Schell Brothers recently held its Biggest Loser contest. Shown are (l-r) Dana DuQuette, who lost 48 pounds; Jake Pepper, winner of the before-and-after picture contest; and Brian Triscuit, who lost an amazing 41 percent body fat.
Each year, Schell Brothers offers its employees a reason to hit the gym and get in shape to compete for prizes and bragging rights. I have been part of this process for more than eight years, and I have seen some incredible transformations, but this year’s results were something for the record books.
The Schell Brothers Biggest Loser is a lot more than the name implies. Losing weight is not the only goal, although it’s a nice bonus. Instead, we test all participants in the Bod Pod – a state-of-the-art body fat testing machine – at the beginning and end of the contest. The person who loses the largest percentage of their starting body fat wins. This is the most accurate way to measure fitness. Research has proven that people who reduce their levels to the suggested ranges have greatly reduced chances for health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke. So those who join the contest not only have a chance to win money, but they can get a leaner, healthier body and all the positive mental and physical advantages that come with it.
Antonio’s Training officiated the contest. This year’s participants included a bumper crop of motivated people who produced some of the most incredible results I have ever seen. Our clients included nine company members who wanted to lose weight and one who wanted to gain muscle. Collectively, these people lost an average of 25.3 pounds and dropped 24 percent of their starting body fat. These types of results are incredible by any standard, but normally these types of results would win the contest.
Antonio’s Training also had the privilege to train the winners of the contest. Our clients had the best results I have ever seen, setting a new standard for Antonio’s Training 12-week body transformation corporate results. Finishing in first place was Roger Chaufournier, who lost an amazing 37.6 percent of his starting body fat and 43 total pounds. He will receive a one-time bonus of $1,000 and $500 dollars a month for every month he maintains his finishing shape. The second-place award goes to Ryan Short, who lost over 27 percent of his starting body fat and 43 pounds. He will also receive a one-time bonus of $1,000 and will be eligible for a $250-dollar monthly bonus if he too can stay close to his finishing shape. Jake Pepper also did a great job, dropping 22 percent body fat, and he won the before-and-after picture category, landing him a one-time $3,500 bonus courtesy of Schell Brothers.
In addition to the above winners, there were some incredible results that need to be mentioned. Dana DuQuette lost an amazing 48 pounds in just 12 weeks and 22 percent of his body fat, and even though his body fat loss was not high enough to win, he set the record for all-time weight loss and is a completely different person. Congratulations, Dana, you did an awesome job. Brian Triscuit trained with us, but did not join the contest. He lost 41.5 percent of his body fat and 27 pounds to give him the greatest results of all, but since he did not join the contest, his results will stand as the best for the company but without prize money. Jason Exline joined the program and trained with the goal of gaining weight, and he put on 6 pounds of muscle while dropping his body fat from 16 percent down to 12.6 percent in just 12 weeks. Anyone who has spent time in the gym knows that adding muscle while dropping fat is a very difficult task, but Jason made it look easy, which makes his results that much more impressive. John DiStefano also lost 18.75 percent body fat and 27 pounds.
I would like to congratulate all of the people who entered the contest, especially all of those above who trained with us and recorded some of the best results we have ever seen. This was a year for the record books and set a new standard of what can be accomplished in our 12-week body transformations. Great job!