![]() The bulk of the high profile competitions are occurring during the Saturday and Sunday of the festival but I was lucky enough to catch the Women’s Physique, Men’s Physique (think fitness magazine cover model) and, the drawcard for me, the prejudging for the Men’s Pro 212 for professional bodybuilders weighing under 212lbs (just under 97kg). In addition to the faint smell of posing tan lingering in my nostrils, I picked up from the Gold’s Gym booth a yellow training tank top that was almost identical to the one Arnold wore frequently during his competing days in the 1970s. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be the man himself wasn’t in the building today due to other official festival commitments, but I didn’t come away empty-handed. As soon as I entered the building, I felt alive (this was partially due to the fact that within minutes, I was handed a free bottle of caffeinated water and numerous shots of pre-workout stimulants) it truly seemed at that moment that I could conquer the world, up there with my idol, Arnold. ![]() To say it almost lived up to my wildest dreams is an understatement. Sadly, no other member of the group (quite understandably) shares my enthusiasm so it was destined to be a day spent alone in my element. ![]() As a long-time fan of the sport of bodybuilding, for me it was the sweetest of coincidences that we were scheduled to be in town the day the festival opened. Originally a pure bodybuilding competition, there are now athletes competing in over 50 sports during the festival, ranging widely from powerlifting to skip-rope jumping to martial arts to chess, in addition to over 800 fitness industry exhibitors marketing their supplements and training gear. Synonymous for bodybuilding fans the world over with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s passion for the pursuit of muscle since he inaugurated the festival in the late 1980s, it is the American bodybuilding and fitness industry’s best-known annual event, each year drawing visitors from all over the world numbering in the hundreds of thousands. “Since long before the tour, I had envisaged that our day in Columbus, Ohio, would be my personal highlight for one very specific reason: the Arnold Sports Festival.
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