Les Mills Kia Kaha : Quarterly Workshops

SUPER-SWEDEN

susanrenata — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 20:45:00 GMT

Getting to a Swedish super-quarterly has always been high on my “to do” list and now I know why. Last weekend’s gig in Stockholm was simply incredible. From the first class (maybe a BODYPUMP record with 500+ instructors!) to the last of Jesper’s strawberry tequilas at the after-match function the Les Mills energy and passion were off the scale. Huge congrats to Jesper, Petter and the training team (and a special thanks to Nic Farmer - aka “Professor Love”). Stockholm, too, had some suprises in store for the kiwi team of me, Dan and Rach, G and Dan McD. Instead of the arctic icebox we had expected (G was dressed for snow!) it was a barmy 25 degrees.

Click Here to check out some pics

Sus.

REPORT FROM BRASIL

rachaelcohen — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:01:00 GMT

E ai mermao, beleza?

Falou...meo portugues e meia boca!! Desculpa

Well, where do I start? How about the fact that our good friend Rachel (BC29 guest presenter and partner of our Agent in Brasil Paulo Akiau) told us to pack for winter...and it was 30 degree's in Rio!!!! Aherm...

Dan and I just had THE MOST AMAZING TIME in Brasil. We always do! Those guys over there have incredibly powerful workshops. You are going from dawn till dusk with your Les Mills classes, .....and then the party REALLY starts!! on the plane to the next venue haa haa haa

"Sim, outras Caipirinha por favor, obrigada"

Dan toured with Rachel Bonetti around the north of Brasil. These guys went to THE AMAZON!!! Snakes, spiders.... He told me on the phone one night that he lost 25 kilo's in sweat just lying on the top of his bed sleeping, it was that hot!! (apparently Dan's measurement was a little inaccurate there me-thinks)

Rather him than me as my hair straighteners would not work in the amazon now would they??

So where did Fernando and Paulo send me .......Rio baby!!! Muito obrigada Paulo/Fernando. Voces o meo amigo x

Don't be deceived however. We worked very hard - touring lots of masterclasses at clubs on opposite sides of Rio. Dodging the loco(crazy) drivers over there.

Trips to QW's in Belo Horizonte allowed me an opportunity to catch up with some friends from last time Dan and I were there with BC23...so a big shout out to Schubert!!!! Oi SCHUBERT!!!! Tudo Bem?

A beautiful lady called Eliza joined SuperToni and I presenting BC29 in Porto Alegra. Beautiful, and deadly with her punch - only in Brasil hey?!!! haa haa

Oh there are so many people that I was fortunate to spend time with, I cannot possibly mention everybody, ..but here goes - Dutra...you always say what i think!! Ricardo! Oi!! Sandro..or is it Simon now? Robinson and Everton and Cris and Paula, Jean-Patrick and Capi and Oi Kitahara, Gabby and Marcio and Raphael, Roderigo o Cavalleiro, SuperToni & Luiciana, FoFau and the guys from Tu Sam, Edu and the office of BODYSYSTEMS!!!

Tchau gallera..ate mais tarde

xx

Rach & Dan

PS. There are no photo's of Dan in the amazon because an annaconda ate the camera!! - muito engracado!!

(Sorry if I did not mention you...its not the Oscars really is it...I need to get a grip)

Here are a couple of photo's from my trip in Brasil. That's me and SuperToni doing push ups at BC29 workshop in the capital of Brasil, Brasillia. The other is a group of us being led by Everton through BJ38 in Rio !!!! It was HOT!!! Muito Calor!!
Then there are the girls,Lara, me, Larissa and Marcia in Brasillia. Back in Rio with Raphael, Toni and Marcio. Finally a shot of BODYBALANCE in Brasillia with Annie, Marcia and Hugo!!

Living the GoodLife at CAN-FIT-PRO!

emmabarry — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 22:52:00 GMT

Canadians are just like Kiwis! Outdoorsey, down to earth and say 'Eh!' a helluva lot!!! Probably the main difference is they wear a lot more lululemon! We all know what a quarterly photo looks like so here we are at the Goodlife Awards after party with Patch and 'Sneaker' - the Goodlife mascot in the background.

This was my first time at Can-Fit-Pro and the Les Mills day within it. WOW - what passionate, committed and generous people. On behalf of the Les Mills team of Dan McDonogh, Steve Renata, Susan Tolj, Kylie Gates, Josef Matthews, Dr Dave, Misty Tripoli and myself thanks for an experience we won't forget!

6000 attended the convention - about the biggest in the world now Patch isn't it? Not a competitive man at all! AIM and GFM awesome feedback. 450 at Les Mills day and the beats were pumping. Wall to wall attendance and the programs went OFF! Canadian Training team lead by Peggy Cleland consisting of John Cleland, Rick Sewchuk, Carole Dobson, Fred Kung, Shereese Halley, Rene Thrasher-Duch helped us belt out the programs. And what a pleasure honoring the finalist Instructors of the year who joined us on stage: Julie-Ann Daley (BS), Kim Basler (BP), Natasja Payne (BJ), Andrea Bent (BC), Elise Ho (BF), Natalie Plamondon-Thomas (BA).

Special well done to Natalie who took out Instructor of the Year and will be coming downunder to attend filming in February as her prize - look out - this chick has some serious passion. And a thanks to her husband who has had to listen to BODYATTACK music from dawn to dusk!

Personal highlights: John Grey keynote (Men Are From Mars and Women Are From Venus), huge array of world class presenters at the convention, seeing Canadians really support Canadians, hearing the feedback on all the programs from Instructors, watching BODYJAM choreography come to life on the floor before the master class, on the Top 500 Cruise, in the elevator...no shit! Patch handing out $100 bills...John getting the bicep choreo right first time AND turning 41in front of us, senior Goodlife regionals being continually Buffalo'd , my two new best friends Justin and Ryan at Fly, Niagara Falls (thanks Georgia), watching MI3 twice on the plane trip home.

Hats off to Patch, Mo, Amanda and your crew. What an event, what an organization, what a good life! Can't wait to top it next year!

EmB

Launching Les Mills Northeast

Kylie Gates — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 22:07:00 GMT

Launching Les Mills Northeast as a new regional distributor in the USA was a big deal and so was their first quarterly workshop at Poughkeepsie, where I was lucky enough to present. Check out the BODYPUMP class and the other great pix here - my desk-mate Russ reckons they’re some of the best shots to come out of a quarterly event and I wouldn’t argue with that. Huge congrats to Don Murphy, Kim Kenyon, Mary Murphy and Bill Austin and the fantastic team at Les Mills Northeast.

Kylie

Those Germans Have Got Passion To Spare!

Steve Renata — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 20:49:00 GMT

Check out the trainer team going hard out on the haka at their super quarterly last week. Inspired by head trainer Stefan Weiffen, the guys are right into Les Mills’ Maori traditions and used the haka to fire up the 400 instructors who packed out the quarterly in Bielefeld. The motto was FITNESS MAGIC and the gig went off, with plenty of hongis, buffaloes and a super-sized barbecue to complete the proceedings. Awesome work guys!!!

Check out the photo gallery or browse to www.lesmills.de and choose the yellow button if the link doesn't work.

Steven Renata

Salut tous le monde!

danmcdonogh — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 04:55:00 GMT

Just back from a fabulous tour of Switzerland and France where I lived the essence of cycling both indoors and out! Indoors, all the RPM classes at the quarterlies were full with stand by's and RPM 31 was rocking! It was my pleasure to teach with two great French trainers, Thomas (in the picture) and Fred. Outdoors, I did an incredible switchback climb through the French alps that lasted about 1.5 hours over the snow-covered top into Italy. The descent took 20 minutes at 70 kph, Yikes! What an incredible experience!

The quarterlies in both countries were fantastic and my hat is off to all the Les Mills teams. They're incredibly passionate and it's showing in the numbers "turning it up" at the quarterlies and the clubs.

Look forward to working with all of you again soon!

Until then,
Live and Ride Strong!

More pictures...

Heading For The Good Old US Of A

Kylie Gates — Wed, 24 May 2006 04:35:00 GMT

Being part of Les Mills has lots of highlights but teaching at quarterly workshops has got to be high on the list. Which is why I’m soooooooo looking forward to hooking up with Alani and the US national trainers for three of the 2/2006 gigs in New York, Arizona and Washington next month.

This will be my second trip to the Gold’s Gym in Poughkeepsie, NY (yes it’s the real name: poo-keep-see!!!) – we found some awesome BODYATTACK™ teachers there last year and I can’t wait to meet up with
some of these guys again on Saturday, June 3.

Seattle is new territory for me but from I’ve heard instructors from this part of the world are hot! Can’t wait to find out at the Gold’s Gym, Redmond on the tenth.

Then the following week we’re headed to sunny Arizona for the quarterly at Fitness Works in Gilbert on the outskirts of Phoenix. Owners Phil and Jackie Clar were in Auckland recently for the 3/2006 class filmings and I know they can’t wait to host a life-changing event. (The awesome Kendall Kimball will also be on deck for this one!)

Alani Mala (aka The Storm) was with me in the States for much of 2005 and he’ll be back for all three gigs. Yurrrrrrrrrrrrr!! He’ll be training BODYPUMP™, BODYCOMBAT™ and RPM™ and my focus, as usual, will be BODYATTACK™, BODYFLOW™ and BODYJAM™.

Meanwhile, I can tell from the events listing that there are going to be huge quarterlies in Delaware, Virginia, Minnesota, Georgia, North Carolina, Missouri and Texas.

Hope to see a huge instructor turnout for my quarterlies so get those mice clicking on the registration pages, guys!! It’s gonna go OFF!

Filex Convention, Sydney

lesmills — Tue, 02 May 2006 04:06:00 GMT

Double congratulations to Bill Robertson and everybody at Les Mills Asia Pacific – First for reaching the tenth anniversary of Les Mills in Australia and surrounding markets and second for “The Ultimate Super Workshop” at the Filex convention in Sydney.

More than 900 instructors turned it up at the Super Q. – with 500 of them rocking the house in BODYPUMP.

Five Les Mills Program Directors hit town for the celebrations and had rave reviews for the Filex gig, superbly organized by Christy Collier and training director Garry Hart and with starring roles from master trainers Tommy Koutsonikolous, Michelle Bridges, Karen Russell, Tracey Minnoch-Nuku and Gayle Brimble.

Dan and Rach unleashed the ultimate BODYCOMBAT master class and had huge raps for a big presenter team including John “JK” Kelly and soon-to-be married Dorota.

Gandalf rated it “the most wicked super” and borrowed from an edgy Aussie tourism advert to ask: Where the bloody hell were we??? Sydney people!!! Rockin’ the bloody World!!!

Lisa O hooked up with lots of old mates – including fellow ex-Aussie aerobics champs – and had a blast with big presenter teams for BODYATTACK and BODYSTEP.

A great workshop vibe was a highlight for Mark Nu’u, together with the sight of many new steppers confirming the ongoing Aussie love affair with BODYSTEP and the great work by Karen and the training team.

More photos here...

Studio One, Les Mills World Of Fitness, Auckland

rachaelcohen — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 10:52:00 GMT

Well, after many years a few of us in this day and age resort to a little “nip ‘n’ tuck” - so Studio One has had his/hers? Studio One has undergone many upgrades over these years, but NONE come close to the one just completed.

All the Les Mills “big guns” have had a huge input into the making of this amazing Group Fitness Room, and need a big thank you. We now have one of the biggest and most technologically advanced Group Fitness Room in the world.

Group Fitness Manager Chris Richardson has had a major renovation project on his hands and has handled it with great decorum. With 10 days on the cards, 10,000 members and tons of new materials and workmanship to do, we are now in the final stages of preparation, and all ran smoothly ( they say!!) .

Instructors are all getting a lesson in how to control the new 'systems'…oooooh, I'm so excited!!!

YOU guys will have an opportunity to experience this new facility on May 6th in the GFX Convention run in conjunction with LMI & LMNZ.

This is going to be the BIGGEST Fitness Party we have seen here in NZ. 80 gyms from all over the country will be sending their instuctors up to Auckland to experience the new quarterly releases, AND to experience the FILMING of the NEXT QW releases…all in the same day!!!

I have already heard from many international instructors, making the trip down to NZ to be apart of this!! And its easy!! All you have to do is contact carla.fitzsimons@lesmills.co.nz to book your place!! DON’T WAIT - you can only start to imagine how busy it is going to get down here…..phew!!

Did I mention the garage party we are having apres classes/filmings? (Hmm…note to self, must get heaps of sleep before this party hits town)

Filming times for the 3/2006 releases are:

RPM™ 32: 11.30AM
BODYSTEP™ 65: 12.45PM
BODYPUMP™ 59: 3.00PM
BODYCOMBAT™ 29: 4.30PM
BODYATTACK™ 54: 7.00PM
BODYBALANCE™ 34: 8.30PM
BODYJAM™ 38: 10.00PM

Chicago Quarterly Turns it Up!

emmabarry — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 05:25:00 GMT

Great start, with warm welcomes from the fabulous Les Mills Mid-West team of Carrie, Joella, Rodney, Monika, Rick, Damien and Kasey….Then back-to-back classes in all seven programs in the fantastic Lindenhurst facility complete with viewing gallery, dog tags, full light show and great presenters – a mix of old and young blood, including two young guns who left a collective sigh and wad of phone numbers in their wake…you had to be there to know who!

Grand finale was at ‘Austin’s’ in Libertyville where a wicked rock and soft metal cover band doing Def Leppard’s ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ drove 30 Les Mills girls to Turn It Up on the bar. Needless to say the locals will be recovering for some weeks and I am still waiting for my voice to come back…

Photos kindly provided by Georgia from Canada – our citizen of the world who doesn’t miss a quarterly regardless of continent…

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.

Turn It Up!

Brent McLemore — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 18:01:00 GMT

Two down and three to go and the new round of US Quarterlies are going off! Check out the comments on Steve’s post to the Baltimore and Fort Worth gigs (and go to Tami and Craig’s blog for a super report with pics on B-more. Thanks guys!). It was an absolute privilege to present in Fort Worth and I know the feeling is shared by my fellow trainers Kendall, Josef, Norm, Karen, Stephan, Brooke, Becky, Derith, Amanda and Tricia. That saying about Southern Hospitality is definitely true.

All the best to everyone going to Orlando this weekend and Chicago and Atlanta on the 18th. Rock the house you guys! Together we’re building incredible momentum and passion around Les Mills in the US. Turn it up…..

Thanks to Robert Dyer and Eleanor Hisey for the Fort Worth pics – especially the neat RPM shots – we rode outside and Stephan the riding Frenchman lead the pack. What a setting with the outdoors and a Lake just to the side of us.

Good Times!

Brent

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.

Off da hizzle fo shizzle

gandalfarcher — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 05:04:00 GMT

Have just wrapped up an amazing trip through the Netherlands and Sweden. Started off in Amsterdam with some sight-seeing, shopping and more sight-seeing…. Then off to a brilliantly organized Super-1/4ly in a town outside of Amsterdam that I still can’t pronounce properly.

400 and something instructors turned up for BODYJAM on the first day, 250 the second day! Wow. Everybody going the right direction at the right time with a spectacular performance from Hector and Brigitte. They insist I pushed them around while on stage, I feel I was merely directing them to the correct position.

A Buffalo Court Session at the Bling Bling party ensured everybody felt a little dodgy for Sunday. Fantastic DJ playing every track off our next release!

Then off to Stockholm and Hello snow. Hello 3 layers on top and a Jacket. Hello Rach and Misty and Sandro and Phillip and Jesper. And Hello to another 600 instructors screaming about BODYJAM! Off da hizzle fo shizzle.

Rach and I ran the new BODYJAM module, 20 new instructors absorbing the info in true Les Mills style. Some great talent shining through at the end of the third day.

And then we polished it all off with a night on the town, starting with a cocktail party and ending up at a very happy, happy club. Everybody having a turn on the podium!!

Thanks Sweden!!

More pictures here...

On Tour In Japan

susanrenata — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 09:50:00 GMT

Japan ROCKS! Mark (Sinclair) and I have just returned from an amazing time on tour in Japan. Thanks Taku! We were totally blown away by the passion of the the trainer team, presenter teams, instructors and MOSTLY the members of clubs who waited through the night outside the events so that they could have front row positions in the classes.

An extremely well run tour which really showed us how alive the programs are.... that is seriously the craziest BODYCOMBAT class I have ever seen....(and that was the members)

Impression of Japan... professional, hard working, passionate trainers... dedicated instructors, totally manic members....incredible Japanese history and culture... great restaurants.... excellent food ... excess beer ... fun and laughter.... chopstick breaking creativity (Go Suzuki!!!!)

I miss Japan already.

Susan and Mark S

More images here...