WORLD UNITED

What is World United?
World United is a global moment to celebrate fitness and its importance to our physical and mental health. The United campaign is designed to generate hype and drive members back to clubs.

World United will kick off from Saturday 19 September 2020 with a series of live and online fitness events. Thousands of fitness clubs and Instructors will celebrate the release of special United-themed (Q3) workouts that were filmed by 400 of the world’s top Les Mills Instructors across more than 48 countries during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Do I have to run an event on Saturday 19 September?
No, you can host your live and/or online launch events at a time that suits you, your members and community. World United is an all-inclusive global fitness celebration with events starting from Saturday 19 September onwards. You are free to run as many special events or activations as you like. We encourage you to get your team together and plan your World United celebration including the date, time and location.

How can I get involved?
Clubs and Instructors are invited to host live and online launch events.

Everything you need to run a successful launch event can be found at lesmills.com/united.

What support is available to me?
Everything clubs and Instructors need to plan, promote and run a launch event can be found at lesmills.com/united.

A collection of ready-to-use and customizable resources are available now. The customizable resources allow you to choose between images, upload your own image or logo and edit text to create a total personalized campaign.

What should I tell my members?
Let your members know you’re hosting a launch event together with thousands of fitness clubs and Instructors from around the world. Let your members know the event date and how they can be part of the fun. Make it an open day and invite your members to bring along a friend.

When should I start planning my event?
We recommend starting to plan your event approximately six weeks before your event date. For more information including a timeline on how to plan your event, download the event guide at lesmills.com/united.

What’s in it for me?
Hosting a social event at your club is going to be one of your biggest drivers of recovery and retention of members. Launch events are a great boost for member engagement and are proven to motivate your members to attend more often.

Is it safe to run an event under social distancing?
Yes. Before planning your launch event, it’s always best to consult or check your local, state and national Covid-19 safety recommendations. Everything you need to run a successful event under social distancing or online workouts can be found at lesmills.com/united.

My facility is closed. Can I still run an event?
Yes, absolutely. Clubs and Instructors can stream workouts and run online fitness classes via a livestreaming solution.

For more information on Livestreaming Les Mills workouts, please see below.

What is livestreaming?
Livestreaming allows you to stream Les Mills group fit workouts to your members at home. You can either set up a streaming ‘studio’ in your club, or you can stream directly from your own home if you are an Instructor representing a club.

Livestream workouts are a great way for your members to stay fit and stay connected while they are not able to attend live classes.

What do I need to do to start livestreaming?
There are a range of low to premium options available and it’s important you use the livestream platform that works best for your club. We recommend securing a Zoom subscription (PRO plan) as many clubs, Instructors, and participants will be familiar with Zoom, and it has some great features. You just need to make sure you are adhering to the terms of use for that specific platform.

For more information and guidance on the recommended set up, download the Les Mills livestreaming guide here.

Who can livestream Les Mills classes?
The rules around a livestream class is the same as for a live class. It needs to be taught by an active, certified Instructor in that specific Les Mills program on behalf of a club licensed for that Les Mills program. Unlike the live class, the Instructor does not need to be inside the club, but you do need to livestream through a club account.

Why do I have to livestream through my club?
Livestreaming needs to be through a licensed facility. This is due to how the music rights have been purchased; it is the facility that has the license to stream the music.

Can I livestream using my original Q3 music?
Livestreaming may need to be done using Les Mills cover versions of the original music, unless you have the necessary local music license to use original artist recordings.

Do I have to pay extra for cover versions of the music?
No. From July 1, Les Mills certified Instructors will have access to free cover music for kits purchased from Q1 2020, including the new Q3 ‘United’ Releases. Cover music is available for Instructors to direct download from the Les Mills Instructor portal or releases app.

Can I livestream all Les Mills workouts, or only ones I have a program license for?
The rules around a livestream are the same as for a live workout. You can only livestream programs that you have a license for, and you need to use an active Les Mills instructor certified in that program.

Does my current certification allow me to livestream, or is there any additional education requirement?
Similar to teaching a live workout, you can livestream on behalf of a licensed club for programs you are actively certified as an Instructor. There is no additional education requirement.

Is Les Mills going to charge us extra on top of our program license fees for livestreaming?
To help clubs get set up for livestreaming during this time, we will not be charging any additional fees for the first three months. We will be then be looking to include this in your ongoing partnership.

Why did the autoship dates change?
As facilities around the world are reopening we want to welcome instructors and members back with welcome arms through being United in a global celebration of fitness. From September 19th, across the world, clubs will be hosting events to welcome members back. To help ensure all instructors can participate with their clubs we moved autoship up to give enough time to learn the new release.

My facility has reopened, can I still skip Q3?
Skip a release is meant to provide flexibility for those that are not actively teaching. If you are currently teaching or subbing you should be teaching the most current release.

My facility is still closed, can I stream the United release?
You can stream the United release through your facility if they have the proper livestream licensing in place. You may need to use covers depending on the licensing requirements for your country. Please note, this must be through your clubs closed platform and cannot be done on individual instructor pages.

Why is there no release #?
The new masterclass releases were filmed during lockdown and feature 400 of the world’s top Les Mills Instructors. This special release is labelled the Les Mills United Release and will not feature any release numbers.

How does Skipping Q3 releases impact my compliance?
Skipping Q2 and/or Q3 will not count against your compliance requirement. If you are about ready to go inactive you will stay active and you will still be able to go on hold in the future.

How will skipping Q2 and/or Q3 impact my ability to go on hold in the future?
You will still be able to go on hold in the future if you are pregnant, injured or not actively teaching.

My facility furloughed me, can I still purchase the United release with no active affiliation?
We understand that many instructors have been furloughed or laid off at this time. You can still purchase this release. We hope that you will be back to teaching soon and that this is just a small pause in your affiliation. If you need help finding a new facility to teach with, check out the question below on how to find facilities in your area that are hiring.

My club usually buys my release, can I purchase on my own?
Yes, if your club is not purchasing your release you can still purchase the release. Just make sure to update your billing information before the autoship run date. If you do not get your billing information updated you can still purchase the release through the releases store.

My club typically buys releases on my behalf, but has chosen to skip this release, will I be charged?
If your club is not purchasing your release and your billing information is up to date, you will receive and be charged for the Q3 United Release. If you do still want the Release, just make sure billing information is up to date in the Portal before the Autoship Run date. If you would prefer to skip the Release, make sure you follow the instructions on how to skip the Release, before the Autoship run.

Can I skip the release for now but purchase later?
Absolutely, the release will be available in the releases store for purchase after autoship. Each release stays available for 2 years

How do I find out if my UNITED picture was used?
We are still processing the vast amount of images submitted from our community of more than 140,000 Instructors. A selection of instructor image submissions will appear throughout the United campaign across our global platforms. Talent submissions used will not be directly notified.

Why are some countries offering skip a release while others are not?
Each country is at a different stage of reopening. For countries where health clubs are still closed we want to offer instructors as much flexibility as possible. For countries that have reopened we encourage instructors to purchase the latest release to welcome members back. We also hope you and your facility will be to be part of the UNITED event on September 19th. Of course, if you are not teaching you can still put your certification on hold up to 6 months, if you have not previously been on hold in the last 12 months.

How do I find facilities in my area that are hiring?
Click on YOUR FACILITIES and you'll see a list of facilities in your area with the programs that they offer. Those hiring will have a red flag that says HIRING. Please be sure to also mark yourself as available to teach by going to ACCOUNT SETTINGS and click the box that says "I'm available to teach".