My 2006 Arnold Classic Bodybuilding and Fitness Expo Review and Experience

The Labrada Nutrition Pull-Up Competition
The booth next to me was the one from Labrada Nutrition, which was manned by its CEO, no other than Mr. Universe and IFBB Pro Bodybuilding Hall of Fame inductee Lee Labrada. Lee placed as high as 2nd on the Mr. Olympia contest several times and some of these times it is still argued to this day that the title really belonged to him. Lee like myself is an engineer and also a great guy who no matter how successful he is always remains the same person. Needless to say he has been one of my idols for a long time. In any case, I have a funny story for you. He was hosting a pull-up competition every 3 hours or so and the prize was a bottle of one of my favorite pre-workout products: Super Charge. His staff invited me to compete and everyone at the Prolab booth wanted me to take a stab at it. Well, your bodybuilding guide over here accepted the challenge and did 32 full wide grip pull-ups (though I did a total of 40 but they were only ¾ of the way up so unfortunately they did not count those in the results). However, even my 32 was more than enough to allow me winning the competition. So you see, there is value to using weighted pull-ups in your back routine and as you can see! I do practice what I preach.

Thanks To My Avid Readers and Fans
This year was a very special year for me as I literally had lines of fans awaiting for an autograph, to take a picture with me and, of course, ask me questions on bodybuilding training and nutrition. As a matter of fact, I met many readers that expressed their love for the Bodybuilding.About.com site too, so to all of you that came, said hello, and gave me your feedback, I really thank you and appreciate your support very much. After all, you are the reason that I do what I do!

Frequently Asked Questions
One thing that I found interesting is the sort of training and nutrition questions that I was getting. Most of these questions are answered already on the FAQ page such as:

Bodybuilding FAQ - How To Get Abs?

Bodybuilding FAQ - How Can I Get Big and Lose Fat at the Same Time?

Bodybuilding FAQ - Which One Is The Best Bodybuilding Routine To Make The Quickest Gains?

If you have any questions regarding your training, nutrition and supplementation program, you may want to check out the FAQ page first and see if it is already posted there.

Another Interesting Thing I Learned
An interesting thing that I learned this weekend is that no matter how good you look, most of the time you think that you look ten times worst. This is not only a problem that women encounter but guys as well! You cannot imagine how many times I got asked by guys that look great if they looked OK. Of course, I got the same question from girls but that is almost to be expected. Now, I must confess that yours truly is not immune to this either because I am the same way. Perhaps this is what keeps us going and help us to keep improving though we never get to appreciate how good we may really look.

Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure Show Results
Now regarding the men’s bodybuilding show, if you don’t know already, Florida’s own Dexter Jackson won again. For the women’s bodybuilding Iris Kyle took the show. Women’s fitness was won by Adela Garcia and figure by Mary Elizabeth Lado. Below you will find how the other contestants placed in each show:

Men's Bodybuilding Show Results

1. Dexter Jackson
2. Branch Warren
3. Victor Martinez
4. Gustavo Badell (fellow Puerto Rican like me)
5. Melvin Anthony
6. Lee Priest
7. Mustafa Mohammad
8. Darrem Charles (I would have placed Darrem top 3)
9. Toney Freeman
10. Troy Alves
11. David Henry
12. Ahmad Haidar
13. Johnnie Jackson
14. Kris Dim
15. Chris Cook

Women's Bodybuilding Show Results

1. Iris Kyle*
2. Dayana Cadeau*
3. Yaxeni Oriquen*
4. Jitka Harazimova
5. Betty Pariso
6. Bonny Priest
7. Annie Rivieccio
8. Lisa Aukland
9. Kim Harris
10. Antoinette Norman
11. Mah-Ann Mendoza
12. Rosemary Jennings
13. Christine Roth
14. Angela Debatin

Fitness International

1. Adela Garcia*
2. Kim Klein*
3. Jenny Hendershott*
4. Tracey Greenwood*
5. Julie Childs*
6. Tanji Johnson
7. Julie Palmer
8. Regiana DaSilva
9. Angela Monteleone-Semsch
10. Stacey Simons
11. Mindi O'Brien
12. Heidi Fletcher
13. Allison Daughtry

Figure International

1. Mary Elizabeth Lado*
2. Monica Brant*
3. Amanda Savell*
4. Chastity Slone*
5. Jane Awad*
6. Christine Pomponio-Pate
7. Latisha Wilder
8. Valerie Waugaman
9. Monica Guerra
10. Elaine Goodlad
11. Danielle Hollenshade
12. Gina Camacho
13. Nina Luchka
14. Debby Leung
15. Michelle Flake
16. Tammy Pies
17. Ali Metkovich

Did not place) Anna Larssen
Did not place) Zhanna Rotar
Did not place) Jenny Lynn**
* qualifies for 2006 Olympia
** withdrew due to Injury