LMI advises clubs on what equipment to use for its classes and how much space is needed
of our studio. We built another studio, and then another, and then a fourth on the roof, and still we were full to burst- ing. That’s when we thought, we’re on to something here.” They certainly were. The classes
were so popular that Les Mills began to licence them for use by other clubs, and in the mid-1990s the company employed its first international distri- bution agents. In 1997, Phillip Mills founded Les Mills International as a separate company from Les Mills Health Clubs (which he also heads up) in order to focus on the fast-growing licensing business. By 2001, 5,000 clubs were using the LMI programmes worldwide; this continued to grow to 10,000 by 2006. Today the figure stands at 14,000 clubs, with millions of people taking part in Les Mills- branded classes each week. They are phenomenally successful, according to Mills, because they deliver real results, and because they are very carefully created and trialled to ensure they gen- erate maximum energy and ‘buzz’. The programmes are renewed every three months from Auckland with new chore- ography, music and instructor training. Today, LMI has 10 standardised
ISSUE 2 2012 © cybertrek 2012
“WE DO A LOT OF HEAD-HUNTING AND RECRUIT ROCK STAR CLASS INSTRUCTORS. WE ALSO PAY REALLY WELL – UP TO $150 PER CLASS"
exercise programmes. Last year saw the launch of SH'BAM™ – a 45 minute, dance-inspired workout, as well as CXWORX™, an intensive 30 minute core class. Both programmes are being launched in the UK this year. Next year, LMI will move into a
new area, with the launch of its chil- dren’s programming. There are four classes; one aimed at 4-6-year-olds, one for 6-8-year-olds, a boys’ class for 9-14-year-olds and a girls’ class for the same age range.
“There is a real need for children’s
exercise classes,” says Mills. “The younger kids’ ones are focused around dance and imaginative movement. The older boys’ class incorporates elements of martial arts and pure fitness, and the girls’ is based on modern hip hop.” LMI recently released its first info- mercial in the US, advertising LES MILLS PUMP, an at-home workout DVD based on BODYPUMP™. The aim of
this, says Mills, is not just to drive sales of the DVD, but also to “achieve what Jane Fonda achieved in her time and drive millions of people into health clubs.” The tv campaign will launch in the UK at the end of 2012 and in northern Europe early next year.
THE CLUBS
The creation and licence of standard- ised fitness programmes, along with teacher training and marketing, is now the core part of the Les Mills busi- ness. The health clubs are still going strong though, and the company now has 11 clubs across New Zealand. Les Mills Christchurch City, which was rebuilt in 2011, has just reopened fol- lowing its closure after last year’s devastating earthquake.
Mills spends much of his time trav- elling the world to find out what makes a health club work, and he’s clearly immensely proud of his own. “Our
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