Bodypower 2016

May 22, 2016 Leave a Comment

Bodypower 2016 was on a whole new scale compared to 2015, bigger, busier and bolder. In 2015 79,000 people attended compared to 91,000 this year. For those of you who don’t know what Bodypower is I will explain a little bit about it. Bodypower is a comprehensive fitness expo in Birmingham, UK that covers the full spectrum of sports, products, services and athletes. It’s not just for bodybuilders, many sports are featured including weightlifting, powerlifting, crossfit, running and general gym going. Athletes and fitness enthusiasts travel from all over the world to attend the expo, so it is well and truly on the international map.

Exhibitors

This year there were hundreds of exhibitors, clothing, food, supplements, wholesalers, gym equipment, tan, and everything else you can imagine to be associated with fitness. Most exhibitors sell there products and discount prices so it’s a great place to stock up. Many exhibitors gave out free samples in exchange for your email address as well as flash giveaways where they throw sample sachets or even protein bagels into crowds of people. I also discovered that you can officially get protein everything, their were brands selling protein coffee, protein doughnuts, protein beer, protein sweets and all of your standard protein products…

Features

At bodypower there are quite a lot of different features that have full timetables with talks, and demonstrations from experts. This years features included:

Evolution Of Bodybuilding- Showcasing the history and transition of bodybuilding as a sport, with live Q&As, nutrition talks and some fantastic speakers.
The USN Auditorium- Live demonstrations, educational seminars and Q&A sessions from the world’s best bodybuilders, athletes and sports personalities along with the UKBFF bodybuilding competitions.
BodyPower Games-Large scale high intensity functional fitness competition feature on the show floor offering athletes the chance to compete for cash prizes
Girl Power- A healthy dose of female empowerment, with the latest female fitness concepts Q&A sessions, live workouts, hands-on demonstrations and insightful workshops
Back To Basics- Knowledge of topics including weightlifting advice, nutrition, macronutrient breakdown, basic anatomy, correct exercise performance, supplement advice and key tips to improve baseline training
British Weightlifting- World class demonstrations and advice of olympic weightlifting with ‘have a go’ sessions where you can get advice about your technique
Battle Of The Bars- An interactive spectacle of body weight movements featuring team demonstrations, contests, giveaways, workouts with calisthenics and workshops for visitors to get involved.
BodyPower Gym- The BodyPower Gym is an open workout area for visitors to try out a range of equipment and see experts use it
Healthy Eating Kitchen- Cooking demonstattions from top chefs, athelete and nutritionists
The Academy- An array of seminars and discussions surrounding nutrition, training, fat loss and hypertrophy

I went to watch a couple of the healthy eating kitchen segments including TwiceTheHealth and Hazel Wallace who both cooked up a storm with the help of MacroMitch. With healthy turkey burgers from twice the health and getting in your greens from hazel, some great tips and advice.

I also went to see talks at the Girlpower feature and back to basics for an insight into flexible dieting, female training and more. Knowledge bombs left right and center really so I may have taken my notepad and scribbled down a few notes like the geek that I am.

VIP areas

VIP tickets get you early entry (1.5hours before standard tickets), entry to the Workout Arena, BodyPower Pro Show, Club Lounge and official BodyPower After Party. Although expesive it appears you get alot for your money, however I didn’t go VIP and really dont’t think you need to to get the most out of the expo.

Bodybuilding Show

Bodypower hosts the UKBFF ‘Bodypower Classic’ bodybuilding competition. It also gives people who have never seen it before the opportunity to see what it’s about, as many people who are into fitness don’t compete its nice to be able to see what other people do.

Athletes

Some of the greatest international athletes come to the expo and offer the opportunity to meet and greet them, and get a cheeky selfie of course. This year athletes such as Ronnie Coleman, Kai Green, Big Ramy, Ryan Terry, Steve Cook, Heidi Somers, Michelle Lewin and Nikki Blackketter were there, along with many other big names.

My experience

I attended the event on the Saturday and Sunday (It’s a 3 day expo, Fri-Sun). It was incredibly busy and there were long queues to meet the big names or get your freebies from big brands such as bodybuildng.com; but it just goes to show how much the fitness world is growing so can only be a positive thing. One one the best things about bodypower is it brings so many people together with similar passions and I was able to meet lots of people I have spoken too before but not yet met in person so it was great to see them. I’m also an almond/nut butter addict which you may have gathered by now, and the expo gave me the opportunity to spoon myself silly with the stuff and try all sorts of new flavours so I can’t complain. Overall a great event, met lots of people, consumed lots of protein and I’m already excited for next year.