Holistic Health on display at Australian Fitness Expo

The Australian Fitness & Health Expo will present a number of different approaches to the concept of being 'fit'.

According to Expo presenter Michelle Bridges while exercise is incredibly important, the move towards holistic fitness is taking a front line seat in the industry.

Bridges believes that "diets are out (and) simple, personalised meal plans combined with fun exercise is in.

The Biggest Loser presenter adds "forcing yourself to exercise is over, enjoying exercise and making it a regular, fun part of your life is what it's all about. And there are plenty of new fun fitness options hitting the market.

"Only thinking about your weight is done and dusted, it's now about giving consideration to all aspects of yourself and understanding how your day-to-day emotional stability and stress levels play into the picture and can be directly and positively affected by how much you move and what you eat."

An example of this new approach can be seen in the new Personal Wellness Diary, a journal focusing on emotion and physical wellbeing.

Created by two Melbourne personal trainers/mothers, Linda Morrison and Meg Campbell, the diary considers areas such as stress levels, sleep patterns, what you're eating and what you're doing while you're eating. The diary helps to show people the links between, for example, poor nutrition and stress levels.

Nutritionist Matt O'Neill is another advocate of taking a 'life improvement' view of nutrition and exercise. O'Neill has created personalised meal plans to get people's metabolism back on track through his Metabolic Jumpstart program and states "it's not about busting yourself at the gym anymore out of guilt or because you feel like you have to.

"People are starting to realise they can feel so much better every day by making some small changes in their lives in terms of nutrition and exercise – and there are more and more options available to simplify both the exercise and eating components - you can see by what's on show at the Expo - so you can actually find something you like and will enjoy."

Sonja Falvo, who has created Nutrition Complete, a system that allows Personal Trainers to provide nutrition support and meal planning to clients, knows firsthand the dangers of focusing only on one component of the complete fitness picture and is setting out to change the barriers faced in the personal training industry when it comes to giving people all the help they need.

Falvo explains "I had a bike accident and ended up with a crush fracture in my spine which I later found out was due to having borderline osteoporosis at just 32 - this was determined to be a result of dieting for ten years when I was younger.

"It was then that I set out to do something about the lack of knowledge and accessibility to nutrition information and educate people on healthy living versus simply dieting.

"Personal trainers are in a difficult position because their qualifications mean they can only give very general guidelines to people about nutrition. Many cross the line and provide meal plans in an attempt to assist their clients but, legally, this can pose problems and puts PTs at risk. That's why we're trying to change things and give PTs more power when it comes to advising clients on the complete fitness picture."

Technogym, leading equipment suppliers in the industry, have also realised the importance of tapping into the key elements that motivate people to exercise and what it means to an individual to be 'fit'.

They have created a new 'Aspiration Map' tool - the first-ever scientific online questionnaire (24 questions) developed with the IULM University of Milan that in less than three minutes will assess a person's aspirations and motivations to exercise. This then allows gyms, personal trainers and other providers to offer products and services the focus on what is really important to the user so they are more likely to make fitness a permanent part of their life.

The Australian Fitness & Health Expo is open only to those working in the fitness/health industry on Friday 15th April, with general and trade admission on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th April.

Open from 10am to 6pm on Friday and 9.30am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday, entry to the Australian Fitness & Health Expo is free via pre-registration online.

For more information go to www.fitnessexpo.com.au 

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