The IDEA World Fitness Convention first came on my radar after I became a personal trainer and group exercise instructor. I’ve heard so many fantastic things about the conference from those in the fitness industry and was told by numerous people that the conference invigorates your passion for fitness and is incredibly energizing and exciting.
It is all those things and more. I absolutely loved my brief time at the conference and am already crossing my fingers that I’ll be able to attend again next year.
The IDEA World Fitness Convention is unlike any conference I’ve attended in the past. (The energy level actually reminded me a lot of Jazzercise Tropic Heat!) The sessions expose attendees to new workouts, tips for working with personal training clients, workshops geared to ward helping attendees improve their skills as a group exercise instructor and more. It’s perfect for anyone who works in the fitness industry. Day one was awesome and I’m bummed I cannot attend the conference in its entirety. There is so much to see and do!
IDEA World Fitness Convention: Day One
The first session I attended at 7 a.m. was a dance fusion class presented by Reebok.
The class felt much more like step aerobics with a little dance flare and I had a very hard time catching on. The instructor was so peppy and enthusiastic that I wanted to do well but I am not a dancer and find choreography really hard to pick up, so the class took me way out of my element. I was definitely the girl in the back of the class stepping up and down while other people did turns and kicks over and on top of the step. A few people seemed to be in the same boat which made me feel a little better and it was fun to take the class with two of my best blogging friends, Monica and Gina.
Equipment-Less Boot Camp
After the first session, I walked into my first workshop of the day: Equipment-Less Boot Camp.
In this session, Abby Apple spent the first hour discussing ways to modify and progress various exercises for different clients or small groups. It was really interesting and a great refresher after all of my NASM studying.
Some of her tips for increasing intensity without equipment include:
- Change the range of motion
- Change the plane of motion (sagittal ,frontal, transverse)
- Change the speed of the movement (depending on the exercise, speeding it up or decreasing the speed can increase the challenge)
- Decrease the duration of recovery
- Alter body position (longer levers)
- Change the reps, sets and frequency
She emphasized the way trainers and instructors can quickly change the intensity of an exercise and respond to the energy and ability level of the class. Once the informational part of her workshop concluded, it was time for attendees to try a equipment-less boot camp workout of our own! Abby took us through six rounds of cardio and strength exercises that had me seriously sweaty! It was a great workout with tons and tons of lunges and squats.
Here’s an example of one of the six circuits:
- Triceps dip with kick (right)
- Bouncing lunges (right)
- Forearm plank to hand plank (right)
- Shuffles
- Triceps dip with kick (left)
- Bouncing lunges (left)
- Forearm plank to hand plank (left)
- Shuffles
At the end of the workout, Kristin, the blogger behind Stuft Mama, and Megan, a super fun woman who works for Reebok, and I had fun chatting while we wiped the sweat from our eyes!
Tip: If you ever attend IDEA in the future, pack an extra shirt to change into in between sessions. I wore the same blue Reebok tank for all of the workouts and dubbed it my “sweaty tank.” I changed into a white, breezy Reebok tank that I packed when I walked around the expo or participated in workshops that didn’t include a workout. I was so glad I did this because I didn’t have to walk around in a wet, sweaty tank once my body stopped sweating I started to get chilly inside the conference.
Keynote Speaker and the Expo
The boot camp workshop concluded a little after 10 a.m. and I headed over to the Marriott hotel to watch Bo Eason, the keynote speaker. Before Bo presented, the Jack Lalanne fitness award was presented to Beto Perez, the founder of Zumba! Though Beto couldn’t be there, Jack Lalanne’s wife, Elaine, was there to talk about his accomplishments and she was such a fun lady! She did pushups and was full of spunk!
As for Bo Eason’s keynote speech, all I can say is that it was fantastic. He shared his story with everyone and I am pretty sure everyone couldn’t take their eyes off him. He was so animated and excitable. Definitely check him out if you have a minute!
Following the keynote speech, I grabbed a quick lunch with Monica and Gina before it was time to hit up the expo.
The expo was overwhelming in the best possible way. There were so many different fitness and food vendors and I had a great time exploring.
I also spent quite a bit of time at the Reebok booth!
Reebok invited me to attend the conference and sponsored my trip to Los Angeles and I am so grateful to the company for their generosity. It was so great to see some of my favorite Reebok buddies again and meet some of you guys who stopped by to say hi!
(Shelley and me)
(Johnice and me)
(Monica, Shannon and Kristin)
Throughout the conference Reebok is offering 25 percent off all of their apparel to anyone who attends the expo and they also have top-notch trainers and dancers taking people through super-fast workouts, so their booth was slammed the entire day!
Even though I am not a dancer, I am kind of in love with their dance apparel. How fun is that top!?
As I explored the expo with Monica and Gina, we stumbled upon Cassey’s booth!
I’m sure a bunch of you guys recognize Cassey! She is the YouTube superstar behind Blogilates and now sells apparel and her own fitness DVD.
Cassey told the three of us to pick out a Blogilates top and I snagged the bright orange crop top you see in the picture above. I think it will be cute over a long solid-color workout tank and thought the heart cut-out in the back was too cute.
Les Mills GRIT
The next session I attended was the one I was looking forward to the most during my day at IDEA.
I am a huge fan of Les Mills’ BodyPump and loved Les Mills’ BodyCombat when I had the chance to take it once at the gym by my parents’ place, so I jumped at the chance to experience the company’s newest workout program, GRIT.
Oh my gosh it was so sweaty and SO FUN. Talk about high intensity!
The workout gave me a ton of ideas for teaching at my gym, but I really want to do some research and see if it’s a class we can bring to my gym and offer to members. I think it would be a hit!
We did an intense, fast-paced workout that centered around four exercises:
- High knees
- Plyo push ups
- Sprints
- Squat jumps
I was sweating like crazy by the end of the workout and my heart was beating so fast. The music was motivating, the instructors were enthusiastic and I thought the entire experience was awesome. I am definitely a new fan of GRIT!
Super sweaty!
My day at IDEA was unforgettable and so much fun. I learned a lot that I am excited to take back to my gym and apply to my personal training and group exercises classes. It definitely lived up to the hype!
Now it’s time for Michaela and Kyle’s wedding weekend to begin! After a 3:50 a.m. wake up call, I caught an early flight to Denver this morning. Now I’m at the airport where I will be meeting Ryan, my friend Carrie and her boyfriend Aaron. The four of us are renting a car and driving to Winter Park, Colorado to kick off the wedding fun.
I can’t wait!
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love all your workout apparel!
FANTASTIC recap!!! I feel like I was there–so much to learn!
Sounds like an educational yet fun conference! Reebok has a lot of awesome workout gear, I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for sharing!
WOW, great recap!!! That looks like an unbelievably awesome conference!! I’m still so amazed at how cute Reebok has become!! I feel like they feel off my radar for years, but they really have great stuff!
SO jealous…makes me even more excited and motivated to pass my NASM exam in September so I can start training clients and do all sorts of fun fitness things! p.s. thanks to you I got a discount on all my materials/exam fee!
WOW! You are one busy lady this week! Sounds like a ton of fun though. That IDEA convention sound amazing!
You are busy! And ah I love Cassey and Blogilates so much! Question..where are your capris from? I can’t find a good pair of workout capris I like!
I am literally so excited to have my knee back to 100% eventually so I can start doing some of the higher intensity work out moves. I am getting so board with not being able to run, jump, or do anything “bouncy”.
Sounds like an awesome time. I would love trying out all different workouts. Enjoy the wedding!
Looks like a fun day! I’m really curious to try GRIT – I used to love to take BodyAttack classes at the last gym I attended that offered them. And the Reebok stuff is cute! I’m not a big dancer either, but I’d be all over their dancer apparel.
The Equipment-Less Bootcamp and GRIT look right up your alley. The tips for increasing and decreasing intensity look super helpful for training clients with different needs. Looks so fun!
I’ve been really craving a good bootcamp lately…great recap!
That conference looks amazing! Have fun at the wedding!
This was a great recap! It looks like SO much fun! I think it’s great that you had a chance to try out different workouts! The Reebok clothes are super cute! I love the “who made the rules” tank!
OMG, this looks like such an awesome conference! I totally would’ve been with you during the Step session… I’m not a dancer/coordinated, despite many years of ballet as a kid. Anyways, I wish I was also friends with the Reebok folks. 😉
This is my kind of conference! Dang that looks amazing! I so want to go one year 🙂
Coaching GRIT has been a fantastic experience for me, and I know you’d rock it. It is just like getting BodyPUMP to a gym–it has to be licensed through Les Mills, so just talk to your manager about adding that program. Because it is HIIT & small group training, the gym will probably have to do a small fee for the class–that’s how my gym does it. p.s. that pic with the GRIT trainers?? 1 of ’em was my trainer (Josef). Small world!
And I love the short bullet points of how to increase intensity of an exercise–great recap!
Have fun in CO with the wedding! <3
Welcome to my beautiful state Colorado! I hope you guys enjoy your time here 🙂
Thank you for posting all the info! I recently passed my NASM exam (thanks to your helpful hints) and have been hired at a Y where I will be teaching equipmentless:) I plan to use your pointers.
Hope you have an amazing and safe weekend!
looks like so much fun! have a great time at the wedding!!
Welcome to Colorado! 🙂
Your workout clothes are so cute! I love the bright colors 🙂 I’ve always wanted to check out IDEA. It seems like such an inspirational experience! That’s so cool that you got to chill with Cassey Ho! I love her workouts. They’re definitely killer! Have fun at the wedding!
When I went to the RnR Expo I was SO overwhelmed by everything to look at! I guess I’m not very good in those type of situations 🙂
Ooh, on your way to Winter Park, you’ll drive through the tiniest town of Empire – you MUST stop at the ORIGINAL Hard Rock Cafe – and the ice cream/candy shop for a shake! But don’t blink – you’ll miss both places!
I really really love Reebok’s clothing! they have really come a long way in what they have! I am jealous – it looks like you all are having a GREAT time!
I want your life. I love stalking it (in the least creepy way possible) haha but seriously what an amazing experience! The orange crop top is sooo cute. I have my eye on a tank from Lulu that color. Have a great time at the wedding!
This sounds like so much fun!
Great recap!! All these conferences you attend sound so awesome. Yay for fitness! 🙂
GRIT sounds a bit like Insanity…simple exercises that leave you gasping for breath and dripping in sweat! Looks like such an awesome conference!!!
LOVE that orange top! good choice 🙂
Julie, this has absolutely nothing to do with this post, however, I know we share an equally huge love for our dog children, and thought you might get a few laughs out of this 🙂 Warning, it’s not the most classy cartoon ever, but definitly funny if you love dogs!
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/dog_how_see
Looks like SUCH a fun conference. If I get my personal training certification, it’s definitely something I would consider. Very cool that Reebok sent you there 🙂 I’m a huge fan of Les Mills myself (just did a post on BodyCombat) and would love to try out their new class. Hopefully it will make its way to my gym!
SO much fun!! Looks like a great conference. I’m jealous you and Gina got to hang again. Have a blast in CO! 🙂
Thanks for sharing! Reading posts like this get me so pumped! I am definitely a fitness geek.. So glad you had fun and enjoy the wedding!
I also love Reebok, they do a plus size line of workout gear for Lane Byrant. It is awesome to have proper workout materials and great shapes for my size right now and in the future. Thanks Reebok.
What a fabulous day. I am not a dancer either and can never seem to get those classes, but good for you for trying!
What an amazing experience!! Looks like you had a blast
Sounds like you had such a fun time which is great 🙂
How fun! Sounds like you had a good time. I’m a CO native and WP is a wonderful little town, so I know you will have a blast at the wedding! If you have the chance, there is a place called Tony’s right in town and even though it is famous for delicious Italian food, they have the absolute best falafel ever! Seriously, best ever. Just my two cents.
Colorado has so much to offer and it is absolutely beautiful in the summertime. And if you have the time go check out Denver! And while you’re in Winter Park try out the hiking trails they have, just make sure to bring some bug spray! Enjoy your trip here 🙂
You and Cassey are my favorite fitness and healthy living bloggers!
BTW: You should get her “Peanut Butter Lover” top!
GRIT looks awesome. As a LesMills/BodyPump lover myself, I’ve really been wanting to try it!
Hey! I recognize Jeremiah from your GRIT pic (sitting next to you)! He used to teach at my gym (Adrenaline Group Xercise) in Atlanta. I actually took GRIT plyo from him last summer when they were testing it out at the gym. Very cool! Isn’t he a great instructor?? Looks like an amazing conference!
Welcome to Colorado!
The convention looks like a blast! It was definitely something I considered attending, but felt I might be out of place since I don’t quite have my foot in the fitness industry door quite yet. Soon though, I’m sure! 🙂
You’re a busy lady! Have fun at the wedding!
What a blast! That conference looks amazing! Definitely on my wish list for one day. Thanks for sharing, posts like this always get me fired up to try new workouts and get out of a vanilla routine. 🙂
This looks absolutely amazing! I love that so many different types of fitness were represented. When I attended something similar on a smaller scale for Les Mills programs I also did not get the memo to bring an extra tank top…my tank so sooo sweaty by the end. It was still a great experience, though! I will forever pack extra clothes with me to things like this in the future 🙂
I work at Gold’s gym so we have all the Les Mills classes and GRIT is coming to our gym really soon. They are really hyping it up! The entire staff had to take one of the classes and boy did it kick my butt! We took the plyometrics one. I’m interested to see how the strength and cardio ones are! I wasn’t looking forward to taking the class (I’m not much of a group exercise person) but I actually really enjoyed it! Once it comes to our gym I may add it into my routine!
What a cool conference! Looks like a lot of fun but also really informative! Have fun at the wedding!
Ack!!! My blog worlds are colliding!! I love Monica from http://www.runeatrepeat.com. So dang funny. Glad you two know each other.