If you don't know what World Fitness Expo is, its the new name for the annual CANFITPRO conference in Toronto. Apparently the biggest fitness conference in North America.
If you are a long time reader, than you know I've been attending it for about 20 years. Not because I want to, but because I basically have to. It provides me with the necessary continuing education credits to maintain my fitness and personal training professional certifications. I attended the conference on Saturday, August 11th.
The reasons I hate it aren't because there is anything so terrible about the conference itself. I just hate being in big crowds of people I don't know. I also hate going way downtown in the heart of tourists and traffic. I hate spending a whole day in sweaty workout clothes and the discomfort and fatigue that comes from exercising, than a break, than exercising, etc. as you go from one seminar to another and spend the waste of time in between spending money you shouldn't at the trade show. Probably the worst part of all is that inevitably at least one session will involve having to be in a group or with a partner (i.e. getting real cozy with strangers...sometimes even having to involve touching). Ugh, the introvert in me HATES THIS!
Though I didn't enjoy it this year, as expected, in some ways it wasn't as bad as I anticipated (though in others it was disappointing).
My itinerary this year was:
1. Core Without Crunches - 2 personal trainers and a pelvic floor physiotherapist talking about pelvic floor health. I actually learned a lot in this session about diastasis (something I have from pregnancy as do many of my clients), and incontinence, prolapse, and exercises/treatments for all of it. I plan to get a referral to the physio so I can see if she can help me with my diastasis. One of their key messages was that any woman who has ever had a baby is postpartum, and it is never too late to improve things!
2. Grit Strength - I have NO idea how I ended up registered for this session. Its one of these Les Mills prechoreographed classes that I despise, don't teach and never plan to. Did I make a mistake, or how did this happen? Anyways, it was interesting since I'd never been to one of these sessions before to see what they are like. What they are like is going to a freakin' night club. Very dark with strobe lights, loud music, and instructors 'performing'. It requires a barbell like Body Pump and has lots of the expected overhead presses and squats, interspersed with mountain climbers, etc. Its supposed to be HIIT I guess.
3. Step KUSHH! - This is a new product from The STEP Company, but really why I took this session is it was led by Gin Miller!! FYI, she is the brilliant woman who invented the original STEP, and she invented this product too. She generously allowed me to take her photo:
The KUSHH! is a platform similar to the original, but with a soft top. This makes it ideal to use as a weight bench but also makes it an unstable surface to stand on. Doing cardio on it requires more stability and a lot more energy (i.e. calories!). The specially designed risers allow you to set it on an angle and it will remain stable for stepping/standing/laying on (unlike the original STEP).
Gin Miller is 62, but looks about 20 years younger, and is incredibly fit and fiesty. I love her and felt so fortunate to finally be able to take a session with her! I desperately wanted to take a KUSHH! home as they were selling them off at a discount, but I was taking the subway home and it is just too big and heavy and awkward to lug on public transportation.
4. Beyond Boot Camp with Mindy Mylrea - Mindy is always a great and absolutely hilarious presenter. The only thing I didn't like was all the team/partner stuff. Ugh!
5. My last session of the day was an Essentrics class. I do Essentrics every day in lieu of static stretching following my workouts, so I thought it would be perfect to finish the day with it since I knew I would be stiff otherwise. Though I had been more than ready to leave at 2:30pm (having started the first session at 7:30am), I pushed myself to stay to the end even though this session didn't begin until 5:15pm. It was a good move because I think I would have been super sore on Sunday otherwise.
What was most disappointing was the trade show. There seemed to be many fewer vendors than in past years and prices sucked. I guess the upside is, I bought nothing except a bottle of detergent that is guaranteed to get smells out of workout clothes. The only other thing I wanted to buy on the spot was this massage chair:
Too bad they cost $16,000 😂😂. If I had one of these at home, I would seriously use it every day...possibly all day! My 3 minutes in it were the best 3 minutes of the whole conference!!
The most exciting news I got was that a company has finally come out with a home/retail version of electro-myo-stimulation method (EMS) training! I have tried the commercial systems from EMS and X-Body and fantasized about getting one for our home gym, but since they cost upwards of $20,000, its always just been a fantasy. At the trade show this year, there was another company, Vision Body, advertising their products. I inquired as to whether they had a retail version for home use, and they said it had just been created and they are about to launch it. Believe you me, I will be trying to get my hands one one!!
So overall I guess this year's conference was worth the pain. I got to meet Gin Miller, try her new cool STEP out, and discover that there is an EMS system I may be able to get my hands on 💪.
If you are a long time reader, than you know I've been attending it for about 20 years. Not because I want to, but because I basically have to. It provides me with the necessary continuing education credits to maintain my fitness and personal training professional certifications. I attended the conference on Saturday, August 11th.
The reasons I hate it aren't because there is anything so terrible about the conference itself. I just hate being in big crowds of people I don't know. I also hate going way downtown in the heart of tourists and traffic. I hate spending a whole day in sweaty workout clothes and the discomfort and fatigue that comes from exercising, than a break, than exercising, etc. as you go from one seminar to another and spend the waste of time in between spending money you shouldn't at the trade show. Probably the worst part of all is that inevitably at least one session will involve having to be in a group or with a partner (i.e. getting real cozy with strangers...sometimes even having to involve touching). Ugh, the introvert in me HATES THIS!
Though I didn't enjoy it this year, as expected, in some ways it wasn't as bad as I anticipated (though in others it was disappointing).
My itinerary this year was:
1. Core Without Crunches - 2 personal trainers and a pelvic floor physiotherapist talking about pelvic floor health. I actually learned a lot in this session about diastasis (something I have from pregnancy as do many of my clients), and incontinence, prolapse, and exercises/treatments for all of it. I plan to get a referral to the physio so I can see if she can help me with my diastasis. One of their key messages was that any woman who has ever had a baby is postpartum, and it is never too late to improve things!
2. Grit Strength - I have NO idea how I ended up registered for this session. Its one of these Les Mills prechoreographed classes that I despise, don't teach and never plan to. Did I make a mistake, or how did this happen? Anyways, it was interesting since I'd never been to one of these sessions before to see what they are like. What they are like is going to a freakin' night club. Very dark with strobe lights, loud music, and instructors 'performing'. It requires a barbell like Body Pump and has lots of the expected overhead presses and squats, interspersed with mountain climbers, etc. Its supposed to be HIIT I guess.
3. Step KUSHH! - This is a new product from The STEP Company, but really why I took this session is it was led by Gin Miller!! FYI, she is the brilliant woman who invented the original STEP, and she invented this product too. She generously allowed me to take her photo:
The KUSHH! is a platform similar to the original, but with a soft top. This makes it ideal to use as a weight bench but also makes it an unstable surface to stand on. Doing cardio on it requires more stability and a lot more energy (i.e. calories!). The specially designed risers allow you to set it on an angle and it will remain stable for stepping/standing/laying on (unlike the original STEP).
Gin Miller is 62, but looks about 20 years younger, and is incredibly fit and fiesty. I love her and felt so fortunate to finally be able to take a session with her! I desperately wanted to take a KUSHH! home as they were selling them off at a discount, but I was taking the subway home and it is just too big and heavy and awkward to lug on public transportation.
4. Beyond Boot Camp with Mindy Mylrea - Mindy is always a great and absolutely hilarious presenter. The only thing I didn't like was all the team/partner stuff. Ugh!
5. My last session of the day was an Essentrics class. I do Essentrics every day in lieu of static stretching following my workouts, so I thought it would be perfect to finish the day with it since I knew I would be stiff otherwise. Though I had been more than ready to leave at 2:30pm (having started the first session at 7:30am), I pushed myself to stay to the end even though this session didn't begin until 5:15pm. It was a good move because I think I would have been super sore on Sunday otherwise.
What was most disappointing was the trade show. There seemed to be many fewer vendors than in past years and prices sucked. I guess the upside is, I bought nothing except a bottle of detergent that is guaranteed to get smells out of workout clothes. The only other thing I wanted to buy on the spot was this massage chair:
Too bad they cost $16,000 😂😂. If I had one of these at home, I would seriously use it every day...possibly all day! My 3 minutes in it were the best 3 minutes of the whole conference!!
The most exciting news I got was that a company has finally come out with a home/retail version of electro-myo-stimulation method (EMS) training! I have tried the commercial systems from EMS and X-Body and fantasized about getting one for our home gym, but since they cost upwards of $20,000, its always just been a fantasy. At the trade show this year, there was another company, Vision Body, advertising their products. I inquired as to whether they had a retail version for home use, and they said it had just been created and they are about to launch it. Believe you me, I will be trying to get my hands one one!!
So overall I guess this year's conference was worth the pain. I got to meet Gin Miller, try her new cool STEP out, and discover that there is an EMS system I may be able to get my hands on 💪.
Very interesting what you mention in this article!
ReplyDeleteTo encourage physical exercise or sports, the user's curiosity can be aroused by having tools or machines at their disposal that help the work that the muscles have to do, but with little effort or in a comfortable way.
Do you have information about the electrofitness equipment? Learn more about EMS: https://imotion-ems.com/es/
Very interesting what you mention in this article!
ReplyDeleteTo encourage physical exercise or sports, the user's curiosity can be aroused by having tools or machines at their disposal that help the work that the muscles have to do, but with little effort or in a comfortable way.
Do you have information about the electrofitness equipment? Learn more about EMS
Nice and wonderful piece of information on this site. I really enjoyed reading the article.
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