2017 Arnold Classic

Yadier Nunez Quesada of 210 Weightlifting prepares to jerk 190kg at the Arnold Weightlifting Championships in Columbus Ohio.

When your friend asks you if you want to go to the Arnolds, you say YES. For those who aren't familiar with the Arnolds -- it's basically fitness and spray tan heaven.  Every year, almost 200,000 people flock to Columbus Ohio to visit the Arnold Fitness Expo (named after Arnold Schwarzenegger, of course). Among the hundreds of booths in the expo demoing the latest releases in sports equipment, fitness apparel, and nutrition supplements, there are a number of non-stop competitions on the stages of the expo floor and external exhibition halls. At the Arnold, you can quite literally see it all... bodybuiling, strongman, highland games competitions, powerlifting, ballroom dancing, fencing, pole fitness... the list goes on and on.

Last weekend, Viv (Everyday Lifters) and I went to Columbus to cover the olympic weightlifting portion of the Arnolds. I competed at the ASF Weightlifting Championships three years ago and hope to do it again, but it was fun to take a back seat this time and observe the event without having to worry about making weight and performing well on the platform.

We arrived at the convention center Friday morning, picked up our media passes and set up camp to shoot our first weightlifting session of the weekend. Within only 5 minutes of being there, I turn around to look at the judges' chairs, only to see ARNOLD sitting in the center seat. Viv and I were freaking out. Talk about a great start to the weekend! It was so neat to see him up close, taking selfies with the platform behind him and listening to him cheer the athletes on by yelling "Just do it!" When Arnold tells you to make a lift, you do it.

We saw some pretty big lifts from both of the men and women in the following sessions, especially from Colin Burns of Team Juggernaut, and Yadier Nunez Quesada and Asniel Rodriguez Jimenez of 210 Weightlifting. Kristin Pope had the crowd cheering and celebrating with her as she hit a 91kg snatch, her new personal best in competition. 

I had an incredible time getting to watch some of my favorite athletes up close. I can't thank Viv enough for bringing me along and trusting me with a camera! ;) You can view more photos from the event on my instagram.

Also, if you don't follow her already, be sure to check out EveryDay Lifters on instagram at @everyday_lifters to see more photos, videos and stories. The woman hustles hard! In fact, this is one of three major Olympic Weightlifting competitions she's covered in the last three weeks! Photos of the weightlifting competition are available to download here.