All I can say is WOW. I had the most amazing 3 days over the weekend at the Asia Fitness Convention 2009 in Bangkok. New concepts, doubts cleared, tonnes of tips and tricks learned, and countless new things to try both on myself, and ultimately my clients.
I have to admit, that as a Personal Trainer, I did not expect to learn this much. I did not expect to be ‘wow-ed’ with tonnes of great advice and brand new recommendations by the American Council on Exercise (ACE).
In the convention, ACE introduced their new Integrated Fitness Training(TM) Model, which is pretty much a ‘blueprint’ for the personal trainer to achieve success with his/her client.
So what does this mean to you, the client working with an ACE-certified trainer?
Some significant changes you can expect in the near future:
1. New assessments to gauge the client and identify appropriate exercise intensities
2. New logical and customised progressions for individuals (both cardio & resistance training)
3. Optimized training to your goals and needs
4. An overall better experience with your trainer (here’s a shocking statistic in the United States - 68% of clients do not return to work with their trainer on account of a negative experience! I am horrified to imagine what the stats are for us Malaysians working with a trainer)
I consider those who attended the convention to be very privileged - to be present at a time when ACE is currently changing the way they do a lot of things. They are acknowledging that things need to be changed as the obesity rates around the world isn’t getting any better.
Almost as if they were saying that ‘we were wrong’ - and this is how we do things from now on. These are interesting times, to be right there in the moment as these changes are being made.
Interestingly also, ACE touched on the incredible benefits of a few key supplements that have been proven to benefit the client, and provided guidelines on how we trainers may go about handling/discussing supplements with out clients. So you can also expect to see some upcoming blog posts that discuss supplements in great detail, which will allow you to make an informed decision before you buy. Stay tuned for that.
There were also many other seminars/workshops/workouts that were held throughout the convention - and these were what I attended:
1. Personal Coaching Model by ACE (Fabio Comana)
2. Kettlebell Training for Extreme Fitness (Steve Cotter)
3. Supplementation and Resistance Training (Fabio Comana)
4. Dynamic Sports Warm-up (Douglas Brooks) - I pulled out of this one because I was uncomfortable with all the lateral movements (I have a previous knee injury I’m still recovering from).
5. Progressive Cardiorespiratory Training (Peter McCall)
6. Functional Training for Deconditioned Clients (Fabio Comana)
7. Empowering Clients to make Lifestyle Change (Jessica Matthews)
8. One-on-one Partner Training (Peter Twist)
9. Fat Metabolism and Weight Loss (Fabio Comana)
10. Power Training Toolbox (Peter McCall)
11. Performance Balance (Fabio Comana)
To be honest, these were the topics that got my juices flowing. While most people were fascinated with the novelty of the TRX… well I wasn’t. I think it’s a great tool, but some suspension training and metabolic circuits are concepts I’m familiar with - so I wasn’t AS BLOWN AWAY as some people were at the intensity of the seemingly simple movements on the TRX, hence I spent my time on the other seminars.
My favourites at the Convention were the seminars/workshops by the American Council on Exercise, where I not only had the opportunity to sit just a few feet away from the presenters, but also spend time after the seminar with the presenters to further clarify, ask new questions, understand real-life scenario applications, and so on. I am still amazed at the initiative taken by the presenters to genuinely want to help us - even sometimes answering some of the dumbest questions with sincerity.
My favourite Presenter at the Convention
I am sure many who were there would agree without a doubt - is Fabio Comana MA; MS. He is an exercise physiologist and research scientist for ACE, presenting nationally and internationally, and featured repeatedly on TV, radio, the Internet, and in print publications - he also authored many of the ACE Manuals. He is truly an inspiration to those in the Fitness Industry. During the convention, he even found the time to workout at the Fitness First in his hotel.
The Most Impressive Athlete
Steve Cotter is a world renowned martial artist and strength and conditioning instructor, and he takes this title without competition! Appearance-wise, he has the type of physique that would command the attention from everyone in the room. And at the request of a delegate, he did a little trick for us that left most of our jaws wide-open - a Pistol Squat/Jump from the ground ONTO the stage. Here’s a video of him doing the same trick somewhere else.
To sum up, it was sad that only a handful of trainers in Malaysia were at the Convention - so if you are one of those working with a trainer who was there - you have no idea what’s in store for you, and how privileged you are.
Though it was sad for the convention to come to an end… I was looking forward to get back to KL - and to get my hands back on my clients, and on my own training as well. It’s going to be an exciting journey ahead!
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I am jealous! The programmes you attended definitely sounded interesting. And I agree with you on the TRX thingy. Out of curiosity I watched their vids on YouTube and I wasn’t too impressed because IMHO, I was thinking that the workouts could’ve also been done using just bodyweight. No equiments necessary. Dunno what others think, though.
p/s Steve Cotter’s a freak. He should be one of the X-Men.
Wish I was there. Can’t wait to get my hands on the ‘blueprint’!
Aizan: TRX is great - but yeah… I think any Turbulence Training fan wouldn’t be THAT impressed with it. Let’s go try it one day - I hear Fitness First is going to start TRX soon. (I heard only… could be wrong).
getfit: If only it was as simple as having a ‘blueprint’… but that’s just an easy way I used to explain it. It requires a trainer to understand the client and know what’s best before they can effectively ‘implement’ the ‘blueprint’.
I have a TRX Suspension training .. I do not understand they hype cuz it have been in the market for quite sometime already .. i’ve got this as a sample to tryout and try to sell and market it here but i’ve declined cuz firstly it’s too damn expensive and I would be making very little profit by selling it , not worth my time …
yes i would say a lot of the workout can be done bodyweight .. but lets compare gear to gear .. My Resistance Band (P90X ones) vs TRX Suspension system …i would say my resistance band can prove more workout than the TRX suspension … why ?
1) My resistance bands come with Strength (Light to heavy,) and with one BAND i can do Multiple workout without ever stopping, while TRX Suspension i have to stop, adjust and continue. If my bands gets too light, replace with a heavier band or once at the limit already just add on another strap of band to increase the resistance :)
2) BURN , resistance band somehow can provide me much more BURN than TRX suspension .. Imagine doing bicep curl with Resistance band once you curl up you have to control it going down as well, while TRX we can get sloppy and just let our arm go ..
3) COST … TRX suspension don’t come CHEAP .. Resistance bands are definitely cheaper than TRX
4) I think this would be the GREATEST disadvantage and it can go par with no…With Resistance band i can workout virtually anywhere, with TRX suspension you can work outdoors, at home (with door anchor sold separately) or in future at gym .. it’s sorta quite limited comparing to resistance bands
But with all that said TRX system are great for
1) CORE workout, youtube their full core workout and wow it feels GREAT and i find it’s much better than that Gym ball
2) Beginners - GREAT tool for beginners who never do any workout before… and TRX provide great tool to start up how to do inverted rows .. LOL
Other than that my TRX system is sorta collecting dust in the corner of my gym LOL …
If Fitness First were to bring TRX Suspension they would have to do a lot of modifications like adding a horizontal anchor, marketing and promoting .. this item cost about 150USD and maybe they can get dealer pricing and sell it at RM 200.00 - 300.00 range (example) and remember if you wanna buy for home-use the door anchor is sold separately .. how many of us would buy it ? it’s still overpriced
Hahahaha… Jake! You’ve got me all interested in the resistance band now. Your timing couldn’t be better as I’m currently figuring out a way to setup a home gym which wouldn’t cost me too much. The resistance band may be a very good addition indeed.
Don’t get those Cheap-ass Resistance Band from Fitness Concept .. I have broke about 3 of those … I’ve got the P90X ones .. and lasted till now .. I will try ask my coach see how much isit and post it over here :)
Cool! Jake, why don’t you write a review on the P90X resistance band vs. TRX at the forum. That’ll be very informative, me thinks.
You know what i’ll do that … but not today or this weekend … I’ll do it on monday night =)
I was at the conference too! I was just like a kid in a candy store there… :) It was great for the trainers, the group x instructors and even just regular people who are interested in working out better..
What does TRX stand for? :s
i know i’m late on the bandwagon here, but i don’t understand the hate for TRX…
i just started it when my trainer introduced it to me 3 weeks ago (from FF, but he isn’t selling it, just introducing his clients to it) and i think it’s a wonderful product. simple, straightforward, well built and i’ll admit it, it looks cool.
i noticed that jake was talking about resistance bands… i’ve owned resistance bands before and rarely used them. with the TRX, i’m on it almost every day and a 30-40 minute workout gives me a great burn and sweat (since it’s a cardio workout at the same time). The bicep curls he mentioned can be as hard and as easy as the user wants it to be - increase the vector angle and it’s harder, decrease the vector angle, and it gets easier. the fact that you’re doing it constantly for 30sec-1min means there needs to be variance in difficulty (specially for beginners).
also, i’ve noticed i’m slowly getting leaner and stronger (i used to be a running/weights kinda guy… i still do those, but now i throw in TRX a couple of times a week). i don’t believe that a Navy Seal and the Army can be so wrong when it comes this.
i know it’s expensive, but that’s because it’s extremely well built. in my opinion, it has been money well spent.
Oh and beware people - there are knock-offs in the market too. You need to see if the patent number is on the logo label near the handles - if it isn’t there.. it’s most likely a fake TRX.
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