Factory Weights at the Arnold Sports Festival 2022

Whilst the man himself Arnold Schwarzenegger announced in advance he wouldn’t be making an appearance at this year’s event, it didn’t stop bodybuilders, athletes, strong men and women and fitness industry influencers from turning out in their droves to witness the Glastonbury of gains - the world’s largest health, fitness and multi-sport festival the second annual Arnold Sports Festival UK. More importantly than Arnie though, Factory Weights kicked up a storm on our stand with our infamous Dug Bone and Steel Snap Challenge (more on those later).

The event saw the legendary annual Arnold Classic UK take place and after a fierce competition, nine winners sealed their place at the 2022 Olympia Weekend, set to take place in December in the City of Sin, (Las Vegas, not Glasgow).

2022 Arnold Classic UK Winners

• Men’s Physique: Ali Bilal

• Women’s Physique: Anne-Lorraine Mohn

• Bikini: Ashley Kaltwasser

• Men’s Open: Andrew Jacked

• 212 Bodybuilding: Naser Mohamed

• Classic Physique: Michael Daboul

• Wheelchair: Gabriele Andriulli

• Figure: Lola Montez

• Fitness: Terra Plum

Our congratulations go out to all the winners and the rest of the participants, but there’s more to the Arnold Sports Festival than just the Classic - from Crossfit to cheerleading, it truly is a multi-sports extravaganza. Some of the most notable faces in the world of fitness, nutrition, sports, and bodybuilding were spotted doing the rounds at the NEC.

One such face was IFBB legend Flex Wheeler, who received the lifetime achievement award for his years of being an absolute bodybuilding behemoth and a continued driving force in modern bodybuilding. Three other legends of the sport were there to see him receive his award, with 4x Mr Olympia Jay Cutler, 8x Mr Olympia, Ronnie Coleman and 13x Mr Olympia finalist, Shawn Ray their to see Flex receive his honour.

But the NEC didn’t just welcome a multitude of Mr O’s; the best of British were there too, one Eddie Hall aka The Beast, former World’s Strongest Man and deadlift world record holder was very easy to spot. In fact, he even showed up at the Factory Weights stand, even having a go at our very own Steel Snap Challenge!

What’s the Steel Snap Challenge?

If you follow us on social media, you’ll have seen some of the world’s most famous and fittest faces trying to snap our steel - internet phenomenon and meat lover the Liver King gave it a go when we saw him in London a few weeks ago. The task is simple (on paper) – snap one of our steel bars, best time wins. Unfortunately the Liver King underestimated the challenge and was unsuccessful, as were many of the thousands who visited our stand over the Arnold weekend. The fastest recorded time was an incredible 19 seconds, though, and the weekend saw the first two women to ever complete the challenge.

Eddie Hall was one of those who had a go of the Steel Snap challenge and smashed it. But The Beast wasn’t the only big strong boy to pay us a visit - the actual World’s Strongest Man, ‘The Albatross’ Tom Stoltman came along and was one of the very few who successfully managed to complete our other challenge... THE DUG BONE.

What’s the Dug Bone?

Its origins are unknown, its weight is unknown (not really, scales exist and we own a set, but we aren’t telling you) – the only thing we do know is that more than 99% of people who try to take the dug for a walk, fail miserably. You’ve also got to bear in mind that 99% of people who try are committed lifters – imagine what the percentage would be if we had a stream of average men rocking up at our Glasgow store trying to lift it.

Anyways, of the thousands who tried over the Arnold weekend, less than 25 people successfully lifted the bone. Eddie couldn’t do it, no woman has succeeded to date, and I spend my nights locked away in the Factory Weights gym in Glasgow desperately trying to budge it to no avail. If you’re ever in town though, feel free to pop in and give it a go.

In summary, we loved every minute of the Arnold Sports Festival UK 2022 and we can’t wait to see you all in 2023. If you have any pictures or videos of our stand from the weekend we’d love to see them – tag us @factoryweightsuk on Instagram.