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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 bursting.
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 distribution
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 Millsbranded
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 generate
maximum energy and ‘buzz’. The
programmes are renewed every three
months from Auckland with new choreography,
music and instructor training.
Today, LMI has 10 standardised
“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 children’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 infomercial
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 standardised
fitness programmes, along with
teacher training and marketing, is now
the core part of the Les Mills business.
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 following
its closure after last year’s
devastating earthquake.
Mills spends much of his time travelling
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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