Bob Luder reports for the Kansas City Star In an article entitled, “Bodybuilders to compete for ‘Xtreme Fit’ Championship.” Excerpt:
In preparation for the fifth annual Natural Southern States Classic and “Xtreme Fit” Championship, bodybuilders throughout a five-state region that includes Missouri and Kansas have pumped plenty of iron, diligently practiced their posing in front of the mirror and lathered on the body oils.
To get into the competition, they also will have to slip their fingers into electronic sensors and answer a list of questions, hoping that the needles running along the paper don’t make any sudden jumps.
That’s right, the Natural Southern States Classic and “Xtreme Fit” Championship, which gets started at 8:30 Saturday morning at the Liberty Performing Arts Center, goes to xtremes [sic] in enforcing the natural aspect of their competition.
“We’re proud to be a drug-free organization doing something about the unhealthy abuse of illegal growth-enhancement drugs,” said event coordinator John Arnold of ProActive Fitness, Inc.
To that end, every bodybuilder registered for the competition will not only be subjected to a urinalysis drug test on Friday night, but will be required to take a polygraph test Saturday morning.
If a subject fails either test, he or she will automatically be banned from North American Natural Bodybuilding Federation competitions for a minimum of seven years.
“These rules are strictly enforced,” said Arnold, an ardent bodybuilder who competes in the competition.
In previous years competitors have been randomly selected to undergo polygraphs during the competition. This year the lie-detector will be mandatory for every competitor.
“Each polygraph test takes one-half hour, and we’ll have around 45 competitors,” Arnold said. “One hundred percent polygraph is a lot of work for us.”
If you are concerned about the polygraph requirement for this competition, you can reach coordinator John Arnold at (816) 781-9308 or by e-mail to natrlbuild@aol.com.