as a special guest at this yeara��s Mr Iron Man and Ms Iron event that will held on 27 August in Harare.

a�?We have invited Regina Jonga, a female athlete who defied all odds winning a number of endorsements with South Africa companies,a�? said Quiet Shangai, the national spokesperson for the association.

Internationally, the coming in of women into bodybuilding sometime in the late 70s brought quality to the sport. As such, NFZBBF wants to bring that flair locally.

a�?We want to change the perception of women towards bodybuilding. This will drive a message to women that one could earn a living from the sport,a�? added Shangai.

Sadly the sport is not really developing much in other parts of the world. This could impact the sport locally too because there will be a ceiling to how much one can achieve as a woman.

In 2015, the Ms. Olympia was dropped, marking the possible end of womena��s bodybuilding.

a�?Man facea�? is a term used to describe the masculinisation of a female bodybuildera��s facial features. As such this crude term tends to insult women who aspire to become bodybuilders.

The audience for womena��s bodybuilding is shrinking.

Rewind back to 2005. The International Federation of Body Building (IFBB) introduced the infamous a�?20 percent rulea�?. In a memo, they asked female bodybuilders to decrease the amount of muscularity by a factor of 20 percent.