Things are starting off well and challengers are starting to get involved. Check out the #fitnesschallange tag to see the posts and be sure to stop by and give the competitions some votes and motivations. There is still lots of time to get involved as the Challenge runs until March 5th.

Source

We are hoping this takes over steemit and we'll use the platform for good to make a few people much more healthy! Please get involved as the rules are such that there's a place for every fitness level and goals. Also consider sending a donation to help sweeten the pot for the competitors and help keep them motivated.

Source

The first official reply and check in post for challengers will be 2 weeks from today.

The Challengers

@phelimint

Starting values of HR 65, Weight 193lbs and run pace of 6:29min/km. (over 5km run)
My goals are a Resting HR under 55, Weight under 180lbs and running pace of 5:30min/km
This would be a percentage of 14.4%, 6.7% and 15.1%.
Pledge 50SBD.

@buggedout

Starting metrics.
Resting HR = 67
Weight = 101.3kg
5km Treadmill Run = 39:31(total time)
Goals are HR-60, Weight 90kg and 5km Run of 34:00 with percentages of 11.6%, 12.6% and 16.2%
Pledge 10SBD.

@dkid14

HIS POST

GOALS:
Resting heart Rate 60 ( Current 69)
Weight 200lbs ( Current 226.6)
Run the 5k at a pace of 5:40min/km ( Current 6.6)
Pledge 50SBD.

@carrieallen

HER POST

GOALS:
Weight
Current: 155 lbs
Goal: 135 lbs
Total loss in pounds: 20
Total loss in %: 13%

Resting Heart Rate
Current: 72 BPM
Goal: 65 BPM
Percentage change: 10%

Exercise/Cardio Time
I'm doing this a little differently, as I just don't run. LOL!😆
Current Physical Activity: Dog Walks 30 minutes, daily
Goal Physical Activity: 25 minutes Yoga daily, 30 minutes cardio alt days, and Dog Walks 30 minutes.

Pledge 25 USD (equivalent SBD when prices normalize)

@byn and @gniksivart are going to make official entry's very soon so watch the tag and we're starting to get interest from others, so feel free to join at any time

Source

The Pot

Currently-135 Pledged Amount, 15 Donated amount from post payouts from @phelimint

The funds in the pot will be held by MSP-finance for safe keeping during the contest period, but please send the funds first to @phelimint with the memo-fitnesschallenge. You can start sending payments now. Please send all initial pledge amounts in SBD.

75% of the pot will be used to award all those members that achieved there personal goal by the end of the contest. You potential award will be based on the % your contribution is to the starting pot. (ie 4 members donate a total of 100SBD, and you pledged 10SBD, therefore you are eligible for 10% (of 75%) of the total pot.

25% of the pot will be awarded to the 3 head to head winners. (50% to first, 30% to second and 20% to third) based on all three metrics combined regardless of any initial pledge.

I @phelimint plan to contribute the SBD earnings for all related post to the pot, and anyone else who wishes to do the same is welcome to. We also welcome any additional donations to the pot from anyone, even those not in the contest. It will be a great way to help motivate your fellow steemians and you can watch them all get healthier and fitter. Anyone who does not meet there goal, will forfeit there pledge to the other competitions. Any additional SBD sent during the contest is not added to your pledge amount and does not add to your % when calculating you reward for meeting your personal goals.

Source

The challenge

(likely gonna get cheetah's since this is copied from the last post HERE)

The challenge has two different ways to win.

Personal Goals

First you set your own personal goals and pledge any amount of sbd that is going to help to motivate you. If you are able to achieve those goals at the end of the contest you will receive a portion of the "pot" in relationship to your original pledge. For simplicity we suggest the goals be set using the head-to-head competition metrics. But if you prefer to can set any goals (Ie. Improvement in deadlift, or squat), you would still be eligible to win your portion of the personal goals pot, but not the head-to-head pot. Personal goals should have a minimum 5% improvement to be eligible.

Head to Head competition

The second part is a head to head competition between all competitors and the top 3 to make the biggest overall changes among 3 standard metrics will win the remaining portion of the pot.

The Metrics

Percentage Weight Loss

We would just use the total amount lost, divided by starting weight to determine everyone's percentage of loss for comparison.

Resting Heart Rate

I think this is the simplest marker of health and fitness for everyone to use, we would just once again use the percentage of change over the course of the competition.

Running/Exercise Time

I was thinking of lastly using a percentage of improvement to a few standard options for exercise. Like a 5km walk/run (outside/treadmill) or something we decide is equivalent in a swim, bike or any other stationary equipment. Something that takes approx 30 minutes as a baseline. We can use pace or total time to complete or distance covered in 30 minutes or whatever you prefer as long as we keep it consistent for each participant.

Other details

The contest runs for 3 months and will end on the 5th of March 2017. There will be update posts from @phelimint every 2 weeks on a Monday and members will have 3 days to check in (we will start officially in 2 weeks) with a comment or post regarding their progress. Comments regarding any lack of progress are also fine, be we do need everyone to check in on a regular basis. There's a bit more information in this contest post HERE as well The first check in post will be in 2 weeks for now, but there may be other lead up posts before then to try to increase interest and competitions. Please feel free to make your own shout out post or resteem this one.

Please send all starting pledges as SBD, other donations can be sent in any currency, but will be converted to SBD at market rates.

Anyone is welcome to join the contest at any time, just add your goals and current metrics in a comment or new post. The contest ends on March 5th, for everyone so I suggest joining sooner rather than later.

Don't hesitate to ask for clarification on anything above.

Source

Progress

That guy above it's me, but just some motivation for myself, I'm pretty much the first dude (but with way more glorious hair) and will be pretty stoked if I at least make it to the middle dude in these 3 months!

I'm down a few pounds so far at 188.6 when I weight myself this am. the first few fall off fast.

I haven't seen my heart rate change yet and this one will take longer, it's also going to be the one that keeps me honest since it's easy enough to diet and drop some weight, but this one will show my commitment to running and fitness.

I had a pretty good run last night I wanted to talk about a bit more. I shaved a bit off my pace but it was mostly because I blasted out of the gate! Running is so psychological and I find the challenge and competition so motivating. Even just competing against my own pace. I knew I was going to post this run so my first 2km, I ran a a pace at my goal of 5:30/km, but at the 2nd Km I hit a total wall and ran the next two at 6min/km, then the last one around 6:15/km. This was interesting since every other run between the first and this one I finished within a pace of 6:20-6:40/km.

I also remember a time when I was able to run a 5:30 pace for 5km. My best km's were around 5:00, occasionally 4:30, but one day while I was running some super fit dude pulled up beside me gave me some words of encouragement and I stayed with him for 2km running a 4:00min/km pace! That was one exciting run and I know if I was in a race of some sort I could probably pull of some impressive times.

I've looked up the race schedule here in town and looks like the next one is the "Resolution Run" on 31 December, so I think I'm going to sign up and see what kind of pace I can set that day.

Anyways please follow the challenge and other competitors, feel free to join up or send any donations, and remember the SBD payout from this post is added to the pot for everyone so vote generously

Footer by @bearone