Les Mills hosts world-first fitness festival, signaling return of live workouts

Fitness fans from all corners of the globe gathered at London’s ExCeL Arena last weekend (22-23 October) to celebrate the return of live workouts with one of the largest group exercise events ever staged.

After more than two years of COVID restrictions, setbacks and lockdown-enforced home workouts, LES MILLS LIVE London brought back group workouts with a bang as over 5,000 people sweated, squatted and lifted their way through the latest LES MILLS workouts, led by 250 of the world’s most acclaimed Instructors.

As the biggest stop on the fitness brand’s 2022 world-tour, LES MILLS LIVE London gave guests the chance to enjoy 10 of its most iconic workouts including BODYPUMP, BODYCOMBAT and BODYBALANCE. Over the course of the two-day event, LES MILLS superstars such as Rachael Newsham, Dan Cohen, Khiran Huston, Ben Main and Kaylah-Blayr Fitzsimons-Nu'u took to the stage to lead fans through life-changing fitness experiences.

And the experience won’t be just limited to LES MILLS LIVE London attendees. This was the first fitness event to be filmed fully in VR, meaning a highlights package will soon be available on META’s Quest platform as an immersive Omnifitness experience available from anywhere in the world. Users will be able to discover what it’s like to be in the middle of a pulsating BODYPUMP workout with thousands of fitness fans, or even take to the stage next to presenters to smash out the latest BODYCOMBAT workout in front of thousands of fellow fighters!

Beyond the LES MILLS LIVE London stage, the Athlete’s Village featured VR workout areas, refueling stations, product activations, plus meet and greets with the stars of the show. Throughout the event, this area was soundtracked by leading electronic artists from pioneering record label Monstercat, including Bishu, Ellis, Godlands, Punctual, Shingo Nakamura, Snavs, and Tony Romera.

Reflecting on LES MILLS LIVE London, Les Mills CEO Clive Ormerod said: “It was incredible to bring people together for the first time in nearly three years to celebrate the return of live workouts with a thrilling festival of fitness.

“People really are the beating heart of our movement, so to have Instructors, gym operators and consumers together in the room and getting back to what they love was really special.

“As the fitness industry continues to recover, appetite for authentic social connection is driving people back into live workout experiences, which provide a sense of community and motivation that can’t be replicated online. Live fitness is back and it’s bigger than ever!”

ENDS

Media requests: press@lesmills.com

ABOUT LES MILLS

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Les Mills is the global leader in group fitness and creator of 20 programs available in leading fitness facilities around the world. Les Mills programs include the world’s first group exercise resistance training workout BODYPUMP™, BODYCOMBAT™ (martial arts), RPM™ (indoor cycling), BODYBALANCE™ (yoga), LES MILLS GRIT™ (30-minute high-intensity interval training) and the revolutionary immersive cycle experience, THE TRIP™. Each workout is refreshed and updated with new choreography and music every three months.

The company was founded by Les Mills – a four-time Olympian and head coach of New Zealand’s track and field team – who opened his first gym in 1968 with the aim of taking elite sports training to the masses. Today, Les Mills workouts are delivered by 140,000 certified instructors in 21,000 clubs across 100 countries and are available as live, livestream, virtual and immersive classes, as well as via the LES MILLS+ streaming platform.

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