2009 Arnold Blog

Well the Arnol has been over for two weeks now and everyone has had time to get back into the swing of things.  All in all the weekend was a blast.  It was great to be able to get out, ,meet the bb’ers, board members, etc.  I also think that having UFC 68 going on during the Arnold weekend make it even better.  I had some great pics from the weekend including Arnold Competitiors, expo pics, etc but my memory card in my digi took a dump and I lost all the pics    .     I have a list of the pros and cons compared to last year, here goes nothing.

Pros
- Lots of people there and things to do all weekend
- Got to meet some pros and socialize with other board members
- Free Supps!
- Ufc 68 coiniciding with the Arnold

Cons
- The expo was backed all weekend, i mean packed!  I could hardly stand it
- Companies did not seem to be giving away nearly as much as they were last year
- With the exception of a few companies, there were not many good deals on supps
- Downtown was very crowded all weekend and it took forever to eat/catch a cab etc.

Overall:  I think the weekend was a good time.  I think some aspects of lasts years Arnold were better but it still was a good time.  Plus Victor walked away with the Win!

Travis Chapman and the gang, including the lovely Jamie Eason (!), have produced yet another stunning episode of The Fit Show, capturing highlights from the 2007 Arnold Classic, Sports Festival, and Expo!

Check it out!

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/fitshow/episode54/fsi_4everfit.htm

Colorado’s own Christine Pomponio-Pate was working the Vyotech booth at the Arnold Expo. Ms. Christine has shot to the top of the figure ranks over the last couple of years and is a favorite of many photographers. She’s appeared on magazine covers, layouts, ads and can be seen in a few commercials in the Denver area. I’ve been friends with Christine for a few years now and we always joke around like a couple of dorks. I ask her about her photos, tigers and more on this video.

Watch the amusing video:

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007arnold/LIFT_GETBIG/videos/christine.mov

This is one interesting interview! Ron and I stopped by the Vyotech booth and ran into Shawn Ray. As we’re chatting with Shawn, who shows up but Dina Al-Sabah. We put them on the spot to address the rumors started by Shawn’s fellow pro bodybuilder (the one who called me a punk ass on Pro Bodybuilding Weeky radio show). Shawn speaks about the Colorado Pro show and the rumor with Ms. Dina. We then catch up with the figure champ, Mary Elizabeth-Lado at the Vyotech booth. She tells us about her future competition plans and more.

Check out this entertaining video:

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007arnold/LIFT_GETBIG/videos/marylado.mov

Ah the lovely, Ms. Jessica Paxson-Putnam. Jessica is an IFBB Figure Pro, sponsored by ABB and won her first pro show in New York last year. Jessica is currently on the cover of ABB’s magazine as as you can see in the screen grab below. I also asked Jessica about her thought on her hubby, NPC competitor Peter Putnam, being seen smooching with Lonnie Teper in IRONMAN magazine.

Check out the Footage:

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007arnold/LIFT_GETBIG/videos/paxon.mov

What’s happening at the ISS booth? That’s what we wanted to know, so we asked a couple of the lovely ladies working the ISS booth what was up. Ron, the owner, agreed to give Ron from DNA Nutrition a great show deal. The two ladies shown here are also cheerleaders, well dancers, or something like that…

Check out the Footage:

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007arnold/LIFT_GETBIG/videos/iss.mov

My good friend Catherine Moe from Molecular Nutrtion was in Columbus for the Arnold Classic again. It’s always a pleasure to catch up with Moe. I’ve known Catherine for a few years and she is one of the real peeps in the business. I stopped by the booth and talked to her and Bill Llewellyn (the author of the Anabolics Steroid book) the day before and they had the best drink at the expo. Unfortunately, they were all out. BLASTED!

Check out the Footage:

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007arnold/LIFT_GETBIG/videos/molecular.mov

We stopped by the Champion Nutrition booth to meet the girls and what’s new with them. We do a little sampling of their protein bars and they were quite delicious.

Check out the Footage:

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007arnold/LIFT_GETBIG/videos/champion.mov

At the Ironman Pro, I indulged in the Muscle Milk Shot Challenge, but this time around the lovely and always divine, Ms. Dina Al-Sabah joined me. We decided to go shot for shot on CytoSport’s energy drinks XCYTO. I had the regular and Dina went with the sugar-free (cause she’s a lightweight).

I’m not exactly sure how many shots we each took but I would not recommend doing shots of an energy drink to anyone as you will come crashing down hard about 3 hours later. It was fun and the Muscle Milk ladies are some of the sexiest and friendliest at any expo.

Check out the Footage:

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007arnold/LIFT_GETBIG/videos/xcyto.mov

Okay, I think this should be the last of the Bodybuilding.com booth footage you’ll see from me. (Whew!)

Yes, we love our booth (as if you couldn’t tell by all the footage we shot there!), but enough is enough already!  LOL

Having problems with the video?  Click here for the downloadable Windows Media version.

Just when I thought I had emptied out all of the random crowd footage, I found this "lost" random footage still lingering on my hard drive.

I know this guy is someone famous, but I honestly have no idea who this is…

Having problems with the video?  Click here for the downloadable Windows Media version.

Yet more random "I feel like a slab of meat" crowd footage.  On some aisles, I know we stood pretty much motionless for 5-10 minutes…

Anyone up for a steak?

Having problems with the video?  Click here for the downloadable Windows Media version.