Team MuscleTalk's Trip to the Europa Pro Show & Expo 2009 in Dallas, USA

A couple of months ago Daz Ball and I decided that it would be a great idea to visit one of the IFBB qualifying shows in the USA to meet some stars and to promote Team MuscleTalk and Daz. We mentioned this to James Llewellin who's helping Daz with his preparation for the UKBFF British Finals, and he informed us that UK IFBB Pros Lee Powell and John Hodgson were to be competing in the under 202lbs class in two shows, one being the Europa Pro in Dallas. Next thing the three of us had booked tickets and were excitedly awaiting our trip to the USA.

Our excitement heightened a week before we were due to travel with the great news that John and Lee had both taken the US by storm by grabbing second and third places respectively in the u202s at the Tampa Pro, only placing after reigning u202 Mr Olympia David Henry. These two great bodybuilders had made the Americans look at the UK and the excitement could be felt across UK forums.

Daz and I met James at Heathrow airport on Thursday 13th August and were bundled into economy class. Yes, I was stuck sat in between two of the UK's top bodybuilders and, needless to say, I had a very squashed 10 hours of flying! Upon landing the immigration at Dallas Fort Worth Airport was slow – we were well over an hour of waiting in queues, not what you relish after a long journey.

Dallas was hot, really hot, and we grabbed a taxi to our hotel, the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Dallas. This hotel was where many of the competitors and visitors to the Europa were staying and the organisers had done a great job of liaising with the hotel staff as they were catering for bodybuilders. The restaurant had a special Europa menu including chicken breast, salmon, rice, broccoli and egg whites cooked the way competitive bodybuilders want it: plain. The hotel also had a small, but adequately equipped gym, where we trained arms on our arrival day, and Daz did his cardio every morning. All in all we were very impressed with the Hyatt Regency and we'd recommend it to any visitor to Dallas. The only downside to my stay here was the fact that I was sharing a room with the guy who must be the current World Record Holder for snoring, Daz Ball; the sounds he emits while sleeping are loud and akin to something some giant Kong-like Gorilla would make; well, what can you expect from a 21 stone mass monster?!

Friday August 14th
My 37th birthday, and what a great birthday I had spending it with two mates and meeting some top bodybuilding stars. We set off for the Expo for 10am, but on arriving there realised they were still setting up and it didn't actually open until 6pm; which struck us as a little odd, but I guess it was to tie in with the evening prejudging. So we went for a walk to look for a shop as, stupidly, I didn't bring my camera! Our search for a camera shop was fruitless though and it was too hot to really walk around for ages.

We met up with the guys from Gaspari Nutrition, including boss man and 80s top Pro Rich Gaspari, and their sponsee, top UK Pro, Flex Lewis. We chatted with them a few times and it was great to feel their enthusiasm. Rich and Flex were over in the UK at the Body Power Expo in May and are great guys. Gaspari Nutrition has come a long way over the past couple of years and now are certainly one of the big players on the international supplement market. What I like about them is, not only do they have a great product range (which is expanding), but they have an ethical philosophy and genuinely want to work with their customers; they want to push bodybuilding forward. Flex now lives in the USA and is probably the top current UK Pro, with a great third place finish at the u202 Mr Olympia in 2008. He's competing in the Atlanta Pro in 4 weeks to qualify for this year's Mr Olympia.

Midday was the weigh in and press conference for the show. We met up with Lee, John and Neil Hill who's been their advisor and travelling with them for the shows. Both Lee and John were still buzzing from their excellent result the week before.

James Llewellin, Neil Hill and Lee Powell at the weigh-in

Doing the UK Proud: John Hodgson and Lee Powell

After lunch we took a taxi to Gold's Gym, Uptown Dallas. Apparently there are three Gold's Gyms in Dallas, and this Gold's was really impressive. It was huge, well equipped, spacious, well maintained, cool and friendly with an atmosphere which oozed with enthusiasm. They were letting all visitors to the Europa train for free, which was really decent of them. We trained legs and James led the way with one of the hardest leg workouts I have ever performed. Training with two of the UK's best really is a knockout, because they will not let you slack on form nor on intensity! To be honest I didn't really feel right for the rest of the day. At the gym we met the trainer of the pros Charles Glass. He is a really nice guy and I've took his details for James and Daz to hook up with him the next time they're in the US.

The Prejudging
We arrived at the Europa Pro Expo at around 6pm and had a quick look around. The Expo was comparatively very small. There were no huge stands like you get at the Arnold or the Olympia Expos; indeed the Expo was considerably smaller than our own Body Power Expo. But it did include strongman, arm wrestling, martial arts and, of course, bodybuilding. There was also an exhibition of classic and modern permformance cars and bikes – adding to the 'muscle'.

The ladies Fitness category was had a great turnout with some great figures and displays from the girls, as was the Pro Figure line up. But we were eagerly awaiting to support our guys John and Lee in the u202s. The line up was a whopping 21 and there were a few good physiques there. The first competitor, Pedro Barron from Mexico was bloody impressive. He's the first ever Mexican IFBB Pro and should place high in this category. John Hodgson definitely had one of the best conditions and was also looking full. Lee Powell had absolutely mind blowing lower back striations; his condition was bang on with great lines. But would these three non-US guys have what it takes to compete against US faves like Tricky Jackson and Stan McQuay? Both these guys looked great, but I don't feel they had the condition of the Brits and the Mexican. Tomorrow will reveal the judges results, especially after some weird call outs at the judging.

The Open Class had few impressive physiques, but, many had lazy condition. Dennis James was as impressive as ever and for sure had first place. Second was likely to be Fouad Abaid from Canada, with Bill Wilmore, Leo Ingram, Ben White, Poland's Robert Piotrkowicz and Ben Stubbs following on. Joel Stubbs is impressive for the crowd – his upper body is massive and ripped and if he had legs to match he would certainly be Mr Olympia; but with atrophied quads (which were well defined though) from surgery, he's unlikely to do very well unfortunately. It was to be an interesting result tomorrow, that's for sure.

Saturday August 15th
At the restaurant Friday night we met up with a photographer for MuscleMag International, Rich Baker, who wanted to photo Daz. So we met him at the Gold's Gym at 9am. James, Daz and I trained chest all out and Rich took some great pictures of us all, with obviously Daz as the main focus. Actually, it's worth pointing out that a 21 stone man walking about in condition does attract a lot of attention even when it's amongst some top names in international bodybuilding: Daz certainly did get his name out there. Rich was a great photographer and hopefully we'll be able to get a few pics of Daz to post on MT.

After freshening up, we later headed off to the Expo again, this time to watch the main show. The Europa Expo was small and although there were quite a few stands, many big supplement names were absent, and those who did exhibit only had small stands. On Saturday though, it was very busy with a lot going on.

The Fitness displays from the girls was very entertaining and all were impressive. I would never like to judge this category. Experienced competitor Adeline Garcia took first place, I guess she had an edge on professionalism that some others lacked.

The Pro Figure was won by former Olympia champ Jenny Lynn, who looked as proportioned as ever. There was some debate that she did get the popularity vote though, as there were a couple of other girls who could have easily have taken first place.

We saw all routines from both Men's categories before the results. The best posing award went jointly to Tricky Jackson from the u202s and Marcus Haley from the Open.

The tension was high for the u202s as we were supporting our guys. Both were really popular with the audience and John Hodgson had a brilliant routine which really got the audience going. However, they only announce the top 3 places for the u202s and the compere, neither our guys, nor Pedro Baron were called. First was Tricky Jackson, second a heavily muscled Charles Dixon and third Kris Dim who all qualified for the Olympia. Lee, John and Pedro took forth, fifth and sixth respectively. Very odd judging; they must have been looking for shape and condition was not on the agenda. At least Lee and John have their invite to the Olympia to take their revenge in 6 weeks.

The Open had equally odd judging with the final five call outs being not what I would have had. Dennis James took first, Bill Wilmore second, big Joel Stubbs third, Fouad Abaid forth and Robert Piotrkowicz fifth.

The Europa Pro Results

Men's Open	Men's under 202lbs	Pro Figure	Women's Fitness
Dennis James Bill Wilmore Joel Stubbs Fouad Abiad Robert Piotrkowicz Ben White Edward Nunn Tarek Elsetouhi Leo Ingram Alfonso DelRio Grigori Atoyan Marcus Haley Johnnie Jackson DeShaun Grimez Lionel Brown	Ricky "Tricky" Jackson Charles Dixon Kris Dim Lee Powell John Hodgson Pedro Barron Curtis Bryant Stan McQuay Jose Raymond Peter Putnam Mike Ergas Myoba Edwards Tamer El Shahat Vincent Wawryk Abiu Feliz	Jenny Lynn Krissy Chin Meriza DeGuzman Alicia Harris Siobhan Tewari Amy ONeil Katina Maisterllis Michelle Craven Tivisay Briceno Rojas Consuelo-Figueroa Julie (D.J.) Wallis Alicia Marie Sue Upson Rosalind Vanterpool Tonya Burkhardt	Adeline Garcia Myriam Capes Nicole Duncan Bethany Wagner Laticia Jackson Kristina Rojas Michelle Mayberry Stephanie Irick Nita Marquez Siene Silva Amanda Marinelli Leslie Rae-Newton Jo Marriner Maggie Blanchard

After the show, we went out for a meal with John, Lee, Neil, Rich Gaspari, Flex Lewis and others from Gaspari Nutrition, then back to the hotel for a few drinks, and... another meal! I had a really great evening chatting with the guys – these guys are all current or former IFBB Pros, but we had the usual laughs British guys do.

Sunday August 16th
Today's the day we're flying home; just a very short trip to travel so far. We packed and had several meals before leaving for the airport where we had another meal the boarded the flight. Thanksfully the journey home was much better as there were spare seats so we had a seat in between us. I slept well duding the flight, and Daz's snores were as loud as ever!

We made some good contacts and there certainly was some interest in the guys and MT. Next year hopefully we'll be back, this time with both James L and Daz competing in the Pro shows.