Most New Zealanders are familiar with the Les Mills chain of gyms but did you know that the same Kiwi brand is also behind some of the world’s most popular workouts?
Health club attendance is now the biggest adult “sport” in the Western world – bigger than football, tennis and golf combined – and Les Mills is leading the way when it comes to providing group exercise programs to this important market.
Every week an estimated 5 million people work out to LES MILLS™ Group Fitness Programs in more than 12,000 clubs globally and they’re all developed right here in Aotearoa. The programs are found in Gold’s Gyms throughout the USA, have featured on MTV in the Netherlands and have just launched in India, Egypt and Turkey.
It all started back in 1968 when namesake “Les Mills” – an Olympic and Commonwealth Games athlete who went on to become Mayor of Auckland – opened his first gym in the city.
Two decades later, Les Mills’ son – Phillip Mills – discovered group exercise-to-music classes while studying in America and, inspired by their potential, introduced the concept to the family gym back home.
Phillip’s instinctive belief that gym-goers would love the combination of uplifting music, inspiring instructors and high-energy moves was spot-on, and the revolutionary BODYPUMP™ became instantly popular in New Zealand, before taking off in Australia in 1995, and the rest of the world from 1997.
There are now eight programs on offer from Les Mills: BODYATTACK™ (high-energy cardio), BODYBALANCE™/BODYFLOW® (Yoga, Tai Chi, and Pilates), BODYCOMBAT™ (Martial Arts), BODYJAM™ (dance cardio), BODYPUMP™ (weights) BODYSTEP™ (step aerobics), BODYVIVE™ (low intensity cardio and resistance training) and RPM™ (indoor cycling).
The programs are updated every three months with new licensed music and choreography and distributed on DVD to more than 60,000 trained and certified instructors.
Today, Les Mills has turned group exercise into a profit center for health and fitness clubs around the world. Members get a world-class fitness experience that is simple for clubs to manage thanks to a comprehensive group fitness system that includes:
1) LES MILLS™ Group Fitness Programs
2) Instructor Training and Development
3) Group Fitness Management (GFM) System
4) Les Mills’ Marketing.