Top 5 Personal Trainer Conferences

The fitness industry is always changing. It can be difficult to keep up with all the new developments in the industry. However, as a personal trainer, it is important to stay up-to-date. You want to have your pulse on the industry. After all, you are the expert that your clients and potential clients look to. A great way to stay up to date on the latest happenings is to periodically attend a personal trainer conference or other fitness professional conference. These conferences are also great opportunities to network in your industry. Additionally, you can learn about and dive into new fitness niches. Yet another benefit, is that you can obtain CEUs (Continuing Education Units) or CECs (Continuing Education Credits). We have covered the benefits of attending a personal training expo in another post. So, let’s dive into the top 5 personal trainer conferences that we recommend attending.

Conference Selection Methodology

We have chosen our top 5 based on how beneficial we feel these conferences are to fitness professionals. This is based on factors like how valuable the educational sessions are at the conference. Also important are the types of attendees and the benefits for conference attendees. Of course, there are numerous other fitness conferences that don’t specifically target personal trainers. However, the 5 below are the ones that we have found most beneficial to fitness professionals.

1) Functional Aging Summit

• Event: Functional Aging Summit
• When: June 3 – 4, 2022
• Where: Denver, Colorado
• Promo codes: FITSW25 will get you 25% off your summit ticket

The Functional Aging Summit is our favorite personal trainer conference because of its strong educational focus. This summit focuses on serving fitness professionals interested in growing a business focused on fitness for aging clientele. If you are a personal trainer, you already know aging clientele is a huge segment of your potential clients. The majority of personal training clients do not want to be fitness stage competitors. They want to age healthy, look generally fit, and stay fit enough to be physically able as they age. That is what functional aging is all about.

The Functional Aging Summit has numerous top-notch speakers covering all sorts of topics relevant to personal trainers. You can listen to a variety of talks, from “Fitness Program Design for the 55+ Client” to “Habit-Change Programs for Revenue and Retention”. The FAI Summit has become known for launching new businesses along with revamping and recharging businesses. Additionally, it is known for inspiring a whole new wave of trainers.  Attendees and presenters include numerous fitness entrepreneurs that have launched training studio chains and innovative fitness products. Highly credentialed researchers often present the latest fitness research relating to fitness and personal training.

You can also get continuing education credit from the wealth of knowledge you gain from attending. The Functional Aging Summit is an ACSM-approved provider of 14 CEUS. Additionally, it is an ACE approved provided for 1.1 CECs, and a NASM approved provided for 1.3 CECs.

2) ACSM International Health & Fitness Summit

• Event: ACSM International Health & Fitness Summit
• When: March 16 – 19, 2023
• Where: Arlington, Virginia

This event is put on by the American College of Sports Medicine. It is meant to provide you with a 360-degree view of exercise science. You can learn from fitness experts, connect with fellow fitness professionals, and earn continuing education credits. This is a fantastic event where you can see how to apply the latest in science-based fitness to enhance your career.

3) IDEA World

• Event: IDEA World
• When: July 20 – 24 2022
• Where: Las Vegas, Nevada

This personal trainer conference is there to provide fitness professionals with the skills they need to build a limitless career. At IDEA World you can discover the latest trends in program design and group fitness class formats. You can also learn more about marketing your business, and behavior change plans that will stick. This is a four-day event that is big and jam-packed with people to meet and things to see. This event can almost feel too big or overwhelming if it is your first conference because there are so many people and things going on.

4) IHRSA

• Name: IHRSA
• When: June 22 – 24 2022
• Where: Miami Beach, Florida

IHRSA is the International Health, Racquet, and Sports Association and it is a global organization for clubs and studios. The IHRSA conference will bring together this global community and industry partners. It is the perfect opportunity to connect with fitness industry leaders and discover new innovations in the fitness industry. This event also has a lot going on. However, it does seem to skew a little bit more towards big box gyms than other conferences we have attended.

5) The Arnold Sports Festival

• Event: The Arnold Sports Festival
• When: March 2 – 5 2023
• Where: Columbus, Ohio

This event is not specifically a personal trainer conference and that is why it’s last on our list. However, it does have a huge fitness expo that can be a great way to see what’s new and innovative in the fitness industry. It’s also a great way to connect with other people in the fitness industry (not necessarily just personal trainers).

This event is named after Arnold Schwarzenegger and it includes sports competitions and body-building contests. Additionally, there are martial arts displays, boxing, dance, Olympic sports, weightlifting competitions, and more. It is a huge event! There are also some educational sessions for fitness professionals as well. It’s a fun event with lots to do no matter what your interests are.

Conclusion

There you have it. These are our favorite conferences that we believe fitness professionals get the most benefit from. There are a lot of people out there to network with, a lot of new technologies to see, and a lot of research to stay up to date on. These fitness conferences can help you do all three in a relatively short amount of time. This can leave you feeling reinvigorated, renewed, and excited for the future.