Kent Sport at The International Fitness Showcase
On a sunny spring morning three members of the Kent Sport Fitness Team departed from the University of Kent Canterbury campus for the bright lights of Blackpool and the annual International Fitness Showcase. This was not a trip to the beach or the funfair (although an hour was spent in the penny arcades) but a journey seeking group exercise inspiration and exhaustion from three full days of fitness master classes and workshops. Below the three journeymen (and women) summarise their experience…..
“What can I say, a 12 hour round trip, 3 days, 18 classes, 18 changes of clothes, 22 litres of water, 4 bunches of bananas, 4 bags of Jelly babies, laughter, tears, concentration, frustration, confusion, excitement, buzzing, new friends, new ideas, happiness, thrills, achievements and lots of sweating!!!
The professional instructors who have become great friends now are all amazing in their own right. It’s not only nice to see them at all the events to learn from them, but to catch up too. It’s three days of heaven for me and I come back emotional and physically exhausted, in a VERY good way of course. Dancing and teaching is my passion I couldn’t think of anything else I could or would rather do… Remember, nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.”
Jeni Dexter – Kent Sport Studio Co-ordinator
“When we arrived in Blackpool I had a mix of emotions. One, I couldn’t wait to get out of the car after six hours in the back. Two, I was very excited to attend all of my booked classes and lectures. The weather was very cold and windy, but that didn’t get us down.
A short five minute walk in to town from our hotel and we arrived at the Winter Gardens, the atmosphere was electric, everyone in a good mood and excited for what was in store. Throughout the weekend I attended a variety of spinning lectures and classes, which were all very interesting and motivating. I even attended a house dance class with Tony Stone as my last class on Sunday for a bit of fun. I would recommend this experience to anyone.”
Darius Ashtari – Kent Sport Health and Fitness Instructor
“The International Fitness Showcase (IFS) was a great opportunity for me to experience different kinds of classes within an entirely new setting. It also gave me a chance to compare my own classes to others of the same kind, particularly HIIT.
The IFS was the ideal setting to push myself beyond my normal ‘comfort zones’ in terms of class, so I decided to take part in several Pole Fitness classes and one Choreographed fitness class. The Pole sessions were a great success and improved my flexibility tremendously, the choreographed class was not a success, however I was lost within 10 minutes and decided to make an honourable retreat.
One of the best parts of the experience was the number of contacts I managed to make within the fitness industry some of which have become useful working relationships.”
Mike Burrell – Kent Sport Health & Fitness Instructor