NEWS
August 28, 2021
UMFL Champion Nate Holmes
2021 UMFL Playoffs Championship goes to Nate Holmes in the final week of the contest. Nate’s final physique presentation was the overwhelming choice amongst the judges for presenting the most improvement and overall dramatic increase in muscle.
The contest was very close to call, with Cary leading the way as Top Athlete in the contest, scoring the highest in the Fitness Categories, missing Pro level status by only a few points.
All three athletes showed perseverance and excellence and all three are Champions as far as the judges, myself and their respective families are concerned.
August 28, 2021
UMFL Transformation Photos
Final photos are in comparing the Precontest shots to the final contest end photos.
My job was to grade each athlete in terms of quality of the transformation:
Phenomenal 30 points
Outstanding 25 points
Very good 20 points
Good 15 points.
8 weeks is plenty of time to make changes when one is out of shape. All three athletes presented quality fitness and physiques at the beginning of the contest making it very difficult to make HUGE improvements.
Nonetheless all three presented Outstanding physiques in my books. All three received 25 points. All three are CHAMPIONS as far as I’m concerned.
Nate got noticeably bigger over the course of eight weeks with progress accelerating once commercial gyms opened up. He took advantage of having youth on his side and muscled up considerably while getting significantly leaner in the process. We saw a 3.6 pound gain and significant strength improvements in a short time. This sort of progress is would suggest a potential 10-12 pound gain in a year which is far above average.
Cary dropped 6.2 pounds of body fat if not more as he gained some muscle, evident by improvements in his test scores in all categories. To be in your mid 40’s and improve dramatically labelling off 32 chin ups is outstanding as is a big increase in leg, ab and chest strength. There is very little fat in the midsection and his arms and chest are bigger. His back, not shown in the picture is ripped.
CJ, dropped 5 pounds of fat if not more, as is very noticeable in his sharp obliques and abdominals. His arms got leaner while maintaining their size. CJ also made huge improvements to his ab and leg strength which suggests he lost a few pounds more than indicated in the scale weight.
Points update:
25 points each
Cary: 111
Nate: 115
CJ: 96
We are still waiting to get all judges results to determine the final outcome with 5 extra points going to first, 3 points for second and 1 extra point for third.
UMFL FINALE:
Fitness Test Scores: All three athletes saw substantial improvements in their fitness scores from beginning to end.
CJ had a outstanding jump from 23 points to 39 points from beginning to end for an increase of 16 points overall, placing him at an Advanced Level of Fitness.
Cary saw an increase from 37 to 48 (11 point jump) and Elite Level Status.
Nate improved from 26 points to 48 points (22 point jump) also achieving Elite Level Status.
Cary had started the contest with an already high level of fitness, costing him some points and allowing Nate and CJ to make up ground.
With that said, when you look at the overall numbers, Cary commanded the chin ups and push ups, with squats being extremely close, while Nate crushed the ab challenge. With both athletes scoring 48 points, the tie breaker for the extra 2 points went to Cary for total overall reps.
Total tally for reps:
Cary: 278 (48 points - 1st (6 points)) + 4 points for improvement from mid-season test to finale
Nate: 266 (48 points - 2nd (4 points)) + 12 points for improvement from mid-season test to finale
CJ: 217 (39 points - 3rd (2 points)) + 7 points for improvement from mid-season test to finale
Phenomenal improvement on all counts. Congrats guys!
The update scores places Nate in first for the time being while the judges deliberate to get to the
winner of the transformation photo section of the contest.
UMFL Week 7 Results (August 21)
With one week left in the contest, all three athletes stepped up their efforts.
Despite working remotely for the week under less than ideal conditions, Cary pushed the envelope on discipline with an excellent weigh in and continued leanness.
CJ delivered with some excellent discipline food wise to drop to his lowest bodyweight in the contest.
Nate put in the work to gain 1 pound of bodyweight while maintaining his leanness as well.
In the end, the biggest change especially under trying circumstances went to Cary for Athlete of the Week.
This coming weekend, the finale, we will see the beginning to end transformation pictures as well as the final scores for the fitness tests to determine who improved and ultimately, who is our Season Champion.
UMFL Playoffs Week 6 Update (Aug 14)
It was brutal assessing the Athlete of the Week this week.
All three got their compulsory 5 points earned with Athlete of the week being Nate by the finest of threads picking up 1 extra point and narrowing the gap between he and Cary.
CJ: Up 1.6 pounds but noticably leaner in his midsection, CJ had a really good week. His entire upper body looks leaner as well. One of my judges saw CJ as the top guy.
Cary: Cary is a tad bit leaner than his previous picture from last week. Small details are emerging muscle wise to suggest his weight drop might be water based with a bit of dehydration that doesn’t reflect his overall muscle building efforts. There is a huge change in his upper back and rear delts. 2 of my judges deemed Cary the winner.
Nate: 2 of the 5 judges awarded Nate the win based on the slight size increase and a slightly leaner midsection from last week. His back looks great, but didn’t quite have the detail from last week (not pictured here). If the back shot was similar to last week, one judge other said he would have sided with Nate.
In the end, I had to make the final determination with Nate winning due to the increase in bodyweight of 1.2. While this might have been water retention or intestinal weight that had not been expelled yet, his increase in strength through the week as posted in some of his footage suggests a bit of it is muscle gain.
These are one of the tough calls where all three could have been justified as the winner.
With 2 weeks left to go, I only see an even more significant improvement as momentum and motivation is high to finish strong.
July 31, 2021.
UMFL Playoffs Update 1:
Mid Season fitness testing concluded with the following overall point placements:
Cary 1st 6 points
Nate 2nd 4 points
CJ 3rd 2 points.
Athletes were also awarded points for improvements to their scores in four key areas:
Squats
Push ups
Sit ups
Pull ups.
Point Breakdown:
Nate: 10 points
CJ: 9 points
Cary 7 points.
While Cary made the least improvements, it was because he was already at a high level in his initial test. Nonetheless he made huge strides considering that already high level of progress. Nate and CJ both rocked the tests with significant improvements.
UMFL Playoffs Update 2:
Weekly Point Totals:
Cary: 6 Points
CJ: 5 Points
Nate: 5 Points
Athlete of the Week: Cary
Cary brought in a lean physique this week, leaner than last week and up just over 3 pounds over last week. While Nate was close with the transformation, Cary had the edge in the lower back and obliques Leanness wise with the increase in Carys bodyweight while maintaining that lean body being the difference.
CJ is notably more muscular as documented in big jumps in all categories of the fitness test in a few short weeks.
Mid Point Transformation Points:
Cary: 20
Nate: 20
CJ: 18
Point breakdown was as follows:
25 points for a phenomenal transformation.
20 points for excellent
18 points for very good
15 points for satisfactory.
Remember that it has only been 4 weeks and to see outstanding changes in already fairly lean athletes is very difficult.
All three competitors have put in the time. Four weeks to go before we crown this session’s champion.
July 24, 2021.
UMFL Week 3 Results: Nate 6 points. Cary 5 points. CJ 5 Points
Athlete of the Week: Nate
Observations:
Nate: Nate gained weight while looking a little bit sharper in his mid section. Based on this evidence, as well as fuller, more rounded shoulders and an arm that tends to be a bit leaner, the edge goes to Nate for the biggest transformation. 1.2 lb increase with a leaner body is a big win.
Cary: The first big observation is Cary's fat loss. We have a drop of 3 pounds on an already lean body. Cary's right shoulder is remarkably leaner yet his shoulders and arms are no smaller than last week. Secondly, the obliques are more pronounced in the latter photo. Cary appears to look bigger and his chin line is super sharp, enhancing the look on his face. It was very difficult not to make this a tie between Nate and Cary.
CJ: CJ has a weight gain as much of this gain is a product of intense leg training from a previously somewhat inactive state of leg training. With legs being such a big muscle group, it's possible CJ has stimulated some good growth in his legs. This will be verified to some extent with an improvement to his fitness test score for legs. We also notice thicker abs, again a product of the ab training focus. CJ is crunching down a bit in this photo, resulting in a perception of fat gain in the belly. While that's possible, next weeks photos will give a better indication of where CJ is at. In my estimation, we have seen an increase in overall lean muscle mass with a recommendation to tighten up the diet a bit to lose some of the bodyfat.
All three athletes are moving in the right direction with this coming week being big. Everyone will be retested fitness wise to see what sort of performance progress they have made. We will also compare precontest photos to week 4 photos for a mid contest assessment of performance.
July 17, 2021.
UMFL Week 2 Results: Cary 5 points. Nate 4 points. CJ 4 Points
Athlete of the Week: CJ
All three competitors made noticeable improvements this week. Cary extends and continues his lead with some awesome ambassador points, leading the way in helping others. A few of the judges advocated for Cary to place tops as Athlete of the Week, with the most weight loss and a noticeably leaner physique. Nate got the nod from a few judges for added muscle and maintaining his leanness while dropping only 0.2 lbs. I see a difference as well; it is perhaps influenced by the pose in the picture but no doubts improvements to the upper body. In the end, CJ came out on top for the added leanness to his shoulders, chest and midsection while gaining 0.6 pounds. CJ has focussed on ramping up leg training which may have accounted for the weight gain over the last few weeks.
Bottom line, to see significant improvements in a very short time from already lean physiques is a testament to the hard work and discipline shown from each of these competitors.
Who do you have as the one who made the most improvements?
July 11, 2021.
UMFL Week 1 Results: Cary 5 points. Nate 5 points. CJ 4 Points
Athlete of the Week: Nate
One short week and all three made improvements to already lean bodies.
This early on posture, angle, lighting, water retention, etc all play a role in look of a physique. Any one of these athletes could get the nod as top transformation in one short week.
Nate got the nod for the most improvement in his abs as well as an appearance of muscle gain.
Cary made an impressive drop in weight and it seemed to me like it was pure fat loss. In discussion with Cary, the weight was abnormally low. We will see how this pans out but without a doubt a change in Cary’s body for the better. Cary also picked up ambassador points for documenting the journey so well this week.
CJ clearly has visible improvements to his abs and has been kicking ass in the gym. This increase in weight could very well the muscle gain. Next week will tell a better story for all of these guys.
Who do you have as the one who made the most improvements?
July 10, 2021.
In this episode we have a sneak peak at each athlete's home base, their home training facility. Each offers enough equipment to make progress and potentially win this contest.
July 6, 2021.
Early in the contest, based on the initial fitness test, Cary leads the three. This coming week, athletes will be rewarded on activity, accountability and results which will set the tone for the coming contest. This first week will be critical in establishing habits and one athlete may very well set the tone and the bar for achievement very high.
July 5, 2021.
Pre-season testing is now in with Cary placing in 1st, Nate in second and CJ a close third. Cary's diligence over the past two months has created tremendous momentum to build an early lead in the contest. With that said, a huge part of the contest is the improvement score. Cary's margins for improvement are lower because he is already performing at a high level. Will this be an advantage for both Nate and CJ in their ability to overtake Cary? Time will tell.
July 4, 2021.
We have a first look at our competitors with short snippets from their fitness assessments with a brief description of keys to victory for each of them.
Who do you have winning the contest?
July 3, 2021.
Athletes' before pics are now up. There's huge accountability in putting your before shot up without first seeing what the end transformation may look like. This is the ultimate in accountability and this is the reason why each of these men will succeed over the coming 8 weeks.
All three have solid physiques to work with. Expectations are high for big results.
FITNESS TEST STANDARDS
March 26, 2021.
The following protocol will be in place to test athletes completing in the UMFL:
Chin ups
Push ups
Sit ups
Squats
The latter three will be timed over 2 minutes and testing will be evaluated by the judges.
The video gives a bit of detail and you can find out more through the website leagueofelite.com
July 2, 2021.
Here is a brief intro of the athletes competing in the opening round of 2021's UMFL.
Who do you have coming out on top over the course of 8 weeks?
June 29, 2021.
Three seasoned competitors. 8 weeks of focus. Which of these athletes will come out on top in 2021's Season 1? With the summer heating up, CJ, Cary and Nate will be looking to test themselves to get into their peak shape over the next 8 weeks starting July 4. Watch for all of the details both here and through Facebook.
All three athletes are proven performers. All three have the chance to break away from the pack and achieve a phenomenal body. Over the course of the summer we will see how they handle their own obstacles and limitations to maximize progress and present their best selves.
UMFL SET TO LAUNCH
March 24, 2021.
The one of a kind, online fitness league, The UMFL will be launching in the coming weeks. The league will feature real results in the area of fitness performance across a series of standardized tests as well as a physique contest like transformation concept.
Tom Kiat, elite trainer and life coach will oversee the training as you move through the program's 8 week cycle. Athletes will also be featured throughout the Playoffs to get a better sense of their stories, struggles and triumphs. Stay tuned.
THE ULTIMATE PLAYOFFS
FOCUS
MINDSET
DISCIPLINE
ARE YOU TOUGH ENOUGH?