Les Mills Kia Kaha : BODYSTEP®

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.

Hi there steppers and attackers!

lisaosborne — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 19:09:00 GMT

As Jackie says, the new classes are all finished and I can’t wait for you to see them (here’s the BODYATTACK 55 filming team of me, Will, Bevan and Ute). Filming the new releases is always a highlight but then it all starts again and we’re already working on the 1/2007 classes for filming in November. BODYATTACK 56 is looking good and Mark and I have some great ideas for BODYSTEP 67. Meanwhile, all the program directors are traveling a lot and many of us will be going to Portugal for the Euro-training summit and Chicago for the first-ever North American training summit in the next few weeks. Then it’s back to Auckland to prepare for filming and more travel in November - Mark Sinclair and I are going to Brazil for quarterly workshops and that will be a blast, as always.

Love,
Lis

Ps – forgot to mention another little project I’m working on which is getting ready for a half marathon in October. Doing aerobics is great for your fitness but running is a different kettle of fish and this training is hard work, people!!

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

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

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.

Orlando Quartely Workshop

susanrenata — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 06:02:00 GMT

Hi everyone from Tampa, Florida! Just finished the Orlando Quarterly and it was a real blast. Everyone put in a huge effort with some staff members working through the night so the show could begin at 8.00am. Total Commitment.

The venue was fantastic and team performances through the day were outstanding both from national and international presenters. We have had great instructor feedback about the value of the education sessions also which covered latest techniques, coaching cues and the big hit of the day "The NEW 5 KEY ELEMENTS"
(Go Kylie).

Thanks to those instructors who came and soaked up the classes, great music and exciting choreography. It was great to meet many of you and share our stories.

Now we head North to ATLANTA for the quarterly on Saturday and we (Kylie, Steve R, and I) are really excited.

Come meet us, enjoy working out with people who share our passion and be part of an exciting day with all of the latest releases. And after we will head out on the town to party...we will let you know where on the day!!!!

See you there.
SusanT
(GO CHICAGO - ALSO SATURDAY!)

Picture here is me with Elizabeth Rowell a BODYSTEP Trainer from Les Mills South East. Check out the other pix.

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

Colleen Mills 1933 - 2005

emmabarry — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 15:46:00 GMT

Sad times for all of us at Les Mills with the recent death of Les’ wife Colleen from illness at the age of 71. Colleen was simply amazing. Larger than life, a straight shooter and famous for those enormous, all encompassing embraces that left you breathless. Everyone has a famous Colleen story – she was memorable and saw through everything! She left her dent on the world!

Like Les, Colleen was an outstanding athlete, representing New Zealand in her specialist event, the 400m. She also worked closely with Les on the gym business they started in 1968 and was brilliant as Mayoress of Auckland in the eight years Les was Mayor – colorful, spirited and strong.

Colleen was also very much involved in the creation of the Les Mills group fitness programs. She worked closely with Phillip on developing the “jazzercise” program he introduced in the early 1980s and made a huge contribution in discovering and training our first instructors. She was responsible for talent spotting a promising young instructor by the name of Mike McSweeney (our BODYPUMP Program Director) in the Wellington gym in 1987. Colleen was always prepared to roll her sleeves up for the donkey work too – she’d spend hours drawing figures for the first choreography manuals – no fancy graphics packages in those days!!!

Colleen was a down-to-earth person who called it as she saw it. She was kind to a fault and shined a special light into all our lives. She’ll be sadly missed and our love goes out to Les, Phillip, Donna and family XXXXX.

Gearing Up

rachaelcohen — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 22:01:00 GMT

Hullo there peeps

Gearing up to the next round of filming – its getting hot in here!!! What about coming down and joining one of the next filming classes??? If you happen to be in the neighbourhood!!! Seriously though, it’s great when the internationals join in (or just watch) when we film the new classes for the instructor DVDs. So if you’re a Les Mills nut (which you probably have to be to be reading this!!) and you can arrange to be in New Zealand at the right time, grab your gym gear and join the fun in Studio One at the main Les Mills club in Auckland.

Here are the filming dates for the next release but just be aware – they can change and we can’t absolutely guarantee them. Also, RPM is a bit different – it’s invitation only ‘cos of the limited number of bikes, sorry. Provisionally, then, dates for the 1/2006 Release filming classes are:

October 31 BODYCOMBAT (8.30pm);
November 2 for BODYJAM (6.10pm) and BODYSTEP (8.30pm)
November 7 for BODYATTACK (6.10pm), BODYPUMP (7.10pm) and BODYBALANCE (8.30pm).

Just send an email to Carla (carla.fitzsimons@lesmills.co.nz) at Les Mills New Zealand to let us know if you're coming and I’ll post again here if any of the dates change.

See ya there!
Rach

What's Hot

marknuu — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 15:25:00 GMT

Hi Steppers, i'm deep in music selection mode for the next BODYSTEP release (#63). What I want to know is what songs are hot on the charts in you country at the moment, and whether you think they would be great for BODYSTEP. Also, if you have an old favorite tune, let me know, as we can re-make a blast from the past into a modern winner.

Looking forward to hearing your suggestions!

Cheers,
Mark

Stepping Al Fresco

marknuu — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 11:37:00 GMT

Flat out trialling BODYSTEP 62 this week so great to get outside for a while – this outdoor photo shoot was a blast. The setting was a steep set of steps in a leafy park in Auckland and a great place to capture some of the spirit of the program. Watch out for some cool new posters for those club walls.

Back to 62 and last-minute choreo tweaks before we film in just over a week. It’s all good guys and it’s going to be great rolling this one out around the end of the year. Big challenges in the peaks and some good blocks of power moves for a solid, honest workout (there’s a wicked leg burner in there, too, people. Ouch!!!)

Hope to see lots of you steppers joining us for filming on the 10th. And if you can’t make this one make a date for 63.

Mark

Off To Portland

susanrenata — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 21:10:00 GMT

Off to Portland, Oregon tomorrow for another quarterly and the guys are really looking forward to another great workshop. This is hard work but worth every minute for the response we’re getting from some amazing US instructors.

Check out these pics from Atlanta (thanks Tiffany Ferguson!) and these ones from Dallas (Marci Skelton – you rock!) love the haka pics.

Our guys just love bringing this slice of Kiwi culture to the States and especially because it ties in so well with Les Mills – “haka” is a Maori word that means “to ignite the breath” and that says so much about what we do. Steve’s the expert and he’s pointed out this link for anyone who wants to know a bit more about the traditional Maori challenge.

Susan