Rimini festival: a hot trip for trainers
For the trainers of the Estonian Aerobics Association, the Rimini festival was a business trip, a study camp and a proper summer holiday all in one. A 19-member Estonian delegation, led by Hedi Lepmets, traveled to the 15* Festival del Fitness in Rimini and came home with new ideas, new classes and plenty of impressions.
Why the Rimini festival was worth it for trainers
For the second year in a row, the Estonian Aerobics Association group set off for Italy in the first days of June. The goal was clear: an international fitness festival, the hot sand of the Adriatic beach and a chance to see where group training is heading around the world.
This year’s festival had an anniversary feel. For the 15th edition, the event was extended to ten days. That sounds long, but it quickly became clear on site that even 10 days isn’t enough to get to everything. Roughly every 15 minutes a new class started somewhere, and you would have wanted to either join in or at least watch.
Choosing was unavoidable. Otherwise you would have spent the whole time just running between the huge halls. So every trainer came back with their own impressions, memories and working material. Some picked up new step ideas, some recorded interesting combinations on video, and some got hooked on boxing or water training instead.
The Rimini festival in numbers and halls
The scale of the festival is best conveyed by numbers. The anniversary festival, running 6. 15. June, was expected to draw nearly 500,000 participants aged 15- 60. The whole event fit into an area of 80,000 m2, with 10 ultra-powerful halls and many smaller rooms and courtyards.
Over 350 different companies were represented. For all of this, a festival ticket cost just 22 euros. Frankly, at this scale it’s hard to find a better example of how training, expo, education and show can come together in one place.
The aerobics conventions, which the Estonian trainers also took part in, were held with a separate ticket. Among the huge selection, Nike, Crunch, Gatorade, Adidas, Life Fitness, JTB, Freddy, Cruisin and Reebok stood out. At the Reebok booth alone, for example, 130 different masterclasses were held over the festival’s 10 days, led by top trainers from around the world.
The classes really were taught by trainers from every corner of the world: Argentina, Germany, the USA and Brazil. It was a place where one hall could breathe to a Latin rhythm, another could work at a boxing tempo and a third could take participants to a whole new world by the pool.
Workouts that stuck in memory
By the end of the festival, our group had developed its own favorite trainers. Boriss Bazzani especially charmed us from the Gatorade stage with fantastic step classes and a radiant personality. It later emerged that Bazzani is a leading figure of the Italian Fitness Federation, a ballet choreographer, the creator of Italian innovative fitness programs and a yoga guru. No wonder the thought came up: perhaps the EAL could one day invite Bazzani to our own conventions at home, too.
So what was actually new? Spinning classes were still full of fanatical participants. There were also classes for indoor rowing and for walkers, known as indoor walking. There, everyone strolled along their own belt to cheerful music, with the trainer at the front keeping the rhythm.
Water spinning was no longer a big surprise, as it was already popular all over the world. What people were looking forward to, though, was step training in pool water, which was supposed to reach the best Estonian clubs soon too. It was probably the only thing we ended up not seeing.
Some classes simply made people raise their eyebrows. In one hall, a whole room of participants was pounding punching bags with odd sticks, in a class called kali shock. In the next hall, those same punching bags were being stabbed with swords. So from now on, there’s fencing in the aerobics hall too. In addition, the stability training classes used a new bow-shaped piece of equipment, all to develop the body in a more versatile way.
The STRIDE fitness program offered workouts from stretching to strength training with walking poles. Besides core-board training, you could also join classes with SPRING ENERGIE springy step benches. Fantastic experiences came from the capoeira classes, the interval classes with combined styles in Nike boxing, the step classes done with two step benches and the social dance aerobics that made the crowd roar with delight.
One of the most vivid pictures was an afro-step class with a live percussionist. Another was a water spinning class outdoors beside a sun-sparkling pool, where a Black trainer with long braids led the workout while drumming on African drums at the same time. You can’t read moments like that in a class schedule afterward. You have to see them.
What the Rimini festival gave an Estonian trainer
It’s not for nothing that this festival is called the world’s biggest gym or sports club. It isn’t just an exhibition, a display or a show. The festival’s strength is that anyone who wants to can join in, try out equipment and take part in a very wide range of ways to exercise.
Since 2003, the organizers have extended the festival to 10 days to fit the sharply growing number of interested visitors. The aim was to reach half a million fitness enthusiasts within a few years. Frankly, that doesn’t seem unrealistic at all, because the festival was substantial, packed and highly informative.
Every serious fitness person, whether a trainer, a competitor or a dedicated enthusiast, would benefit from visiting a place like this once a year. You see which classes draw people in, which equipment is coming up, and how the world’s top trainers get a packed room moving.
And of course, Rimini itself was more than just a backdrop for the festival. The little seaside town offered holiday fun, entertainment, shopping and relaxation. The group left Italy with heads full of new ideas for a whole new working year and suitcases packed with aerobics music albums, workout clothes and sneakers, gorgeous Italian bags and shoes, and gifts for loved ones. Our skin was sunburned brown. Everything you could want from a trip like this.
FAQ
Was the Rimini festival more of a trade fair or a training camp?
Both. There were companies, stages and exhibits on site, but the most important thing was the chance to take part in the classes yourself and try out new ways of training.
Why did Estonian trainers travel there?
The main reason was to gather fresh material. At a festival like this you see many new classes, coaching styles and pieces of equipment all at once, which you can later use in your own work in Estonia.
What stayed with you most from the trip?
The energy. Huge halls, the hot Italian weather, new workouts, and the feeling that group training is developing quickly and creatively.
I hope the heat wave and hot sun we lived through in Italy will keep warming our lovely travel group here in cool Estonia for a long time to come.
Best wishes to you all and a wonderful Midsummer!
See you at the new EAL summer aerobics events, and next year in Rimini with an even bigger group!
Board member of the Estonian Aerobics Federation, Eike Feigenbaum
Author: Board member of the Estonian Aerobics Federation, Eike Feigenbaum
Source: WHO – physical activity.
Come and work out! ArtGym
