Australian Fitness Expo

Hi everyone! Hope you had a fabulous weekend! I sure did! I have a lot of drafts for some posts that are in the works but just wanted to write about this while it’s still fresh in my mind and I’m also still on such a high from it!

The Australian Fitness Expo was held this weekend in Melbourne, usually it’s held in Sydney but the convention centre is under a huge revamp which will take about 3 years so for the next 3 years, we Melbournians are lucky to have it right here!

If you are in the industry or simply a fitness enthusiast, then you must make sure you go next year, I’ve never been to an expo like it, there was so much going on everywhere.

Now first, of course I need to talk about my haul. Here it is:

My favourite purchase is the Promaker crop top and I already wore it to pole yesterday. It’s so comfy and I’m actually regretting that I didn’t buy more! Luckily they have an online store so I’m going to do a haul when I can afford more! I also can’t wait to use the new GoStaks, I bought one for the boy as well and he already loves it. Blender Bottles are just extras, I already own a few and they are the best for the gym and pole. I need a lot of water during work outs so the size is perfect.

I’m excited to try out the Brasilfit crop top too as I’ve heard a lot about them and their clothes feel like they really are made of the highest quality material! (Yes I was touching them while they were on the racks and trying not to look creepy!)  I feel another haul coming on.. but first I will try it out and post a review for you.

And the rest were freebies and samples – every exhibitor was giving out so much free stuff, most I’ll be giving to the boy as I can’t have pre-workout supplements if they contain caffeine (very annoying!) but at least it’ll keep him happy.

Just a few of the other things happening at the expo as there was so much going on, I wish I could have covered everything!

First thing’s first, there was so much to try and buy!

Luv Sum

Produce healthier alternatives to naughty snacks that you might reach for when you’re craving something. They are delicious and nutritious and I love the cute retro designs and quirky names. My favourites are Energy, Protein & Wholefoods Snack Balls in Super Berry Nut Crunch Naked Protein Shot and Chocolate, Chia & Nut Naked Energy Shot.

Superior Supplements

I bought my Blender Bottles and GoStaks from the Superior Supplements stand, the staff are always so friendly and helpful! The GoStaks are a smart and sleek advancement in portable nutrition and are made up of interlocking jars that secure tightly so that you can carry your powders, vitamins, supplements, snacks and more, wherever you go! It even has a cute little handle that you can twist on and off!

Your friendly Superior Supplements staff!

Amazonia

There were so many exhibitors giving out free samples which is such a great idea because you can try before you buy! I love Acai berries, I’ve tried the capsules before. Freeze dried Acai berrier contain 42 times more antioxidants than fresh blueberries and 50 essential nutrients unique to Amazonian soil. All products contain completely natural wholefoods and and are raw and vegan.

Hydralyte Sport

I’ve never tried the sports one before but after an intense work out I get extremely dehydrated and water doesn’t do anything for me, so that’s what this is perfect for. If I don’t have any electrolytes I get a headache straight after the work out and it lasts all day no matter how much water I drink. I will try it out after my first PT session in one week – I’m so nervous but also really excited to finally be doing something that’s going to change the shape of my body. I also got to try one the Hydralyte Sports icy poles!

Kapai Puku – The Seed of Life

Combined with a balanced diet, Kapai Puku will help ensure vitamins and minerals are available to revitalise our bodies. Seeds and grains are what our ancestors ate for generations when obesity and diabetes almost didn’t exist. I think I tried the Original Blend and they were serving it with Coyo – if you are a coconut fan you must try it, it’s delicious! I love this mix and might even check out their online store later..

Brasilfit

Inspired by the connection between Australia and Brazil, like tropical forests, beach-side cities and the baking sun, Brasilfit draws on their fashion, motivation and technology from their bases in Sydney and Rio de Janeiro to bring us active wear to suit every moment of our life. I only bought one crop top so far but I received a voucher for their online store so will definitely have a browse when I’m all cashed up again!

Other things to do and see included TRX and acro yoga demonstrations that you could actually join in, Australian Powerlifting Championships and the 2014 Victorian Jiu Jitsu Championships, boxing and there was a rope climbing challenge being held at the Musashi stand.

There were a few Championships being held at the event and one of them which we got to see was the Miss Fitness 30+ and Pole Divas’ very own Hollie Sheehan took out the national title! Pretty good for her first competition, huh?

Apologies for the blurry images as my camera on phone isn’t great! But.. look at that rig!

And of course, I saved the best for last.. the pole dancing! X-Pole was there demonstrating lyra and they also had the powder coated X-Stage on display. It felt so grippy! But we were talking to Sian (of the awesome doubles pair, Sian & Indy) and she was saying how it’s great for the hands but not so much for the legs, it’s so grippy that sometimes it feels like your skin is getting ripped off.. each to their own. But it comes in a whole bunch of colours so it makes it look more interesting too. They also had the other finishes to show like a Chinese  pole and that’s even more grippy than the pwoder coated one. I also met Jessie Dee, the director of X-Pole Australia, she was so nice and telling us about the expo in previous years and how the Sydney event compared to the Melbourne event. Pretty sure she has the best job! I just love the entire pole community and their passion for what they do.

There was also a pole demo at one of the other exhibition areas.

Other exhibitors that I visited:

CrankIt Fitness  – similar to TRX
Vital Greens – I’ve heard so much about them but never actually tried (I heard they taste gross!) but the one we tried was mixed with water and a bit of apple juice – it tasted fine! Not delicious but I could handle having some everyday, it contains a balanced blend of nutrient dense greens, vegetables, fruits, herbs, vitamins and minerals, powerful antioxidants, pre and probiotics, fibre and an alkalising pea protein (yay for pea’s getting a good rep!). We also tried the coffee flavoured one with rice milk and it was delicious! Looks like I’m heading to their website soon as well.
Australian Avocados – I’m sure I don’t need to rehash the benefits of avocados!
The Healthy Chef -Teresa Cutter’s brand. She was selling her cookbook and some of her superfood blends. They tasted pretty good.
Piloxing – mixture of Pilates and Boxing, this is still very new to Australia and sounds like something I’d love to try!
Flush Fitness – supplement distributor
Lorna Jane – they had a huge store set up and were offering 20% off everything on the day – what a great deal!
Ryder Wear – really cute work out wear for both pole and gym, unfortunately they had run out of my size so another visit to their website is mandatory!
Promaker – the store where I bought my new favourite crop top from.

Speakers

Michelle Bridges and The Commando were there giving inspirational talks and Teresa Cutter herself was giving a healthy cooking demo.

Phew! What a huge post! I didn’t mean for it to be so long but wanted to let you know about how great the event was! Can’t wait until next year and head to their website for more info.

Thanks for reading!

J xx

 

Girl Crush: Maddie Sparkle

I haven’t done a girl crush post in a while so thought it was time to do one. I’m a bit embarrassed to do this post especially since Maddie and her sister Shimmy recently stayed at my house during All Stars! That’s right! They needed a place to stay that was near the airport as they had a 6am flight the next day, and since my place is 10 minutes from the airport, I answered their Facebook plea – and they accepted! I still can’t believe it!

Anyway, Maddie was one of my earliest pole girl crushes when I was just starting out at pole which was about 3-4 years ago now. I first discovered Maddie & Shimmy on YouTube. Their style was quite similar but there was something about Maddie that I was always drawn to.

Some older images that I have always loved, gosh I wish I had her back!

I always admired how flexible she was, how hard she trained and yet how petite she would stay! Even though she’s tiny she was so strong and would bust out these tricks that needed immense strength. I always looked forward to watching her new videos with lots of flexy tricks, sparkly costumes and hair flicks. She was one of the first people whose pole videos, that erred on the side of sexy, I would actually watch and not be weirded out. When I first started pole I was very pro “it’s-pole-fitness-it’s-not-sexual-at-all” so I would never watch the “sexy” videos. Now I’m all about the sexy but more on that later.

Some more recent photos of her by the amazing Don Curry:

To this day, she is still super flexible, super strong, works harder than ever and she just makes dancing look so effortless and beautiful.

Now that I’ve met her, I can also say that in real life she is a really nice person, she’s really funny and she may be tiny, but she eats a lot! And so is her sister, Shimmy!

How amazing is she in this video?

There I confessed, now tell me who your girl crushes are so that I don’t sound like a total weirdo!

Note: All images from Maddie Sparkle’s Facebook page, the photographers are Don Curry and Justin Tran.

Alethea Austin’s Sexy Floor Workshop

Hi guys, sorry I’ve been a little MIA again, usual busy at work and too tired to write when I get home situation unfortunately 😦 Although I have also been working on something exciting and can’t wait to share it with you all soon. I can barely keep the secret from all my friends but it will be announced soon so stay tuned!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, All Stars was held in Melbourne. This is the first Pole and Aerial Art Competition of its kind and even had some international entrants competing. I am working on my write up for that so hopefully it will be published soon but if you follow me on Twitter then your feed would have been blown up by my updates that night.

As well as international entrants there were some famous international pole dancers or (polebrities as I like to call them 🙂 ) including the incredible Alethea Austin who did a doubles act with Cleo the Hurricane. I have always admired her and wish that I could move like her. When this woman moves it’s like oil. She is so smooth, her transitions are flawless and every single muscle in her body is used, it’s hard to explain but just search for her YouTube videos and you’ll understand what I mean. She was running some workshops whilst she was here and unfortunately all the ones being held at Pole Divas were full so my friends and I had to travel to Arena Pole which is about an hour away just to do her workshop! It was totally worth it. We did her Sexy Floor Workshop and I was just mesmerised by her the entire time, even during her warm up. I wish that I had filmed her because her warm up is so different to anything that I’ve ever done before and I want to keep doing it at home.

After the warm up she taught us a short routine which involved some of her basic “sexy” moves. Her advice? Do everything slow. It’s a lot harder but it looks so much better, and if you can control it it’s also a great work out! We were all dripping with sweat not even halfway through the workshop. (Sexy right?) She also stressed the importance of working on your sexy performance face, even if what you’re doing is really hard and you’re struggling to do it, never let people know that you’re struggling. Then she taught us some of the different ways to (properly) do a forwards and backwards roll. There are so many ways to do them! I had never been able to do a forwards roll before and when I tried it she picked up my one mistake straight away and yelled at me! I was so mortified with embarrassment but when she came over to help me and I tried again – I got it! For those interested, I wasn’t completely putting my head through the ‘hole’ between my arm and the floor, as soon as I did this, everything fell into place – thanks Alethea! She also taught us a few other moves called a “turtle” and the proper way to do duck dives (excruciatingly slowly) and elbow presses. At the end of class we all did a free dance which we could use the routine as a guide but she encouraged us to just do what we wanted to do, and to definitely not copy her. At the beginning I was peeking at her while I was pretending to dance but then I started to really feel the music and before long I was completely ignoring everyone else in the room and just focusing on my own movement. It felt amazing and when the song ended I just wanted to keep dancing.

After class she was selling her merchandise out of her suitcase but I had no cash! I was so devastated I should have been more organised, I’m going to jump onto her website to buy some things that I missed out on.

The workshop went for about an hour and half and in my opinion it wasn’t long enough! It felt like 15 minutes, I had so much fun and learnt so much. I now have so many new things that I want to practice and have rediscovered my love of free styling. If you ever have the opportunity to do a class or workshop with her I highly recommend you to take it! As well as being an amazing teacher she was also so down to Earth and lovely. I thought that I was going to be intimidated when I met her, since she’s such a well known figure and so highly regarded in the pole world, but I wasn’t, she was just so friendly and approachable. Her students at The Chrome Bar are very lucky to have her!

Below are some photos from the workshop:

The incredible Alethea Austin and I

My friends and I with Alethea Austin.

Have you ever had a workshop with Alethea? Or who is a polebrity that you have actually had a chance to meet and do a workshop with? I’d love to know, let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,

J xx