WELL! I’m home from Dallas after a 3 day fitness conference and I’ve never felt shittier! Haha just kidding, but really. I’m sick for my first time in maybe 10 months? So I’m not really sure what to do with myself. I spent the first couple of days just watching RHONY and sleeping and eating Halo Top in bed. The next couple of days I spent eating all my vitamins plus more and started downing my recent blueberry protein shake obsession. Now I’m just saying F it and throwing back some DayQuil followed with some coffee so we’ll see how this blog turns out.

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But seriously, I had the best time in Dallas. This is actually my first year going to fitness conferences and I gotta say, if you’re a personal trainer and you’re really wanting to turn it into a LASTING career, continue educating yourself. The confidence I have in my training and the programs I create for my clients is on a different level after speaking with fitness professionals for 4 days straight. With that said – I wouldn’t have had a damn CLUE what anyone was talking about had I not taken the Show Up Fitness Internship last year. (If you’re in LA or SD and want to become more confident with training and nutrition, this is a must take internship. Classes start every 2 months, check out the next class, here).

Our panel of speakers over the weekend covered topics from healing your gut and improving your online training business via social media to improving your speed and creating longterm periodization for different body compositions.

I personally took away SO much from the weekend so I wanted to put it all in one spot so that you guys could have access to the same information that I thought was valuable. A lot of the tips I got were from one on one conversations with the doctors and coaches at dinners or happy hour AFTER the conference so you know they’re going to be good. Let’s get into it.

First of all,

WHAT IS VIVE?

VIVE is a personal training and small group training gym in Dallas, TX. Seriously if you live in Dallas and have not been to VIVE, please just do me a favor and go for me. Go today. Go NOW. It’s AMAZING. They measure everything you do so that you can track your progress and get the results you’re looking for. The Co Owner, Jon McDowell, is who I spent a majority of my time with as he is also a trainer at VIVE. He got my sprint form looking better in 2 days and showed me the 7 minute warm up that I am now using on all of my clients.

WHAT DO YOU DO AT A FITNESS CONFERENCE?

OK so if you ARE going to go to a conference, my first personal tip is to get a friend to go with you. Even if it’s your coach or another trainer at your gym, just get someone. I went to a conference earlier this year by myself and while I’m all about going to short events by myself, going to a 3 day conference on your own is TOUGH. You’re sitting in 4-5 60-90 minute talks a day in a beige conference room with little to no sunlight and sharp overhead lighting. It’s REAL easy to convince yourself to skip the next talk if you don’t have a buddy with you. Half the time I was itching in my seat and by the end of the weekend I was sitting on the floor in the back so that I could stretch. You gotta do what you gotta do right?

This conference was fun though because we would all meet up at VIVE in the am around 6:30am for a group workout where we had the chance to sweat and learn from the best, one on one. Then we would go to the conferences all day then we would do a group dinner afterwards where we could all let loose and get to know each other more. They were LONNNG days for my introverted social life but overall it was totally worth it!

10 RESOURCES, BOOKS, AND HEALTH TIPS I LEARNED FROM THIS FITNESS CONFERENCE:

1. POSTUROLOGY – This sounds like a TRIP. Have you guys ever heard of this? I was talking to one of the coaches about my scoliosis and this was his first recommendation. He said that a posturology is basically a method for analyzing how the body aligns itself in it’s surrounding environment. He said that one thing that they will look at is the mechanics of your eyes…this is where he started to get my attention. He said that if your eyes basically aren’t strong then one might be lazier than the other, which means that you’re always seeing things a little skewed. MEANING that your posture is always going to be a little skewed to align with where you’re looking! I was shhhhook with that because I’ve noticed that I can’t go cross eyed hahah. Like in pictures, I was only ever to control one eye to move inward and the other one was just lazy hahah. (Shit I do when I’m alone…). Anyway – other than that conversation I don’t know jack about this so if you’ve tried it please tell me about it in the comment box below!

2. HORSE CHESTNUT CREAM – This was brought up when I was sitting in the cocktail lounge minding my own business sipping on my whisky sour when someone asked me if I have varicose veins. Oddly enough I caught on to the idea that crossing my legs was probably causing my varicose veins when I was like 17 because the only places I have them are my left thigh and my right ankle. I always cross my right leg over my left but anyway – he somehow knew that Chestnut Cream is apparently one of the best ways to get rid or lighten varicose veins.

3. THE DUTCH TEST – I heard about this Dutch Test multiple times over the weekend. It sounds like a lot of coaches use it for their professional athletes and it was recommended that I use it if I’m wanting to do an adrenals check. I checked it out when I got home and it seems pretty interesting. It checks your stress levels, adrenals, and other hormones through a urine sample. Feel free to check it out here.

4. HEALTHY GUT, HEALTHY YOU – This was a highly recommended book throughout the weekend. It’s written by Dr. Michael Ruscio who is a Doctor, Clinical Researcher, and influential voice in functional and alternative medicine. I listened to a podcast with him and Dr. Bryan Walsh that was actually really good. It may even debunk the Dutch Test that everyone was so excited about.

5. CREATINE AND L-CARNITINE – These are two supplements that I used to take all the time then ran out and never re stocked buuuut I’m about to!! I was telling one of the coaches that I ALWAYS find that I am super sleepy around 2/3 in the afternoon. I usually have a coffee in the am and then I’d have another one around the afternoon. He suggested that I replace that second coffee with a serving of creatine and L-Carnitine. Creatine basically helps you preform better in the gym but it can also reduce dizziness (which I also always have), tiredness and fatigue. According to this article on HealthLine, L-carnitine’s main role in your body involves mitochondrial function and energy production (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/l-carnitine#what-it-is). I’m currently purchasing this Creatine and this l-Carnitine.

6. CASH FLOW QUADRANT – A book recommendation from 2 different business owners. Probably should pick it up.

7. BENEFIT OF REAAAL H.I.I.T. WORKOUTS – Pretty much no one that claims to be doing HIIT is actually doing HIIT. I was in a workout class the other day where the instructor told us to do an all out sprint for 1 minute. Like – that’s literally not even possible. Sure I can run fast for a minute but it’s not going to be my all out sprint which means I am just working at less than my full capacity for a longer amount of time. What would be MORE ideal and proper HIIT training would be to sprint at my all out capacity for 10 seconds then rest for 3-5 minutes and try to do it again. This kind of HIIT improves your VO2 max and the anaerobic energy systems and be effective in as little as 4 minutes. It also improves your overall work capacity, increases your fast twitch type II muscle fibers (which increases strength training). It’s important to focus on quality and not quantity here.

8. GROWING MUSCLE/IMPROVING OVERALL BODY FAT % – It’s recommended to workout before noon and to get in protein and fat at breakfast. Then have these supplement combos: PRE WORKOUT – 20g BCAA, 10g EAA. DURING WORKOUT – 20g BCAA, 10g EAA. POST WORKOUT – 30-40g of Protein, 20g of Glutamine, 5g of Glycine. Lunch – should have 40-60g of protein and about 50g of carbs.

9. HOW TO GET BETTER AT PULL UPS – If you are a trainer, how often are you having your girl clients do pull ups? I was having them do 3 sets of 4-6 honestly only like 2-4 times a month. That kind of volume isn’t going to get my clients closer to being able to actually do a pull up. A better technique is to have your clients do 1-3 pull ups in between sets on leg day. Also incorporate tempo and focus on the eccentric portion of the pull up. Another tip is to incorporate farmers carry’s on leg day so that the client can start to develop better grip strength. A lot of the time people can’t complete a set of pull ups is because their hands give out before their back does.

10. DESIGNS FOR HEALTH – This was the most highly referred to supplement company the entire weekend. It seemed like 70% of the coaches were happy with the products from this brand so definitely check them out. They also have a chocolate mint fiber bar that is soooo good.

Okkkk…I’ve officially done something while being sick. My eyes feel like they’re about to fall onto the keyboard and my heart feels like it just ran (must be the DayQuil / Coffee situation). I gotta go. I ope you guys enjoyed this blog – please reach out with any questions you might have!

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