Thousands of people excited about celebrating strength and fitness in their lives headed to the annual Fit Expo on Aug 25 and 26 at the Anaheim Convention Center, which is about 40 minutes southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Many sports enthusiasts gladly paid the $25 entry fee in order to discover new fitness workouts, sports supplements, or participate in competitions, such as weightlifting, arm wrestling, push-ups, and more.
Some organizations, such as private gyms or the Air Force, encouraged visitors to participate in the games. If they succeeded in meeting a certain requirement, such as doing ten pull-ups or finishing within a set time limit, they could win prizes like T-shirts, water bottles, etc.
Earl Nicholson is a professional athlete and a trainer from RF Active Fitness. He won the gold medal in the abdominal core competition two years in a row and received $300 cash on Aug. 25. He said he does 10 to 30 minutes of abdominal exercises daily.
“When it comes down to abdominal core, you want to make sure you are not eating a lot of heavy things. It’s all about get there and do it. Anybody can do it,” said Earl Nicholson.
Among the different activities, “Battle of the Bars” drew the largest audience and most applause. The competition challenges athletes to perform amazing feats of strength while holding onto one or more bars.
RJ Lee, an online personal trainer for calisthenics, was one of the participants. He’s been into fitness for about four years and does exercises from one to three hours a day, four to five times week. He spends about half of the time doing regular pushups, pull-ups and other general exercises; then he spends the rest of the time doing calisthenics.
He has competed in ten bar competitions so far and feels like there’s something different about the sport.
“People who you are competing against are lifting you up to win, although they want to win as well. You don’t get that kind of positivity in sports and many areas in life,” Lee said.
Visitors could see a lot of hugging, clapping and cheering between these athletes. In addition, Lee states that there is another beneficial aspect to it.
“Practicing getting over your fear on a consistent basis, is very beneficial in all areas in life,” Lee said.
Representatives from the Marines, Los Angeles Firefighters, local police departments and some other agencies also seized the opportunity to set up a booth to recruit energetic and capable individuals.
Antoine R. has been working out on and off for the past thirteen years, and he’s helping his family’s retail business in addition to being a full time student.
“It’s my first experience here. I want to meet all the new guys I’ve been following online for years, and I actually met a couple of my fans at bodybuilding.com.”
For residents of southern California who may have missed this one, there is another Fit Expo in San Diego Convention Center on Oct. 27-28.
From The Epoch Times
