Midwest Fit Fest report: Yeah I did that!!!

       WOW!! JUST...WOW! What a weekend! My first fitness conference and it was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. I got there first and was just overwhelmed by the Ohio State staff. They were organized, gracious and helpful in every way. And Oh My the facility!! Wow. It was a huge gym. 4 floors: 2 big gyms downstairs with all the toys--stability balls, weights, gliders, dumbbells, medicine balls, mats and other goodies and even a stage area where the instructor could stand so everyone could see them equally. Upstairs a little more there were  tons of cardio machines, squat racks, weight machines, benches  for presses. Climb another flight and there were more individual studios for things like yoga, pilates and Indo-Row. One more flight and it was a wonderful track!


  
       I even found a new machine I would love to suggest to my gym which was a smith machine that could not only move vertically but also back and forth so as to make things like rows possible with heavier weights. I had to test it out. I was able to do a moving bicep curl which was really cool!  I thought of so many possibilities for that machine.

     
     



          We checked into the hotel and I went to bed early because I had lots of workouts the next day and good thing I did! I woke up at 5:30 am to hit a 7am boot camp.  What a way to start the day! Sprints, weight lifting, pushups, core. It worked me top to bottom.

 After that came a class called CSI--no not Crime Scene Investigation--but Cardio Strength Intervals. Basically the premise behind this is to keep the body guessing between high intensity bouts interspersed with total rest. It created confusion in the body that makes it stronger. It is kind of like flexing any muscle. You have to create a tension/relaxation or concentric/eccentric action.

        Then I went to the welcome meeting where they were giving out FREE!! Victoria's Secret stuff..I got a VS sports bra, socks, bag. Wow. Gotta love free stuff!I also got to see how many universities were represented and that was exciting! I met lots of great fitness people.
     
          After that I had an Indo-Row class which is rowing but it is a new class format and the Indo-rowers are very special. They use water pressure to power the workout and keep the participants engaged. There is a console which tells how much water pressure and you keep track of that reading as you do your workout. It reminded me of the consoles they have in spinning where you keep track of your cadence except here they are recording how much pressure you put on the water in the spinner with your strokes.
     Lunch and then off to Total Body Conditioning where I learned about a new body of science in the fitness business that is researching the way the body learns and perfects sports-related skills as it relates to the focus of attention. So Dr. Wulf, who did this study, found that when one was learning a new motor skill if you focused the attention outwardly as to what you were trying to accomplish instead of inward focus of attention (paying attention to where your feet are, what your biceps are doing, how your quads are feeling) actually ends up being "neural noise" which can disrupt the pathways to natural movement. According to Dr. Wulf if you want someone to do a task have them focus on what is going on outside instead of how they are doing on the inside. Interesting and I think it could have good results. I will certainly try it.
   We also did lots of stuff like holding a forearm plank with the right arm while doing a pushup with the left arm at the same time. Brutal but effective. 
     The last two classes of the day were metabolic conditioning which uses the body's three metabolic systems in one workout: short bursts of activity to activate the phosphagen system; bit less intensity for a bit longer period for the anaerobic system and then some aerobic activity to stimulate the oxidative system.

LAST CLASS was TRX. Where, by that time, my body was tapped out. I managed to do what I could and I LOVE the TRX but my upper body after a whole day of weight lifting, pushups, burpees, etc..just went..um. NO. We're done.

That night had a nice night out with my colleagues, and had my typical glass of Guinness to celebrate the day.


This morning a class about HIIT--High Intensity Interval Training and then a lecture on working with special populations. Amazing time! and I am so happy to have had the chance to go. I love learning and being able to pass that on to people. AND.....this showed me I am in better shape than I thought I was. I kept up with a bunch of 20 somethings, or younger, for an entire intense weekend and matched them pretty much play by play. Had to do low impact options for my knee but otherwise felt great! YAY for fitness, health and longevity!