Today was Day 2 at the Arnold and I have mixed feelings about it. I'll start off with the bad parts and finish on a good note with the highlights.

It was far too crowded today to be enjoyable. I literally talked to no one today, except for the people I sat next to while watching some of the competitions on the Expo Stage. More on that later.

I think the Expo has gotten too far away from its roots. Obviously, the Arnold started out as a bodybuilding competition. Then, other strength sports were added like weightlifting, powerlifting, and strongman.

Now, however, there's martial arts, boxing, fencing, dancing, and gymnastics. Don't get me wrong – those are awesome sports whose participants are as serious as any strength athlete. But the spirit of the Expo has been diluted. There's simply too much going on.

I'd like to see the Expo stripped of the "non-strength" sports and have everything housed within the Convention Center. Currently, some of the cooler competitions are held elsewhere (for an additional fee). Arnold is a shrewd business man and I'm sure he makes a lot more money doing things this way than my way.

But I'm not writing for him

Nevertheless, the overall organization is very good. It's a major undertaking, I'm sure, to coordinate and schedule everything. Arnold's team is to be commended. Of course, some things can be improved upon, but there aren't any showstoppers.
 

Highlights

I met Phil Pfister. Got a photo with him. He's obviously huge.

Sylvester Stallone did make an appearance at the arm wrestling finals. You may remember his movie, Over the Top.

Derek Poundstone looked awesome in the Strongman. They did the "circus dumbbell" and the axle deadlift. Those guys are freaky strong.

The Mighty Mitts is a competition amongst amateur strongmen that seeks to test grip strength. They had to lift today a gigantic 300 pound dumbbell with a 3" diameter (I think that was the size). Nobody was successful in lifting it completely.

The strongmen really put on a good show and they're very good showmen. Derek got the crowd pumped with his awesome overhead press performance, Nick Best really competed hard, Brian Shaw kicked some ass, and Travis Ortmeyer is an intense, fun-loving dude. The other guys rocked, too. Nobody here didn't deserve to compete.

Nobody was outclassed.

I just found out that Derek Poundstone won the overall competition (they held the final event in another location for an additional fee).

I did get a kick out of the arm wrestling. It's a cool strength sport that truly deserves to be at the Arnold. Those guys and gals did a great job!

And I almost got run over by Kurt Angle's entourage. Well, not really. But they were certainly rushing through the crowd at one point. Interestingly, a lot of these strength superstars are short. Or at least shorter than me

All in all, a good time. I'm glad I went. I doubt that I'll go again next year, but not because of anything the show was lacking. Until they change the format, there really is no reason to return.

However, if you're into athletic performance, I sincerely suggest that you go. At least once. It's a spectacle to behold.

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