3rd Annual FitGems Awards-NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITES!

The 3rd annual FitGems Awards are right around the corner, and we hope to make it in the words of WWE' 12,"Bigger. Badder. Better" than ever before! The categories have changed a bit with new categories entering the fray:

Nominate UP TO FIVE people for the following categories, with the top 6 names for each category to be put on the ballot: 

COMPETITOR CATEGORIES

Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year

Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year
Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year

Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year
Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year
Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year
Amateur Physique Competitor of the Year NEW
International Female Bodybuilder of the Year (Pro or Amateur)
International Fitness Competitor of the Year (Pro or Amateur)
International Figure Competitor of the Year (Pro or Amateur)
International Bikini Competitor of the Year (Pro or Amateur)
Breakout Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Breakout Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Breakout Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year
Breakout Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year
Breakout Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Breakout Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year
Breakout Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year
Breakout Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year

Breakout Amateur Physique Competitor of the Year NEW
Rookie Competitor of the Year (any division; must have competed starting THIS YEAR) NEW

Inspirational Competitor of the Year NEW

Comeback of the Year NEW
Competitor Who You Would Love to See Return To the Stage in 2012
Fitness Personality of the Year (Model/Trainer/Spokesperson) (formerly named Fitness Entrepreneur of the Year)
Moment of the Year (when certain people win a competition, return to the stage, retire, etc. This is for any federation and can be about any of the divisions)

MISC. Categories

NPC Show of the Year
IFBB Show of the Year
WBFF Show of the Year NEW

Promoter of the Year NEW
Organization of the Year NEW
Female Physique Site of the Year (non-competitor) (NOTE: FitGems is NOT eligible due the fact that FitGems is running the contest)
Female Competitor Blog of the Year
Facebook Fan Page of the Year (Competitor/Fitness Personality) NEW
Photographer of the Year
Blogger of the Year
Industry Blog of the Year (by a fan, industry member, company, etc.)
Industry Facebook Fan Page of the Year NEW
Female Celebrity Muscle of the Year NEW
Physique Paysite of the Year
Male Supporter of the Year (through shows, message boards, donations to competitors, etc.)
Female Competitor Site of the Year
Supplement Company of the Year
Team of the Year NEW

Trainer of the Year NEW

Voting for the Ones to Watch will be a bit different from previous years. You can nominate up to three people from now until the end of the year, and during the FitGems Awards Ceremony, we'll announced the top five names of those to watch in the coming year in each category below:

Pro Figure Competitors
Pro Fitness Competitors
Pro Bikini Competitors
Pro Women's Physique Competitors
Amateur Female Bodybuilders
Amateur Figure Competitors
Amateur Fitness Competitors
Amateur Bikini Competitors
Amateur Women's Physique Competitors
Fitness Personality (Model/Trainer/Spokesperson) (formerly Fitness Entrepreneur)


You can send your nominations through Twitter (http://twitter.com/fitgemsnation) using hashtag #FitGemsAwards2011, email your nominations (admin@fitgemsnation.net), or leave a comment on this post on our Facebook fan page (http://www.facebook.com/fitgemsnation). I'll also take your nominations through private messages (PMs) through the following message boards:

Siouxcountry (under cray17)
RxMuscle (under FitGems)
FTVideo (under cray2005)
Unreal Muscle (under FitGems)
Muscular Development (under cray17)

You can nominate between now and Wednesday, November 30th. On December 2nd, check back on the blog for the official list of nominees. After that, voting will begin that same day and will last through the rest of December, with the winners announced sometime in mid-January (Exact date and format of the announcement of nominees to be determined on a later date).

Good luck to everyone! :)

Mindi O'Brien Retires from Fitness

Fitness lost one of its top competitors today, as Mindi O'Brien announced via Youtube today that she is retiring from fitness competition. It sucks to leave a sport or anything you love for so long due to an injury. She's had a great career spanning 14 years, with great routines and what some people call one of the best physiques in fitness history, capped off by her trademark arms that would give any female bodybuilder a run for their money. Some of her highlights include competing in 6 straight Fitness Olympias (although she was qualified for 7, but skipped out of this year's show due to injury) and 5 straight Arnold Classics. She would finish her career at the first-ever Arnold Classic Europe, placing 6th.

Photo credit: RxMuscle.com

Here's a video of Mindi during her trip to Spain (including her fitness routine and posing round) and announcing her retirement from fitness:

What does the future hold for her? We're unsure, but we think she will stick around in the fitness industry in some form or capacity. We at FitGems Nation congratulate Mindi on an incredible journey, and we wish her the best of luck in the next chapter of her life!

Tanji Johnson Wins Arnold Classic Europe Fitness

Photo credit: Rx Muscle

History was made this weekend at the first-ever Arnold Classic Europe took place. Tanji Johnson, one of the top competitors in fitness and according to many a future Fitness Olympia and/or Fitness International champion, will forever be in the history books as the first-ever Arnold Classic Europe Fitness champion. Bethany Cisternino took 2nd, Regiane DeSilva took 3rd place. Here are the full results as well as scorecard for this historic event:

1. Tanji Johnson
2. Bethany Cisternino
3. Regiane DeSilva
4. Myriam Capes
5. Tina Durkin
6. Mindi O'Brien
7. Diana Monteiro
8. Kayde Puckett

Photo cradit: IFBBPro.com

Congrats to Tanji on the win, and to everyone that competed at the Arnold Classic Europe! You all made history this weekend!

IFBB Advisory Rule about Competition Contracts and No-Show at Finals

This was released last week, from the IFBB:

Credit: IFBBPro.com

Let's start with the athlete competition contract ruling. There are those that take their time and want to see who else is competing and maybe they will wait until the very last minute to send in a contract. With this new ruling, that will be reduced dramatically as competitors MUST submit their contracts no later than a month (30 days) before the competition they plan to enter. And if they DO wait, they gotta pay up to the tune of 200 dollars. So make up your mind early, folks, and go ahead and submit those contracts.

As far as the no-show at finals are concerned, good ruling on that as well. If you make it, don't bail out unless you have a legitimate excuse. If you're literally feeling like you're gonna pass out, then you clearly excused from the finals. Your health is more important than a trophy and a spot at the Olympia. But if you're skipping to be skipping, you better hope it's a VERY GOOD excuse, because it's gonna cost ya $1,000. And until it's paid off, you will be kept from competing elsewhere.

While I personally love these rulings, some of you might not. What are YOUR thoughts on the new IFBB rulings? Post them below.