CanFitPro conference

This weekend, I was hanging with personal trainers, fitness instructors, big beefy weightlifters, lean stringy yogis, and other fitness and health people at the CanFitPro conference.  I joined CanFitPro this year as a general member (because sadly, they no longer have the MindBody Specialist certification) because a) Yoga Fit Canada gives awesome discounts on awesome trainings to CanFit members, and I'm hoping to take a couple of certifications with them, and b) I got a discount on the conference :D!

I'm currently still teaching only Moksha Yoga, which follows a set series of postures with only a bit of wiggle room for "creativity" in between, however I'm looking to branch out from the series and start teaching hatha yoga.  That means that I'd be in charge of figuring out my own series.  I'm also planning to teach a couple of workshops this fall, and needed to get a refresher course and a better understanding of some of the issues that commonly arise in certain populations, such as in diabetics, seniors, and hardcore athletes.  Enter the CanFitPro conference, where I've been taking an array of workshops and learned some fun things to add to my classes to enrich my students' experience that much more.

In addition to being an amazing conference, the CanFit conference also has a trade show open to the public. Fitness professionals and general people alike can experiment with new equipment and fitness styles, get demonstrations of fitness plans from highly experienced people, eat free samples of various protein bars/other goodies, and get lectures from industry leaders.  There were loads of presentations and demos going on for all kinds of activities, including Zumba classes, TRX and CrossFit challenges, and TONS of stuff available for sale, including apparel, equipment, supplements and nutrition products, books, DVDs, etc etc etc...  You can even get your photo taken with such cool people as:

Super cool Olympic triathlete Simon Whitfield!

The Last 10 Pounds Bootcamp and Bulging Brides trainer Tommy Europe!

And many more!  Trish Stratus was also around (former wrestler and current yoga studio owner), but I didn't have enough time to wait in line to see her.  I did get a sweet (free) Tshirt though :D

Long story short, the conference was fantastic, and if you are a fitness professional in Canada and haven't made it to a conference yet, I highly recommend it.  Or, if you're a regular person who is interested in fitness and health, and happen to be in the Toronto area in mid-August, check out the trade show for a great way to spend the afternoon and fill your head with awesomesauce.