12.17.2004:Buffalo Newspaper Claims Female Bodybuilding is a Dying Sport

from Buffalonews.com:

James P. McCoy/Buffalo News Rachele Stoller is part a dying breed - female bodybuilders.

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James P. McCoy/Buffalo News Rachele Stoller says training for a bodybuilding competition is a grueling process.

A dying breed.

That would be about the last thought to pop into your head when looking at a physical specimen like Rachele Stoller.

But even Stoller, a bodybuilder who resides in the City of Tonawanda, knows that her sport, at least among women, is not exactly flourishing. In fact, it's heading in a completely different direction.

"It's a very small, isolated sport," said the 25-year-old Stoller, who has won a number of amateur bodybuilding competitions. "A lot of people don't know much about the sport. It would be nice just to get the sport out there, because it isn't just going to the gym lifting weights, it's definitely beyond that for sure - it's a whole lifestyle."

Female bodybuilders are hard to find nowadays, as the industry has shifted to place more emphasis on fitness and figure competitions on the women's side. Those contests have their own judging criteria that are separate from the bodybuilding competitions that Stoller enters.

"In bodybuilding, it is judged who has the biggest muscles as well as the best symmetry - how each muscle relates to each other muscle," said Brad Schoenfeld, a renowned fitness expert and author of the popular "Look Great Naked" book series. "Generally speaking, the one that is the biggest and most symmetrical is going to win in bodybuilding.