Les Mills: a revolution from the other side of the world
With over 15,000 affiliated clubs in more than 80 countries, the success of the New Zealand method is dazzling. Its history began with Olympic athlete Leslie Mills, who opened his first sports club with his wife Colleen in 1968. It was Philip Mills, Les and Colleen’s son, who provided the impetus for the company’s international career from the 1980s onwards.
With the Body Pump, Les Mills is taking off. This muscle-strengthening method introduced one of the company’s flagship concepts, namely exercises set to music with a pre-choreographed framework. In just a few years, Pump’s reputation spread beyond New Zealand and propelled Les Mills onto the international fitness scene. New exercise series transformed the trial: the Body Attack (a cardio method inspired by various martial arts and aerobics), Body Balance and Body Step entered the Les Mills galaxy and played a major part in its reputation. As the years went by, new classes and events to the company’s glory followed, revealing the particular philosophy that Les Mills wanted to convey through its method.
Taking part in classes at Les Mills clubs is in fact a taste of a rather unique atmosphere full of effervescence: choreography led at breakneck rhythms by ultra-enthusiastic instructors, efforts shared with a group doped up on endorphins… You sweat, you drool, you let off steam, with the certainty of waging an effective battle against excess kilos and softened abs. The Les Mills lifestyle is all about effort through pleasure (also known as ‘exer-tainment’), refusing to be sedentary, and wanting to prepare for a better future… To sculpt your body and achieve your physical ideal.
Les Mills: effective group fitness marketing!
An ever-increasing number of cardio, muscle-building and stretching methods, built around a tried and tested method, new instructors trained daily, a fitness clothing franchise, exercise videos for practising at home… Les Mills marketing is in full swing, fuelled by the media, but also by word-of-mouth. The company’s first salespeople are its admirers, who sometimes travel thousands of kilometres to attend the spectacular events organised by the brand.
Every day, new clubs are converted, if not to the philosophy, at least to the potential profits that are inevitably linked to Les Mills. To win them over, the company has a wide range of resources at its disposal: sales seminars, advertising campaigns, initial and ongoing training sessions – in short, everything you need to win the loyalty of gym managers. And it has to be said that many sports clubs are being tempted, and are benefiting from the reputation of the global brand…
A method that also generates its detractors…
Les Mills can also be a source of irritation in the fitness world. What some people don’t like is the sheer size of the Les Mills ‘machine’. It’s a veritable steamroller, whose success has been built up step by step over just over 30 years, leaving little room for competing concepts.
But the other argument often put forward by the defenders of another type of fitness (whether paleo-fitness or ‘grit’-type muscle-building methods) is the danger that Les Mills members can sometimes run. By trying to standardise the exercises, choreography and rhythms, isn’t there a risk of the method moving away from the individual notion that is essential to all training? According to the “anti-Les Mills”, many of the exercises are not recommended for all amateur sportspeople, even if the discourse of its representatives advocates above all the democratisation, even globalisation, of physical effort.
For example, starting a Body Combat class without any preparation can be exhausting both for the body and for motivation. Les Mills training courses are run at an accelerated pace in order to be cost-effective: while sports coaches naturally benefit from solid initial training, it can be difficult to integrate an entire training method so quickly. In addition to the training sessions offered to new instructors, Les Mills creates new choreographies every quarter which may seem to leave little room for spontaneity on the part of instructors, and may not allow them to adapt the content of their sessions to their subscriber audience. Critics will say that Les Mills seems to favour fitness instructors who can faithfully reproduce a series of exercises… even if it means that some students may feel a little overwhelmed.
So is the Les Mills method just a marketing feat? Despite the criticism it has received, many fitness enthusiasts recognise its formidable effectiveness… For those who have managed to keep their motivation intact, the results are there for all to see, and Les Mills afficionados particularly appreciate the high-energy atmosphere of these classes set to the latest music hits!
