Attending the 2009 Arnold Sports Festival

Never have I been witness to such a dense concentration of muscle and...um...silicone...than at the 2009 Arnold Sports Festival. I have been wanting to attend this benchmark event for years, but due to various conflicts I haven't been able to make it there until now. Granted this time there was an ulterior motive; to make contacts and secure sponsors for the 2009 WNBF Mid America Bodybuilding and Figure Championships ( www.midamericaproam.com ). I still managed to find plenty of time to enjoy myself and watch a bit of the show.

I showed up mid morning on Friday, at this point the festival had already begun, amatuer womans figure had hit the stage the night before, and the expo had started at 9 am (I believe) Friday morning, so when I walked through the doors of the expo hall everything was already in full swing. I couldn't believe the lines that had already formed at certain booths, the bodybuilding.com booth in particular, I would have to estimate that there was at least a 30 min wait just to get whatever freebie they were offering there. Each direction I turned there was a pretty evenly mixed sea of muscle tees, and tightly stretched sports bras. I was however rather surprided at the amount of patrons there that quite clearly have never lifting a weight or ran a mile a day in their life. I always attributed the bodybuilding world to one that was very niche, a subculture even. But that was the beauty about this competition, it was not limited to that of the boydbuilding portion. There were events ranging from powerlifting, to table tennis, and everything in between, all surrounded by the ever famous Fitness Expo, which was simply AWESOME!!. This was literally like a mini-Olympics, and if you have been keeping up with my blog (unlike I have been lol), you would know that I whole-heartedly believe that the sport of Natural Bodybuilding should be inclulded in the Olympics.There was so much transpiring at this event, that it literally took me at least an hour of walking the whole expo just to recover from the scatter-brained state that triggered in me before I could compose myself to speak with any intellegence to a vendor about sponsoring the show I am helping to promote. Once I did though, it proved to be the ideal place for networking!
Unfortunately, I was not able to stay for all three days of the Festival, I left mid day on saturday, so I missed the pro finals, the after party, and the rest of the expo on sunday, with the remainder of the events, but I do not feel as though I missed out in the slightest! I will definitely be making a trip back to the Arnold every year that I can, and I will also be planning to add the Olympia to my schedule later this year.
What an experience!!

I would recommend it to any and all that are passionate about fitness.