INTERVIEW
Les Mills health clubs use bright colours and blown up graphics in their exercise studios
model is to build a big group exer- cise studio as the focus of our clubs, but we are also big on gyms. I make a point of having the best free weights facilities in the area I’m in,” he says. Naturally, the group exercise classes are massively popular. “We do a lot of head-hunting and we recruit rock star teachers,” he says. “We also pay really well – up to $150 per class, but it works out financially to do that. It’s much better to pay $150 for someone that attracts 100 to 200 people per class rather than paying $20 to some- one that only attracts 20 people.” The design is also important. “It’s vital to create a motivating exercise environment,” says Mills. “High ceil- ings and a lot of natural light helps. You can’t always afford to build big, beautiful facilities, but you can cre- ate stimulating décor. We do a lot with blown up graphics and we really focus on our AV. Twelve years ago, we started building cardio cinema, show- ing music videos in the cardio areas
34
of our gyms. Lately we install up to $1m worth of audiovisual equipment throughout the clubs.
“One of the most common mis-
takes club owners make is around group exercise design – 95 per cent of all facilities around the world are as wrong as they could be in terms of the
design of their group exercise studios. We build them to be like medical labs – small, brightly lit with white walls and facing a large mirror. For a new member walking in, it’s a very self con- scious, sterile environment.” To illustrate his point, Mills tells a
The Les Mills classes are renewed every three months
Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital
story about a club he visited with this kind of décor. “We were standing in the exercise studio and I asked the club owner, 'do you like to dance at parties?' He said, 'I’m a bit shy, so I tend to dance in the dark, in the cor- ner of the room.' I said 'would you like to dance in here?' He looked around and said, 'I see what you mean'. Next time I went back, he’d dimmed the lights and warmed up the colours in the studio – it made a big difference.” Despite the success of the Les Mills health clubs, growing outside of Mills’ native country is not part of the plan. “We won’t build clubs outside of New Zealand – we have made that com- mitment to our agents that we won’t compete with them,” says Mills.
ISSUE 2 2012 © cybertrek 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76