You’re only as good as your last show and although Event Director, Shaun Krenz confirmed a similar number of exhibitors as last year, at this weekend’s 2015 instalment of the Sydney Fitness & Health Expo at the Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park, the buzz was a smack in the face and a completely different animal from 2014.
There’s no BS here, this place was alive and kicking and I couldn’t wait to join the party.
It’s 10am, first thing first – grab a coffee and get a plan of attack for my rounds.
Expo ‘Feature Areas’ in no particular order…
Sage Celebrity Arena – Touted as presenting the worlds most aesthetic physiques, the Sage Celebrity Arena was host to an array of workouts from Persian Yoga to Box-Fit, GetCommandoFit (paid session) to CrossFit.
The Arena – Host to the Clean Health Strength Competitions and NSW Partners Cup showcasing the best of the best in Cross Functional Training – great set up and fun (and exhausting) to watch!
Main Stage – Home to the powerlifting event for the whole weekend with weight divisions separating the top 44 of NSW powerlifters – strength seminars with Brett Gibbs were also a feature on the main stage.
Healthy Living Stage – Designed to provide information surrounding nutrition for training, healthy eating and the latest in alternative training practices – Q&A’s with celebrities Commando Steve and Michelle Bridges were always going to be winners.
Muscle & Model Stage – Muscle and model supershow with male and female events of natural bodybuilding at its best – never fails to draw a crowd and a great atmosphere come finals.
Clearly, event organisers Diversified Exhibitions had worked hard on their guest celebrities and it was impressive. Dropping some names in…Lauryn Eagle (Professional boxer, water skiing champion, Max (the body) Philisaire, Susie Burrell (Dietitian, Author, Shape Me Founder), Calum Von Moger (World Fitness Federation Mr Universe), Revie Jane (CrossFit Athlete & Coach), Commando Steve (Celebrity Trainer), Rob Forte (5 Time CrossFit Games Competitor), Kim Beach (Personal Trainer), Jeff Seid (Fitness Model, Personal Trainer, Physique Competitor), Shannon Ponton (Biggest Loser Trainer)… I could be here a while! No one does it better than Michelle Bridges though!
The meet and greet opportunities for fans and die-hards created an almost annoying winding queue around the expo floor.
From an exhibitor perspective, the majority of the show was consumer-based with everything from sports nutrition and supplements, sportswear and performance gym gear to fitness training tools, gym members discounts, exercise apps, fitness educators and food stalls (mostly healthy). Commercial gym equipment suppliers included Summit Fitness, Queenax Australasia/Ideal Gyms (suppliers to the Sage Celebrity Arena), EYE Fitness and AlphaFit (suppliers to The Arena) and Myzone.
Check out some of our shots…
So, what was ‘New in Fitness’? Honestly, not much. The PT4YOU app, connecting consumers with a local personal training and other group fitness classes was an interesting model. Fitcrawl – the world’s first horizontal exercise machine (although I’m sure I’ve seen very similar machines) was a showcase piece. Although not new, the Ziva range of performance dumbbells, barbells, kettle bells, benches, medicine balls and more was on show for the first time in Australia at the Sage Celebrity Arena and available exclusively from Queenax Australasia/Ideal Gyms.
Pretty full on really, but because the events weren’t arranged around my schedule (you would think), it was difficult to capture all the key moments, but needless to say there was never a dull moment.
The 2015 Sydney Fitness & Health Expo was sponsored by Plus Fitness, Flush Fitness, Queenax Australasia/Ideal Gyms and Sage Institute of Fitness.
Coming up this weekend, (24 to 25 October) the Brisbane Fitness & Health Expo held in conjunction with the Queensland Fitness Convention QFit at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. Don’t miss out, there’s still time to register!