Exercise Classes – Why I Like Les Mills
Exercise Classes – The One Brand I Like and Why
Over the years, I’ve been pretty critical of group fitness classes generally, with the exception of Les Mills.
Before I was a full time personal trainer, I used to manage 15 gyms for a chain. Each gym had a class timetable with 50 classes per week on, so as a business we’d offer 750 classes per week. I was proud of our offering – they were great classes.
I did that job for three years before I left to set up my personal training business, so I’ve seen plenty of classes – I learned what was good and bad, so my opinion is formed based on plenty of experience.
There was one brand I liked though and I’ll explain why later in the post.
For now though, I’ll explain why I’m sometimes critical of exercise classes…
Group Exercise Instructors Weren’t Always Qualified
When I first started managing gyms, I was shocked to learn that many group instructors hadn’t had to complete any formal qualifications to offer classes – totally true!
I made sure I saw qualifications of anyone I allowed to teach classes to. I also checked for insurance and had them teach classes to the staff so they could be assessed. Even then they were regularly ‘mystery-shopped’ by people who I knew and trusted.
Why?
I wanted to deliver quality. I also think if you are going to teach exercise, take it seriously. Learn, take courses. I think it’s dangerous to stand in front of a class and teach exercise if you aren’t qualified.
Lack of Standardisation in Classes
You can go to 30 different classes of say, Zumba, and have 30 different workouts. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that per se, but it’s a system that is open to abuse – if the instructor is terrible then he/she will deliver a class that may be nothing like it should be.
I had an example of this – one of our members went on holiday and attended a Zumba class whilst she was away. When she came back she said the instructor she had on holiday was terrible and the class was nothing like Zumba!
Poor Class Management
I’ve seen this pattern in classes thousands of times – if you are a regular class goer you’ll know this for yourself.
The keen beans stand right at the front. They have a great workout because they can see the instructor and they’ve done these movements thousands of times before. They know the drill well.
Meanwhile, at the back of the class there are the newbies, or maybe those who aren’t quite as confident. Watch those guys – they can’t see the instructor so try to copy those in front. Like a game of Chinese whispers, each time a message is passed on, a little bit is lost.
Those at the back of the class end up doing something totally different to those at the front!
The instructor needs to help the new people. They need to bring them to the front so they can see, they need to teach them, to encourage and support. It doesn’t happen often.
Despite these criticisms, there was one brand of class I did like – the Les Mills group.
Les Mills Group Exercise Classes
In my years looking after a group exercise product, there was one class group that was actually really high quality – the Les Mills classes.
In one way, they were a pain in the backside for me – their instructor standards are really high and the pass rate for instructors is low, so when I put instructors on the course I’d often have to wait for a while for them to become qualified.
In the end, that’s a good thing because at least you know the standards are high.
The Les Mills classes are standardised the world over. You could find a Les Mills class in Manchester or one in Paris and they’d both be exactly the same – the music, the choreography and equipment would be exactly the same in both locations. That’s pretty unique and something that Les Mills fans love – they can keep up with their classes no matter where in the world they are!
There are also loads of classes under the banner – Body Pump, Body Balance, Body Combat etc etc, so if you are a weights fan, dance fan, yoga fan etc you could find something to suit you. Not a gym fan? Well now you have one less excuse for not improving your health and fitness – join a class you like instead!
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