The second LA Fitness annual convention – a day packed with workshops, lectures, fitness classes and education training sessions – took place at the BBC Sports Centre last month.

Designed primarily for LA Fitness staff, the convention featured classes run by internationally-acclaimed presenters, the final of the LA Fitness Annual Fitness Challenge for club members and the LA Fitness Presenter of the Year Award.

According to LA Fitness group trainer Ros Saunderson, the sessions touched on every aspect of fitness and attendance at each event showed emerging trends. “A huge amount of interest is turning towards mind body therapies such as tai chi and pilates, while instructors find pre-choreographed classes easy to learn and adapt,” said Saunderson.

New to the UK, Australian fitness presenters Steve Schiemer and Rebecca Small used the convention to introduce the Flexi-Bar – a piece of core stability training equipment in the shape of a garden cane with rubber weights in the middle and at both ends.

Developed by a German physiotherapist, the Flexi-Bar is shaken until momentum takes over and continues to vibrate. Dean Hodgkin, the fitness director at Ragdale Hall Health Hydro, has already incorporated Flexi-Bar into his classes. Hodgkin says regular use of the equipment will improve overall posture and lead to longer looking limbs by targeting deep, stabilising postural muscles, increasing their strength and promoting blood flow.