IDEA World Fitness Convention

I know some of you have been dying to see how our sessions are being received. Well, I’m happy to report that people are having a great time with R-KAIDE! We’re getting upwards of 30 people per session and the feedback has been very positive.

Anyway, the much anticipated video of the class.
[Unfortunately, the room was a bit dark and the video doesn't last very long, but it'll give you a taste of what the class was like]

Enjoy!

In my second blogging session about marketing your fitness blog, I discussed 26 techniques (one for each letter of the alphabet from A to Z) on ways to increase SEO, build your online authority, enhance your community engagement, as well as, some other cost-effective ways to improve the blogging skills of fitness professionals.

Below is the description of the session:
With over 112 million blogs online, how can you ensure yours stands out from the other 111,999? Anyone can create a blog. It’s getting readers to read it that actually requires more work. Learn ways you can easily make your blog visually dynamic, highly interactive, and Google-friendly. Learn from the “Top 100 health and fitness blogs” and discuss why they are effective and successful. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you advance from being a basic blogger to becoming an online social media guru!

And here are the powerpoint slides:

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via Twitter @befitt or email befitwithbiray [at] gmail [dot] com.

Enjoy!

Saturday Morning I taught a session on “Blogging Basics” - a fundamental introduction to blogosphere. The session description reads as follows:

Ever been told to ‘start a blog’ but don’t know what to do with one? What is a blog, anyway? Blogs can create community among your members, improve client-trainer accountability, market various programming in your facility, and act as an additional revenue stream for your business. Sit back and learn the fundamentals of blogging and acquire the skills needed successfully enter the ‘blogosphere’. This lecture will turn the most technically-challenged individuals into computer-savvy bloggers!

I was happy to see a good number of attendees (about 45-50) come to this session. In general, IDEA members tend to be skewed to an older demographic - primarily Boomers and Gen Xers - so you never know what level of familiarity to expect when presenting a session on a technology-driven topic.

Below is a copy of my presentation. If you have any questions, feel free comment or email me directly at befitwithbiray [at] gmail [dot] com.

As I walked around the expo and I came across the booth for Sports Beans. (And secretly, I have a thing for the lemon-lime Sport Beans.) I decided to see if I can score some free samples - which I did.

Apparently, Sports Beans has re-launched their product because hey have added different ingredients. To tell me more about these changes, I asked the guy at their promo booth to explain in more detail.

Check it out:

I did ultimately eat the beans from sample pack and enjoyed them immensely. So, yes, I will continue to remain a fan.

It’s no secret that two of my friends from Arizona (@lcbyoung and @soul4real) are fans of Tony Horton’s P90X. So, as I hit the IDEA World Expo Hall on Thursday afternoon, guess who I bumped into in the flesh?

Tony Horton.

Now, the P90X program (I’ll be honest) didn’t quite resonate with me (and yes, I have tried it), but I thought I’d still get a picture of me and Tony together in the infamous ‘X’ pose and send it to my two soon-to-be-buffer-than-me gals as a virtual gift.

Enjoy, ladies!
(Now drop and give Tony 20!)

Many attendees and presenters have made references to and have been commenting on the TIME article from last week “Myths of Exercise” which claimed ‘exercise was ineffective for weight-loss’. I know it rubbed many people in the exercise industry the wrong way, including myself. And especially at this conference, fitness professionals have not been shy about vocalizing their opinions.

I had the opportunity to ask Jonathan Ross, an award-winning fitness expert (and nominated for IDEA’s Personal Training Instructor of the year for 2009) about his reflections on the article. Listen to what he had to say in the podcast below…

Award-winning Fitness Expert

To read his full response to TIME and his defense of exercise, go to his blog here. Jonathan’s blog post certainly reminds us (fitness professionals) that we should continue our efforts to motivate clients to exercise!

Thanks for your time, Jonathan!

The first of three R-KAIDE sessions went without a glitch this morning. I was entirely thrilled! After months of working on a new project, you never really know how participants will respond until you are ‘live’!!

We had about 30-35 enthusiastic attendees (who, bless their hearts, woke up early to play) who participated in the premiere launch of the first-EVER master class!! Although we don’t generally get the session evaluations until weeks after the conference, the general feedback was very positive. A lot of laughter and good time!

I’ll write more about the experiences a little bit later (check the R-KAIDE blog for updates). But for now, here’s a shot of what the room looked like before class. (Yes, we did turn the lights low for the ’show’).

So I show up to teach my first session (R-KAIDE), introduce myself to the assistants in the room and head on over to Jeremy (the A/V guy in charge of the session). As I’m getting ready to mic up for my presentation, I notice he has a few condoms (still in their package) next to the sound system.

Just as I’m processing this information (wondering if I should pretend to have seen it or not), he opens the package and slips the condom over the microphone pack. “The protective layer prevents the sweat from short circuiting the mic,” he reassures. I guess my facial expression must have warranted this explanation. “It’s very resistant.” He adds (at this point, to humor me.)

Anyway, I had to take a picture and share it with you (in case you didn’t believe me) cuz at 6:30 in the morning, I wasn’t sure I was believing it, either. LOL.

So, there you have it. I was, technically, wearing a condom during my session.

Woke up early this morning! Ate a banana and drank my coffee (yum!). I’m wearing my R-KAIDE t-shirt (on left). Wa-hoo! I am ready to get my game on with R-KAIDE, the master class based on the famous video game, Dance Dance Revolution.

R you ready for R-KAIDE?
[pics of the event to come...]

I arrived to the Marriott around 2pm in the afternoon (totally exhausted from driving, of course). But after settling in, I met up with Fred Hoffman for a technical run-through of our R-KAIDE master class. It looks like we are good to go for tomorrow morning’s workout session!

In case you were wondering - here is the sunset view from my hotel room. Okay, so it’s nothing to shout about (especially if you come from Arizona where sunsets are immaculate!). But do you know what *is* worth shouting about: the $20 per night parking fees (not cool, Marriott, boo)!