Okay, here we go! After a year of hard work and planning, the IDEA staff descended on the San Diego Convention Center earlier this week to get things set up for a fitness and wellness extravaganza of international proportions. We are expecting more than 5,000 delegates, assistants, faculty, staff and Fitness and Wellness Expo guests over the next 5 days to help us celebrate IDEA's 25th anniversary…no small feat to pull off with just 30 or so regular staff!

Fourth of July Primer

I arrived onsite early this morning with presenter Nicki Anderson. She came into town July 3 and we were able to spend a couple of days together pre-convention to relax and have a few laughs. To celebrate the 4th of July yesterday, we got up early and joined a group of friends and co-worker Jonathan Withers to run the annual Coronado 5K and 15K. Today I discovered that there were also a group of IDEA assistants from Salt Lake City who had the same idea. Way to Inspire the World to Fitness™ gang! Nicki turned in a fleet-footed time of 24 minutes plus in the 5K and I hobbled across the finish in the 15K at 1:27 plus. My knees are thrashed—and I will literally walk miles and miles by the time IDEA World is over (should have thought that one through more carefully!). Is there a kinesiologist or massage therapist in the house who can help me?

Afterward, we went to a 4th of July celebration and then came back to the Marriott—convention hotel HQ—to take advantage of the spacious pool and amazing San Diego weather. A few hours later as we were leaving, we ran into presenter Sherri McMillan, co-owner of Northwest Personal Training in Vancouver, who was at the pool with her two darling kids. Sherri was waaaaay pregnant last year at world, and her little guy is already 10 months old! She and husband Alex presented today as part of a day-long precon session called Critical Skills for Personal Training and Group Exercise Directors—Inspirational Leadership and Motivating Management.

Excellent Business Direction for Directors and Owners

What a great business-oriented line-up this proved to be! From 9 AM to 5:20 PM, delegates learned from a talented faculty about outrageous customer service (Nicki Anderson); secrets for successful staffing for program directors (Shannon [Griffiths] Fable); recruiting, training and keeping good trainers for PFT directors (Sherri McMillan); marketing group and PFT programs (Sherri); compensation, evaluation and standards for group ex directors (Linda Freeman); the true cost of a personal training session (Tony Tamules); and managing change and coaching adaptability (Amy Boone Thompson).

Nicki Anderson and Mary Brachter facilitated a wonderful "Meet ’n Munch" luncheon for these precon attendees. After a casual boxed lunch, everyone split into groups that were determined by colored dots Mary and Nicki had hidden beneath each lunch box. The purpose was to force people out of their comfort and peer zones and put them into a true networking situation. Delegates were led through various networking exercises, which made things very lively…there were a lot of laughs and the volume in the hall rose substantially as trainers and program directors shared their backgrounds and common areas of challenge. Several prizes were given away and many business cards were exchanged! I met Rena Sered, a fitness director from the Jerusalem Spa in Israel; Terry Howard from Merritt Athletic Clubs in Eldersburg, MD, who is experiencing the sensory overload we call IDEA World for the very first time (Terry, I want a full report when you get back! My advice: Pace yourself, woman!); and Danette Allen, owner of Action Personal Training in Salt Lake City. Danette brought out 10 of her staff for continuing education. They all volunteered as assistants this year—thank you for your help and enthusiasm!

Walking the Talk

Other great precon sessions I attended today included Fit4Mom, which was put on by Lisa Druxman, CEO of Strollerstrides® and her incredible crew of Moms: Farel Hruska, Hannah Sansone, Amy Boone Thompson and Jen Weck. These women totally walk their talk. Hannah had adorable 5-1/2 week old Gabriella there with her (in a Strollerstrides carriage, of course). And Jen Weck, who just delivered beautiful daughter Page just 10-plus weeks ago, was doing a movement portion of the program using the BOSU® Balance Trainer called "Mama Wants Her Abs Back," along with Hannah. Both women look (and told me they feel) awesome. Amy’s daughter Nia is 5 months old. They are a true testament of what exercise and common sense nutrition can do for the health of both mom and baby pre- and post-partum. There was a constant flow of excellent questions from the audience. The keen interest underscored for me the growing popularity of working with this special population. You really can’t underestimate the targeted knowledge you need to be successful with the pre- and postpartum client.

Next, I popped into Chuck Wolf’s 11 AM-5PM session called "Function Litmus Test and the Science of Tweakology." Chuck is one of our faculty who always reminds me why I love this industry so much. His passion for anatomy and kinesiology just oozes off him and onto everyone in the room. So many of us have gotten wrapped up in tossing around the word "functional," perhaps without really understanding what that means. Chuck’s course dug deep into the true characteristics of human motion and very clearly and elegantly addressed the criteria that make an activity or movement pattern fuctional. His teaching style is playful, friendly and inclusive—everyone gets picked on. You can’t hide from him! It was very neat to look around the room and see fitness professionals having those "Aha!" moments as he simplified triplanar movement. Some great quick tips from Chuck:

1. "Let the ‘beacon of light’ (your bellybutton) shine: Where the pelvis goes, the lower back follows."
2. Preload before you unload: Let gravity and eccentric loading occur first—it’s given to us for free.
3. Rotational before linear.
4. Ask 3 questions of your clients before you start working with them: WHAT caused the problem? WHY is it happening? HOW are we going to fix it?

Early in the day, I went into A World of Water—Water Intensified. Leading attendees through a full day of lecture and practical sessions in the pool were Bethany Diamond, Ken Baldwin (Aussie Ken, not Indiana Ken, for those of you who know both), Yoko Holcombe and Katherine McLarty. When I came in, Bethany was leading a discussion about how important stabilization in the water is for all clients, but especially for large bodied or obese participants. Mary Sanders, PhD, just happened to be in the audience and lent some additional expertise to the discussion. What a wealth of knowledge we have here! I hope delegates use this opportunity to network with presenters and ask tough questions, because they certainly are up to the task!

I’m heading down soon to check out the Expo—huge as ever this year. As is my custom, I will spend some time in the IDEA booth greeting old and new friends and catching up. Can’t wait to check out all the new gear and equipment! The numbers will be fried on my credit card by the time I leave there tonight!

Meeting some friends and colleagues for a healthy seafood dinner tonight in the Gaslamp Quarter and then will stop by the TRX party over at Dick’s Last Resort, a short walk from the restaurant. Then it’s a quick stroll across the street back to the Marriott and sweet dreams until morning, when the 25th Anniversary Celebration begins. Tune in tomorrow for more play-by-play action!