Les Mills Kia Kaha : BODYCOMBAT®

Happy New Year!

rachaelcohen — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 18:15:00 GMT

Hey Guys…

Well…its 2007 and I could swear that it seems like seconds ago I was wishing you all a Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.

So much is planned this year and my calender is filling up quickly with trips all over to come and meet you lovely people… I know some of you have already got planned a trip down this way over the next 12 months…you should most definitely visit this amazing country once in your life…I am lucky to be here I know!!

I feel the need to remanice?? Nope..because I can't spell that word…well, you get the picture…think back on last year etc. It was a blinder..where Dan's and my suitcase stayed constantly open and ready to go on the floor. I think I actually forgot that I had other clothes to wear until I had more than 3 weeks back in NZ.

There were PLENTY of amazing workshop moments where I really can't put into words the feelings that run thorugh your veins…its more than incredible.

Ha ahaa aha there were also a fair few moments when Dan and I looked at each other and our fellow LMI colleauges and said…"I feel like a cold corona or a nice red!!!"

Nearly losing Susan T in a random taxi in the centre of Stockholm after the team took us all out on the town, and she decided she was ready for home (around oooh…let me see…5am!!) "Excuse me..are you looking for Susan?" haa haah haaa..

Gandalf's crazy flight schedules in France involving him losing his suitcase at least twice through super quick transfers…poor lad…ya just can't dance if ya aint got the right gears eh bro?!!

Dan 'Vaux' Cohen leading us all through many a hillarious buffallo court session..involving copious amounts of alcohol..(wer'e not big drinkers..honest) with his side kick Dan "Skelly" McDonna acting as The Bailiff. He did this very well…getting the ladies drunk!!!

I thought I was on a 'set up' show when Easy Jet the plane company decided to turn my day from good to horribly bad in Amsterdamn when they charged me faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar too much excess bagagge on a transfer flight ….you can imagine the rest if you have seen the television show…aherm!!! (…aside….maybe that’s where the Evasive Side Kick was created??)

Haa haaaa just remembered another one…Glen "Frodo" Ostergaard arriving at the Euro Summit Hotel in Lisbon at 01.00am and a few of us hiding out on level one to watch the receptionist check him in, and offer him "hobbit" food wrapped up in a napkin we took from the restaurant!! Haa haa haa.."Yes Mr Frodo..your room number is ### and here are your hobbit provisions from your fellow hobbits to get you through the night.."!!!!!

You know…you have to find time to take a moment and reflect on the good times…don't lose them…they for me, are my Peter Pan Happy thoughts that help me fly when I need an extra bit of Oooomph!!

Which by the way…right now I don’t!! That's because, surrounded by our closest friends G & Ginny, and Chris & Courtney on New Years Eve Dan (Vaux ) got down on one knee…(I'm filling up blummin writing this…knew this would happen)… at a place called "BUFFALLO BEACH" (how funny is that?!!) and asked me the big question…. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…

I said…(after crying of course, for what felt like to him hours!!) YES!!!

So there…ya can stop giggling n' gossiping cos ya heard it from the horses mouth…thanks to those of you who already sent me "little birdie told me" emails of congrats…your all very lovely…but I really need to stop crying so I can teach this Muay Thai track… haa haaa :-)

Seeya'll soon…

Somewhere…out there…

Rach 'Jet' Newsham..(yes decided whilst I still am, to use this name before it all goes!!)

VIDEO SIZZLERS

susanrenata — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 18:27:00 GMT

Everyone at Les Mills loves talking about the programs (sort of an obsession really!) So big thanks to our ‘bright ideas’ department (aka Marketing) for coming up with a way to get others talking about them too.

We’re now doing mini-interviews about each new class straight after DVD filming and putting them up on the website when the classes hit the clubs.

Check out these “Video Sizzlers” – they’re a great way to find out what is hot in each new release and put a face to the names of the program creators.

Sus.

FROM THE UK COALFACE

rachaelcohen — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 17:52:00 GMT

Don't mess the UK BEST!!

This is the UK BC Team in London, pre-BC29 masterclass.

Dan, me, Phil (with the crazy hair), Steve (Big Guns) and Dave (Dangerous Dave ai!)

We went Old School in the UK with a trip to Dagenham in London and Edinburgh to see what the Scots had going for them - and boy they showed good form!

It was a walk down memory lane for Dan and I. Last time we were there was BC21...

Yea...a lot has changed since those days (I can hear ya!) Dan has less hair, and he IS shorter than me...and well, I have the most bizarre accent EVER..cards on the table hey bro!!

Seriously, it was an honour to be with the UK Trainer Team again, getting our hands dirty on the road, with the coalface of BODYCOMBAT. Meeting instructors we have only ever spoken to on the email for 2 1/2 years, and putting faces to names. Thanks so much to all of you who managed to spend that time with us. We appreciate it more than you can imagine. NZ is a long way from home. x

Did I mention the fact that choclate tastes waaaaaaaaaaay better in the UK?

It was wicked - cant wait to come back and do it all again...

Just waiting for an invite I suppose...

"Does my face look bovvered??? "

English humour!!

R&D

Counting Down To The Big Day

Kylie Gates — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 21:23:00 GMT

Excitement levels are rising around Les Mills as we count down to filming the next round of masterclasses on Sunday, August 13. As always, the new releases are the climax of months of work by the Program Directors and their teams. The new classes are looking brilliant in last-minute trials and we’ve got two milestones to celebrate this time – BODYPUMP® 60 and BODYCOMBAT® 30.

Joining Glen and Susan on the BODYPUMP® presenter team will be Ute Wagner from Germany and the three “original” international presenters: Emma Barry, Steve Renata and Pete Manuel. Helping Dan and Rach celebrate BODYCOMBAT® 30 will be Kili Marti from the US training team. (Kili is also BODYJAM® Program Coach in the US and has been working with G on choreography for the new class.)

As with the 3/2006 Release, the new classes will all be filmed on one day so it’s gonna be huge!!!!

Kylie

10,000 Clubs

lisaosborne — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 12:03:00 GMT

Wow – we made it! As of last week, Les Mills is officially in more than ten thousand clubs in 63 different countries!!! What an amazing effort for a small company from a small country at the bottom of the world!!!! Huge credit also goes to our Les Mills agents, trainers and instructors around the world and it was great news to see new clubs in Spain pushing us over the 10K line to 10,011.

Congratulations to Cesar and Carmen and also to Jordi and Alejandra and the training and sales teams – and to everyone else in our amazing “global family.” All the agents are meeting for a conference in Spain next week so what a party that’s gonna be!!! And the work doesn't stop here, guys. Next target is to get to 25,000 clubs and be a top five global fitness brand by 2015. No pressure!!!

Lisa

Japanese Visit Konnichiwa!!!

rachaelcohen — Tue, 30 May 2006 23:36:00 GMT

Mr. Shirato Takuya is in town with instructors and club owners from all over Japan and it’s fab – I have had a natural facelift take place from smiling for all the photos we have had taken!!

After a BODYCOMBAT class on Monday afternoon, we all jumped up on stage and had 15+ cameras thrown at one poor guy to take 15 photos of us all on the Studio One Stage.

I persuaded them all to come back for the BODYJAM class that Chris Richardson and I team teach on a
Monday night – they loved it and had
a howl!!

I look forward to seeing them again next week when I travel to Japan to launch BODYJAM over there…BODYJAM is so hot right now!!!!

It’s hotter than WASABI!!!!!!

3/2006 Release - It's All Good

glenostergaard — Wed, 10 May 2006 16:15:00 GMT

No pressure – just the first time we have ever filmed all seven new classes on one day! And in a new studio!! And with the Les Mills New Zealand’s superquarterly going off on the same day!!! And with minor issues like having to carry 43 RPM bikes back and forth from their usual home!!!! And with this being my first class as BODYPUMP head choreo!*&^%$#@!!!!!!!!

The good news is that the 3/2006 Release filming just went off people! Studio One looked great. The presenters looked great. And best of all, the new classes are just fantastic. Watch out guys ‘cos these new classes are comin atcha and they are gonna blow you away with their energy and passion and unbelievable motivation.

Pictured here is the BODYPUMP presentation team of John and Peggy Cleland from Canada (these old friends of Les Mills were a delight to have in town and look great on the tape), yours truly and fellow kiwis Susan Tolj and Steven Renata.

Check out the pics of the other presenter teams.

Glen

Euro Passion On Show

dancohen — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 00:35:00 GMT

Just back from the Euro training summit in Berlin which was surely the most productive and “connected” we have ever done – truly a “life-changing fitness experience” and one that will have a ripple effect as trainers pass on the benefits to instructors at workshops and modules in their home countries.

For me, the journey to the summit started at a great workshop in Marseille where hundreds of instructors from around France and Belgium had come together. The next chapter took me to Paris where trainers Monica and Alex showed me the true passion of club members doing our classes (Man, you guys are hard-core over there!)

Then came the climax in Berlin, with 120 of the world’s best trainers focused on honing their teaching skills with help from Steve Renata, Kylie Gates, Dan McDonogh, Lisa Osborne, Gandalf Archer, Maureen Baker and yours truly.
Four days of hard graft, honest self-assessments and peer reviews (and a little wine during the very social down-time.)

To those who I met along the way thank you for your friendship and support. To everyone else: Kia Kaha!

Dan

Record Breaking IHRSA

emmabarry — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 04:49:00 GMT

The IHRSA25 convention in Las Vegas was the usual sensory implosion of business shifting from stocks to frocks and back again in the flick of a neon sign for four days solid. In its 25th year IHRSA broke every record: more people, more countries, more sessions and a combined attendance at the Las Vegas Convention Center in excess of 14000 people!

Without a doubt this was also the greatest IHRSA yet for Les Mills.

Over 300 people rocked to the rhythm of our morning classes with a record breaking 140 enthusiasts hitting a high with BODYATTACK™ – nothing, but nothing could contain the energy in the room. BODYCOMBAT™ and BODYFLOW™ also had knockout turnouts.

The booth team of Brent and Michelle, Josef, Lee and me was strongly supported by Joella (Mid-West), Kim (South East), Erin, Victor and Lynn (Mid Atlantic) and regularly frequented by the big guns of the industry. Never a dull moment and the undisputed place to hang out!

Non-stop program demos defined the 16 booth hours and saw a constant flow of admirers through. All in all a darned good show or to put it in business-speak: “the resource was operating at full capacity”

Convention highlights: hearing Deepak Chopra, Bill Clinton and Lance Armstrong speak AND watching Joella fall off the stage.

More pics here

A Day At The Beach

jackiemills — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 04:09:00 GMT

Finishing a new round of classes is a big relief for the Les Mills program directors – and a great excuse for a quarterly get-together and wind-down. So on completion of the 2/2006 Release off we went for a day of swimming, picnicking, walking and frisbee-ing at spectacular Piha beach near Auckland. This is one of the most beautiful spots in reach of the city and where Phillip’s dad, Les, has a lovely beach house - our base camp for the day.

Aside from yours truly and Phillip, the picnickers were BODYJAM ‘G’ with partner Ginny (and schnoodle Bentley); RPM (and BODYPUMP) Glen and Sarah; BODYSTEP Mark with daughter Kaylah-Blayr; BODYATTACK Lisa with Pita and son Jackson and BODYCOMBAT Dan and Rach – a full team except for RPM Dan who was off winning a bike race at Coromandel (see his posts below).

A great day out in a fabulous setting and a fitting celebration for another Les Mills release!!!!

In the photo above there's (left to right) Glen, Sarah, Rachael, Jackie, Jackson, Pita, Lisa, Phillip, Ginny, Mark, Bentley, Gandalf. More pics here.

USA Quarterly Workshops

Steve Renata — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 05:05:00 GMT

Kia Ora USA! Awesome quarterlies last weekend in Fort Worth and Baltimore and more to come this Saturday with a huge day lined up at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. It’s the first-ever quarterly run by the new Les Mills South East team and I’ll be there for the action, along with Les Mills master trainers Susan Tolj, Kylie Gates and “rockstars” from the US national training team.

Look out for great new classes and education sessions that’ll help you pack classes at your gym. And check out the great range of branded clothing our new US supplier is bringing to the gig.

As the saying goes, you’re either in or in the way! Don’t miss out. Lets get together in Orlando and turn it up!

Stay pumped.

2/2006 Release Filming

Steve Renata — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 09:04:00 GMT

Filming the 2/2006 Release happens soon and topping the list of highlights has to be BODYPUMP 58. A massive chapter in Les Mills history ends with this final release from the BODYPUMP guru Mike McSweeney and helping to celebrate Mike’s huge contribution to Les Mills will be a presenter "A team" of Alani Mala, Shaun Egan and Susan Tolj. If you want to book a barbell, turn up early - this release will be going off!

Meanwhile, joint RPM Program Directors Dan and Glen have put together a release that will have participants flocking to your studio. Arthur (the Flying Dutchman) Riker is coming along for the ride so watch out for an action packed delivery of coaching concepts and an awesome cycling experience.

Rumour has it the other new classes are also among the best ever from Les Mills and that’s great news for the big group of Frenchmen who’ll be in town for the fun. More than 60 are heading south for the week so watch out for them on the next round of DVDs. Fortunately, we'll have some Brazilians and Canadians joining the visiting party to keep the excitement level under control (just joking guys!).

Here's the filming dates for anyone else who happens to be in town (Auckland, that is) and wants to join the demo classes at the Les Mills gym.

Tuesday 7th February - BODYCOMBAT 28 @ 5:10PM
Tuesday 7th February - BODYBALANCE 33 @ 7:10PM
Wednesday 8th February - RPM 30 @ 2:30PM (by invitation only due to limited bike numbers)
Wednesday 8th February - BODYPUMP 58 @ 7:10PM
Wednesday 8th February - BODYSTEP 64 @ 8:30PM
Monday 13th February - BODYJAM 37 @ 5:10PM
Monday 13th February - BODYATTACK 53 @ 6:10PM

Long Beach Gang

rachaelcohen — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 14:47:00 GMT

California..no doubt about it..!!

Long Beach was the venue for our latest quarterly, and we lapped up the LA lifestyle...work hard/play hard..

The day ran from the crack of dawn, until 6.30pm..yet it felt like we had only been there a short time. People flew in from all over the states, some gorgeous gals all the way from Austin,Texas, also a couple all the way from Ottawa in Canada..(think they came to thaw out??)...in fact too many places to recall..we went the distance of the day and , the obligatory beers afterwards..(this was really hard to do of course! :-)

So, a flight or two later and here I am in Austin Texas - yeeeeeeeeeeeha!!!

The BODYJAM module is packed..and the gym that is hosting us , Golds at Round Rock have had a very well entertained free weights area for the past couple of days let me tell ya!! We make no bones about having a good time in BODYJAM..

QW workshop on Sunday and I'm really looking forward to seeing the guys, I met, back in June and August QW...only it was much warmer back then...random weather here right now..

Here's a quick piccie from Long Beach.. that's me (front and centre as usual) with Emma next to me and Steve, Rodney, Karen, Heidi, Stephan and Joella.

PS. Em and I did not have a chat about becoming pink ladies, honest ;-)

Catch up with ya soon..

Rach

US Quarterly Workshop Update

rachaelcohen — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 01:09:00 GMT

Hiawatha say's...its cold up here people!! No wonder Minneapolis has 7 miles of shopping 'skyways'. They connect every building that has shopping type shops in it, for us mere humans not built for the cold!!

Yup, that will be the Brit complaining about the cold again...Hello, its me..up here in northern mid west of America, Minneapolis!!! Preparing for the QW workshop this weekend - and quite frankly re-aligning my personal thermostat to suit the demands placed on it over here...

What is making me laugh though, is the fact that if and when it gets this cold in the UK, the nation goes into shut down...haa haaa, trains and cars and all that kind of stuff breaks down. NB. The Scottish of course are a 'wee' bit more conditioned so they tend to carry on.

However as I now live in the land of the long white cloud, Aotearoa, I have not been subject to such cold conditions, other than a visit or two to the local tourist attraction, 'Minus 5', where the bar is made of ice, and everything inside it is frozen, apart from the vodka!!!

So, what's new...well a whole group of BODYJAMMERS is what's new, in and around the Wisconsin area!!! Myself and Brooke (LMNA BJ Trainer) just trained up a fantastic group of instructors in our latest addition, BODYJAM!!

We had such a good time with these guys, too many to name you all:-) I have to say, that I had some really cool people walk in the door intrigued by our new dance sensation class, and dance their way back out (literally) days later..to the latest tunes on our radio stations..

So much so, that a couple of the ladies just emailed me: on their drive back home, the music from the course was actually following them all the way home on the radio!! To the point, they actually tried to eject what they thought was their CD..when it actually wasn't!!!

After Minneapolis, our next stop is Portland, Oregon...maybe we'll see ya there..

Visiting For The Filming

Josef Mathews — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 19:03:00 GMT

Kia Ora,

Just a quick line to share my great experience I just had in Auckland. I left rainy Orange County, California two weeks ago for my twelve-hour flight to the heart of Les Mills. Having a bunch of butterflies flying around in my belly, I must say that it has been worth every nervous second.

I have had a great time filming the latest releases of BODYCOMBAT 27 with Dan and Rach and BODYBALANCE/FLOW 32 with Jackie, Anita and Dave. It has been really fun to see how things work behind the scenes for filming the DVDs filming and also be a part of the two presenter teams. A definite bonus has been to hook up again with a big part of the Baypoint Gang - the original Les Mills North America 2005 re-launch team of Alani, Bevan, Susan and Steve. I have also been lucky with the weather having lots of sunshine, which I understand is a rarity here in NZ ;-)

Heading back to the US tomorrow. I’m going to miss everyone over here but I am looking forward to rejoining the US training team for the new quarterly workshop round. Here’s a picture of Dan and I in the reception at Les Mills International.

Josef.