The first pro show of the year (Phoenix Pro) is merely a few days away, as as of right now, there are only FOUR fitness competitors for the pro fitness part of the show. What the deuce, people?! I don't get it. If this keeps up, fitness might just be a thing of the past, and there are some who won't take NO for an answer.
J.M. Manion has thrown down the challenge. He made it on Siouxcountry, Issac posted it on Hardbody News and now I'm posting this message:
I also want to throw this out to any & all IFBB Pro Fitness competitors – anybody that wants to contribute an article(s) to the NPC News about NPC and/or IFBB Fitness, please let me know. The door is open. And remember to keep it positive. This is to help promote the sport & bring it back to its former glory.
__________________
J.M. Manion
Chief Photographer/Journalist NPC News
As a supporter of this industry, I highly encourage for all IFBB Fitness Pros to take what J.M. had to say and do something about it. It's clear that many within the industry doesn't want fitness to die. I sure as hell don't. The fitness division is what made me a fan of the entire female physique sport in the first place. As a matter of fact, don't be surprised if the FitGems Nation gets involved somehow in how to help keep fitness from becoming nothing more than a footnote in IFBB and NPC history.
For those interested, here's what I wrote on the state of fitness around 2008:
http://fitgems.blogspot.com/2008/05/state-of-ifbbnpc-womens-fitness.html
Let me stress this very carefully. I'm no fitness competitor, I have no clue what the fitness competitors go through to prepare for a show, so I'm speaking as a person who LOVES the fitness division and doesn't want to see it fall. To all IFBB and NPC Fitness competitors, take a stand and don't let yourselves be the end of the fitness division as we know it!
SAVE FITNESS WHILE YOU STILL HAVE A DIVISION!!!
1 comment:
As a former NPC and now IFBB Fitness Competitor. I don't want to see Fitness die. I think what keeps so many from competing is two things. First a Fitness Routine choreographed and music cost money. It pretty much needs to be changed yearly to keep it fresh, so even if you keep the same costume, same music, there is the choreography cost to tweak it. You add in swimsuit cost, which up until this year required 2suits, and it just becomes cost prohibitive for some. The majority of cost is your routine, and it only counts for 50% of your score, so they decide to just do Figure. Less studio time, cost in the long run. If the routine was the major focus, I think you would get more competitors. Second, is the misconception that you need to be a gymnast. That is not the case, since the IFBB no longer has compulsories, maybe removing required moves in the NPC would be an option. Personally I think both need to have required moves, but maybe changing to a 3 out of 5 with it being athletes choice. I definitely don't want the sport to die. I just think there needs to be more emphasis put on the actual fitness routine and when photographed show that rather than the 2 piece swimsuit. People just looking at a magazine can't tell the difference when figure, fitness and bikini all pretty much look the same in photos. My personal goal is to bring a younger generation in the sport, through local gymnastics and cheer gyms, to keep it alive for many years to come.
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