Acquiring the qualities of size, symmetry and definition is a challenge for all bodybuilders. Next up in our Bodybuilding Legends series is Laura Creavalle one bodybuilder who possessed all these qualities. A three times Ms. International winner and an incredible thirteen times Ms. Olympia contender, Creavalle is considered to be one of the greatest female bodybuilders of all time.
Laura’s bodybuilding journey began in the early 1980s. After watching a female bodybuilding show while on holiday in Jamaica, Laura felt inspired by the competitor who placed third in the show. She had a similar physical structure to Laura; large thighs and a small upper body. She particularly admired the bodybuilder’s legs, observing how lean they were compared to her own, even after years of running long distances.
Back home in Toronto, Laura joined a gym to start building her body. She worked tirelessly on the hardcore basics like squats, deadlifts, presses and rows. To build her rock-hard abs, she favoured techniques like giant sets (performing four exercises consecutively). Training two days then resting one was a productive training structure that worked well for Creavalle.
Paying compliment to her hard training ethic, world class bodybuilding coach Charles Glass said “she out-trained practically every guy at Gold’s.”
Creavalle’s understanding of nutrition was top notch. She paid thorough attention to her eating and was well-tuned in to the effects of food on her body. She considered training to be the easy part and nutrition the difficult bit in a bodybuilder’s lifestyle. She specialized in low-fat cooking and shared her knowledge in her books and her writings for “Muscle and Fitness” magazine. It’s known that four time Mr. Olympia, Jay Cutler was a fan of her cooking!
Laura was a powerful presence on the bodybuilding stage and was skilful at showing off her perfect abs, striated legs and ripped upper body. Her fantastic back double biceps pose was one of her best. Although she never won the Ms. Olympia crown, she did succeed in placing above two future Ms. Olympia winners in competition; Kim Chizevsky in the 1993 Ms. Olympia and Iris Kyle in 1999. Many consider Creavalle to be the only bodybuilder who could have taken the Olympia title from Lenda Murray. There was huge disapproval from the audience when she was placed second to Murray in the 1994 Olympia. Not one for quitting, Laura persevered to try and win the Olympia title but stopped competing after the 2002 Ms. Olympia, at the age of 43 years old.
Laura’s determination won the respect of many bodybuilding fans and her fanbase continued to grow even after her retirement from formal competition. She remained committed to a healthy lifestyle and continued to educate others about building muscle and clean eating. Laura held nutrition seminars, ran fitness camps and coached clients online. She was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame in 2007 for her noteworthy achievements in bodybuilding.
