CanFitPro celebrates 25th anniversary with World Fitness Expo

Each year CanFitPro hosts the World Fitness Expo, but this year we had a special treat as it was the 25th anniversary for Canada’s biggest fitness and wellness show.

The World Fitness Expo took over the Metro Convention Centre from Aug 10-11 with headliners Jillian Michaels, Vinny Guadagnino, Derek Hough, Billy Blanks, and Thomas DeLauer.

Aspiring athletes and anyone in the fitness industry can attend conferences, workout sessions, and learn more about fitness equipment and trends this industry has to offer.

The two-day event started with an opening ceremony from Creator and founder of Joga, Jana Webb. Her speech was inspiring to many others who suffer from an injury, as she spoke about her traumatic car accident in Santa Domingo. Jana mentions, she had a hard time with her athletic figure, trying to get back into working out. She then tried yoga, and what helped her get through was dedication, bravery, courage, confidence, survival, and being strong. She goes onto speaking about having Respect for everyone who wakes up to be stronger, and that nothing is an accident.

The World Fitness expo had four main stages that guests were able to attend. The Main stage presented by Healthy Planet consists of lectures on a variety of topics delivered by some of the most influential names in the fitness industry. The Activity Zone presented by Reebok was to work up a sweat and with fun workouts such as BodyShred by Jillian Michaels and Tae Bo by Billy Blanks. The Nutrition and Cooking Stage delivered some delicious cooking demos and the best way to optimize your body to fitness. Then we had the performance stage for showcases such as the Fitness model search, and the GNC ALLMAX Canfitpro Natural Regional Championships.

The expo had some fun activations such as the TRX booth, where guests were able to measure their Mobility, Activation, Posture, and Symmetry based on how well you perform 3 overhead squats through the TRX^® MAPS.

RYU also know as Respect Your Universe, an athletic apparel company from Vancouver had some great deals on their items. Other popular clothing brands such as Lorna Jane from Australia, also had amazing discounts and a spin the wheel prizing game. I won a $50 gift card and bought myself a sports bra for only $20!

We took the extra mile and took Billy Blanks’ Master Class Tae Bo/Kickboxing at the activity zone. The stage was packed and the crowd had nothing but smiles while throwing side-kicks and hits. The class started off with learning the techniques for 15 minutes, and the rest of the hour was a high-intensity aerobics and kickboxing. We were beat tired by the end of it.

We had the opportunity to attend an exclusive Q&A with Jillian Michaels, where the panel was open to fans. Anyone was allowed to ask her questions, and Jillian spoke about the business of the fitness industry and the changes of how instead of the money coming in, fitness influencers are putting money out in building apps.

“There are very big risks in the business, and we try to do them in a very intelligent and calculative way, we invest in companies that we think are better for you,  it’s a very risky industry and it’s different than what it use to look like, and it’s the nature of the business now. If you cannot tolerate the appropriate amount of risks, you’re greatly limiting your ability to grow” -Jillian Michaels.

We also sat in for the Q&A with Jersey Shore turned Keto-Guido, Vinny Guadagnino. He speaks about how Keto is not this strict diet based on macros, but more a way of life. He mentions that every single meal doesn’t have sugar, or grains, and just a lot of healthy fats. It became a lifestyle change.  ”

” I always battled with anxiety and depression and that kind of got elevated because I don’t have a carb cloud and coma throughout the day. I get those high and lows through insulin spikes, and it kind of helped me mentally and physically. It’s honestly a diet that I can sustain. I was always battling with diet, I would gain weight, then I’d do a juice cleanse, and then gain weight, then I would cut my calories. I can’t keep doing these diets, it doesn’t work for me. I need something that can be my way of life, and for me it was not to eat bread or pasta.   When I eating carbs, I would feel anxiety, it would make me feel foggy, my heart would race. They’re all added symptoms. I needed to find something that would give me a good baseline which is the Keto diet. I still have anxiety here and there, but it elevates all the symptoms that the sugar, grains, and the mass amount of carbs I was eating would give me” – Vinny Guadagnino.

 Vinny also speaks about his workout routine, and that he’s always been the one that didn’t live at the gym. When he works out he likes doing things where he can move and have fun. This includes 3 days a week of boxing, 2-3 days of lifting, and the rest playing basketball, running, or doing something active and sweating all the time throughout the week.

After listening to many different speakers and checking out all these booths, there was no way we weren’t motivated to hit the gym and bring all the new knowledge into our everyday lifestyles. We also had the opportunity to interview some of the other guest speakers at the World Fitness Expo.

Thank you CanFitPro for another amazing year at the World Fitness Expo and we can’t wait to see what you bring next year!