Morning Workout

Partyfit® (Active)
7:00-8:00am (Lower A)  Veronique Mercier

Partyfit® is a high-energy dance fitness class that blends easy-to-follow choreography with functional movement patterns. Designed with instructors in mind, your playlist becomes your class plan, making it easy to keep classes fresh. With an intuitive color and complexity system, routines can be mixed and matched to create a variety of formats and intensity levels. Come dance, sweat, and discover why Partyfit® might become your next favorite class to teach

Session 1

Keynote Presentation – The Power of Paying Attention: Coaching the Room, Not Just the Workout (Lecture)
Upper Pavilion – 8:30-10:00am Anne Marie Hogya

Great classes are not built on programming alone; they are built on attention. Occupational therapist and movement facilitator Anne Marie Hogya explores how fitness leaders can coach the room in real time: reading crowd signals, noticing sensory overload, and responding to the full range of ages and nervous systems in front of them. She shares practical cueing and adjustment tools, and examines how warmth, humour, eye contact, and meaning help people take risks, push their edges, and keep coming back. The outcome: deeper connection, greater safety, and a room full of people who feel seen.

Session 2

Creativity, Risk, and What New People Need (Lecture)
Upper Pavilion – 10:15-11:45am Anne Marie Hogya

Many of us are comfortable in the physical, until we are asked to be creative, imperfect, or new. In this experiential session, Anne Marie guides participants through a 5Rhythms®-informed movement journey designed to stretch comfort zones with choice and safety. Afterward, the group debriefs: What helped you take risks? What shut you down? What would you have needed to feel differently? You will leave with practical insights and cueing tools to help new participants feel included, engaged, and willing to return. This session is 5Rhythms®-informed and inspired. It is not training instructors to teach 5Rhythms®.

Training for Successful Aging (Lecture)
Lower C – 10:15-11:45am Brian Justin

“You know you are not young anymore”. How many of your clients get a little perturbed hearing this? Granted biology does change as we age but to what extent? As trainers, we have a large role in helping our clients age successfully so that they can pursue the things they love to do. Join Brian as he takes an integrated viewpoint on training for successful aging.

AI in Fitness: Tool, Threat or Your Biggest Opportunity? (Lecture)
Boardroom – 10:15-11:45am Sonja Bidese

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly entering the fitness industry — from program design to client communication-but where do we draw the line? This interactive session challenges you to think deeper: Can AI replace coaches? Or does it simply amplify what we already do? Discover how to use AI as a powerful tool without losing the human connection that truly drives results. This session will spark conversation, shift perspectives, and give you the confidence to stay relevant in a rapidly evolving industry.

Resilience Ride: Strength, Courage & Tenacity (Active)
Lower A/B – 10:15-11:45am Krista Popowych

Step into your strongest self with Resilience Ride! This motivating session blends heart-pounding climbs, empowering intervals, and mental grit training. Discover how physical strength and unwavering tenacity create transformative experiences—for you and your class. Take your instructors on a journey that goes beyond fitness, unlocking deeper motivation and resilience that lasts long after the ride ends. Develop physical and mental endurance through challenging climbs and intensity intervals, setting a new standard for what’s possible. Inspire courage and grit in your classes, helping riders push past barriers and celebrate new breakthroughs. Equip yourself and your participants with tools to maintain motivation, smash goals, and cultivate unstoppable performance.

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Session 3

Pain to Gainz (Lecture)
Lower C – 12:45-2:15pm Brian Justin

Your client wants to train but persistent pain gets in the way. It could be from muscle imbalances, osteoarthritis, poor technique, or the residual leftovers of an injury. As a trainer what do you do? There are lots of things you can do. This workshop will go over pain science, movement pattern modifications and programming strategies so that you feel comfortable still being able to train your client when they have painful episodes that act up just before your session. Exercise is medicine and keeping our client’s moving so they can handle stress, build strength, pack on muscle, and grow their metabolic capacity is important even when it occurs on a background of persistent pain. This workshop will go over 7 strategies you can implement to help your clients thrive.

Spin, Strength & Mobility: The Next Evolution of Indoor Cycling
Lower A/B – 12:45-2:15pm Sonja Bidese

Indoor cycling is evolving, and today’s participants are looking for more than just a high-energy ride. They want purposeful programming, smarter coaching, and a well-rounded fitness experience that supports performance, mobility, recovery, and long-term participation. This interactive workshop explores how instructors can modernize their indoor cycling classes by incorporating elements of strength, mobility, posture, recovery, and rider engagement—while working within the reality of a cycling studio environment. Participants will learn practical coaching strategies, creative class design ideas, and simple ways to keep rides fresh, effective, and relevant in today’s fitness industry. Through education, live coaching demonstrations, and practical application, instructors will leave with tools they can immediately implement to elevate their classes and create more meaningful rider experiences.

Pull Away from the Pack – How to Stand out from Your Competition (Lecture)
Boardroom – 12:45-2:15pm Brenda Adams

You’ve probably heard that it takes more effort and expense to recruit new clients than to retain existing ones—luckily, you can save time and money by creating top-notch experiences for the clients you already have! Trainers spend time designing fitness programming for clients (and rightly so), but what about designing the all-important “customer experience” that keeps your clients coming back? In this session, you will discover simple techniques for turning your clients into raving fans who recommend you to their friends/family and on social media. Use these tactics and stand out as the trainer to hire in your area!

Step-less Step Interval Challenge (Active)
Upper Pavilion – 12:45-2:15pm Krista Popowych

Join Krista for a creative cardio and interval-based workshop inspired by classic step training — without the actual step. This engaging, movement-driven workshop recreates the feel of step intervals using floor-based movement patterns, directional travel, rhythm changes, power pushes, and athletic conditioning drills. This session is perfect for instructors and participants looking for fresh interval and programming ideas, accessible training options, and high-energy cardio without equipment.

 

Session 4

Does Hanna Somatics Belong in Personal Training (Lecture)
Lower C – 2:30-4:00pm Brian Justin

Where does somatic movement belong in personal training? Hanna Somatic Education is a self-regulating movement system to help clients manage persistent pain but also to sense and move better! As personal trainers, our role is to help people improve their movement along with improving their fitness capacities. Join Brian as he explains the origins and applications of Hanna Somatic Education, perform a quick somatic assessment of each other, and learn some of the basic movement applications to help with the Neuromuscular Stress Reflexes.

The Power of Pause: Recovery, Breath & Reset (Active & Lecture)
Upper Pavilion – 2:30-4:00pm  Sonja Bidese

In a world that constantly pushes intensity, this session explores the power of slowing down. Learn how to integrate simple yoga-based movements, breathwork, and recovery techniques into your classes or training sessions. You’ll also be introduced to elements of reflexology and nervous system regulation to support both physical and mental recovery. This session helps fitness professionals create balance, enhance client experience, and understand that recovery is not optional—it is essential.

Practicing What We Preach: Supporting the Wellness of Personal Trainers (Lecture)
Boardroom – 2:30-4:00pm Brenda Adams

Personal trainers are experts at helping others improve their health, yet many experience a gap between the wellness behaviors they promote and their own daily practices. For the past five years, Brenda Adams has been exploring the field of personal trainer wellness. This workshop will share her emerging research and help attendees identify practical strategies to support their own wellness so they can build more sustainable careers in the fitness profession.

Beat Breaker: Rebel Ride! (Active)
Lower A/B – 2:30-4:00pm Krista Popowych

Break the rules and unleash your inner rebel with Beat Breaker! This electrifying, rhythm-based workshop throws the rulebook out the window, combining powerful music, epic sprints, and boundary-pushing intervals. Get ready for a ride that’s as fun as it is challenging—where creative expression fuels motivation and every instructor find their unique edge. Perfect the art of riding in sync with energizing beats to make every class a party on the bike. Leverage music-driven intervals to push your riders’ limits and maximize both intensity and enjoyment. Reimagine indoor cycling as a vibrant, motivating and results-driven experience that appeals to every fitness level.