This weekend marks the 25th year that the Arnold Sports Festival is coming to Columbus, Ohio, my hometown.  Back when it started it wasn’t called the Arnold Sports Festival.  It was maybe the Arnold Classic, I think.  Basically, strictly a bodybuilding event.  Every year it comes down here, I try to write a little something about it to get people to check it out.  It really is something to behold whether you are into health and fitness or not.

Last year, I wrote about the event and who was coming to the Arnold Sports Festival.  This year what I’d like to do is go over some of the highlights throughout the years for me while attending this event.

  1. Working Security – I had always wanted to see the bodybuilding contest, just to say I saw it.  One year I got the opportunity to work security of the contest and watch the entire thing.  That was also how I got my picture taken with Arnold.  I have that photo up on several places of this site, including the above link I referred to.  We also got to attend the VIP party afterwards and saw the terminator himself and his wife (or ex), Maria.  Maria did not look thrilled at all to be part of this.  Of course after watching this contest, I’ve never returned to watch another contest again.  But I can say I saw it.
  2. Seeing Celebrities – Back in the late nineties, I knew a lot of the names of the bodybuilders and fitness celebrities.  I was able to get a picture of Kianna from Kianna’s Flex Appeal on ESPN2 fame.  I also saw fitness celebs including Jay Cutler, Ronnie Coleman, and Monica Brant to name a few.  More household names include Shannon Sharpe, his brother Sterling, Chuck Norris, and Lou Ferrigno.  Lou is pretty stingy on the autographs and pictures.  He’s always trying to make a buck.
  3. The People – Let’s be honest, some of these bodybuilders are not normal looking.  The muscles bulging, the fake tans, the females who are more masculine than me (some would say that doesn’t take much), it gets to be a freak show very quickly.  I’m 6’1″ and I recall seeing two female bodybuilder types.  One was my height and the other was taller.  They looked like linebackers with wigs on.
  4. The Free Products –  For some reason, my buddies and I wanted to see how many free samples and products we could get our hands on.  I’d try samples as I’m walking down the aisles and load up my bags with as much as I could.  Some years I would have a month’s worth of samples to try.  Some were junk, others I pitched without even trying (a little scary once I read the label), and others were pretty good (thanks EAS and Met-Rx).  If you want a shot at a ton of stuff (shirts, samples, you name it), go Sunday for the last hour or two at the expo.  These vendors just want to give stuff away.
  5. Lingerie Magazine? – I knew this female trainer back in the day, who got married and moved away.  One year at the expo, I ran into her and she told us to stop by this booth she was at.  It turned out to be her and three other very masculine looking females promoting some of their “action” shots and a magazine that was just launching.  I looked at the magazine and it basically was a Playboy mag, but full of naked bodybuilding women.  The trainer I knew wasn’t in that issue, but was in a 2 page promo for a special lingerie issue where she was primarily naked with two other girls (she looked a lot more feminine than her cohorts).  Bodybuilding is definitely a niche, cult-like group (a fetish for some),and after thumbing through that magazine it just solidified to me that I prefer a bit more feminine looking women.


I think it is amazing to remember back in the late nineties what this expo and Sports Festival was like and how it has exploded.  They now promote all sorts of sporting events.  So many, I’m sure you will find one or two that interest you.  One of the biggest events for Columbus each year, it is something that you should make time to see.

Image Courtesy of A. Blight on Flickr