I’m not even sure how to begin this blog post… it’s a long one so settle in and grab some tea. Last week was a thrill of cross-country travel, intense workouts, blends, laughs and knowledge. Last week I travelled to LA to attend the 2016 Ideaworld and sweatpink blogfest. Last year was my first year attending this conference, you can read that recap here.
These ladies (sans my other awesome roommate Ashley) Erin, Jess and Susie were our group for most of the event. I love these ladies blogs so check them out. I flew in Wednesday and quickly met up with Jess and Ashley.
The ESPY’s were having an event in our hotel right across from the Staples center and it was the first time I wished that I knew what athletes looked like without helmets on. Alas I knew no one.
Thursday morning kicked off #blogfest an abundance of knowledge and information about blogging, brands and photo tips. I needed about 3 more hours of the photo tips but 1 hour was the limit.
We ate well and I enjoyed a ton of “new to me” foods.
These Good Culture cottage cheese eats are amazing. I will be on the hunt for them around me, because they are that good, and something new for breakfast. They have a kalamata olive flavor that I might have stalked their booth specifically to get samples. SO GOOD!
Thursday night we did a BIG dinner with lots of ladies, including but not limited to Megan, Kellen, Natalie, Kelsey, Kelli, and Ashley!
The next day began the workouts!
First up a Propel Water workout with Gunnar Peterson, the whole workout was various stations using exercise bands. My hips and booty were hurting. Mostly my hips… it is shocking to me how weak they have become without regular yoga classes. Gunnar was great!
I snuck out of blogfest for a minute to take in a class I’ve wanted to FOREVER. I love kickboxing and I’ve always enjoyed the high energy workouts that Anja Garcia puts out on her own channel and through the daily burn. So when I saw a session for MMA WAR I knew it was right up my ally.
And dear GOD this class DID NOT STOP. Just when I thought I might die, we started another round. Cuts, Blocks, Kicks, Knees, Frog Planks, Burpees it was an amazing class. I was a freakin’ sweaty mess after this class, but knew my folks would LOVE this type of workout. I’m excited to start incorporating elements and maybe picking up the full series. MMA WAR…it hurts soo good.
After my session I took a trip through the expo center and had some fun with lots of new to me equipment, because why would I want the workouts to stop?
{With Coach Debbie}
{ I love when I’m feeling super tall and stand weirdly to feel more on the level with people..LOL!}
After a super early bedtime, we woke up Saturday Morning to do it ALL again. At Ideaworld I tried to schedule myself sessions that I wanted to gain something from, rather than like last year where I went in a little blind.
My first session was a group cueing class and it was just the kick in the pants I’ve needed as an instructor. I’m not teaching as much as I once was and often feel slightly disconnected from the community because of it. This class was a tremendous help to my technique and cueing. It was a lecture only and offered my tired muscles a slight recovery.
But as soon as that session was over I was right back into the workout fun. My next session was TRX for Yoga. It was my second time doing this program since I had snuck in a 30 minute demo at their booth in the expo center. I love TRX and was interested in seeing how they were incorporating yoga.
TRX for Yoga is NO Joke and the rest of my #ideaworld 2016 recap
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I left this class feeling humbled yet strong. TRX does that to you…it totally messes with your muscle memory and leaves you in buckets but then you leave feeling like HELL YEAH, I did that! The headstand part seemed like a no-way for me, but the straps really do enhance the whole experience. I learned a lot in this session and left with some new moves to try out in my own practice.
After TRX, I grabbed a quick bite and headed to our Beachbody Sampler Pack…It was a fun class but I had to bow out early, I’m not a dancer and while Cize and Country Heat are probably both great workouts they just aren’t my cup of tea.
Although my legs were a little spent up next was my Keiser Class Profile Class. I truly do miss teaching indoor cycling, it’s the only class that I’ve found makes my heat long for it when I don’t do it for a while. And while I thought I might be able to slack off a little in this session, I was in for a RUDE awakening.
They gave us those handy-dandy bracelets when we walked in…for what…oh ya know so our stats would show on the screen for everyone to see. My brain wasn’t going to let me give up if other people were watching so this was an hour long battle ride. I really enjoyed it though, it was a profile building class about how to plan ride profiles based on music and terms. I always get a ton of information from these sessions. And it gave me back my desire to teach cycling again, or at the very least get to some classes. And who doesn’t love a good 80’s ROCK ride to pump themselves up?!
After almost 4 hours of working out that day alone my body was pretty spent. My last session was with Natalie Jill, and I so wanted to complete her workout but when we went down for a plank to push up and I couldn’t get up off the floor, I knew that I was done. I was crazy sore but thrilled to be at an event that always leaves me wanting more.
We ran into the Anna Renderer from Pop Sugar Fitness. I’ve been watching her videos for years, so it was an honor to meet her in person. And she’s actually taller than I thought she would be.
We met THE Siggi from Siggi’s Organic Yogurt. And learned that he got his start at a food development program at SUNY Morrisville!
The Keynote speaker for Blogfest was Jenna Wolfe and if you want to be inspired by someone she is a pretty amazing woman. Her story was funny and sad and a true underdog story. And her workouts are INSANE and usually body weight based, perfect for busy moms!
And then there was Tony Horton:
One SUPER special moment for me was meeting Melissa Hartwig who along with her husband wrote the book “It Starts with Food” which begins Whole30. I will have a full post on this part of the event alone because it deserves more attention than a quick over view but this was a HUGE moment for me. In my weight loss journey #whole30 has been such a game changer for me, and this was a great reminder for me of how far I’ve come in this journey.
Workouts, Blends and Knowledge my recap of #ideaworld & #blogfest 2016
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Question of the Day: Have you ever attended a fitness conference? What’s your favorite workout? WHo would you have wanted to meet?
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