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This morning I drank a small cup of fully leaded coffee. The last time I ingested caffeine purposely was 2-1/2 years ago and it wired me so hard I was up for almost 48 hours. Before that, it had been 11 years since my last cup of coffee. But after 5 days of 2010 IDEA World Fitness Convention in Los Angeles, I needed something to light a fire under me. When you run on pure adrenaline for several days, you eventually hit the wall, and today was my day for the collision. 

So yesterday, midway through my day, my old friend illiotibial band syndrome woke up. This time, on my left leg (it’s usually my right that’s affected). If you’ve never experienced this before, I’m sure you know someone who has, maybe a client or participant. It manifests as pain in the lateral aspect of the knee and can get progressively worse if you don’t pay therapeutic attention to it. Hobbling around for the remaining days of the conference was not an option.

It's Sunday and I was up at 5AM; a time of morning I haven't seen in quite some time. But it was to be a special day as I was invited to join 20 of the top presenters in the world for the blowout "Showdown/Throwdown" session. I didn't need coffee (though I did get one just in case) as the bundle of nerves in my body worked overtime.

Fitness professionals brim with skills. We make people sweat. We build muscle. We create programs that inspire others to embrace change. But is it the program that initiates progression? Or is it the way information is presented that promotes progress?Communication was a primary focus today. Whether this communication involves a oneness among movement professionals, or the interpersonal relationships developed between professional and consumer, communication can make or break best intentions.

If the only thing to happen all day at the 2010 IDEA World Fitness Convention’s opening was to see US Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin and Dr. Pamela Peeke onstage laughing and Zumba-ing up a sweat to spicy Latin rhythms, then it was a good day. But it was a GREAT day, my friends, and this display by the two good doctors was simply icing on the cake. And man, can those ladies move, as you can see by this video clip I took: http://www.ideafit.com/node/370641.

It’s the calm before the storm here at 2010 IDEA World Fitness Convention in Los Angeles.