Fitness Trends from CanFitPro Toronto

August 10, 2014January 14, 20154 Comments

CanFitPro is one of my favourite weekends in Toronto. Thousands of fitness professionals from around North American invade the Metro Toronto Convention Centre sweating, and laughing, and having a fatiguing good time all in the name of healthy, active living. An epic star studded line up including Jillian Michaels, Tosca Reno, and Hayley Wickenheiser helped kick of the rad weekend and keep the energy high all conference long.

The convention centre was buzzing, and the trade show was hopping – or Zumbaing. Here are my top 5 trends from this years CanFitPro.

1. Dance Fitness: Barre was huge this year. I’ve blogged previously about Barre workouts and moves you can do in the comfort of your own home, now many new (and American) brands are sharing their version of barre and making it more mainstream. Want to try it at home? Check out my post with the leaders in Toronto Barre, Barreworks, here.

Zumba continues to hold a significant place in the professional learning at CanFitPro. This year they offered a certification courses on their Zumba Step (think 90s step aerobics with a Zumba flair) so I’m sure those classes will be shaking their way into a studio near you soon.

2. Technology: Metrics matter and most manufacturers of fitness equipment have figured that out. The hottest metric is the new Schwinn MPower Echelon Console which takes your traditional indoor cycling bike to the next level by allowing the users to monitor calories, distance, revolutions per minute, and watts. Watts is a significant metric as it allows the user to monitor their intensity through the technology by putting numbers to their perceived levels of exertion.

Apps also continue to be popular with many free apps becoming available through big name brands such as Nike, Strava, and Schwinn, as well as other independent apps including Tabata Timers which allow the user to complete intervals (see trend 5) in an easier way.

3. Bright Colours and Bold Patterns: Fashion is always a key part of the CanFitPro expo with many big brands showcasing their gear. This year a common theme between big athletic brands like New Balance, Asics, Sketchers, and Zumba, as well as many small independent retailers was neon brights and funky bold patterns. Pants, tanks, tees, and shoes of every colour of the rainbow were available – A trend I personally love and hope continues. What am I loving now? Check out these Oakley Printed Strength Tights, available online for $90.

4. Functional Fitness: Strength training that uses your own body weight continues to lead the strength and conditioning field. This is great news for people wanting to get fit from home (or in the park) without needing lots of equipment to do so. I believe much of this comes from the added interest of obstacle races. These mass fitness events are challenging the “average Joe” to get after it and they are doing so on their own, at home, and these functional moves are giving them the results they need to rock their race (and live a healthy lifestyle), without a significant financial investment. Looking for moves you can try at home? Check out my Fit From Home Tab for ideas to get you moving and building strength in the comfort of your own home.

5. Interval Training: Whether you’re out on a run, in the pool, on a bike, or integrating strength training, intervals (including Tabata timing) is hot! Two styles of intervals were all over the conference this year and those included the ever famous Tabata, and the Copenhagen.

Tabata includes :20 seconds of hard breathless effort, followed by :10 seconds of easy recovery. This is completed for 8 rounds which takes a total of 4 minutes. In it’s authentic form it is so challenging (hard & breathless will do that to you) that it should only be completed once, so can be book ended by a 15 minute warm up and 15 minute cool down to give you a solid 30 minute sweat session.
Copenhagen includes :10 seconds of hard breathless effort, :20 seconds of hard effort, and :30 seconds of moderate effort repeated 5 times for a total of 5 minutes. This interval is followed by a two minute recovery and then repeated in it’s entirety for another 5 minutes. Add a 10-15 minute warm up and cool down and you’re set!

As above, these intervals can consist of either a single exercise, such as a run, or bike, or can be alternated with various activities including a Tabata of burpees and squats or a Copenhagen of burpees, jump squats, and regular squats.

Tune in to CHCH Morning Live Monday August 11th at 9:15 am to see the Copenhagen interval and hear me chat about my favourite fitness trends.

Have a funky interval set you love? Leave it in the comments!

Gear Review: Schwinn Indoor Cycling Class Tamer

March 24, 2014January 14, 2015Leave a comment

Developed by Schwinn’s world class trainers, the Class Tamer™ is everything you would expect from these leaders and more. Very simple to use it has many features that will turn your great class into a fantastic one.

The Details:

The Class Tamer™, available on ITunes for free, is an all encompassing music player for group exercise professionals. The Class Tamer™ is incredibly easy to use as you create and save ride playlists by accessing your songs, and playlists directly from your iTunes account. It allows you to add, in large and easy to read font, up to four scrollable notes to each song, creating a great paper free place for you to add and save your cues, music tags and beats per minute (BPM) to specific songs.

The Class Tamer™ also includes an easy-to-read song timer, displaying time elapsed, time remaining, and prompting for next song. What I love the most is that it has options to allow for cross-fading (blending songs together which eliminates dead space), as well as the ability to modify the tempo of songs during a ride with a quick slide of your finger.

You’ll also find a stopwatch that operates independently from the song timer and can be used while music is playing (perfect for intervals) and 10 creative sound effects to help add excitement to your classes (think the sound of a cracking whip to indicate the work phase of your HIIT training).

My Experience:

Syncing my first class using the Class Tamer™ was very simple, took no more time then usual and I loved being able to do it from the palm of my hand. I accessed the songs I already owned in ITunes and began planning right away. There are so many great features, but I’m most excited about the ability to add notes to songs (eliminating all my index cards of class profiles) and the ability to cross-fade from my IPhone (I hate dead space during a class playlist). As an indoor cycling coach who is frequently planning and creating new profiles, this will undoubtedly save me time and add some extra fun to my class.

A Concern:

The BPM which you see in my top left box here is blank because this is not provided by the app. Instead the BPM needs to be inputted from the metadata (Get Info) of the track you download – also, the actually BPM will change if you use the slider to change the tempo, while the inputted data will stay the same, so some thing to keep in mind.

My second downfall isn’t really to do with the app itself, but it does require your phone to be near your bike in order to access your notes, timer, sounds etc. As someone who tries to eliminate all trip-able items, having this extra wire is a slight concern as I like to coach from both on and off my bike. But also because at two of my current studios the music device is not located near the bike (I don’t like it this way, but it’s how the gym was built). So while this app will improve how indoor cycling instructors coach, you do need the infrastructure to help make it work.

Conclusion:

If you teach indoor cycling, boot camps, HIIT classes or any other group training – you need this app! Yup, it’s that simple.

Studio Review: Movemeant

January 9, 2013November 4, 2016Leave a comment

Last weekend (Saturday, Jan 5) I had the pleasure of attending two opening weekend classes at movemeant, Toronto’s newest Cycling, TRX, and Gravity studio. Opened by Queen st. w. lululemon alumni ambassador Matt Kenny, the studio blends the most current in boutique fitness trends with the lofty heritage building feel of Queen West (the studio is located at 777 Richmond Street West (Loft #2026); look for the giant metal doors).

Movemeant specializes in indoor cycling, TRX, Gravity, and ashtanga yoga, and all classes are lead by Matt. I had the pleasure of catching a 45min sweat inducing cycling class and sticking around for a glute shaking 30 minute TRX suspension training session.

For indoor cycling, Movemeant uses the Schwinn AC Sport bike which I can honestly say are the smoothest and quietest ride I’ve ever had. These bikes are top of the line as they use a magnetic disc for resistance which drops closer to the flywheel with ever turn of the tension dial without ever touching, this is what keeps the ride so smooth. At some quiet points in the class you could actually hear the purring of the wheels – it was awesome! Matt taught as his usual amazing self. He blends a fusion of yoga and self-reflection concepts with cycling motivation and excitement- he has a very strong following within the Toronto fitness community. His tough love style – “if you’re not adding on tension, you might as well be sitting on the couch” – motivates his followers and challenges you to turn up that dial and leave it on the floor! With a great selection of music, clear directions and safety cues, and challenging profiles, it’s no wonder these classes were sold out within days.

One interesting feature to the cycling class is that you need to bring your own set of headphones to plug directly into the bike. All music and the instructors microphone are played through your headphones which gives you full control of the volume. Many riders loved this idea. I found it slightly isolating, as I love to “wooo” when asked how I’m feeling. The headphones made it feel like I couldn’t (or shouldn’t) do that.

The true perk of the ride came afterwards when Matt passed out cold facecloths that had been soaked in eucalyptus and bergamot – a wonderful treat after a very sweaty ride

Later I attended a TRX class. I’m very familiar with the TRX program and enjoyed the challenge that Matt offered. In classes at other studios I often found that variety in skills was lacking and that the class was tailored to more general fitness levels. Matt was able to differentiate the class for all levels and with only 6 suspension straps each participant can get the attention (and challenge) they need.

The studio is small, but very stylish. They do not have “change rooms” but do offer change stalls (note: they do not have showers). They do offer plenty of storage space for your belonging during class (no lockers, but lots of racks and cubbies). For a small fee you can rent clip shoes for cycling as well as hand towels. Matt has done a great job of maximizing space, and creating a fun and welcoming atmosphere that is guaranteed to kick your butt!

Movemeant offers nearly 30 classes a week on evenings and weekend. With rates that are comparable to other local studios. With drop-in and multi-class packages, you’ll definitely be able to find something that meets your needs, so be sure to check them out!