2008 Arnold Blog

We went to the Arnold Classic and stayed at the Sheraton on Hutchenson St. in Columbus.  We got free passes to the Metro Fitness Gym which was one of the best gyms I have ever worked out at.

My husband and I ride skateboards and I got hurt about 5 years ago and I got lazy after that.  Once the cardio went, the diet did also.  I tried a few things to loose weight but not a lot worked.  Going to the Arnold Expo really got me fired up to do something about it.

On Friday we got up late and got there about 2.  It wasn’t very crowded and we got to meet a few UFC celebrities. We had to park about a 15 minute walk away.  We got there a little earlier on Saturday and I was surprised how many people were there.  There were a lot of booths we really liked.

This is me and Jay Cutler!

Every day we started out at the Dymatize booth to get some Froot Loops protein cereal (tastes just like the real thing!) The EAS booth was big and we got several Myoplex Lite and Delux bars there.  They made shakes with the recipies in the packages that were really good.  The best was the chocolate chip.  The best bars there were the Supreme Protein Carb Conscious Peanut Butter Crunch bars.  They were giving a lot of the snack size bars on the last day.  They were by far the best bars I’ve ever had and I’m going to get some now.

Look at all our free samples!

We also went to a booth where they were selling a machine that has electrodes that attach to your body (like your foot) that helps relieve pain.  We bought one and I really think it helps.  We had about 6 bags full between the two of us of samples.  The best day for supplement handouts was on Sunday.  We got a lot of stuff from the Muscle Milk booth and many of the booths were selling supplements at a huge discount.

We bought some Body Well Tight Curves protein for me which I really like and my husband bought some Pride protein he really likes.  All in all this was one of the best trips I have ever taken.  I think we are going to the Olympia next.  We got a lot of cool samples and I’m excited to see how much weight I loose now.

This is me and Wes Sims!

The highlight of my trip though was meeting my favorite UFC fighter Wes Sims!  That was awesome!

Check out the full UFC report from UFC 68. I give you my vantage point and what it was like attending the UFC event for the first time, at:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/isaac115.htm

We’ve posted over 200 photos from the UFC fight for you’re viewing pleasure. This was the first time I’d shot the UFC events. I have photographed smaller MMA fights but not the big daddy UFC. We’ll have my full report up later but in the mean time check out the photos here on bodybuilding.com

A few of the better shots:

In the last pic you can see how far away I was and yet able to zoom that far in. I was like a sniper in the dark. HAHA!

Fortunately for all of you, Ron Avidan has the connections to get this interview with John Cena. His line (John’s not Ron’s) for photos and autographs was several hundred deep. The signing booth was close to getting shut down because of fire code and so many people around Cena’s station. John is part of the ABB team and shares a bit about that and what his favorite ABB drink is. It’s short but trust us it was not easy to get this interview.

The John Cena Intervew:

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

Matt Hughes defeats Chris Lytle via Decision.

Matt Hamill defeats Rex Holman via TKO.

Rich Franklin defeats Jason McDonald Via TKO.

Randy Couture defeats Heavyweight champ Tim Silvia.  This makes Randy the first ever 5-time world champion.  Randy (43 years old) just came out of retirement to prove who is the better fighter.

I just received word that I have press credentials for the UFC fight on Saturday night. It should be interesting trying to be in two places at once. I will hit the men’s finals and then haul butt to get to the UFC fight and cover that. I’ve covered a couple MMA fights before but never a UFC fight. It should be an interesting time photographing this event.

From the Arnold Classic website…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship© is coming to Columbus the same weekend as the Arnold Sports Festival. What luck.

“The Arnold Sports Festival is pleased to welcome 18,000 devoted UFC fans to Nationwide Arena on Saturday, March 3 to coincide with our annual Weekend. The incredible momentum of the UFC will add tremendous energy and excitement to the city of Columbus and the Arnold Sports Festival. - Jim Lorimer