Arnold Sports Festival

I think this is the first time I actually went to the Arnold. Parking was crazy, as so many attend this event. We only stayed at the convention center, we didn’t really go to the other venues. The line to get in was crazy, but we did get to watch some fencing while in line. It was neat to see the fencing tournament.
Once we got into the Festival, it was crazy. SO MANY PEOPLE. We only attended on Sunday, and we made sure to pick up a schedule of events. We mainly went to see the WWE event, and my daughter really seemed to enjoy that. Her favorite match was Bayley vs Nia Jax. We tried to get Bayley’s autograph, but we were too far back in line, and they cut us off. That was disappointing. Also, the WWE people seemed to work on their own schedule, as opposed to what was posted. We did get to see some of the matches up front and center though.
There were lots of vendors, and lot of lines! The only thing I’m a bit disgusted about was there was a vendor doing a giveaway that we entered. The vendor actually wasn’t at their table. Now, I get nothing but phone calls and emails about how they apparently talked to us at the Arnold, even though we didn’t talk to anyone! We did come away with some free stuff, and I even won a drawing while there!
We also went and watched a little bit of the martial arts stuff going on since we are into TaeKwonDo. It was neat to see how sparring/​matches differ from each martial art.
I would definitely like to return next year and go for more than just one day!

I attended my first Arnold Expo in 2008. The crowds have definitely increased since then as have my expectations of the Expo experience and what I am looking to get out of it. Back then it was all about the samples and getting as many freebies as I could plus picture opportunities with some of my favorite sponsored brand reps. I never purchased any items. Fast forward to the last few years and the popularity of the expo has definitely grown as have the crowds.
I don’t pay to get in so I can’t speak to that value and I am fortunate enough to get in about an hour early and scope the place out. This is when I hit the booths I want and get my picture taking done. I went Friday, Saturday and Sunday this year but in total I probably spent about 6 – 7 hours walking around for those three days. There are still freebies to be had but to me the lines aren’t worth it for a shaker bottle, protein samples and a T-​shirt unless you have crazy patience. A lot of booths now you have to provide your email information to even get anything which adds to the lines. There are also booths where you can compete for prizes which I think is kind of fun, like pull up and push up contests. There are also plenty of vendors there and they do offer discounts at these events on products. I did buy a couple tank tops and some peanut butter this year and one booth had the InBody fat scanner which you could get an analysis for free.
I don’t think the Expo floor space will ever be large enough for the amount of people that attend. Add to that Arnold making an appearance or the long lines to meet people like CT Fletcher or Dana Lynn Bailey and it’s just more chaos and crowds.
I do appreciate the main floor where you can watch events like powerlifting and the physique shows without paying an additional fee.
I am a fan of both the Olympia and Arnold expos and the sport of bodybuilding so I am sure I will attend again plus I have family here so why not visit Columbus when the expo is taking place. I actually do use the samples to try new products and my guy friends appreciate the free T-​shirts that I bring back. Just bring your patience would be my biggest advice!

I don’t know where to begin!!!
I LOVE fitness and weightlifting. This place is heaven for all you gym rats!
For years I’ve been wanting to attend the Arnold Expo, but something always comes up. 2015 was my year. YAY! So this is my first time attending and it was everything I pictured it to be.
I could not believe the price to get in was only $ 15.00?! That is cheap! Also everything was organized getting in. Did not have to wait in line. We got our tickets less than 5 minutes. We attended on a Sunday Morning and it was still super crowded!
For those of you who don’t know, some info on the full day spent at this awesome event: (from web)
The 2015 Arnold Fitness EXPO featured more than 900 booths of the latest in sports equipment, apparel and nutrition and a stage that hosts unique, competitions and entertainment that combine to make the Arnold Fitness EXPO the heart of the Arnold Sports Festival.
The Arnold Fitness EXPO, in the main hall of the Greater Columbus Convention Center, is the nation’s largest health and fitness exposition. It annually showcases leading businesses and organizations showcasing the latest trends in the industry.
«The Fitness EXPO is among the must-​see attractions at the Arnold Sports Festival for many of the Weekend’s 175,000 attendees, and at just $ 15 per day is the best value in all of sports entertainment,» per Jim Lorimer, co-​producer of the Arnold Sports Festival. «We have attracted all of the top industry companies that will all put together elaborate displays that will once again draw jam-​packed crowds to the Greater Columbus Convention Center.»
The EXPO Stage hosts the Arnold Strongman Classic and prejudging for the Arnold Classic 212, Fitness International and Figure International competitions. Other highlights include Arnold Amateur Strongman, Arnold Armwrestling and the Arnold Amateur Bodybuilding finals.
My favorite booths:
–Oh Yeah Nutrition (bought nutrition bars for only $ 1.00 a piece)
–Beast Sports (bought beast socks and t-​shirt for only $ 7.00)
–NLA for Her (got omega fish oil pills for $ 10.00, regular price $ 19.99)
–Fit Like Flint Apparal– (bought a workout tank for $ 25.00)
–Homage (sold Arnold Classic Tees and more. Had to get one, duh! $ 20.00)
–Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter Company (creamy peanut butter– 2 for $ 5.00)
–Muscle Meds (purchased a 12 count box of Carnivor Brownie snacks for only $ 10.00)
–Elite Labs USA, LLC (Scored 4.02 lbs of ISOBLEND protein blend for only $ 50.00, Regular price $ 85.00)
–Gold’s Gym
–Animal
–Scivation (Bought a huge red gym bag for only $ 10.00)
Many more to name, but you get the idea. Expo was well organized.
A ton of vendors were selling their products 20 – 40 percent off! That is dirt cheap. I had a budget of $ 150.00 and came home with a luggage of stuff that would last me a good couple of months. That doesn’t even the include the samples I received for free (supplements, bars, etc) and prizes I won.
My highlight of the event was meeting 2 time Arnold Classic Champion, Kai Greene. I freaked out when I saw him! I had to wait in line for 45 minutes, I just had to meet him!(worth the wait). A couple of weeks ago, I watched a documentary he was in called «Generation Iron» and was blown away. Two words to describe him– Dedication and Drive! Kai was so down to earth and sincere.
Bottom line, everyone was down to earth and friendly. It was so nice to be at a place that had positive energy and shared the same passion as I did.
The only thing I didn’t like was that it was super packed that we were walking around like penguins. But that was already expected and I came prepared.
From now on, I am making this a tradition to go every year. I’ve already marked my calender for the first weekend in March 2016.
What a great experience and I had a blast! A must go! LOTS of eye candy! :)

Crowd sucks, but it’s a must!

Having gone to this for nearly 15 years I’ve seen it evolve from when everything was at Veteran’s to the behemoth that it now is. Still always a fun trip to cover the Arnold, but the expo now is just too damn crowded. Wish they could open up a little more space so the aisles wouldn’t be so packed. Otherwise, a fantastic event!

Arnold Party with the Pros
I’ve never been to the expo itself, the closest I’ve come is the after party. My review is about that.
As far as non-​concert events go, this one is has the most production, entertainment, food, and interesting attendees of them all. Stilt people? Check. Cher impersonator? Check. Gigantic orange men fist pumping? Check. Arnold? Well, maybe maybe not. Some years he stops in and says hello, some years he skips it. He’s a busy guy, can’t blame him. This year he wasn’t able to make it. That didn’t stop people from partying their angular faces off the entire time. Live Technologies brought in a great lighting and video package that made the room look awesome. This year had a casino theme and the décor was the best it’s ever been.
There are tons of restaurants giving out surprisingly unhealthy food for a fitness related event. It’s necessary to help soak up the drinks I suppose.
The party takes over the whole of your little corner at Neil and Broadbelt. You can find stuff going on at the A&R Bar and the Basement. I couldn’t tell you what exactly, probably more food and more DJs.
I would say the majority of the folks in attendance are not from the 614, but I could be wrong. I think the ticket price is on the high side. Should you come? Maybe, if you’re in town for the expo and you like a rocking dance club environment with all of your fitness pals, this is your thing for sure. Would it appeal to the average Unilocaler? Well, if I had a ticket, I would show up at doors ready to eat a bunch of free food, then people-​watch for a while, and call it a night. The majority of the scheduled entertainers go on pretty early in the evening. All the magic happens in the first two hours. The rest of the night is a big dance party.
I’ll add some photos with labels so you can get an idea of the décor.

I went here back in 08 for the first time and it was amazing.
this year, meh, too crowded, it was like mardi gras walking around elbow to elbow with people.
It’s still a bargain for 15 bucks, they had so many samples, but not as much as in the past. I still ended up with a small cache of protein bars and energy supplements.
There weren’t as many booth babes pushing product either, but even if there were, you really had a hard time taking pics with them since it was so crowded.
I think they should try and get into a bigger venue so there’s more room to walk around.
This fest does have a little bit of everything for everyone — Gymnastics, body building, martial arts, free swag,
I also saw Arnold when he was taking photos with his sponsors. You do get to see some celebs. I saw some UFC fighters randomly — they have schedule appearance times, so if you’re really into seeing them, you can plan your trip around the venue accordingly.
I wouldn’t go every year, but once every few years is good. Perhaps if the economy improves the next years will be better.

What a great event if you are a sport enthusiast or a bodybuilder, fitness model, figure model or just people watcher. I had a great time and thought it was money well spent.
The Expo was quite a monster walk in more then one way. They had some of the biggest and prettiest and scariest people I have ever seen. Said for humor.
I was only surprised that they did not have healthier food options to eat at the event. The Arnold bodybuilding, amateur and professional were both great.

Samples are worse, price is higher, crowd is younger and smellier than ever — at this point I only went out of habit and because I know so damn many people in the business.
I can think of better ways to spend $ 15 and 3 hours.

I have mixed feelings about the Arnold Sports Festival. I want to love it, but there are just too many things that I think could be better that 3 stars is all I can bring myself to give it.
Yeahs — This is the premier sports and fitness event in the world and its an honor that Columbus gets to host it! It brings in some of the top names in fitness and you get a chance to see everything you could ever want. There is plenty to buy and most places give out free samples so if you’ve ever wanted to try that protein powder without buying a huge jug, this is your chance. The admission price is right, $ 10, which doesn’t break the bank and you get a lot for.
Nays — It is so packed with people that it took us an hour just to navigate our way down one aisle without stopping at any of the booths. We were pressed up against the crowd and there was no room to move. We got the chance to talk to some of the people around us and they were just appalled at how packed in we all were. We agreed that we think it has grown so big that 3 days may not be enough to accommodate all the people who are interested in coming. We still want to see so many people come, but a larger venue or more days so if there are such large crowds so that you don’t feel like you’re missing anything.
Also, I ran in the 5k. For such a large event, it wasn’t organized as well as some of the smaller races I’ve been to. Not only did we have to pick up our packets ahead of time, but we had to get there early to pick up our timing chip (may I suggest disposable chips for such a large event?). The race stewards were AMAZING and deserve credit for being friendly and informative but I still was confused with the information I was being given. There was no water along the course nor at the finish line and we were told if we wanted something to drink, we could go into the Convention Center and buy it. $ 4 for a bottle of water. I’m so glad I had someone waiting for me at the finish line with water and food; I would have been out of luck. Also, the time posted online for me as my finishing time was 4 minutes slower than the time on the clock when I crossed the finish line. I’ve heard that other people had this concern as well.
I will definitely be going back, I just think that its outgrown its britches and its time to expand it. I certainly wouldn’t mind a 5 day expo!

The Arnold Classic. The weekend where Short North parking REALLY is impossible and gives Com-​Fest a run for its money in best people watching. And that, (people watching) is what the Arnold Classic is all about to me. I’ve lived here my whole life and never once attended an actual event. The real place to be for The Arnold is firmly wedged on a barstool anywhere on High Street. This year Marcella’s is letting their servers wear Jersey Shore bumps. At Martini, you can rub elbows with muscle and watch Min

I’m not even going to try to be objective. The people watching here is what I’m giving 5 stars to. The people watching in the vendor/​display area especially. HOLY hannah. I’ve not ever seen so many fake eyelashes, fake boobies, paint on tans, paint on clothes and spandex in one place EVAR. ever ever. And, judging from the posters in these booths, women who are really fit have ginormous boobies and look like glammed up old style porn stars. OH right. They’re selling the goods to men…that have the meat between the ears too.. .DOH
There were some interesting sport booths, information booths and people selling other stuff too.. BUT. .the vendor area was a majority nasty protein/​anabolic booster supplement hawkers. Or at least they were the loudest. *Cue LOUD fuzzy death metal* YOU TOO can get BIGGER and BIGGGGGEERRRR and BIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGEERR (devil deep demon voice) So, my fine man, what is so sma sma small that you are compensating for it. .. . hmmmmmm?
This booth.. .they were like the Spinal Tap of the muscle head nutrional supplement trade. There is a huge guy in a tight white polo selling products with names like «Dark Matter» and «Dark Rage». No, I’m not kidding. He had 3 women working with him, who were the shade and texture of fine corinthian leather. They were wearing little camo bikini tops, evidently incorporating an elaborate system of trusses to display their huge boobs to greatest effect. Little mini camo pleat skirts, black open fishnet stockings, and huge fluffy boots that looked like they were made of gorilla fur. O_​o I just… stared. Stared. It was like a horrible accident, I couldn’t rip my eyes away.. .
Yes, I am a frumpy little suburban mom, I’m walking around with boobs that grew there in sweaty clothes and dorky lifting shoes, judging YOU.
I guess I’ll just say — it’s been a long time since I’ve been anywhere with so many people whose priorities and attractiveness standards are so different from mine.
To each his/​her own, and all that. And you know what? I have to at least admire the time, effort and dedication these people put in to looking like that. It is.. astonishing.
OH, and they had a strong man competition with these giant bull humans lifting big boulders and stuff, that was fun to watch. GRUNT.
I love men grunting. Big men grunting.
twitter. .
NOW that that’s out of the way.. . we should move on to the real stars of this show, the competition athletes. All flavors of martial arts and wrestling, olympic weightlifting (NOT to be confused with bodybuilding. .), fencing, gymnastics, russian kettlebell lifting (I did this: D).. .and probably many other things I didn’t get to see. Competitors from the age of 5 –75. I think there was a run and pump race too — a 5K followed by max deadlift competition or somethin’
The bodybuilding and figure competition, which boasted wedge shaped people with lotsa muscles, tiny little scraps of cloth clothes, oiled skin and super industrio-​tans, was in a separate venue and cost $ 50 to get it. So I didn’t see that.
It was nuts. Thousands and thousands of people. I saw Ahnold too. He walked by and gave his little speech about 10 ft from where we were waiting for our sets. He’s shorter than I thought. He wore a white button down shirt and khakis. He comes with a matched set of 12 bull humans with wired ears. There was an opening ceremony with marines and flags and the national anthem and all that.
In a nutshell? a hyper –commercial musclehead clusterfuck exhibit hall surrounded by a decent national venue for athletes to get their competition on.
So.. .there you go. I had a blast. I hope I get to go again next year.

Columbus claims bragging rights to the nation’s largest multi-​sports festival. Each February, more than 165,000 spectators and 17,000 professional and amateur bodybuilders, weightlifters and general athletes converge on Columbus for the ever growing Arnold Sports Fest.
That would be Arnold— as in Schwarzenegger… Arnold’s connections with Columbus runs pretty deep and now, twenty-​plus years later, his simple body-​building show turned into a health expo, which has now evolved into a full blown sports festival, loaded with health exhibits and a variety of athletic competitions.
There’s a lot going on here… athletes converge on Columbus to compete in 37 different competitions for men, women and youth: body-​building, weightlifting, wrestling and martial arts. The Sports Fest has grown to include more obscure sporting events like cheerleading, dance, archery and arm-​wrestling. A very cool FACTOID: 11 of the competitions represented here are also Olympic sporting events.
The Arnold Fitness EXPO, held at the Convention Center is positively huge. Nearly 700 vendors offer everything you could possibly need or want related to health and fitness, including all the big names in equipment, apparel, training tools, and supplements. The 3-​day EXPO draws a unique mix of gym owners, athletes, and sports and fitness fans.
It is a sight to behold when groups of professional bodybuilders are spotted having dinner in the Short North or milling about the city’s hotels. If you plan to attend from out of town, be sure to book your hotel room well in advance as this is one the largest annual conventions in Columbus.
Tickets can be purchased online and vary in price depending on how many events you want to attend. The EXPO alone runs $ 10 for admission. Tickets include free shuttle service between the four venues: The Convention Center, Vets Memorial, Ohio EXPO Center and Nationwide Arena.