BodyPower Expo 2016 showcases Muscle and Fitness

BodyPower Expo 2016 descended on Birmingham between 13-15th May 2016, bringing together a jam-packed extravaganza of muscle, fitness, beauty, nutrition and exercise.

DESIblitz went to meet and chat to British Asian visitors at the event and met up with some of the amazing athletes at this very energetic show.

The Event

Over 90,000 people attended the event at Birmingham’s NEC, making BodyPower the world’s largest indoor fitness event.

The NEC buzzed with health and fitness fans attending the show. From the latest products and supplements for fitness, to getting full body tans, to participating in events and competitions, there was definitely a lot to going on to keep visitors engaged.

Free gym areas were set-up for anyone to join in with training sessions.

Exhibitors and Brands

The BodyPower Expo exhibition hall was well organised with over 450 exhibitors and brands present. Many brought their own sponsored athletes to the show especially.

One such example was Tiny Iron, the man with record biceps of 24 inches from Britain, who was promoting pre-workout supplement by Bullet®, a company producing cutting-edge supplements that aim to blow your fat away and boost your performance.

There were numerous stands selling specialised fitness products and the cooking of a variety clean eating and high protein food was also available for visitors to try.

We spoke to the members of Personal Training Academy who told us about their fitness and diet regimes.

Adam Kiani, founder of the PT Academy, told us: “I love the 300 workout. It’s a little bit dated but its compound exercises, I can do it in a short period of time. Obviously, we are busy running the courses. And it’s perfect when I am travelling as well.

“My background is kickboxing. So anything high intensity we love. Passionate,” he added.

Harveet Singh, the QA Director at PT Academy told us he enjoyed squats as his perfect exercise and stayed away from eating parathas!

Personal Trainer Parag Depala (‘P’) won Tutor of the Year at PT Academy in 2015. Exclusively, he demonstrated his moves for us on the bars. He told us: “I specialise in Calisthenics which is basically body weight training. It’s very functional. And anyone can do it from a child to the most oldest person.”

Another popular member of the academy, Terroll Lewis, a Youtuber who runs Block Workout, told us about his struggle and how he started training when he was in prison.

The USN brand was very prominent at the show with a huge interest from visitors in its products and offerings.

Sandra Ragav, USN brand ambassador at the show told us: “The USN brand is about lifestyle. We have a clothing range. We have a supplements range and we got great athletes. It’s an all over brand, not just supplements.”

Watch our highlights from the BodyPower Expo 2016 full of fitness tips:

Athletes and Attractions

There was no shortage of star athletes at the show who were definitely popular at BodyPower 2016. These included, Michelle Lewin, Paige Hathaway, Kai Greene, Steve Cook, Phil Heath and legendary 8x Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman.

There were many very long and patient queues of people waiting to have that personal selfie with a fitness hero or heroine of theirs. Michelle Lewin, the fitness diva originally from Venezuela, certainly had her share of fans eager to meet her with some who got quite emotional. She was accompanied by her husband, Jimmy Lewin, whose of Swedish background.

A Girl Power area focused on speeches, encouragement and experiences from women athletes with Q&A Sessions. The presence of the popular woman bodybuilder, Dana Linn Bailey was a major attraction. Other speakers included legendary posing coach Audrey Kaipio, IFBB Pros Michelle Brannan and Melissa Haywood.

British Boxer David Haye attended the MMA area of the show and signed autographs for fans.

Also, present were many athletes and fitness enthusiasts who were at the show demonstrating their physique and fitness.

Personal Trainer Nigel Callun, who’s preparing for WBFF competitions told us: “At the moment it’s like upping the reps, drop sets, supersets. Trying to keep it really intense.”

There was no shortage of stunning body models showing off their hard work in their physical appearances.

Public Reactions

We asked visitors at the show about their interests in the show and about their specific fitness regimes and diets. We had some very interesting responses.

Harbans Bansal, when asked why he takes supplements, said: “Just to help with the training and recovery.” He added that they help with fatigue too from training sessions.

Pav a personal trainer came with Rupinder a client to meet Steve Cook and to learn more about trends in fitness. Pav told us about her diet: “My diet’s pretty good to be fair. As a personal trainer I have to practice what I preach. You’ve got to have you breakfast. Healthy proteins and carbs as well.”

Indy Kheela, who himself is a gold medal champion, attended the show this year differently and told us: “I usually work on the stands every year. So, it’s nice to come down as a spectator ans see how the show is evolving every year.”

Juggy Sidhu who is going to compete in the UKBFF Cumbrian Classic 2016, gave some tips about training, especially for women:

“You don’t need to go to all these classes. They’re a little bit faddy. If you just focus on good form [weight training] squats, compound lifts and lift a bit heavier than you use to. You’ll enjoy it.”

Fadi Hussain owner of Iron Athlete Gym in Sheffield told us that eating too much is a problem and too many supplements and bars are just gimmicks. He revealed his typical diet for a day: “I’ll have eggs in the morning, four. Then I’ll have a tilapia fillet after training with vegetables and another tilapia fillet with some nuts when I get home. That’s it.”

Seetal Jain a fitness trainer who runs bootcamps and runs fight clubs in the West London area gave some useful advice to British Asian women: “Mix it up and don’t be afraid to pick up a weight and do some resistance training. Don’t do too much cardio.”

Competitions

Many competitions and contests took place at BodyPower 2016. Including, BodyPower Games, Strongman and Strongwoman, Powerlifting and the USN BodyPower Classic.

Becky Pykett, a Crossfit athlete participating and helping with the BodyPower Games, told us about her training: “My training is basically to get fit for everything. so, there is no speciality whatsoever. So, I have to be able to swim, run, weight lift, gymnast, pull-ups and toasta bar. All that sort of stuff.”

Ajentha, originally from India but now living in Norwich, took part in the Strongwoman contest. We asked about her training preparation. She said: “I do a lot of weight lifting. A lot of weight lifting. Strongman training. Everything is pretty heavy and nothing is girly and beautiful!”

A judge of the Strongwoman event was Donna Moore, the strongest woman in the world. When asked how do you get into strength training of this kind. She said: “If you want to do strong women. Go and find a strong woman gym that has the equipment and just go on progress from there.”

The Powerlifting entertained the crowds with some incredible lifting, both in the men and women’s categories. Women were dead-lifting lifting over 180kg and the men achieving an impressive 220kg in squats.

USN BodyPower Classic at BodyPower 2016 gave visitors both men and women competitors showing of their amazing sculpted bodies in the Physique, Fitness, Classic and Bikini classes.

BodyPower is growing every year with an overwhelming response from the public and athletes attending. With the next BodyPower taking place in Mumbai, India, the show has a global outlook and definitely offers inspiration to everyone in the UK, as a premier fitness show.