Arnold Fitness Games Qualifiers

Welcome to the Arnold Fitness Games!

Qualifiers for this event will take place between the 25th November - 15th December 2023, with one workout released per week. Athletes will compete in the qualifiers to secure themselves a place at the live finals. Qualifying numbers will be released closer to the date of the first workout release.

This finals event takes place across the weekend of March 27th - 29th, 2026

The Arnold Fitness Games will be held at the Arnold Sports Festival UK, at the NEC in Birmingham.

All athletes and teams will compete across 1 day of the finals only.

Finals tickets for individuals will be £115 and £410 for teams.

Rx and Middle Ground categories for individual athletes will be running in open age, 35+ and 45+ age groups.

Scaled: The ‘Scaled’ individuals category is for new and lesser experienced athletes wanting to get a taste of competing on the big stage. 

Middle Ground: The ‘Middle Ground’ individuals category is for athletes who are at an intermediate level. 

RX & Elite: For the more experienced athlete who is ready for the higher weights and more skilled movements. The top athletes from the qualifiers of this category will be invited to compete in the Elite division, and the next qualifying individuals will be invited to compete in the RX division.

Categories for teams will be running in same and mixed sex fours: 

Compete: The ‘Compete’ teams category is for athletes who would usually compete at the RX level. In previous BFMG events they will have competed in our Elite/RX category, or have been comfortable competing in our Middle Ground Category.

Throwdown: The ‘Throwdown’ category is for athletes who would usually compete at the Intermediate or Scaled level. In previous BFMG events they will have competed in our Scaled category, or have challenged themselves in our Middle Ground category. 

Fitness: The 'Fitness' category is for athlete who would usually compete at a scaled level. The team must be made up of all scaled level individuals (no ringers!). The Fitness division will only run in mixed fours.

During the qualifiers, if an athlete requires a score alteration due to entering incorrrectly, or a late submission due to exceptional circumstances, there will be a £5 admin fee charged. In all instances you must contact info@graftevents.co.uk  to request a submission extension, this must be done prior to the submission deadline, requests made after the workout deadline may not be granted.

Athletes have 24 hours to contest any penalties they are awarded on their scores.

HOW DO THE QUALIFIERS WORK?

What are qualifiers?

In order to gain a place at the Arnold Fitness Games finals, taking place in March 2026, you must first qualify as either an individual or teams athlete. The qualifiers will run for 3 weeks, starting on 25th November 2025. During those 3 weeks athletes will complete 3 workouts in their home gym, and will submit a score alongside a video of them doing the workout for each one. Following the submission of workouts our judges will review all submissions. Then, once all videos have been reviewed, the leader board will be released and athletes that have made it to the finals will receive their invitations. Workout release dates and deadline dates:

Q1: 25/11/25 - 01/12/25

Q2: 02/12/25 - 08/12/25

Q3: 09/12/25 - 15/12/25

How does it work for teams?

Teams are running in either same sex or mixed sex fours, mixed sex teams will consist of 2 male and 2 female athletes.

Teams can be made up of athletes from different gyms. To enable teams to compete that do not attend the same gym / have different life schedules to each other, all teams athletes will complete the qualifier workouts as individuals (workouts will be as a team at the finals). The team captain will then submit all 4 scores and video links, and Competition Corner will award a score based on the total.

Can I enter more than 1 division?

If an athlete wants to enter as both a masters athlete and in the open age division, they may do so.

If an athlete wants to enter as both an individual and teams athlete they may do so. Teams and individuals will compete on different days at the finals. Athletes should enter the same division at both the team and individual, level they will be able to submit their qualifier video for both entries as the qualifier workouts will be the same for correlating divisions (Scaled = Fitness, Middle Ground = Throwdown, Rx = Compete) and do not need to complete each qualifier workout twice.

When is the deadline to sign up?

The deadline to register for the competition, and to submit your first workout score & video link, is 10PM on 1st December 2025. Please do not leave it until just before the deadline to register as sometime uploading your score can take a while and you may be timed out.

What equipment will I need?

Equipment that will come up in the workouts are all standard pieces of kit, that are available at all functional fitness gyms. For example, dumbbells, wallballs, gymnastics rig, rower, bike erg, plyo box, barbells and kettlebells.

What day will finalists compete on?

Friday: All Teams of Four

Saturday: Rx & Elite Individuals

Sunday: Scaled & Middle Ground Individuals

Finals Access and Coach Tickets

Athletes will gain access to the Arnold Sports Festival UK on all 3 days of the competition as part of their Arnold Fitness Games athlete pass.

All athletes will be given the opportunity to purchase 1 coach pass alongside their finals ticket. This pass allows the coach access to the competition during the same hours as the athlete, and provides them access into the AFG Athlete zones.