Abbye “Pudgy” Stockton was a pioneer of women’s body-building, and she did much to increase interest in weight training among women.
Pudgy was anything but pudgy. She had a strong looking, well-proportioned and athletic build, and she radiated good health and vitality. She was one of the first body-builders to show that weight training can help women look and feel better. She first lifted weights to help tone her body and improve her self image after a period of weight gain lowered her self esteem and reduced her natural beauty. After taking up weight training, Pudgy won the nationwide “Miss Venus” contest.
Following her victory, she helped women across the world improve their figures through her “Barbelles” column in Strength and Health, a monthly column which debuted in the July, 1944 issue of the magazine. Pudgy also opened and operated a health studio in Santa Monica, California with her husband Les, a former lifting star.
On June 26, 2006 Pudgy passed away. How many of the hundreds of thousands of women today who engage in weight lifting, power lifting, bodybuilding or other form of exercise for health and vitality realize the debt of gratitude owed to Pudgy Stockton? She was a true trailblazer and a woman of strength
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