When Tiana “Flex” Nagel from South Africa pops her biceps on stage in Las Vegas this October at the World Olympia bodybuilding finals, she will be dazzling in a magic bikini made in Durban.
Tiana is ranked 14th in the top 20 by the IFBB, the premier bodybuilding organisation that hosts the iconic Joe Weider Olympia competition.
This year, she won an Olympia title in Tokyo in the ladies’ bodybuilding category, becoming the first South African woman to qualify to compete in Las Vegas.
The athlete began bodybuilding 17 years ago to stay in shape after being diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.
Her husband, Tony, who owns Flex Fitness gym in Pretoria, is a 2017 Olympia titleholder.
Tiana, a former dressage horse rider, weighs 64 kg. She has bench-pressed 80 kg and leg-pressed 450 kg.
But, Tony says, it’s not about the heavy weights – it’s about muscle form.
“You learn to squeeze with a mind-muscle connection for a full, rounded muscle. It’s about muscle separation. The lines between your muscles must be deep and visible. It’s about overall physique and healthy skin tone.”
In preparation for Vegas, Tiana eats five times a day.
She is a fitness instructor and trains for four hours a day.
“I love training. The discipline drives me. It is who I am.”
Her response to clichés about “dumb gym bunnies” and muscle fetishes is blunt.
“Try and figure out what the best nutrition is for yourself or a client, considering how much knowledge is required and how different bodies are. The stereotype of bodybuilders being doff is doff in itself. But I suppose people don’t understand the sport. There is a side to bodybuilding that is vain and selfish, but that’s not my story.”
Tiana attributes part of her success to what she wears on stage: bespoke bikinis made in Durban by Katherine Fleur.
“Katherine is a rock star. The bikinis are a big part of the show. The cut and the colour have to be just right.”
Fleur’s Magic Bikinis occupy a clever niche market.
Her dazzling designs, studded with glittering crystals and sparkling diamantes, are highly prized. Taut, confident competitors strut their stuff around the world in Magic Bikinis.
Fleur holds a national diploma in Fashion Design and started her custom wedding couture business in 2007. When she was approached to make a bodybuilding bikini in 2009, she had never made one before.
“Bodybuilding has become one of the fastest-growing lifestyle sports globally,” Fleur says. “For women, the introduction of glamorous new divisions has encouraged participation well beyond stereotypes. We are privileged to journey with our clients. They entrust us with their dreams. We live vicariously – it’s wonderful.”
Fleur’s focus on competition bikinis has paid off. About 30% of her business now comes from the United States, where a tailored bikini sells for upwards of $600.
“Bikinis are very time-consuming,” she says. “The materials are imported and each costume goes through about five pairs of hands before it is complete. But the relationships we’ve developed all over the world are really worthwhile.”
