Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: The Fitness Summit Edition
Another week of “stuff to read,” another edition inspired by an eventful weekend of fitness industry shenanigans.
This time around: The Fitness Summit
Pictured (L to R): Pete Dupuis, Dr. Susan Kleiner, Bret Contreras, Dr. Erika Mundinger, Tony Gentilcore, Jeannine Trimboli, David Dellanave, Dean Somerset, Lou Schuler, Dr. Mike T. Nelson, Alan Aragon, Dr. Spencer Nadolsky, Sol Orwell, Nick Tumminello
I had the honor of being a first-time invitee last year (I even wrote about my experience HERE), and was thrilled I was invited back for the 2015 edition.
Lets take the insanely good speaker line-up out of the equation1 and note that, as a testament to the event itself, many of the attendees would constitute as an all-star line-up in of itself.
People like Greg Nuckols, Jen Sinkler, Andy Morgan, Eric Bach, Alicia Fetters, Bryan Krahn, Armi Legge, Mark Fisher, and many, many more made the trip to Kansas City to learn, mingle, eat what’s probably some of the best BBQ on Earth, and swear like sailors for two days.
If anything The Fitness Summit is a social event as much as it’s a learning event (and believe me there was a TON of learning). The uniqueness and appeal is the accessibility of the speakers to the attendees (which included 150+). It’s not as if the speakers speak and then jet off to their hotel rooms or sequester themselves at the “cool table” with all the other speakers.
Quite literally the entire weekend is designed and meant to be an informal party and networking extravaganza.
And based off how many people were wearing sunglasses on day two, plenty of people let loose….;o)
Ahem, cough, cough Alan Aragon cough, cough.
Kidding aside: I’ve never seen one human being bro-knuckle more than Alan Aragon. The man is a machine.
All of this to say: THANK YOU to everyone involved for (always) making it such an amazing weekend. Special kudos go to the Bromberg brosefs – Nick and David (in addition to their parents) – for organizing the event. THANK YOU to the speakers whom I’m always learning from and for considering me a colleague.
THANK YOU to everyone who introduced themselves and for taking the time to say such nice things to me. It means so much knowing that people enjoy and respect my work and appreciate the efforts I take provide a bit more integrity – however small – to this industry.
And THANK YOU to Southwest airlines for two seamless, turbulence-free flights.
This week I wanted to highlight some articles from some first-time presenters at The Fitness Summit this year. Some (or all) of them may be familiar to you – if so, my bad – but nonetheless, it’s my hope to direct you towards a few new resources that you might not otherwise have the chance to check out.
Power Eating – Dr. Susan Kleiner
It was a real fan-boy moment treat to have the opportunity to listen to Dr. Kleiner speak this past weekend because her seminal book, Power Eating (now in its 4th Edition), was one of the very first nutrition books I ever read when I started out in this industry.
At a time when carbohydrates are being tossed into the same category as ISIS, sub-prime mortgage loans, and Nicholas Sparks movies (< – rightfully so), it’s awesome to listen to a voice of reason like Dr. Kleiner – especially as it relates to ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE!!!!
Low-carb, and worse ketogenic diets, are horrible if athletic performance is the driving force, and this book is one of the “go to” resources I use to help drive that point home.
Sex Sells (You Out) – Jeannine Trimboli
Anna Sidorova 2014 Curling Champion, AKA “hot Winter Olympic Babe”
I really enjoyed Jeannine’s presentation this past weekend as she spoke to a topic that I often discuss here on this site with regards to the mainstream media and the unrealistic, sexualized messages it relays to women interested in fitness.
This article serves as a perfect overview of Jeannine’s message.
Ask Ann: Why Is My Shoulder Blade Grinding, Popping, and Achy – Dr. Ann Wendel
Full disclosure: Dr. Ann Wendel did not speak at The Fitness Summit (although I’m a big fan and she’s fully qualified to do), but for the life of me I couldn’t find an article written by Dr. Erika Mundinger (who DID speak).
She presented a superb presentation on SI joint dysfunction and maybe I can entice her to write a guest post on my site down the road (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)
This article was the last one she linked to on her Twitter account (HERE), so that’s the best I can do.
It’s an article written by a doctor, shared by a doctor. And since I have a doctorate in being awesome, I approve of this article as well.
