For those who know about the fitness world

[El Alano]

I had a very interesting convo with the mayoress of my village the other evening and she's basically given me the go-ahead to crack on with setting up a fitness convention here to give tourism the shot in the arm it desperately needs. Now I'm not completely clueless when it comes to this stuff as I trained to become a PT back in 2000, read a few strength and conditioning blogs and mix up my own training with everything from rope-climbing to sandbag stuff, kettlebells, barbells, gymnastic rings etc, however, my knowledge tends to be on the more extreme end of things (Ross Enamait-inspired stuff, basic powerlifting work etc) and although this will be somewhat relevant for what I'm about to set up, I obviously need to find out about some tamer stuff for beginners, women and lazy folks



What sort of stuff is popular these days where you are? Zumba, TRX, boot camps, MMA-inspired workouts, Tough Mudder???!!!



Also, anybody involved in this sort of thing themselves? Any advice would be welcome. My initial idea is simply to set up various competitions throughout the weekend (all short duration as I don't want to be controlling marathon distance events and they're not exactly crowd pleasing anyway), lots of classes to show this part of Spain that looking after yourself can be fun and doesn't have to be restricted to running and going to the gym (although nowt wrong with that) and some demonstrations by gymnasts, martial artists and stuff like that.



What would you do if tasked with something like this?



Cheers all

 

[crazedACD]

I'm not exactly a fitness guru :lol-sign: but yeah..zumba, 'fun' marathons like with obstacles, mud, zombie chasing, those extreme home exercise videos are popular (P90x and so on).

I help set up events for pets at the store I work at (we have an Equine Day, a halloween contest for dogs, etc). My advice would be to start calling companies with reps in your area and ask them if they'd like to come and set up a booth, demos, samples of stuff, etc. Win/win, the reps get business and you get a larger event. You could probably get people with vitamin supplements, exercise equipment, exercise clothes, have a martial arts company come out, and so forth.

 

[Mach1girl]

Zumba is fun (so I hear) alot of women and beginners are attracted to it. Yoga is my preference. There are beginner classes as well. I am a fan of weight training, and I would THINK that for beginners and such, weight training using resistance is attractive and produces great results. And always include something that has to do with health and beauty. Some excellent ides you can follow thru with suggested in Self magazine.

Nowadays, vegetarianism is more popular then ever, maybe literature and such offering suggestions to Meat Free Mondays and so forth. Just ideas, hope this helped (=

 

[ruffiangirl]

Personally I hate Zumba, it's boring and not a workout, BUT, I have a friend who is a Zumba trainer, she specializes in Zumbatomic and is waiting for training to do Zumba Gold, and many people do like it, lol, people with rhythm who can dance I suspect lmao.

Oh ya training for Zumba, there is a huge convention in Orlando every year where you get your training in the different types, and new songs. There is a fee, I think $30 monthly, to keep your certification as well. They do offer training all over the place as well, just the Orlando one is where they break out the new stuff http://convention.zumba.com/ .

 

[thehoundgirl]

That is so NOT true that it's boring or not a work out, ruffiangirl. Maybe you just don't like it... I find it awesome and my instructor is awesome. She is not teaching for awhile though since she had a major accident a week ago and healing. I don't find it boring at all. It's not for everyone, but I love it.

There's a few instructors in my town, not that they aren't awesome.. but my instructor is so, so awesome!! I have been doing it for a year and a few months and love it. The two out of three instructors are awesome that are covering for her until she is 100% better. If I didn't love zumba, well I wouldn't be going. I have loved it from the day I started going to my instructor's class.

Even though I couldn't do it right for awhile she never gave up on me and I am glad for that. Plus we do some awesome events. I'm going to miss her for not teaching for awhile but atleast I get to see her as she heals more.

ETA: You don't have to be an experienced dancer or know how to dance to join a zumba class. God knows I am not that coordinated but still can do it.

 

[ruffiangirl]

Thus why I started out by saying PERSONALLY?

 

[thehoundgirl]

Well everyone has their likes and dislikes.

 

[Zhucca]

I hate Zumba too. It is super popular though. I don't find I get a good workout from it, and I'm not that fit so any movement should get me sweating and sore. I find it pretty boring too, lol.

TRX training is really popular as well. Especially good for those who are reluctant to pick up a set of dumbbells - they can use their body weight for strength training. There's something called 'ViPr' that involves kettlebells, trx and some weird tube thingy.

I really like weight lifting, I think once I'm done cutting down I might set my sights on powerlifting. It's pretty much all I do at the gym. Lift weights, then 15 min on the treadmill.

 

[thehoundgirl]

You would get a good work out in my instructor's class! I don't find it boring and neither do the other students that go to her class. She pushes us to the max and is super encouraging. And it's FUN!

And I was not fit when I joined her class at all. I felt like a fish out of water. But now I am fit and don't! Everyone has to start somewhere. But I am not going to make you like it. If you don't like it. It's fine. Not trying to argue it's just something I love and am passionate about. I don't see weight lifting as fun btw or running on a treadmill. Zumba is more fun to me. Everyone has their preferences.

 

[Beanie]

I obviously need to find out about some tamer stuff for beginners, women and lazy folks

...

What would you do if tasked with something like this?

I would not immediately alienate half of my potential audience by suggesting something "tamer" is needed for women.

But that's just me.

 

[MandyPug]

I would not immediately alienate half of my potential audience by suggesting something "tamer" is needed for women.

But that's just me.

^^^ that

 

[sparks19]

I would look into beachbodyand finding a local coach. That is p90x, insanity, turbo fire, and so many other programs. Find a local coach and they will probably be willing to put on a fit club at the event.

 

[Oko]

I would not immediately alienate half of my potential audience by suggesting something "tamer" is needed for women.

But that's just me.

Glad I'm not the only one who cringed.

 

[Samantha's pet]

Let's see, I know running and 5k's are super popular. Me and just about every girl I know is getting into weight lifting so that's definitely more popular than ever, Zumba is still big (I hate it) and I would definitely include yoga. It's popular and I feel like it's a necessary ingredient in any workout routine.

 

[Samantha's pet]

I would not immediately alienate half of my potential audience by suggesting something "tamer" is needed for women.

But that's just me.

Yeah, that was BS.

 

[El Alano]

Thanks for ideas everyone...and I did put a cheeky winking icon to show I was joking about the tamer stuff for certain sections of the population

I know that the sort of training I do personally...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43pIkeA_ZZg

...is, generally speaking, not what the majority of people want, hence me trying to generate as many ideas as posible with this thread as to what should be put on during the weekend. This more extreme training is probably only of interest to less than 5% of the training world, so my idea is simply to show-case as many sports and activities as possible, even getting the Spanish Olympic Federation involved to show the population that fitness isn't limited to jogging and going to the gym. Ballet to bikejoring, Strongman beer-keg loading competitions to Zumba, everything that gets people moving (and well-being stuff like meditation and stress management, too) is what I'm interested in getting out there to folks, with an emphasis on having fun.

Again, sorry for any offence caused. My hope is to be as all-inclusive as possible so that everybody can get involved and learn that health is available to all