Saturday

The last day of the conference! A great way to start the day is with an Aqua Zumba pool party!

The stars of the format were there--Maria Browning and Tony Witt, along with top trainers from North America and around the world. They wisely had a tag team approach to teaching this high-energy dance on the hot concrete deck. One or two would lead a few minutes and then seamlessly get replaced by someone else. Here they are all together for the grand finale:

It was good to see how far Aqua Zumba has come since its introduction at IAFC 3 years ago. It's definitely "dancier" and maybe this example went almost a little too far in that direction. It worked with this crowd because we were movement professionals, but I wondered at some points how such fancy footwork would go over with the general class population. Anyway, great fun, great music. Click here to see Maria in action elsewhere and here for Tony.

My last workshop was Ai Chi for the Core with Ruth Sova. It was yet another angle on a format that can be so many things to so many people for so many needs. You can use the "heavy" concept with the Ai Chi progression, especially the trunk stabilization portion, to get extra core strength benefits. The "heavy" concept asks the participant to think of a part of the body as so heavy it is impossible to move, yet making the effort anyway. What this does is engage the deeper and lower core muscles before the movement begins and creates a very stable base. It can protect joints during weight shifting and improve control for balance training. The water portion of the workshop was not only a chance to practice and feel the concepts but another chance for a beautiful silent Ai Chi progression led by Jun Konno. Thanks, Ruth! I've learned so much from you!





The last event of the conference was a grand pool finale led by a multitude of the different international presenters that had been there during the week. I decided to wimp out of participating in the water and just watched from the deck.

It was definitely high energy and at some points very high-splash, and a really fun way to say goodbye.

That's it for the conference reporting, but stay tuned for a few followup paragraphs.

Friday

First thing for the day was a fun master class with Mushi Harush, a trainer from Israel. Let's Have a Ball 2 used a children's playball, somewhat underinflated, as buoyant resistance. Movements with the ball varied from under to above water so there was relief from the pressure of holding it. We used the balls on our own; we used the balls in pairs. It was great fun, not least when somebody's ball would escape from under the water.









Then a workshop called Boomer Balance Basics & Beyond with Steph Toogood.

Not sure why "boomer" was part of the title, except that it begins with a B. The material really was more relevant to the elder elderly: how to design water exercise to enhance static and dynamic balance. In addition to emphasis on great posture, a balance workout emphasizes movements that reinforce the Activities of Daily Living. Squats use the muscles for sitting and lifting, lunges help with reaching and general stability, arms moving diagonally across the body mimic the fastening of a car seat belt. Steph recommended the book Bending the Aging Curve by Joseph Signorile as a good guide to the land version of this increasingly important area of exercise.

On to Laurie Denomme's Chair Repair: Aquatic Exercise for Seated Occupations.

This workshop was a natural companion to the balance one. Almost all of us sit too much. Many of us sit for hours and hours every day at a desk, in meetings, at the wheel of a vehicle, on the couch after work. Our muscles get imbalanced, contracted in the chest, weak in the back; hip flexors flexed too much, "gluteal amnesia" (Ruth Sova's phrase) at the back. Besides striving for ergonomically correct work stations and taking standing and stretch breaks, we can lessen the impact of our 9-to-5 position with good strategies for exercise. Mobility of the  hips, pelvis, spine, and scapula are essential, and movements should be driven from the top down and the bottom up. Core strength, basically. PNF is useful here, and remembering to move in all 3 planes.

Laurie's workout had some partner work with noodles, things I'd done before, but DUH! why did it never occur to me to cross the noodles between the partners? Diagonals! Great!

Last workshop of the day was Pauline Ivens' Choreography for the Core.

Are you beginning to sense a theme here? The core, the core, the core. It's not just that it's a fitness fad. (Well, it is, but for good reason.) A strong core provides the stable foundation for all movement. And Pauline emphasized that supine crunches are getting frowned upon in the physical therapy world. The curl is not a functional position; it targets only the rectus abdominus and shortens rather than strengthens it to support the elongated spine. Repetitive lumbar spinal flexion even puts the discs at risk. Much better to move the spine as a complete unit, to use multiple muscles to brace and resist turbulence, imbalance, and instability, which is what we need a strong and functional core for on land and in the water anyway. Pauline had a great cross-country ski move astride the noodle with one hand grasping the noodle in the front and the other at the back. With hands tied up this way you have to rely on core strength to balance.

Friday evening was the big Puttin' on the Ritz dinner and whoop-de-do. I confess I was so pooped I left after dinner and skipped the whoop-de-do.

We have a winner!

The winner of the Ai Chi book is Connie! I'll email you and arrange delivery of your book. Congratulations!

Thursday

If I am indeed the wet ptarmigan, then I have surely come home here in Florida. Wet ptarmigan, soggy ptarmigan, moist ptarmigan, humid ptarmigan, waterlogged ptarmigan, mildewed ptarmigan, take your pick. It has rained here every day. Not all day, but some portion of it. Add to that being in and out of swimming pools up to 5 times a day, and some of my gear never dries out. The air feels so humid sometimes, it seems like you could pour it out of a cup or squeeze a handful and get a drink.  Paper feels like limp rags; the electronics on my room door lock pooped out today from the moisture. Not complaining, mind you, but it certainly is a drastic change from Alaska.

Up again with the birds (who were themselves pretty soggy, as it rained right up to starting time) to attend Karen Westfall's Liquid Force workshop. The Big Idea was to use the resistance of the water as effectively as possible.  It was strange to see Ms Westfall in person after being the consumer of so many of her videos. It surprised me that she's so small. From the way she moves in her videos, I had thought she was really tall.  Tall or small, she's a real powerhouse, and gave us a pool session that emphasized core strength and hard work while remaining mostly anchored to the floor. Often it involved a brief hesitation at the end of a move in order to lose momentum before starting the next. Karen has some great phrases for cueing--to keep your elbows in to the waist "close your armpits." To encourage long arm and leg moves, "keep your hands away from the shoulders; keep your feet away from the hips." The hesitations were called "freeze frame" or "snapshots".  Arms and legs often worked in opposition to create more turbulence and thereby more resistance. One interesting idea of Karen's is that drag equipment such as gloves and paddle bars should not be reserved entirely for raising the intensity of the fit participants. Drag equipment on the less fit can enable them to feel the force of the water and help them feel what they need to do when they move.

Next was A Different Slant on Aquafitness with Teri Mitchell. Teri says that muscles are often in diagonal lines on our bodies, yet when exercising we usually move at right angles as if we were in a box. This workshop was a focus on diagonal and spiral movement, using the ideas of PNF, Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (how's that for a mouthful of syllables designed to make you sound like a hot-shot?) Diagonal movement is typical of many Activities of Daily Living (ADL's to the people who evaluate you for placement in assisted living or the nursing home). Fastening a car seat belt, for instance, washing a window, or reaching for the phone. As our bodies age, it is important to maintain our ability to move on the diagonal, and to move in ways where an extremity crosses the midline of the body. One of these PNF moves is what Teri calls the "curtsey kick", where the foot, let's say the right foot, starts out behind and to the left of center. The kick moves it from the back to the right front corner, from 8 to 1 o'clock if you think of yourself at the center of a clock face.

Hidro Argentina was a fun masterclass given by an instructor from, you guessed it, Argentina. Cristina Barcala speaks very little English, but she managed by sheer charisma and stupendous acting skills to not only convey the instructions for her workout, but to get the class to work in pairs, then in 3's, in lines, in halves, and for the grand finale, half the class was in the center of the pool doing something stationary while the other half swirled around it traveling and making turbulence. Incredible! 

Next up was Connie Jasinkas Teaching Deep/Shallow Combo Courses. When teaching in a pool with both deep and shallow water, we can end up either intentionally or unintentionally with people in both depths. This can feel frustrating, because some moves work well or are impossible in one side or the other. Connie showed how to teach both depths at once by clear cueing and by tailoring the version of each move to water depth, for instance having shallow people do a pendulum while deep people do a single leg side lift. Connie had a move for the deep (or suspended) that I'd never seen before. She called it a "tripod jack", although its action was hip rotation rather than the ab/adduction of the traditional jack. Legs are under the body with feet together and knees apart. Knees move together and apart while the feet stay the same and the core struggles to keep the trunk stable. Also in this class I got to try water horse flotation in the deep for the first time. Use the link to see what it is if you don't know what I'm talking about. I found it a whole lot better that straddling a noodle, because nothing could get in the way of your arm action and there was much less risk of falling off.

Is this seeming like a long day to you? It certainly was in person! And it's not nearly done yet!


Ruth Sova was next with Working on the Rehab Side. Thankfully, this was dry land only--I was feeling a bit prune-y after so many immersions. There was an overview of aquatic therapy and rehabilitation, some legal terms and considerations, client and facility considerations. There was a quick trip through some of the most common formats and techniques. They're listed here and linked to further information, should you care to know more:

• Ai Chi
• Ai Chi Ne
• AquaStretch (pdf articles)
• BackHab
• Burdenko Method
• Halliwick
• PNF
• Pilates-Yogalates-Heavy Concept
• Unpredictable Command Technique
• Watsu 

The rest was Q&A from the varied perspectives of the audience. Some of us were Physical Therapists, some personal trainers, some plain old water aerobics teachers who have students prehabbing before orthopedic surgery or who are back in the water afterward to finish up and maintain their recovery.

One last class--a half hour Stretch Fusion Rejuvenation in the pool with Laurie Denomme. This was just the right thing after such a long exhausting day.

And one more little curiosity before I'm done. At one point I was wandering past a pool and saw this:

Can you tell what it is in the water? Sharks? Robots? Aliens? None of the above. It's a pool full of aquatic stationary bikes! Here they are fishing one out to put away:

Just the ticket, I guess, if you don't like getting all hot and sweaty in your spinning class!

Book Contest Deadline Extended

Due to my rupture in connectivity, the awarding of the Ai Chi book will be postponed to Friday, May 25. Get your email in by noon on Friday and you'll still have a chance! Meanwhile, stay tuned for the rest of the IAFC tale...

Disturbance in the Force

My humble apologies; the damp here apparently affects EVERYTHING. The dewdrops got in my electronic door lock and bollixed it up so that it had to be replaced, and now the drippy little gnomes have snarled up my wi fi and it is no more. Fear not--I am still splashing, still taking pictures, and am writing up notes so that when I have a reliable connection again, my antics will continue to be available on the intertubes. But there will be a delay before normal service is resumed.

Wednesday

Up, at 'em, in the water at 7:30 this morning, and just as well. On my program this morning was a deep water dance master class by Tatiana Maximova.

When you think of Russians and dance, ballet comes to mind, but this certainly wasn't the Bolshoi! Tatiana had a well-choreographed cardio workout that put together a few moves in a million different ways, and introduced some moves that I'd never seen in the deep water before. The wildest was making a vertical "wave" with your body. Talk about a super core move! Also her accent was fun to hear, "Poosh, poosh! More intensive! With the heep!"

My second session was "It's Hip to Kneed to Know", given by Terri Mitchell, an aquatic physical therapist from Texas. It was all about the latest trends in hip and knee replacements, and there is some really amazing stuff! Minimally Invasive Surgery methods allow hip replacement through a smaller incision without cutting the muscles and tendons around the hip. Hip resurfacing conserves more bone (usually with younger patients) by replacing only the surfaces of the socket and the ball of the femur. Knee replacements are being done with less cutting of soft tissue. Partial knees can be done (again usually on younger people) if only one side of the joint is damaged. A rotating platform knee allows the user to kneel and squat after recovery. Computer-assisted surgery can align the new joint with GPS-like accuracy. And all of this means less anesthesia time, less recovery time on heavy meds, quicker return to normal life. (And faster return to water aerobics class!)

Terri says that with a Tegaderm dressing sealing off the wound, she treats patients in her theraputic pool as soon as 2 days after surgery! She gave us a lot of suggestions for movement to help joint replacement members of our classes after they have finished physical therapy to help them continue and maintain their recovery. Terri also told us about a really super web site called Edheads. It takes the "ick" factor out of explaining some surgeries by using cartoon graphics, and is a great way to help kids and the squeamish understand what goes on. The link takes you to the knee replacement--try it!

The afternoon thundershowers moved in and clobbered one of my afternoon sessions. In my wanderings, though, I watched a really good class that somehow was timed to perfectly fit between bouts of thunder--Craig Ferguson, Mr. Hydrofit's class Deep to Shallow Integrations. What I caught was the shallow part, a super single-buoy routine that had people not only pumping some serious foam in the water, but used the buoy for leg massage and in the air for recovery between intervals.

Last in my day was an intentional dry land workshop called Feel the Water, taught by the Italian live wire Silvia Senati. It was an hour and a half (whew!) of taking land moves and converting them to water moves and then using the best method to display them on the pool deck using low impact but high energy. Moving as if you were in water so that class members can copy you directly. It was fun to observe a group of recent Aqua Zumba graduates among the crowd. They all executed even the simplest moves as if they were dancing! Did they get inoculated with a dance virus as part of their training?

Want to learn Ai Chi? Win the book!

Ai Chi and Silver Sneakers

Today was the day I have been anticipating for months--the Ai Chi certification workshop. It was a big reason I wanted to come to IAFC this year because the workshop was to be given by both the originators--Jun Konno and Ruth Sova. The 10-second explanation of Ai Chi is that it is aquatic mindbody work that combines Asian principles of balance and harmony with movement and breathing to form a moving meditation with physical benefits for people in almost any condition. Much of the day was spent in the land session covering many aspects of the practice--the underlying ideas, the different populations and conditions it can serve, the reasons it helps relax and relieve stress.

The icing on the cake, of course, was the pool session. Ruth first took us through all the elements of the movement progression, with plenty of opportunity for repetition. Then she facilitated an "Ai Chi Journey" where she vocalized some of the thoughts one might have while we did the movements. Last in the pool was a silent Ai Chi progression led by Jun Konno, where not a word was spoken and we thought our own thoughts while following his movement on deck.

I apologize to Ruth for the less-than-ideal angle of the photo, but I wanted to waste as little pool time as possible taking pictures, and the bright sunlight made very little visible in the camera screen. I just had to snap and hope. During Konno's progression, I was so lost in the experience it never occurred to me to pick up the camera.


To my surprise, passing this Ai Chi certification means that I can be an Ai Chi trainer, and can teach other instructors as well as teach classes or use it one-on-one. This can happen with Ai Chi because Mr. Konno wants its benefits to spread, because there are a small defined number of moves, and because perfection in instruction or execution is not a goal. It is an extremely non-judgemental format. "How it happens today is how it is supposed to be." With repetition comes deeper understanding and increasing benefit.

The Ai Chi was plenty for one day, and I would have been content to ooze off at the end of it and melt into a puddle of calm in my room, but I had signed up for an early evening session about Silver Sneakers SilverSplash, the aquatic format from the Silver Sneakers franchise of exercise for older populations. There are land classes as well as aqua.

Silver Sneakers classes are acquired at an institutional level by health clubs or nonprofits that want to serve elders in this way. Anyone can participate, but seniors with certain Medicare health insurance plans get free memberships in Silver Sneakers institutions on the supposition that exercise decreases health care costs. MaryBeth Marotto, the instructor, said that participation in an exercise program like Silver Sneakers can reduce such costs by $2200 per person per year.

MaryBeth led a land session explaining a little about Silver Sneakers in general, and then the principles and basics of the water format. The workout might remind some people of Arthritis Foundation classes, although SS is more flexible and varied. Anchored movement is basic, but participants who want and need more challenge are welcome to add impact to their moves. Beyond a basic warmup/cardio/flexibility/balance/stretch outline, instructors are welcome to create their own combinations and progressions. The only equipment allowed is a proprietary kickboard-style foam board that can be used in various ways for resistance or balance assistance.

Alas, electrical storms once again cancelled evening pool sessions, so we did a sample workout indoors. This actually had some special benefits, because we got the feel of what it would be like teaching this class from the deck. The room was too dark for photography, but the kickboard link above gives you an idea of how it is used and what it looks like. Although I'm not likely to work with an SS program, this certainly gave us plenty of ideas to take home.

Want the Ai Chi book? Enter the contest!

The Ptarmigan Has Landed and Registered

It was an uneventful but long couple of flights that got me here, tired, sweaty, and a bit crabby by the time I got to the Wyndham. [Note to self: Teaching two days of extra classes before sitting strapped to an airline seat for 8+ hours is not a very good idea. You might end up with a few stiff muscles.] I was assigned a room in a building at the furthest corner of the resort and for some reason had to schlep my own luggage to it. (Good thing I work out, isn't it?) Ever since I walked into reception, they were crowing about how I was going to get free wifi with my room. Except when I turn my laptop on, there was no net at all. A call to reception revealed that the wifi is only in the main buildings. I had to schlep to reception to get an ethernet cable. I schlep. When I get there, they have no more cables, sorry, try tomorrow morning after some people check out. Pondering the long useless trek back to my room, I requested a change to something that was a little closer to the main activity area. Duly granted, but I would have to schlep back to the old room and schlep the luggage myself to the new room. This is a grand total of a lot of schlepping in what feels to me like a sauna.  Nonetheless, I did it, and although the new room had its own disappointments, it had a mini-fridge and actual wireless, cable-less true blue wifi service, apparently due to its proximity to the main buildings. YAAAAAAY!!

Monday morning I slept in enough to get myself pretty close to the local time zone. I had a ramble to find a store and provision the fridge, a decent lunch, and then it was time to register. At registration, I met someone who recognized me from the plane flights--a fellow Alaskan!!

It's Paige Dilley, the director of the Mat-Su Borough pool in Palmer! What a treat to find a fellow Alaskan here! This is Paige's first time here. Besides lots of the regular workshops, she's here to get certified for Aqua Zumba. Look out in the Valley--Aqua Zumba is coming to a pool near you!

When I came the first time, in '09, there was a conspicuous lack of swag. You know, the souvenirs stamped with various sponsor logos to help you get through the conference and take home to remember your experience forever after. Expecting this in '09, I intentionally didn't bother bringing a tote bag, certain that there would be one in the offing. I ended up having to buy one in a tourist shop so I could carry my stuff from pool to workshop and back again. This time, it's a completely different story! Lookee here:

Bag-o-rama from this year's swag! I count at least 4. Holy moley. Maybe we will have some of these in the lucky prize drawing.

This evening, for the first time ever, there was a Monday extravaganza show. Presenters got together in groups representing their countries and led a choreographed water dance representing their origin. Alas, only the very first number took place in the water, a synchro swim routine by Dr Jane Katz. Take a look at who she is here. Take time to see the video at the bottom of the page.

Unfortunately, lightning was beginning to dance in the sky, so the whole show decamped to an indoor room for the rest of the event. The performing groups did their thing on a stage, and participants were invited up to pretend they were in the water in front of it. There then ensued amazing and wonderful numbers that showed that you can take water moves and do any kind of dancing in the pool. There was tap dancing, Russian dancing, Turkish belly dance, Italian, Brazilian, Dutch, Israeli...it was all incredible and a great demonstration that with imagination, you can translate almost any kind of movement to the water.

My indoor pictures didn't turn out really great, but this group, the Spectacular 7-1 from America has several AEA workshop presenters that Alaskans will recognize:

They are, not necessarily in order, Sandy Stoub, Pauline Ivens, Teri Mitchell, MaryBeth Morotto, Connie Jasinkas, and Lori Sherlock. Puttin' on the Ritz.

Here's the entire cast, not all of whom would fit in the frame, but it gives you an idea of the size and variety of the show:

At dinner I met a two teachers from Bainbridge, WA who do some of their classes in a waterpark-type river. They've worked out routines going with and against the current. Great cardio, they say. I got their contact info for you, Linda St. They want to visit river pools all over the country and might come to Alaska!

Contest

When packing for my trip, I discovered that I have an extra copy of the book about Ai Chi:

I don't need both, so let's have a lucky drawing for the extra one.  Here's what we'll do--any time between now and my return to Alaska on May 20, you send one (1) email to wet dot ptarmigan at gmail dot com (replacing the punctuation words with actual punctuation) and put Ai Chi Book in the subject line. On May 21, with the help of my trusty random number generator, I will select one from the thousands of entries and email the lucky winner to find out where to send the book. OK? OK!

Welcome

Welcome to my blog of the 2012 AEA (Aquatic Exercise Association) IAFC (International Aquatic Fitness Conference).

I'm going to Orlando, Florida to participate in a wonderful splashfest. I attended one previous conference, 2009 and decided to blog it after many requests from colleagues at home to "tell us everything you learn". My memory is full. There was no way I could remember it all well enough to bring everything home, so a daily blog seemed like the best way to help settle the new information in my bulging brain, communicate it to the interested, and vicariously bring everybody along for the ride.

This time--same deal. I found the blogging was a superb addition to the conference experience. It was worth missing some sleep to be able to consolidate my experience and create a permanent record of it. I can hardly wait. I hope you're excited, too.