Hundreds of fitness experts and enthusiasts gathered and shared their knowledge at the 13th annual Connexion Fitness Conference in Ottawa on March 29.
Connexion is hosted annually by the National Capital Region YMCA-YWCA, specifically the YMCA’s Fitness Education Centre.
The event took place at the Ottawa Convention Centre for the first time and at Centretown’s Taggart Family Y, which hosted the aquatic component of the conference.
One of the current trends in physical training is making the most out of resources like time and space — and water. Prefaced by a lecture, instructor Jennie Queen then led attendants into the Y’s pool to discuss how efficient movements in a pool can create the best training results and get the most out of the pool space.
The conference provided an opportunity for certified fitness instructors to share ideas about the most recent developments in the fitness community, such as the “Power Pump”, which consists of conditioning exercises that combine upper body, core and lower body moves together.
Instructors also were able to earn education credits by attending the workshops and lectures.
“We need to continue our education credits so we need to do hours of skill upgrading to maintain our personal trainer certificates,” said Darren Webb, a certified instructor from New Hamburg, Ont.
He said that the classes and activities at Connexion were highly physical and challenging even for fitness professionals.
“They take us through some workouts — some high-intensity workouts — so it’s tough,” said Webb.
Webb is one of the 350 participants who participated in the conference this year. However, according to Tosha Rhodenizer, the YMCA vice-president, the conference is about more than simply learning.
“What’s interesting about this conference is that it’s not just about the education, it’s about the connections with each other,” said Rhodenizer. “Some of these people haven’t seen each other since last year”.
The strength of these renewed connections and the sense of community were noticeable at the conference. This sense of connection facilitates the exchange of ideas among instructors.
Cross-training, yoga, pilates — there’s an instructor and different approaches for every trend.
“I look at it that we’re all instructors and we all have different things and it just happens that I’m giving them some information that I’ve learned over the years,” said Diana Destounis, the group fitness coordinator at YMCA Centre in Westmount, Que.
Destounis believes in using your own weight and balance to work out. Her class focuses on the use of Bosu balls, inflated, convex rubber hemispheres topped with a plastic, rigid platform — ’bosu’ is short for both sides up, so a person can use both sides of the equipment.
“We’re all on the same level . . . instructors come in and share their approach and I’m just doing the same, just sharing my vision,” said Destounis.
Jane Fitzpatrick, coordinator at the Fitness Education Centre of the YMCA, said the conference “takes a year to plan.
“I’m not kidding. Last year we finished the conference and started planning on the same day,” she said, adding “because of the calibre of the presenters, I have to book them one year in advance.”
This year the conference was headlined by Shelly McDonald, a television personality known for her Caribbean Workout series on the Travel + Escape Channel. The Caribbean Workout revolves around kickboxing.
Ajamu Bernard, famous for his Kettlebell workouts and a former NCAA basketball athlete, also made an appearance. A kettlebell is a rounded cast-iron ball weight with a single handle used to combine cardiovascular exercise with muscle training by swinging the kettlebell in different directions.
Just like in music, or in fashion, trends change rapidly in the fitness world. According to Fitzpatrick, cross-training is huge right now. Cross-training refers to combining exercises of different sports or disciplines to get more out of your work out.
The trend this year, as Fitzpatrick puts it, is to “get a bigger bang for the buck.”