I just got home from the San Diego Convention Center for IHRSA, and it was a great few days. The last time I was there was for IDEA World and it looked totally different with major equipment manufacturers all promoting their equipment to facilities all over the world. People were in from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America and North America—literally every corner of the globe to catch a glimpse of what is “new.”
Peak was in the middle of the hall with an eye-catching booth that showcased both sides of our work – classic studio equipment on one side, and MVe on the other. The MVe side was complete with stage, screen projector and neon MVe green floor! It was the talk of the show.
Sonia, Stacey and I kept busy teaching half-hour demo classes that showcased the chair and new MVe Reformer programs. With the new MVe DVDs just released, it was fun to finally showcase some of the new classes. The MVe “Latin Dance” was a blast with a chance to get a little dance action in between MVe sets and Sonia and Ricco sent the booth spinning with some impromptu salsa dancing! We also premiered “Balance and Control,” which is an MVe solution for the active aging population – those demos were pretty funny, as none of us are quite in that demographic! Our classes were consistently packed and people were eager to get a taste of the workouts and experience the equipment. It was great to see so many men in every group… it shows that the MVe has taken cross-gender appeal to a whole new level.
The morning workout was a challenge as Sonia and I had to co-teach an MVe Chair and Reformer Circuit. It was full and we had our hands full with a sound system that was not hooked up quite right and was sending my voice to Sonia’s group and Sonia’s to mine! But on a positive note, our students did a great job following along regardless, which shows the power of the programs! It was fun to move people through four alternating bouts that were choreographed to compliment one another with sequences for upper body on the Reformer, lower body on the chair and then upper body on the chair, with integrated workouts on the Reformer.
It is always such a great opportunity to see what’s going on outside of Peak and to feel great about being part of such a great team. It was notable that so many companies are following in our footsteps creating chairs and programs of their own, and knowing that we were the original pioneers.
After a fun (but tiring) few days, I have to say that my favorite part of IHRSA continues to be the chance to reconnect with old friends and catch up! We may be a global industry, but it’s a small, small world.
- Zoey Trap, Peak Pilates Master Trainer