NYC Fitness Mania 2017

     Each February, I attend a fitness convention sponsored by SCW, the organization in which I'm certified for Personal Training. Besides getting the pre-requisite CEC's to keep my education current; the main benefit is to see the current trends in the industry, try different workouts, listen to experts, and interact with others in the field. It was held in New York this year.
    This year, my classes included Bodyweight Training (perfect for outdoor workouts in a park!); Strength Training for Longevity & Vitality; and suspension rope training (think - modified gymnastic rings).
     The keynote speaker was Petra Kolber, a fitness columnist, corporate consultant, and former "Instructor of they Year' from Can Fit Pro and ECA.
      Ms. Kolber is a cancer survivor, and the main gist of her talk was to make exercise fun - both for the professionals she was talking to, and their clients. She said the focus of fitness training should be about making people feel good about themselves, no matter their pants or dress size. "See clients and students for where they are right now, and not what you want them to be" the author of the Happiness Challenge said. Hmm, not bad advice, for fitness training and life in general.
     Fitness is about feeling vital and alive, and is part of your "happiness toolbox," she aptly points out. Ms. Kolber, a British expatriate, feels that people have drawn into themselves by hiding behind their electronic devices, and not interacting with the outside world. Society has become more mean-spirited and negative. The gym is a place of interaction, and it should be positive. If people dread exercise, they will not continue with it on their own. The challenge for fitness professionals is to make people like working out as much as they do!
     She stated some sobering statistics. 85% of thoughts are negative. Adolescents spend 71/2 hours a day in front of a screen of some kind. Young children smile 400 times a day - the average adult? 20. "Depression is a worldwide epidemic," Ms. Kolber said. "Loneliness has the same effect on the body as smoking 15 cigarettes a day."
     Still in tremendous shape, Ms. Kolber feels the affect of middle-age, and doesn't approach her own exercise the same way. "Move to be more vital and energetic," she urges. "Enjoy life!"