Two of the biggest weekends in fitness landing on the same three days, one under the lights in Las Vegas and one on the sand in Huntington Beach. Here is what is at stake and who to watch.
At a Glance
Mr. Olympia 2026 runs September 24 to 27 in Las Vegas. Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal 2026 runs September 25 to 27 at Huntington Beach Pier. Two of the biggest weekends in fitness land on the same three days, one indoors and judged, one outdoors on the sand. Here is who to watch, what is at stake, and how fans can take part.
One weekend, two very different kinds of hard
Fitness does not have a single championship. It has a calendar with peaks, and this year two of the tallest landed on top of each other.
Mr. Olympia opens first. September 24 to 27 in Las Vegas, with the World Fitness Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Mr. Olympia prejudging on Friday evening at Orleans Arena, and finals at the Orleans Arena. Indoor, lit, judged. The work is already finished by the time anybody walks out. All that is left is to stand there and let the room decide.
Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal starts a day later and runs to the same finish. September 25 to 27 at Huntington Beach Pier, three days of functional fitness outdoors on the sand with thousands of athletes across more than 30 divisions. Sun, wind, and a cumulative leaderboard that does not care how good day one looked.
One rewards precision delivered once. The other rewards range delivered repeatedly. Same weekend, opposite tests.
What Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal is
Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal 2026 is the West Coast edition of the Wodapalooza festival, running since 2024 at Huntington Beach. In 2026, it anchors a wider SoCal Fitness Festival that pulls several competitions and experiences under one weekend and one ticket.
The flagship competition brings more than 2,500 athletes from over 40 countries across more than 30 divisions, with a brand expo of more than 100 exhibitors alongside it. Running in the same footprint are a strongman competition called Strongest in SoCal, a USA Weightlifting meet, the Gauntlet, Battle of the Camps, an ErgShoot showcase, live music, and a vendor market.
The big change this year is the team format. The old matchup of United States against the rest of the world gives way to Battle of the Camps, which pits training camps against each other instead of countries. That reshuffles who is rooting for whom on the sand.
REIGN is an official partner of Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal 2026, with a 60 by 40 activation on the pier and five REIGN athletes competing across the weekend: Danielle Brandon, Dallin Pepper, Jayson Hopper, Anikha Greer, and Alexis Raptis.
What Mr. Olympia is
Mr. Olympia is the world championship of professional bodybuilding and physique, staged as part of Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness and Performance Weekend. It has run annually since 1965.
The weekend crowns champions across a full slate of divisions, not just the open class that gives the event its name. In 2026 that slate includes Mr. Olympia, 212, Classic Physique, Men's Physique, Ms. Olympia, Wheelchair Olympia, Fit Model Olympia, Figure, Women's Physique, Fitness, Bikini, and Wellness.
Athletes have to qualify to be on that stage. The 2026 move to a September date compressed the qualifying window compared with prior years, which puts more weight on the shows earlier in the season.
The overall Olympia weekend runs September 24 to 27, but the World Fitness Expo itself runs only two days, Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26. REIGN has a booth in the South Hall of the expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center on both of those days, with Hafthor Bjornsson appearing each day to meet fans and sign autographs. Expect full-size can sampling, REIGN gear, and photo opportunities on site.
Same three days, two coasts apart
Las Vegas and Huntington Beach are about 270 miles apart. Close enough to do both, far enough that nobody does both on the same day.
For fans that is a genuine choice: an arena and an expo hall, or a pier and the sand. For athletes and crews it is a schedule problem that has to be solved in advance.
REIGN is activating at both. The Las Vegas booth runs Friday and Saturday alongside the expo, and the Huntington Beach activation runs all three days on the pier, with a separate crew on each coast.
Why the qualifying road matters
Neither event starts at the venue. Wodapalooza runs an online qualifier that opens the season and sends athletes from around the world to the start line. Mr. Olympia requires a pro qualification earned at sanctioned shows across the year.
That is the part fans skip and athletes never do. By the time any of the five REIGN athletes reach the sand at Huntington Beach, the hard part has been months of unglamorous work in a gym nobody posted about.
Athletes to Watch
Organized by event, because the two run on the same days in two states.
At Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal: the REIGN contingent
Five REIGN athletes compete on the sand across the weekend: Danielle Brandon, Dallin Pepper, Jayson Hopper, Anikha Greer, and Alexis Raptis. A cumulative format on an open beach rewards consistency, because the scoring adds up and the weather does not negotiate.
Fans can meet several of them at the REIGN activation between events. The meet-and-greet schedule is in What Fans Can Expect From REIGN below.
At Mr. Olympia: Hafthor Bjornsson
Hafthor Bjornsson is a former World's Strongest Man champion who holds multiple deadlift world records, a record in the sport that speaks without any help. At an event like Olympia his value is proximity: fans get to stand in front of somebody whose numbers they have only read about.
He appears at the REIGN booth both days of the Olympia expo, Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. each day, meeting fans and signing autographs.
Biggest Storylines Entering the Weekend
- Two championships, one weekend. The calendar collision splits attention, media, and travel for the first time at this scale. Whichever event a fan picks, they are missing the other one live.
- Battle of the Camps. Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal replaces the United States against the world team format with training camps facing off, which changes the allegiances on the sand and gives gyms something to fight for.
- The Olympia date change. Moving to a September weekend shortened the qualifying runway, favoring athletes who peaked early and squeezing anyone banking on a late qualifier.
- A compressed peak window. Less time to qualify means less time to diet down and time the final weeks. Expect conditioning to separate the middle of each division more than size does.
- The festival stack at Huntington Beach. Strongman, weightlifting, and functional fitness all running in the same footprint under the SoCal Fitness Festival umbrella, which is where audiences that used to stay separate actually mix.
- Sand as a variable. An outdoor beach floor punishes anything that depends on a stable surface, and it changes how athletes pace the back half of a workout.
Event Highlights
Mr. Olympia 2026
- Dates: September 24 to 27, 2026
- Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
- Host hotel: Palms Casino Resort
- Expo and select division prejudging: Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall. Mr. Olympia prejudging: Friday evening at Orleans Arena (expo runs Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26 only)
- Finals: Orleans Arena
- Divisions: Mr. Olympia, 212, Classic Physique, Men's Physique, Ms. Olympia, Wheelchair Olympia, Fit Model Olympia, Figure, Women's Physique, Fitness, Bikini, Wellness
- Tickets: 2026 Olympia World Fitness Expo general admission passes start at $50 for a single-day Friday or Saturday pass, plus a $5.36 processing fee and applicable tax. A two-day weekend Expo pass starts at $80, plus a $6.23 processing fee and applicable tax. Early pricing is limited and subject to increase. Expo passes provide access to the World Fitness Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26, from 9:00am to 5:00pm. Children ages five and under do not require an Expo ticket. Tickets for the Friday and Saturday evening Olympia Finals are sold separately. Tickets and more at mrolympia.com.
- How to watch: Fans can stream the official Olympia prejudging and finals through OlympiaProductions.com.
Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal 2026
- Dates: September 25 to 27, 2026
- Location: Huntington Beach Pier, Huntington Beach, California
- Format: three-day outdoor functional fitness festival, more than 30 divisions
- Scale: more than 2,500 athletes from over 40 countries, and more than 100 brands in the expo
- New for 2026: Battle of the Camps replaces the United States against the world team format
- Running alongside: Strongest in SoCal, a USA Weightlifting meet, the Gauntlet, Move Huntington Beach, the ErgShoot Showcase, live music, and a vendor market
- Tickets: Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal offers free general admission and full access to the festival footprint. For those who want to spectate the competition, spectator passes are available for purchase and include access to all three days of competition in the arenas.
- How to watch: Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal streams on the subscription-based platform FloElite across all three days.
What Fans Should Watch
- Olympia prejudging over finals, if you want to actually learn something. Prejudging is where placings get decided and where the comparisons happen in daylight.
- Conditioning in the back half of an Olympia lineup. The top three are usually obvious. Places four through eight are where a shortened prep shows.
- Day-three scoring at Huntington Beach. Cumulative formats punish anyone who spent too much early, and the leaderboard tends to rearrange itself late.
- Battle of the Camps. The new team format is the single most interesting change on either schedule this year.
- Strongest in SoCal. Fifty strongman athletes on a beach is not a normal sight, and it is running right next to the functional fitness floor.
- The expo floors, not just the competition. Seminars, pop-up gyms, and athlete appearances are where fans get closer than a ticket normally allows.
What Fans Can Expect From REIGN
REIGN shows up at these weekends the way the athletes do, which is early and for the whole thing. Here is what to look for on each coast.
- Las Vegas: a 40 by 40 booth, booth 1413, in the South Hall of the Olympia World Fitness Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Friday and Saturday.
- Huntington Beach: a 60 by 40 activation on the pier, all three days.
- Sampling: free samples of all core flavors plus the newest flavor, Watermelon Sour Gummy, at both locations, all open hours while supplies last.
- On-site programming: athlete meet-and-greets at both events, a keg carry challenge in Huntington Beach, and photo opportunities on site.
- Giveaways: opportunities to win branded merch on site at both events.
Meet-and-greet schedule
- Mr. Olympia (Las Vegas): Hafthor Bjornsson at the REIGN booth on Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. each day.
- Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal (Huntington Beach): Saturday, September 26, from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. with Anikha Greer, Danielle Brandon, and Alexis Raptis; Sunday, September 27, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. with Dallin Pepper and Jayson Hopper.
Why These Events Matter Now
Championships give a sport a center. Without a weekend where everybody agrees the stakes are real, training is just training.
Mr. Olympia has been that center for bodybuilding since 1965. It is the show every other show gets measured against, and it is the reason a competitor grinding through February has a date to work backward from.
Wodapalooza does something different but equally load-bearing. It puts elite athletes and everyday ones on the same sand in the same weekend. Somebody who trains at 5:00am before work competes where the professionals compete. That is rare, and the SoCal edition brought it to the West Coast in 2024.
What makes this particular weekend worth paying attention to is the collision. Two championships, two coasts, three shared days, and a fitness audience that has to choose. For REIGN the reason to be at both is simple enough: these are the days where the people who take this seriously all end up in the same two places.
Key takeaways
- Mr. Olympia 2026 runs September 24 to 27 in Las Vegas, with the World Fitness Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Mr. Olympia prejudging and finals at the Orleans Arena. The expo itself runs only Friday and Saturday.
- Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal 2026 runs September 25 to 27 at Huntington Beach Pier, overlapping Olympia on all three days.
- Olympia crowns champions across twelve divisions, not just the open class.
- Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal brings more than 2,500 athletes across more than 30 divisions, with more than 100 brands in the expo.
- New for 2026: Battle of the Camps replaces the old United States against the world team format.
- REIGN is at both: a 40 by 40 booth (booth 1413) at the Olympia expo in Las Vegas with Hafthor Bjornsson both days, and a 60 by 40 activation on the pier in Huntington Beach with five REIGN athletes competing.
FAQ Section
What is Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal?
The West Coast edition of the Wodapalooza fitness festival, held at Huntington Beach Pier in California. It runs three days with more than 2,500 athletes across more than 30 divisions, and it anchors a wider SoCal Fitness Festival weekend.
When and where is Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal 2026?
September 25 to 27, 2026 at Huntington Beach Pier in Huntington Beach, California.
What is Mr. Olympia?
The world championship of professional bodybuilding and physique, held annually since 1965 as part of Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness and Performance Weekend.
When and where is Mr. Olympia 2026?
September 24 to 27, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The World Fitness Expo takes place at the Las Vegas Convention Center, while Mr. Olympia prejudging is held Friday evening at Orleans Arena, where the finals are also held. The overall weekend runs September 24 to 27, but the World Fitness Expo itself runs only Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26.
Are Mr. Olympia and Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal on the same weekend?
Yes. Olympia runs September 24 to 27 and Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal runs September 25 to 27, so the two overlap on all three of the SoCal days. The venues are about 270 miles apart.
Which REIGN athletes are attending, and where?
At Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal in Huntington Beach, five REIGN athletes are competing: Danielle Brandon, Dallin Pepper, Jayson Hopper, Anikha Greer, and Alexis Raptis. At Mr. Olympia in Las Vegas, Hafthor Bjornsson appears at the REIGN booth both days of the expo.
How can fans attend?
Olympia expo and finals tickets are available at mrolympia.com, with expo general admission starting at $50 for a single day. Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal offers free general admission to the festival footprint, with spectator passes available for purchase for access to all three days of competition.
How can fans watch if they can't attend?
Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal streams on FloElite across all three days. Fans can stream the official Olympia prejudging and finals through OlympiaProductions.com.
What should fans expect from REIGN at the events?
Sampling of all core flavors plus the newest flavor, Watermelon Sour Gummy, athlete meet-and-greets, a keg carry challenge in Huntington Beach, photo opportunities, and chances to win branded merch on site at both events.
What are the biggest storylines entering the weekend?
For Olympia, the shortened qualifying window created by the September date and how it shows up in conditioning through the middle of each division. For Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal, the new Battle of the Camps team format and how a cumulative beach leaderboard tends to rearrange itself on day three.
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