FC6 : Fitness Competition Six Official Thread

[IE_Grappler]

FC 6 "A New You for the New Year" : January 9 - April 6, 2009

PLEASE DONT TAKE / POST PICTURES UNTIL January 9th

The Sixth ever MMAWeekly fitness challenge will commence on Friday January 9th, 2009 and will run through Monday April 6th, 2009. That's 12 weeks folks.

The following contains a detailed description of the contest, its rules and the criteria by which participants will be judged. Please read carefully to ensure that you fully understand how the competition will operate.

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BEFORE PICTURES:

Participants must post a before picture of themselves. This must be an original photo and it must be taken and posted on or after Friday January 9th 2009. You must include one photo that can be used to time stamp the pictures. This can be done with a newspaper, taking your photo in front of a screen/tv with the date on it, by taking a piece of paper and posting your post count or a score from a sporting event etc. There is leeway with submitting pictures late as long as the competitor provides a proper starting date picture as the only person being put at a disadvantage for taking their pictures late is themselves.

Some things to consider when taking your before photos:

Clothing
--> Wear the same type of clothing in the "before" and "after" photos
Remember that if you are covering up parts of your body it will be difficult to show your progress
--> Do not cover your legs with long shorts or "cut" them out of the photo

Photos
--> Try to get the highest quality photos you can. Remember, this is the only way the judges can see your transformation. Good, clear, high quality photos are essential. Again, good, clear high quality photos are essential.
--> Try taking them outside in either the morning or the late evening (when the sun is low) as the light is generally better for photos at that time.
--> Take your photos against a plain background.
--> Please include your whole body, from head to toe. Make sure to take the three key poses so comparisons can be made. They are the "from the front", "from the side" and "from behind". These three photos should be taken with hands at the side. Additional flexing photos can be taken for progress comparisons but make sure to have the three main ones.
--> Try to fill the photograph with yourself. If you stand too far away it may be hard to see your great results.

With your photos please submit the follow stats:
--> Age
--> Weight (mandatory)
--> Height (mandatory)
--> Waist measurement, taken around your gut at belly-button level. (mandatory)
--> Body fat % (you should be able to have this measurement taken at any local gym or you can usually buy a small body fat caliper at any sporting goods store or health store, it will come with directions on how to measure your body fat %)

*You must submit the same updated stats with your final photo after the 12 weeks are over

Also please list your goals for FC6. You wont be judged on them but its good to have as a motivator / something to look back on

AFTER PICTURES:

Follow the same criteria for your after photos as you did with your before pictures (poses, stats, ending date verification). AFTER PHOTOS MUST BE TAKEN AND POSTED BETWEEN FRIDAY APRIL 3rd and TUESDAY APRIL 7th 2009. THERE IS NO LEEWAY ON LATE PICTURES AT THE END AS JUDGING STARTS ON WEDNESDAY. If for some reason you will not be around to submit final pictures, as people do have vacation plans, a competator can submit their pictures/stats early as not using the full 12 weeks is a disadvantage not a benefit.

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COMPETITION RULES:

Plan and stick to any type of diet and exercise program that you wish. It is not necessary to share your plan or accomplishments with other competitors as everybody's plans will differ and the judges will take several things into consideration when judging participants after the competition is over. Honestly, nobody has time to post their daily activities and accomplishments online and it would be extremely difficult to compare participant's progress as all workout plans and individual goals will differ.

The use of legal supplements is allowed (and as far as I'm concerned, encouraged) however the use of diuretics to enhance your after appearance is not only pathetic but stupid and therefore prohibited.

Basically the only rules are that you must post a quality before picture, work your ass off and submit an quality after pictures.

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JUDGING

Participants will be judged on the following criteria:
1. Total Change in appearance.
2. Fat loss and Muscle gained (Hence the need for weight and body fat % stats).
3. Visible physical improvement in the final "after" picture.
4. Basically the judges will use common sense in determining who the winner will be. This is not a bodybuilding contest and we don't have the time to waste determining who is stronger physically. The above criteria provide a basic outline of what the judges will be judging us on.

Selecting A Winner

The following criteria will be used to determine a winner:

Currently there are three judges (more will be added).

Each judge will rank the competitors, who post finishing pictures, in reverse order and score them accordingly based on who they believe have made the biggest changes at the end of the competition.

All the judges' scorecards will be counted and whichever participant has the most points will be declared the overall winner win. Second through fifth places will also be announced (increased # of winners as # of finishers has grown).

The Fitness Competition was ALWAYS set up as a BIGGEST IMPROVEMENT competition as opposed to a MOST MUSCULAR or MOST FAT LOSS competition �

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***IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ABOVE GUIDELINES PLEASE SEND A PM TO IE_Grappler***

I hope that everybody is as excited about this competition as I am. Feel free to post to this thread during the 12 weeks to offer advice and encouragement for your fellow competitors. Most importantly work your ass off and have fun!

[IE_Grappler]

Let me kick off this thread with a HUGE thank you to Buffdaddy, PickledPunk, and ALL previous FC: judges, winners, and competitors.

I'm winning this thing, but I appreciate all of my competition. Without you this win would mean so much less.

[goDsnataS]

This is an opportunity for you to go balls out for 3 months and see what you're really made of. The satisfaction of success far outweighs the sacrifices required. Clean the sand out and sign up already.

[sp1kez]

I'm in, for real this time, I signed up for FC4 but never did anything

[heelsfan]

I have signed up for 3 previous fitness competitions. The first one I signed up for I finished. Not with great results but at least I finished.

Shortly after my second competition started my wife got into a head on collision which required me to miss work and tend to her and my son for over two months pretty much ending my competition.

Then I joined the last competition and got into two auto accidents myself within a six week period. It's taken until about three weeks ago for me to completely heal physically. Mentally these set backs put me in an incredible rut. I couldn't even look at the training forum.

That brings me to this competition. I had doubts as to whether I'd join but I've decided that I've been basically given two new leases on life in the last few months and I turn 30 in April. So here I am joining my fourth competition. I have made a total commitment to getting into top shape. I've been given a new shot at life and I'm going to make the best of it.

[IE_Grappler]

Heelsfan that's pretty inspirinational. I'm pulling for you to take second place.

[Lines]

Heelsfan's post was definitley moving and inspirational.
We are all pulling for you!

[rocketman766]

Heelsfan... hope everything works out for you, but 4th times a charm for me!!!! I freakin' killed my legs last night and LOVED every minute of it!!!!

[rocketman766]

Sticky this one guys????????

[goDsnataS]

I'm glad to hear things are working out for you, heelsfan. I'm definitely rooting for you this time.