Official Rules for 2014 Fitness Success Stories Contest

Official Rules for 2014 Fitness Success Stories Contest

Prizes

  • 1st prize $1,000
  • 2nd prize $500
  • 3rd prize $250
  • 4th prize $250
  • 5th prize $250

I want you to get in the best shape of your life in 2014, and with cash prizes here, I hope to provide that little motivational push that is sometimes needed to keep focused on fitness goals.  All prizes will be rewarded on March 1, 2015 regardless of the number of contest entries and there will be no subsequent rounds or tie-breakers – the five winners will be chosen from the submissions received before the contest deadline which is December 31st, 2014.  Here are last years five cash prize winners!

About this contest

This is unlike other success stories contests where the winners are chosen by before and after photos.  This is not a beauty pageant, its a fitness success stories contest. Fitness “success” can be many things and not all of them are visible.  You don’t have to look like a cover model to win, its all about becoming more fit and more healthy.  You can be 17 year old who has lost 100 pounds and run their first marathon or a 70 year old who has gotten off all their prescription medications using just exercise and good nutrition.  The point here is to showcase ordinary people who turned their lives around to inspire others to follow in their footsteps.  Remember that this is “Fitness Success Stories” contest, your success needs to be fitness or health related and you need to have a good story – a stunning “after” photo will not win you this contest.    People are best motivated when they identify with who you were, how you felt, the problems your body was causing you, and the challenges you had to overcome to become more fit and healthy.    When someone reads a “before” story and says “Hey, thats me!”, they truly identify and can be motivated.

What workout plans may be used?

The point of this contest is to show how anyone can turn their fitness and health around without spending lots of money.  If you used a paid workout plan, an eBook, a personal trainer, or any other program which costs more than a total of USD $40 then you are not eligible to enter this contest.    You do not have to use the information on scoobyswork.shop or sweat4health, but it needs to be something that you spent a total of less than $40 on.  You can checkout a book from the library, you can use a free workout plan from the internet, or you can buy an inexpensive textbook .  I honestly don’t care what program you use, I want YOU to use the plan that best suits your needs.  A great place to start in your search for a good workout program is my page: Choosing the best workout for you.  To make this crystal clear, using my home workout plan instead of Mark Rippetoe’s “Starting Strength” program will not affect your chances of winning – this is about health and fitness success!  Fitness and health is accessible to *everyone* regardless of socio-economic status!

What supplements are allowed?

This contest is about improving health and fitness.  In my opinion, bodybuilding supplements and weight loss pills have no place in a health and fitness program and they are not allowed in this contest with the following exceptions.  Only the following supplements are permitted in this contest:

  • creatine, as long as the only ingredient is creatine.
  • multivitamins
  • protein powders, as long as the only active ingredient is protein
  • omega-III supplements like fish oil and flax oil
  • freshly brewed green tea and freshly brewed coffee

What are the chances of winning?

Your chances of winning depend on the number of contest entries and on your fitness success relative to other contestants.  3,000 entries are anticipated so assuming that your fitness success, attitude, and credibility are as good as everyone elses then you have approximately a 1 in 3000 chance of winning.

How winners will be chosen:

The winners chosen will be those who have a good attitude, are credible and are deemed to have had the most success in improving their fitness and health.  The five winners will be chosen in three rounds of judging:

  1. January 1 to January 31, 2015 paid members from sweat4health will choose the top 100 contestants.
  2. February 1 to February 5 2015, Scooby will choose the 20 finalists from amongst the top 100 chosen by paid members of sweat4health.
  3. February 6 to February 28 2015, public voting will then determine the five winners from amongst the 20 finalists.

On March 1, 2015 the five winners will be announced at http://www.sweat4health.com/2014-success-stories-contest/winners.html

Success Criteria:

“Success” in health and fitness can be many things, it can be:

  • losing fat
  • improving health
    • lowering blood pressure
    • lowering cholesterol
    • reducing blood sugar
    • getting off from prescription medications
  • gaining muscle
  • improving performance: strength, speed, endurance, VO2max, etc

Credibility

Like the old success stories contest on scoobyswork.shop, you can enter at any time before the December 31, 2014.  However, given that there are cash prizes this time, entries will be scrutinized far more carefully.   Because of privacy concerns, no “proof” or testing of any type will be required of winners; however, credibility IS required.  To maximize your chance of winning, you need to fully document your fitness journey and establish credibility that you abided by the rules and achieved the results you claim.   Here are some things you can do to help establish credibility of your fitness and health transformation:

  1. Start your own free progress diary thread on sweat4health (or elsewhere) as soon as possible! You can also use period photos posted to Facebook, Instagram, or elsewhere to document your progress.
  2. Start your journey by stating your goals and how you hope to achieve them. Its OK and expected that these will change along the way but putting a stake in the ground is a great way to start establishing credibility.
  3. Make periodic posting to your progress diary thread talking about your workouts, your nutrition, your challenges, and how you are progressing toward your goal.  Daily postings would be awesome but weekly posting would be OK too. The point is to have a paper trail of your progress.
  4. Post periodic photos to your progress diary starting with your “before’ picture.
  5. While you are posting your weekly progress, consider providing encouragement for others who struggling on their fitness journey (see Attitude section)

Attitude

Attitude is everything and a good attitude is a required part of winning this contest.  This contest is not just about YOU and YOUR improvement, its about YOU helping others.  Its about YOU being a role model to others and helping to inspire and motivate them.  Be supportive of others!  Drop into their fitness progress diary once and awhile and give words of encouragement or advice.

Notification of winners

The five winners will be announced March 1, 2015 on this web page, and on that date, the winners will be notified using the email address they submitted in their official entry.  Winners have 30 days to reply to the email and give their tax ID for federal 1099 submission (or international equivalent).  If for any reason at all, for reasons within their control or out of their control, the winner does not reply to the email within 30 days, the chosen winner forfeits their prize and a replacement winner will be chosen.  Prizes can be delivered as a cashiers check mailed to the winners address or by PayPal transfer to the email address used to sign up for the contest. The moral of the story is, use a real email address and make sure you have password recovery properly set up!

What is contest schedule and deadline?

Photo requirements

Before and after photos are required to enter and they both must:

  • Be of the same pose so people can gauge your progress
  • Lighting must be the similar in both photos. If you want dramatic, ab flattering down lighting in the after photo then use it in the before photo as well.
  • Both photos must clearly show your face, otherwise people might doubt if its the same person or not.
  • Photos should be cropped so that they show you from waist to top of head or feet to top of head.
  • Photos must be clear, sharp, well lit, and have a minimum resolution of 600 wide × 800 high after they are cropped.
  • Photos may not be indecent.
  • Photos should clearly show physique, this can be form fitting clothing or swim attire.

Components of contest entry

The contest entries that you will submit online here between December 1 2014 and December 31 2014 will require the following:

  • before photo (see photo requirements) taken between January 1 2014 and July 1 2014, weight on day photo was taken
  • after photo (see photo requirements) taken be taken between December 1 2014 and December 31 2014, weight on day photo was taken
  • certification that entrant adhered to all of the official contest rules
  • your full name (only your first name will be published)
  • your full mailing address (only your city, state and country will be published)
  • your age
  • parental consent if under 18 years old
  • your email address where you should be contacted if you win
  • a link to your progress diary documenting your progress (see credibility section)
  • a 15-30 word summary of what your primary success was
  • 200-1000 words describing what your goal was, what your fitness program was, your challenges, your results and your advice to others.  If English is not your primary language, feel free to write in your native language and use google translate – please include both versions in your entry.

Who can enter?

  • This Contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law. 
  • Contestant may not be a national or legal permanent resident of the province of Quebec in Canada or the following countries: Burma, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan or Syria.  If you live in a city, state, or country where contests of this nature are not allowed then you are prohibited from entering.
  • No purchase necessary to win and you do not have to be a sweat4health member.   You can obtain a free account at sweat4health where you can start your own progress diaries thread and document your fitness journey.
  • Over 18 or under 18 with consent of parent or legal guardian.

How many times can you enter?

You may enter this contest just once.  Don’t ask me why I had to say this, its pretty stupid if you ask me but its a legal requirement that I specify how many times you can enter.   If you have entered previous years contests, thats fine, but you may enter this contest only once.

General

By entering this contest, entrant:

  • acknowledges that that this contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook or YouTube. See “Contest promoter and sponsor” section.
  • agrees to release sweat4health.com, scoobyswork.shop llc, Facebook, and Youtube,  from all liability, loss or damage arising out of or relating to this contest, including with respect to the contest, interpretation of these rules, decisions by the judges, their acceptance and use/misuse of the prize.
  • agrees to be bound by these contest rules.
  • agrees that all materials submitted, including photographs, become the property of scoobyswork.shop llc, sweat4health.com, and their affiliates.
  • agrees that scoobyswork.shop llc and sweat4health.com and their affiliates may use Entrant’s names, likeness, the Images, personal information, and statements made by Entrant to Sponsor, and information on the entry form for promotional purposes in all media worldwide without additional compensation. Entrant irrevocably grants the right to edit, modify and/or publish and copyright the Images.
  • agrees that scoobyswork.shop llc and sweat4health do not make any warranty, representation or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, relative to the use of any prize, including, without limitation, quality, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
  • agrees that any falsified information disqualifies them.
  • understands that taxes are not withheld from cash prizes and it is the responsibility of the winners to pay any taxes due on the winnings.

Contest promoter and sponsor

scoobyswork.shop llc
101 Cooper Street #208
Santa Cruz, CA 95060