Hello from the air on my flight back from Portland to D.C.! I’ve had such a wonderful weekend on the west coast but, as always, it will be nice to get home. 🙂
I’ll be back soon to share some of our fun non-conference related adventures in Portland, but for now, I want to share some highlights from the conference workouts and sessions!
As you’d probably expect from a fitness conference, one of the big highlights was the workouts. There were a ton! Lots of fun variety, too. First up, bright and early on Friday morning at 6 a.m. was an outdoor boot camp!
You guys know I love this sort of thing so I jumped on the opportunity to get outside and enjoy the pretty west coast weather before being inside the rest of the day. I figured even though it was 6 a.m. it was really 9 a.m. for me with the time change, so that helped get me out of bed. 🙂
The workout ended up being really fun – we had a HUGE group did a mixture of all sorts of typical boot camp moves. The session was hosted by a trainer named Erin who is actually pregnant – and she still kicked our booties! She was great – really high energy and fun.
Here I am with my friend Bobbi post-workout!
I was wearing some of my favorite Reebok gear – a cute new printed tank top that they sent me earlier this month (it’s not on the website just yet), plus my favorite PWR Fitted Capris.
As for shoes, I was rocking my trusty RealFlex Fusion TR’s – affectionately nicknamed my “tiger shoes.” I love these – I wear them to almost every CrossFit class at home, especially if there is any running or jumping involved in the WOD. They are so lightweight and springy!
Next up on the docket for workouts (after breakfast!) was a Cardio Dance class, hosted by Reebok and led by a woman named Patricia Moreno (with me below). You guys know I’m not a dance workout person at all – I generally feel really uncoordinated and awkward if choreography is involved in workouts – but I have to say, I LOVED this class.
Not only did Patricia do a great job making the dancing fun (and easy to follow – it was almost more of a kickboxing/dance fusion), but she was also really inspiring. During part of the class, she had us repeating a powerful mantra related to the movements we were making.
“You are powerful beyond measure. You are stronger than you seem. You are braver than you think. You are blessed with all you need. You are enough. You have enough. You are programmed for victory. Your persistence pays off. All negative thoughts stop right now. I am done complaining. I am now celebrating. I am inspired to be the best that I can be. And I now believe that I will succeed.”
It was pretty amazing to hear everyone come together to say such motivational words while we were all kicking, punching, and dancing! Props to Reebok for finding such an amazing instructor – and thank you to Patricia for the great class!
Last on the workout docket for Friday was a Zumba class! I have never tried Zumba before and I have to be honest – I usually run the other way when I hear it, but our friend Gina helped teach it and we wanted to support her, so Zumba it was! And guess what? It was actually really fun. 🙂 A good reminder to stay open to trying new things that might be outside your comfort zone! I made it 40 fun minutes before I decided it was time to sit down and relax for awhile. I was tired after such an active morning!
The other conference highlight from Friday was attending a session on how to pick the perfect shoe from Reebok.
What’s the difference between a running shoe and a cross training shoe, you ask? Running shoes are build to run in one direction, while cross training shoes are made to move in multiple directions, so side to side movement is comfortable and supported. Cross trainers also have less cushion and are more stable.
Reebok just came out with a brand new version of their popular CrossFit shoe, the CrossFit Nano 2.0s, and everyone at the conference received a pair in their swag bag. I’m excited to try them out later this week! They have very little cushioning, a firm midsole, and a flat platform, so they are stable and good for weight lifting related activities. They also have a wider forefoot for stability (because that means your toes can spread easily), breathable mesh, and they even have extra durable material on the sides so that you can climb a rope in them and not destroy the shoes!
Moving on to Saturday, the first workout I attended was a post-breakfast JumpSport Fitness Trampoline workout! Sounds fun, right?! It was!
I attended one of these workout classes at a conference a couple years ago and it was a blast, so I signed up right away when I saw they would be there. Anything involving trampolines is always a win in my book! The class was actually pretty hard, too – a sort of boot camp combined with trampoline fun. I loved it! The instructor, Jeff, was hilarious.
Next up was one I was especially excited for – a CrossFit workout from Reebok! Here I am with my fellow Reebok ladies Julie, Gina, Tina, and Heather, plus Reebok CrossFit ONE coach Matt DellaValle, who led the session.
I rocked my fun PWR Print Leggings and PWR Seamless Long Bra Top for the occasion. 🙂 Everyone was lovin’ on the pants!
As for the workout itself, Matt shared information about CrossFit, worked with everyone on form, and then led us all in a 4 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of the following:
- 5 push ups
- 7 sit ups
- 9 squats
I know 4 minutes doesn’t sound like much, but we were all breathing really heavy by the time we were done! As Matt said, the great thing about CrossFit is how scale-able it is – everyone in the room got a good sweat on, regardless of fitness level, because they were able to modify the speedy and intensity to fit their needs. This is so true in real CrossFit classes too – I had a 60ish year old woman as my partner the other night in a class and she simply modified the moves so that she could do them, too! It was awesome.
A big thank you again to Reebok for sponsoring me for Fitbloggin’ this year! It was an honor to be there on their behalf. In addition to all the fun workouts, I attended a number of other great blogging education related sessions while at Fitbloggin’ as well. If you’re interested in reading recaps of any of the sessions that took place, check out the Fitbloggin’ website. There are detailed recap posts going up for each session!
And now – to share the Reebok love with you!
One lucky fANNEtastic food reader will win a $100 Reebok gift card to use as they wish! To enter to win, simply leave a comment letting me know what you’d buy from their online store if you won.
Want additional optional entries?
“Like” fANNEtastic food on Facebook and follow on Twitter, then come leave another comment saying you did so.Tweet the following and then come back and leave a comment stating you did so: “I want to win a $100 @Reebok gift card from @fANNEtasticfood ! http://bit.ly/15WHW9I #livewithfire #fitfluential
I’ll randomly select and notify the winner on Wednesday. Good luck! U.S. and Canada residents only, please.
Contest now closed. Thank you for entering!
Stay tuned – more west coast adventures to come! 🙂
