Luisita Leers - The Air Queen

An exploration of the life and achievements of Luisita Leers.
Support my research on Patreon: / nattylife
Old School Bodybuilding playlist: • Old School Bodybuilding
Second channel: / @mynattylife

[@raneemacintosh6842]

I love how these videos hit the perfect balance of touting the beauty and impressiveness of female bodybuilders without coming across as over-horny nor as completely desexed. These ladies are so inspirational to me and I love hearing about more of them!

[@NattyLifeYT]

I appreciate your support :)

[@spindleblood]

Agreed with you Renee!

[@greuju]

She's one of the prettiest women I've ever seen. fascinating.

[@stephss]

I appreciate how respectful you are. Quite sad the war really threw her off the path she wanted. This series is delightful, and sincerely thank you for making the time to show them.

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you for your support! It’s a great privilege to shine a light on these legends. I’m surprised no one else has been covering some of them on youtube yet.

[@qwuantum]

as he should lol

[@viniciusrodrigues1269]

Oh man, it hurts to see the joy and happiness gone from her face in the picture post war.

[@Los499]

War steals the hopes and dreams of entire generations. Rulers who lie and manipulate the population into war must be opposed at every turn.

[@Anwaaar07]

This story should be in the movies. It would be good

[@NattyLifeYT]

I agree!

[@bonchidude]

It should be done in the style of the movie 1917. That was a pretty good movie.

[@josmoify]

without cgi who is gonna be able to play her

[@jungbrahs1379]

Right? An original movie for once. Acting , more than just an athletic build , is needed to portray her courage and desire to be the best. She did a neck move when I’m sure most people waned to see her awesome physique.

[@jungbrahs1379]

@@sneescampers absolutely. But if they give the main role to a trans- Goat herder from Peru in a wheel chair, I’m moving to mars.

[@austin3789]

Impressiveness of the character of this woman is revealed in her second career where she opened up her own translation agency. What an incredible life and woman.

[@Motorata661]

Yeah, losing her career that has been working on since she was a child would have destroyed me. She not only got back up but used the languages she picked up traveling with the circus to restore her life.

[@bonchidude]

@@Motorata661 I think you meant her life.

[@Motorata661]

@@bonchidude Yeah my bad

[@Apostle_Jhesus_Christus]

Thats the only thing people like you care,she lost what she loved. She did something she was forced to.

[@AB-C1]

What a physique! IMMENSE strength and muscularity! Tbh with her physique and clear strength from her performing/act she may well have been able to perform the iron cross as hard as it is, she had the upper body physique of a male gymnast, so I don't doubt she quite possibly had the strength to match.. heck of a physique on her! These old school performers and body builders put the women now to shame! They had none of the roids and didn't need them either CLEARLY! People just want a shirt cut nowadays! And you ain't gonna see these women now living to 88! They'll be lucky to make half that with all the roids! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

[@gustavopinha233]

Wow! What arms are those?! When will i have biceps like these? Incredible! Inspiring! Great video bro!

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you bro!

[@WujiErTaiji]

As someone also born in Wiesbaden I have to say your pronunciation of German words is pretty good. I can hear you put some effort into pronouncing the words right.

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you bro, I tried my best 😁

[@JanGottschau]

agreed „luftkönigin“ is mean. very well pronounced 🎉

[@bonchidude]

Visbaden Yes he spelled it right.

[@glennbishopbishthemagish]

Yes indeed, having known a lot of kids that had parents that did circus acts for a living, the parents start the kids very early. And my opinion if it was advertised that she could do an iron cross, she could and did an iron cross. She also inspired a storyline in the movie "The Greatest Show On Earth."

[@percyfaith11]

That's not proof.

[@seeharvester]

I agree. She looks fully capable of an Iron Cross.

[@johnp515]

@@percyfaith11 That’s why he said it was his opinion

[@percyfaith11]

@@johnp515 That's why I gave my opinion.

[@timskinnercanada]

Fantastic video. I work with female acrobats a lot. I’m definitely going to pass this along. What a remarkable athlete.

[@NattyLifeYT]

Much appreciated brother 🙏

[@thesocialartsclub9095]

The best female bodybuilder of all time...even up to today. She did that...without any steroids

[@artlover3120]

What a fabulous woman! You have no idea how inspiring your videos are to me!! As a woman videos about strong females just hit different! Your video about vulcana got me started into working out, building muscle and eating healthy. I'm very thankful! Please keep up the good work and don't mind some negative comments on women's videos (luckily they're not too many)

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you for your support. It’s very cool to hear that the videos are inspiring you :) wishing you the best of luck on your journey 💪

[@yassine3978]

There no one say negative things about her

[@artlover3120]

@@yassine3978 I said on" women's videos "because in his first video introducing female bodybuilders he got comments accusing him of being sexist for calling out modern female bodybuilders who ruin their bodies with steroids and turn themselves into men. I've also read some comments saying female bodybuilders are just men and unfeminine.

[@yassine3978]

@@artlover3120 but isn't that true so many women take steroid. Doesn't look naturally like the like old school. You know is hard for women to grow big upper body do to low testosterone. I'm not generalizing tho

[@artlover3120]

@@yassine3978 that's what I said 😅 I don't agree with women using steroids at all.. It will mess up their hormones and make them look completely unnatural. But I love natural bodybuilding because it preserves feminine traits and your general health in the long run too 😊

[@lupo3694]

And all that without steroids or even lifting bars. When good genetics meet hard work. Wow, what a remarkable athlete/acrobat. I always had a special kind of admiration for athletes that not only do stuff that is incredibly hard, but pretty dangerous as well. To bad the war cut her career short, but then again, it seems like she had a long and successful life after all.

[@muhannedabass]

Incredible! more of this, please. your channel is a GEM!

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you brother :)

[@adrianahaverhoek]

Beautiful strong woman!

[@fitg6251]

Another outstanding video!! While I do rely heavily on weights for training, Luisita truly is a phenomenal example of what mostly body weight training can do for your physique! So impressive and motivating!! Thank you so much for granting us insight into such an amazing, strong, and beautiful woman's life!

[@dag455]

Circus acrobats do not use bodyweigth traning only. I did lights for Circus Scott in Sweden many years ago and the acrobats there also did som really heay weight lifting excersies every day. One ancor man in a pole number, laid on the bench, pumping 150 kg five sets of ten reps....

[@SaxonOak]

oh shit, a German girl even?? "was heisst da..." of her eara?? i never! ever! saw a nature developed girl without steroid use with such packed Arms!!! Im blown away dude! Crazy shit...

[@allezmontreal1711]

She was in amazing shape.

[@___Somebody___]

It just shows you how much we want to complicate muscle building, she did all that in the early 1900, no supplements

[@rafaelq.7340]

Oh wow. Trapped in germany. But i'm happy she made it and had a long life later

[@Humulus_Lupulus]

This is a brutal display of the effect of luck - or the lack of it - on the life of people regardless the effort. You can be the best at what you are doing - you can be at the top of the world. But be at the wrong place at the wrong time and everything was for naught. I never was at the top, but I experienced the second part well enough to feel strongly with her. Thank you and RIP Martha.

[@christianbailleul7049]

Encore une trés belle femme musclée. Pour l'accent Français très bien 👍😀Very good.

[@NattyLifeYT]

Merci!

[@masturchief]

Every time I see a girl with an impressive physique, I see comments about them being on steroids and stuff. Gotta link them this video

[@DrMrsChaves]

Cool video. Bros = "brothers" lol. One of the guys with the most impressive natural physiques I've ever seen never lifted weights. He was a trapeze instructor at a course I went to, and a professional, including for Cirque. He brought his young daughter and son with him to the classes and they would be practicing acrobatics the whole time off to the side.

[@exerciserelax8719]

Chillin with the Ringling bros. 😁😄

[@nicholaskoenig3106]

This stuck out to me as well...Lol. ...what Exercise&Relax said. Ringling Bro's. 😃

[@bluestormcloud791]

BRUH! They were originally called the Ringling Homies.

[@Jazzverso]

I'm envious of those arms. Also I think that this is the only time I've heard "excuse my french" in reference to actual French pronunciation.

[@NattyLifeYT]

I’m also envious of those arms bro 😁 they are insane

[@peterbraun3197]

I'll pardon your French... and compliment your German! Ausgezeichnet!!

[@NattyLifeYT]

Danke :)

[@superiormanx7649]

Your work never fails to impress. Rip luisita

[@Joy80JJ]

Love these video's. You do such a professional job explaining. She was so strong..naturally.

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you for all your support! It means a lot

[@dionysos7822]

Wow, your German pronunciation is amazing

[@NattyLifeYT]

Danke! I’m sure it has room for improvement 😁

[@blangh]

"Bros" is an abbreviation for "brothers."

[@bonchidude]

She could have gone back but decided to do something less risky. She made enough translating and I am sure she got back in shape but not like the days of her acrobatic feats.

[@GoldenEraBookworm]

Wonderful video about a wonderful woman

[@yowatup9329]

Yo! So...how did she hang on to the trapeze bar with the back of her neck?

[@stephss]

With skill.

[@nneichan9353]

Her body looks as well developed as those of male gymnasts who do the iron cross, so I would believe she could have done it if it was a popular move at the time.

[@SuperProge]

The writing on the picture at 0:45 is Finnish. Left side reads: a memento from Cirkus Olympia. Right side: A living propeller, 16 yo. strong maiden.

[@thelifeobscure]

What a wild story! She had such a full life and experienced so many things. Amazing.

[@Anshelm77]

0:41 Just in case, if there's a need for a translation from Finnish: "Memory of Circus Olympia" on the left, "The living propeller, strongmaiden aged 16" on the right. Not absolutely literal, because that would be even more clunky.

[@TheLeo13]

Again a nice video

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you :)

[@chellebethel]

So cool! I love these videos, keep 'em coming! ☺️❤️

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you! Certainly more to come...

[@chellebethel]

@@NattyLifeYT I can't wait! You quite literally express my thoughts and feelings of body building in general. I have always thought there is a point where it becomes too much, too big, and I expressed these thoughts by describing them looking like aliens or monsters. I often say that they look like what Mr Hyde would have looked like if he were real. You completely explained why I felt this way and it comes down to proportions, steroids, and all the crazy veins. 😅 I always new they stopped looking like a human at some point, but I didn't know why. So thank you for that! 🫰🏻

[@LS-kp6em]

more videos on the ladies :) great video!

[@cronikvialo5463]

I've done some trapeze, it's a shit ton of fun, it's a good mix of strenght / artistic expression, with the adrenaline bonus of being high. Insane physique, that double biceps is out of this world for the era. Keep those great videos up, i prefer when they are a bit longer, but i understand it's hard go find informations.

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you! Trapeze must be amazing, I would love to try it one day. But it does sounds scary I won’t lie 😁 And I also enjoy the longer deep dives, but as you say I pretty much make the videos as long as I can with the information available online. Sadly for some there is very little.

[@markolumovic2750]

Damn what at arms for a woman.I know men with smaller arms.

[@Monra1956]

Her name and her beauty, it shows that her father, who counts him as unknown, sure he was Hispanic, you can't have that face and be German

[@silaslizzie43]

Loving these videos on women bodybuilders! Thank you!

[@NeoKenshi]

These videos are so awesome; thank you for all that you are doing man, because it is amazing.

[@Ima_Virgin_69]

Beauty with Brawns ... Literally ..... 😍😍 If I find a Woman like her today ... Then she wud be more than able to protect me !!! Imagine how strong Neanderthal womn were ....!!!

[@keysersoze5920]

Remarkable. RIP Luisita.

[@nabilahmedkhan8052]

Loving your channel Bro! By the way she was pretty too !!😍😍

[@santafilipina9020]

Thanks again. Always entertaining and informative.

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you for the support :)

[@santafilipina9020]

@@NattyLifeYT btw, I saw your copycat yesterday and called him a plagiarist. So uncool but as a consolation we know imitation is the best form of flattery.

[@NattyLifeYT]

I appreciate that! There are several channels copying my stuff now sadly. I guess I must be something right… But damn they are so lazy! They could talk about old school bodybuilders without straight up copy pasting my stuff lol

[@stephss]

@@NattyLifeYT I hope they are reported. You deserve the attention your hard work makes.

[@diespinatpizza3187]

i absolutely love to learn about Abby, Ivy and now Luisita :) ! it's a huge fitness motivation to see them pioneering in sports and being such extraordinary athletes. its such a shame though i knew so little about them, so i appreciate your videos even more! thank you so much for covering this part of history, too :) ...The one about ivy really made me emotional, because she (and of course numerous other women) fought for womens rights and claimed her space 'in a mens world'. It's thanks to them that i feel so empowered and can go to the gym whenever i want and work out. its great! :)

[@NattyLifeYT]

That’s so awesome to hear. Thank you for your support and wishing you the very best of luck on your lifting journey :)

[@diespinatpizza3187]

@@NattyLifeYT aww thanks mate! Definitely gonna check out your other videos. What you said about natural bodybuilding resonated with me a lot and I'm curious for more :)

[@ninarosebarber]

Incredible, love these stories!

[@Hirthirthirt]

there is nothing like strong ladies

[@calixz9253]

I think she performed iron cross bcoz iron cross puts all emphasis on biceps(see gymnast bicep video) her arms look magnificent and have peak

[@gfreeman9843]

I'm sure she could do the iron cross.... impressive, beautiful lady.

[@Klausisyoutube]

Dankeschön! 👏🏼

[@kami-neko]

Un vídeo muy chévere, gracias.

[@macmcleod1188]

Now that's a body builder. She's not just strong but went for definition.

[@jripule]

I love the description in the card @0:42: A living propeller, 16 yo. Power Maiden. A memento of Circus Olympia.

[@MrBeckenhimself]

If she could do that crazy move with one hand I can asure you she could easily do the iron cross. I did gymnastics in my younger years and I could do an iron cross and I never even competed. If I could and I can tell you for a fact that if I even attempted that one arm move she could do I wouldn't even come close to making it.

[@LTomppa94]

🇫🇮 Picture at 0:41 - 0:53 says: (left) Memory from Circus Olympia (right) Live Propeller, 16 y/o power girl

[@NattyLifeYT]

Kiitos! The “live propeller” is definitely a reference to the one arm plange move.

[@mantasisganaitis2281]

Super interesting, everything is just amazing and amazing physique is just a bonus in this case.

[@ДмитрийБельский-с8ц]

Волшебница ! Шварценеггер нервно курит в сторонке..Божественная гибкость .Пластика ! Сочные налитые мышцы заработанные изнурительными ежедневными тренировками профессиональной цирковой артистки !.

[@anorev99149]

I have a picture of Vicky Unus doing the Iron Cross. She was an acrobat with Ringling Brothers in the 1960's and 1970's where she did an act that included one arm planges. The most planges she ever did in a performance was 250! though she usually did 100 per performance.

[@michaelohair3715]

Reading the blogs, here, I see a number of ignoramuses regarding a supposed woman's inability to do ring gymnastics and silly inferences about steroid use back in the day. We need some history about Amazons (who existed) and the Spartan women. And maybe some history on female Channel swimmers

[@canalefit4819]

Amazons: literary construction. Spartan women: stuck home with less rights than your dog. There you go.

[@ronaknanda6175]

All these dead greats coming to life again

[@millerbautista4326]

I just wanna say LOOK AT THOUSE ARMS that aside im really amazed of her skill and how beautiful she was no manly at all which remark the fact she was compltely natural threfore i just wonder why people is not built that way any more

[@johnporter6812]

Did you know the heaviest man to perform the Iron Cross ,was Bert Assirati. Very interesting video, not heard of her before.

[@michaelohair3715]

You are dointg a great service by showing videos such as this. I'm still waiting for you to do some on female barnstormers (in the Roaring Twenties) and on Dolly Shepherd (sp?), the patron saint of sky diving. Funny thing is, early radio had a number of female leads as adventurers, scientists, pilots and so on, and the movies up through the forties, maybe into the 50s, had many strong-minded, determined, and brave and smart women. You might even find something about sailors around Cape Horn, which included at least one young woman from a middle class US eastern family who had to disguise herself as a young man.. I've forgotten her name now, but an important Scottish Medical society was for some years led by a woman disguised as a man, and I seem to recall that something like that happened in this country during the Civil War. Years ago I went wading at the sea's edge with two older women and learned from overhearing them, that one was a Polish Countess who had escaped the Nazis, the other once a pilot who had flown DC-3s over the Himalayas, ferrying Chinese refugee childrn, during WWII. Those were the days. And by the way, female circus performers took great risks; modern body builders take no risks at all but that of acne and ugly veins, their puffed up bodies useless once they get away from the mirror. And the poses now, male and female, are preposterous and hideous. Compare them to the statue of the Farinese athlete. And I suppose that you know this: both Burt Lancaster and Yul Brynner had been trapeze artists. Lancaster was with Ringling Brothers, Brynner in a European act.

[@michaelbrown3731]

Wow! What a woman! I had never heard of her before watching this video.

[@omoowobhd]

What a beautiful woman & a fascinating story, thanks for sharing...

[@soupturn2485]

Another awesome video- she's super inspiring. Thanks for including so many details on her performances, presentation, and the effect she had on others throughout her life- the amount of care you put into these videos always shows in the research. Also "a body that remains beautiful in spite of her extraordinary muscles..." Despite?! Lol. I'd call this quote a relic of its time but I realize that this sentiment may be shared by some people today, and that bodybuilding enthusiasts may have a slightly niche aesthetic. Glad you got a Patreon!

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you very much for your kind comments and for your support on Patreon

[@mind-numbingtasks1575]

Absolutely gorgeous.

[@auliabadruzzaman2198]

my heart broken when see the last photo of her without a smile :(

[@paulday-lh5mx]

Another incredible female human being.

[@matveyignatyev]

That first-line made me burst out laughing.. guys what are we doing here?

[@Ima_Virgin_69]

I wish we had atleast one video of hers performing acrobats

[@russellhamner4898]

This woman was 100% GANGSTA.

[@RobertLofrano]

This is the most in depth piece I have ever seen on her, great research. The the older story's about women from that era, no peds. All natural with great genetics. There is on woman I have seen named Madamoisie Ani who had very well developed biceps 💪 from around 1900,from an old police gazette magazine. Almost impossible to find more than that one photo. She would be a good story.

[@KiCreativeStudioJP]

Ringling Bros. has always been read as 'brothers'. Bros is late 20th century slang. It was not in use in the 1920's.

[@NattyLifeYT]

Ah makes sense, thanks for letting me know. I just read it as I saw it 😁

[@KiCreativeStudioJP]

@@NattyLifeYT I see. =) Your videos are really great. Looking forward to seeing more!

[@cosmicreef5858]

"Does literal horizontal Helikopter with one arm" Yeah i believe that(obvious footage as well) Iron cross(simply hold yourself with both arms) "Naaw woman can't do that" What kind of a paralel dimension logic is that?

[@marquanbrand-moorehead1887]

Yesss Strong Old School Women's Yesssssss i Seen Women's Build Without Lifting Weights,

[@QuesoGr7]

I wonder if she was part of the inspiration of Maki from Air Master.

[@richardjeffrey1809]

Very muscular and strong women.good channel. Keep doing video's like this.

[@lindam.2437]

Thanks for this video. It was very interesting. On a side note, Bros was the abbreviation for Brothers and was never pronounced as Bros. Instead, it was always pronounced as Brothers. So even though it looks like Ringling Bros, it was really Ringling Brothers and always pronounced as such when saying the name of the circus.

[@jeffreypetree7163]

She had nice bicep peaks . She was a nice looking lady . I was thinking during the video of what age she lived to be , I thought 90's to 101 years old .. did she ever have any children ?

[@teresalehtonen8499]

How incredible arm development!

[@davidmoore2308]

Wonder if she ever had children?

[@fabianwendygino6920]

I'm not a guy but I enjoyed this video

[@DaShadyLady]

Excellent video!

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thanks!

[@Azrael1st]

Wait is this the same guy that runs the campaign report channel?

[@KenanTurkiye]

no internet = more muscles :))))

[@steveward2394]

I love the history behind each person.

[@jonathanpratte1988]

An impressive woman.

[@SAXONWARLORD1000AD]

wow , look at her back and arms at 5.20 - love it

[@mauriciogastonpirizgonzale5387]

A woman like no other! There are women boxers who don't have that physique, it's great to see proof that a woman can naturally achieve that.

[@paulclarke7571]

Thank you for awaking this amazing woman's story. Such an amazing individual.

[@boringbanana6417]

Great genetics for sure, but also hard work.

[@marceltroissaillies9955]

Sad end story. She could have become a superstar

[@NattyLifeYT]

Sad end indeed. But I believe she was a superstar in her prime.

[@trancemadmaz]

Myostatin deficiency

[@Mutex50]

When I was a sophomore in high school and learning gymnastics, my teacher said the only student she saw doing an iron cross was a girl.

[@a.ragguette4855]

What's an iron cross?