A a trainer and fitness enthusiast, there is nothing like being surrounded by people just like you! People who appreciate the value of living a healthy lifestyle and work everyday to help other realize this same thing. Attending the canfitpro Vancouver Conference this year was truly a great experience. I learned a lot, but most importantly I was reminded of how much I love what I do and could not wait to get back to work!
I attended many sessions at canfitpro this year, but I am going to tell you all about my three favourites:
Keynote: Creating Your Purpose and Legacy – How to Live a Life Worth Telling a Story About!
by Todd Durkin
All I can say here is WOW! His second book is titled “The WOW Book,” and let’s just say it is definitely the right title if it is anything like his keynote. There we are, sitting in a room filled with about 300-400 (maybe more?) fitness enthusiasts, and he comes in with music blaring, screaming, and the room immediately went from quiet to amped up! He proceeded to tell his story of overcoming all the adversity he has overcome in his life to get to where he is now as both a trainer, gym owner, best selling author, and TV star! He shared stories and clips from the reality show called “Strong” that he was a trainer on, and at one point he had me (and I’m sure others in the room) shedding a tear. I already had a very strong passion for what I do, but I swear I walked out of that room ready to go even harder, help change more lives, and truly reach for the stars. This is the second time I have heard Todd speak and I was just as inspired the second time as I was the first. If you are a fitness professional and you have never heard of Todd Durkin, just check out his social media channels or grab one of his books to be inspired to a whole new level.
Later in the day, Todd put on a workout to end off a day full of sitting. I couldn’t wait to get my body moving! What a fun time and a great way to end a long day of learning! Todd brings the energy and managed to get a room full of trainers (that seemed drained after a long day of sitting) hyped up and sweating. I thought I was high energy when I train clients, but Todd makes me seem like a shy little lamb! Lol. Let me just add–his music selection was on point (extra credit for that!).
App Update for Your Fitness Business (Sponsored by Trainerize)
by Amanda Vogel
It’s 2017. So if you are not incorporating apps into your fitness business, you are missing out on a lot of ways to make your life easier and business more successful! Amanda put on a great seminar talking about all different kinds of apps to help both your clients succeed in their fitness and/or weight loss journey, but also to help your business flourish. She touched base on the top apps for fitness tracking apps (including wrist trackers), photo and video editing apps for social media, apps for building playlists for group classes, food tracking, interval training, apps to help assess clients (it’s called Coach’s Eye–check it out!), and of course, apps for training your clients online. Amanda did a great job of covering all the bases and also asking for feedback from the audience, as we all have our own apps that we get used to using for certain functions. I left there with a whole list of new apps to try and am loving the new suggestions already (Except for Trainerize, which I already use. I can’t imagine not using Trainerize in my business!).
Fitness Writing: Blogs, Websites, and Magazines
by Amanda Vogel
I also attended Amanda’s session on fitness writing for websites and magazines which was also very informative. I learned a lot about how to create more “share-worthy” content for my website, in order to expand my reach and, market my services to a larger audience. She also gave many tips and pointers on how to start making money for blogging and writing, which will not only help build your brand and potential client audience, but could also help build your online training business. The more people you can reach, the more potential clients you might have sign up for your online training!
As a fitness professional, it’s always good to go to conferences like this not only to learn, but to meet and be inspired by others in the industry. My focus for 2017 is to continue to grow my online training business, continue to blog and write for more websites and magazines, and just grow more as a trainer and brand. I feel like this conference was just what I needed to head into 2017 ready to dominate!