{Top 10} from IDEA 2014

This year’s IDEA World Fitness Convention might have been the best fitness conferences I have ever attended EVER (minus Refresh Summit, of course).

In case you don’t know what the Idea Convention is, it’s a conference for fitness instructors to take fitness classes and listen to incredible lectures for 4 solid days! You can try everything from zumba, body pump and spin and/or get certified. This year it was in Anaheim, California. Practically in my backyard!

I came home feeling more pumped to chase my dreams and step out of my comfort zone, more than EVER!

It was 4 fun-filled, packed days and instead of giving you the break down minute-by-minute, I thought I would break it down to the Top 10 things I took away.

#1 // I LOVE SPIN AND I WILL GET CERTIFIED!

I mean, I knew I loved spin before I even went to the convention. I took two completely different spin classes on Saturday that rocked my world.

The first one was on a spin bike that actually MOVED with you! Talk about full body workout. You had to really use your core and move with the bike. I am not sure any of these gyms exist anywhere near me, but man was I sore! I also took a Schwinn GIRL POWER spin class. That was my favorite class of the whole weekend by far.

The lead trainers gave us tips about what we should say when we are training ladies and even how our hormonal cycles really play a huge part on our performance. After their chat, they led the best spin class I have ever taken in my life! They played all kinds of fun WOMEN songs and at the end, they had everyone in tears. It was powerful. I can’t wait to go get my certification!

#2 // I WANT TO BLOG MORE ABOUT WORKOUTS AND RECIPES

I absolutely love blogging and I know all of you amazing dedicated readers could care less what I blog about as long as I am just being me and I don’t plan on changing that. However, I am really passionate about giving you all workout ideas and clean eating recipes, so I need to make sure I keep that up.

The first part of IDEA was BLOGFEST, which was a two day conference for bloggers to attend and I attended some of the workshops and really enjoyed them. Every time I get surrounded by fellow bloggers, I get so inspired and motivated to continue to do what I love! I also love hanging out with BLENDS (blogger friends), they just get you!

#3 // TODD DURKIN IS AMAZING!

(Cassie and Todd)

I was so honored to have the opportunity to not only go to Todd Durkin’s Bootcamp workshop, but thanks to Propel, I got the opportunity to sit and chat with him for almost two hours after his bootcamp.

His bootcamp was amazing! We did some body weight stuff with a DJ playing some pretty amazing beats and then we broke up to pairs and groups to do some really fun circuits that I can’t wait to try in some of my classes. My favorite one, was when he had us shadow each other. One person was the leader and the other had to follow everything they were doing for 30 seconds and then switch. It’s a lot harder than it sounds!

I didn’t know too much about Todd’s story until about a week before the event. I started asking him questions about where he has come from and was really intrigued by his answers!

Todd started as a teacher, just like me, then decided to open up a gym in San Diego called Fitness Quest 10. He started penniless and in two months, his gym started to take off! He happened to be in the right place at the right time when he was asked to train some professional NFL players and from there his business just took off!

Todd is a man of great faith and being able to hear his story truly inspired me to stop being fearful of things that I know God is calling me to step out and do! I couldn’t have been paired up with a better trainer to interview. He isn’t a professional motivational speaker for no reason! He even invited me to come out to his gym and try a class… OH YES!

#4 // BOOT-CAMP IS FUN

I took a few boot-camp classes, the XTC-Extreme Training Camp led by JG, was so fun! I made sure to take lots of notes so that I can add a few of the moves to my classes.

He broke us up into nine groups and there were a total of nine stations. We were at each station for one minute with 30 second break to get to the next station. We did the entire circuit about 2.5 times and I burned over 350 calories! There was everything from PLYO PUSHUPS to Plank Pass Throughs.

#5 // OPENING CEREMONY

The opening ceremony was so inspiring. They gave awards to the Fitness Instructor of the Year, Personal Trainer of the Year and so much more. This year’s winner of the Jack LaLanne Fitness award was Diana Nyad,the amazing women swimmer who at the age of 62 years old swam 103 miles from Cuba to Florida.

Her speech was phenomenal! She had all of us sitting with our ears glued to every word she said! I was so encouraged to never give up on my dreams, I am not too young! She has a documentary and now I must see it!

#6 // THERE ARE FITNESS BRANDS THAT JUST GET IT 

I found some of the cutest little pieces at the IDEA EXPO! Here are two of my favorites. These cute bracelets from Momentum Jewlery that have some awesome life motto’s and you can have your own personalized.

How cute are these Fivesse bags? They are gym bags that are not only fashionable, but super functional! One of these will be on my Christmas wish list for sure!

#7 // BEST EXPO EVER!

I wish I could have taken more photos at the EXPO, but I was too busy meeting all kinds of amazing fitness folks! The expo had all the latest and greatest fitness classes, equipment, fuel and so much more!

I love going to these things because I get to see faces ‘behind the brands.’ It always intrigues me to hear where they all started and what their mission is.

#8 // PIYO WAS MADE FOR ME! 

I have so been wanted to try PIYO for quite some time now and I had the amazing opportunity to not only take a class, but take a class with the DIVA Chalene Johnson!!!

She is the creator of PiYo and just like the name say’s it’s a mix of pilates and yoga. It was created for runners, cyclists, and all athletes that don’t get in their stretching! HELLO ME! I hope that they have a class at my gym soon!

#9 // MIXERS ARE MY ‘THANG’

We had a happy hour on the first night that we arrived at BLOGFEST and it was a lot of fun!

Subway provided some sandwiches and refreshments were provided as well. I wasn’t so much into the food as I was into mingling it up with JARED from Subway and all my BLENDS!

It was so great seeing a lot of the bloggers that I met at Fitbloggin’ two years ago! Casey, Monica, Heather, Katie, Courtney, Julie, and Gina are such a fun group of ladies! I was not as good at taking pictures this time around (Gazelle, I wish we would have got a pic!) as I was at past conferences because I was too busy catching up and enjoying the moment 🙂

#10 // I GOT TO MEET JILLIAN MICHAEL’S! 

I think I have done just about everyone of Jillian Michael’s videos and I was so excited that she was the keynote speaker at BLOGFEST!

She addressed some issues she came across as a trainer on The Biggest Loser and gave us amazing tips about how to be good trainer! I loved her passion behind all that she does and she is the queen of being REAL! I mean, we had an earthquake in the middle of the session and she was about to throw herself under a table, it was the best!!!

I loved this quote from her, “To excel in your business, you have to have flexibility, have an open mind and think about the possibilities that could follow, good or bad!”

I also loved that she said, “Be OK with FAILING!” 

What an amazing four days! I was so blessed to be able to experience! I can’t wait to apply all that I learned!!!

Question: Have you ever heard of the IDEA World Fitness Convention?