Ms. Cranky Pants Needs to Move It Move It!

The night goes too fast. The morning comes too early. And these are Vegas nights and mornings, so I think you know how that goes. The in-between part when you're supposed to cool your heels with Mr. Sand Man somehow evaporates into the desert night.

Big Yawn. Stretch. Neck roll. Crack the knuckles and poise fingers over keyboard. Shaking my head with that familiar Day 3 feeling. Where in the blue blazes is my Visine?

Today is generally the day of the conference when I start to feel pent up and frustrated because I haven't been able to exercise for a couple of days. I'm a hopeless junkie for a good daily workout of some sort--I don't care if it's 6 hours in my garden spreading compost--I just need to move and sweat or I get cranky. Spectating here is a form of torture for me. I mean, yeah, it's great to see all the attendees having such fun...after all, that's the end goal for the IDEA staff. I'm really just completely envious that everyone gets to do 5 workouts a day if they choose to. It's a tradition for me to say this every year, so I'll say it now: Some day I will return to this convention as a spectator and overdose on movement. Those will be fine days, indeed.

Meantime, I did cover quite a bit of ground today. I got up and checked the website for the most recent posts, uploaded some more video and then jammed over to catch a few sessions in the 8:05 timeblock. Here's a quick slice of my day.

• Shannon Fable was showing off some great moves with the kettlebell in her "Core off the Floor" session. IDEA taped this session and has it posted as recorded streaming video, so if you couldn't make it to the conference, the session or just want to review what you learned, check it out. I'll also be posting video of the kettlebells stuff. Note that we also have Nicki Anderson's session "Helping Clients Move Beyond Diets and Into Health" from today posted as a bonus session as well.
• Pete Twist was "on" as usual. His dry witted delivery turns every session he does into pure "edutainment." I was videoing some great explosive plyo progressions for the blog and pretty much ruined the footage because I was laughing into the camera as he improvised and riffed away. (Okay, I actually managed to salvage some video, if you want to see it). Sometimes I wonder if he even knows how funny he is. Laugh while you learn. Is there any better way?
• Chuck Wolf wouldn't be Chuck Wolf without the infamously creepy rubber foam foot model he carries everywhere. I think that foot has more frequent flyer miles than I do. (I find it ironic that the foot either flies or gets carried everywhere it goes. Why doesn't it walk?). Of course, it was the perfect teaching prop for his "Assessment and Reaction-Foot Function" session. Note to self: Take up a collection to buy Chuck a new foot, as he is currently using a toothpick to hold the big toe in place. Looks painful.
• IDEA Personal Trainer Committee meeting was stimulating and rich with ideas, as usual. Shout out to all committee members: You guys are brilliant! Thanks for everything! 
• Imagine my surprise when I walked into the "Dynamic Sport Warm-Up for Strength and Power" session this afternoon expecting to see Mr. Manic himself--Douglas Brooks--hopping around and rapping out tempos only to see Candice Brooks filling in for Douglas as he crutched around the stage. Motocross accident, I heard. I think he was feeling the frustration I described above of not being able to move with the rest of the group. 
• IDEA author and first-time presenter Tom Terwilliger amped up a room of personal trainers into dreaming big dreams and taught them techniques for attaining those dreams and goals in "Keys to an Achieveable Outcome." "You can have all the tools on the outside, but if you don't have the inner game--any leak in that tool box--you're going to struggle," he said.
• Another first-time presenter, Jonathan Ross (2008 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year finalist) was torturing delegates in "Off Center Ball Training" using a Ballast Ball. I'll post video on this soon so you can see a sampling of the plank progression he demonstrated. Good luck--it looks pretty demanding.

Speaking of planks...I think I'll hit the rack for a power nap before the Welcome Party tonight. Then again, I could do a Chalene DVD in my room to shake the Ms. Cranky Pants persona I have going on. Hmmm. Oh, the irony! Chalene is here teaching live, yet I have to resort to DVD to fit her in my schedule!