Driving members through club doors is Les Mills’ job. It’s what we do. And it’s a vocation we pursue with conspicuous success.
A recent AC Nielsen survey of 1000 participants in LES MILLS™ group fitness classes across the U.S.A. showed they go to the gym almost twice as often as the average member*. These survey results offer clear, positive implications for potential health and fitness club profitability, such as:
• Members who come frequently to the gym are more likely to be satisfied with their membership and less likely to quit;
• Members with a strong involvement with their clubs are more likely to talk positively about it to their friends and colleagues outside, encouraging others to join the gym and share their experiences. Referrals can boost new member acquisitions (taking pressure off of a club’s marketing budget;
• Higher membership retention and growth rates increase the capacity for clubs to raise membership fees progressively over time.
The popularity of LES MILLS™ programs among members has resulted in an impressive uptake around the world. The programs are offered in 10,200 clubs in more than 60 countries, with more than four million participants a week.
Now, Les Mills is about to extend its offerings to an older demographic with a new, low-impact program called BODYVIVE™. BODYVIVE™ is a 55-minute class, integrating aerobic exercise for heart fitness, resistance training for strength and stability, and stretching and mobility work. It’s especially pitched to active adults in their 40s, 50s and 60s, with an intensity level to suit the demographic, and popular, mainstream music that’s easy to listen to and familiar. And, it’s about to hit U.S. clubs.
The first two BODYVIVE™ classes have already been filmed for instructor DVDs and Les Mills’ trainers are currently training instructors. Licensed clubs can launch BODYVIVE™ when their instructors are trained, and their launch process is planned – the first clubs will launch BODYVIVE™ in early 2007.
Like the other LES MILLS™ programs, BODYVIVE™ incorporates multiple tracks of inspiring music and it is delivered by motivating instructors. It offers the core benefit of all LES MILLS™ programs: namely an enjoyable, motivating group fitness experience that delivers real fitness results – the Les Mills “exertainment” factor which reduces the drudgery and the pain of working out.
BODYVIVE™ also delivers specific physical benefits flowing from the alternating heart fitness and functional strength blocks, and a final block of core and restorative exercises. The aerobic component is designed to raise heart fitness through improved muscular efficiency, while a range of benefits can flow from the resistance element, including strength and endurance, better posture and joint integrity. Stretching and mobility work increase balance and agility and promote joint nutrition, while improving flexibility and range of movement. Benefits are enhanced by the use of balls and resistance tubes in BODYVIVE™ because of the opportunities they offer to exercise the body in different ways. This powerful combination of fitness components offers general wellness and the “feel good” effects of a successfully completed workout.
In developing BODYVIVE™, Les Mills has responded to a huge shift in club member demographics resulting from the maturing of the Baby Boomer generation. Boomers have become easily the biggest population cohort in the U.S. and in many other countries, with a huge ripple effect on gym membership. The effect was picked up in the 2002 IHRSA/American Sports Data Trend Report finding that senior membership in the U.S. was increasing faster than any other group, and by more recent reports such as IHRSA’s 2006 Plan for Growth which reported that the majority (68%) of fitness club members are aged 35 or older, up from 43% in 1988.
IHRSA observed that: “In every respect, Baby Boomers, now in 2006 aged 43 to 60, present the worldwide health industry with an opportunity of extraordinary proportions. In large measure, the future success of the industry will be measured by its ability to capture the hearts and minds, the interest and loyalty, of this immense population.”
The trends translated into increasing interest among Les Mills’ international agents and distributors in a new program for active adults. This growing interest was also evidenced in an independent global survey of more than 600 club owners conducted for Les Mills in 2004 and in a further survey of more than 4,000 Les Mills instructors, with nearly half of these in the United States, in 2005.
Les Mills established a formal program development team in 2005 led by Creative Director Emma Barry, with the prototype class produced in early 2006 and submitted for trials in 12 fitness clubs in five countries: U.S.A., the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
Feedback from trials was gathered and analyzed for Les Mills by AC Nielsen Research and confirmed widespread appeal in the BODYVIVE™ mix of integrated, aerobic, resistance and stretching/mobility modalities. Fully 81% of the trialists over 40 years were either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the class and, importantly, 86% said they would recommend, or strongly recommend, the program to others.
For fitness clubs, BODYVIVE™ offers a distinctly new Les Mills offering for a fast-growing category of club members, and a powerful attraction for new members in the targeted demographic range. BODYVIVE™ can also be a focus for building a sense of community – and thus loyalty to their clubs among regular participants. In addition, the release of a new class every three months presents clubs with the opportunity to re-launch the program to existing and potential members.
Clubs can acquire BODYVIVE™ in the same way as the other LES MILLS™ programs – by contacting their regional Les Mills distributor and becoming licensed to offer the program in return for a monthly license fee. Les Mills will train clubs’ BODYVIVE™ instructors and provide clubs with close support for launching the program. Les Mills will also advise individual clubs on optimal scheduling – taking into account the attendance patterns by likely BODYVIVE™ participants. Clubs licensed to offer LES MILLS™ programs are also given access to the LES MILLS™ Group Fitness Management system for building profitability around the LES MILLS™ programs, and they are given free access to the LES MILLS™ eClub – a vast library of marketing imagery and other resources contained in a secure section of the Les Mills’ website. Additionally, Les Mills provides instructors with new program and educational resources every three months, and provides clubs with ongoing customer service support.
* The AC Nielsen survey of 1,000 participants in LES MILLS™ group fitness classes across the U.S.A. showed more than 90% visit their clubs at least twice a week specifically to take part in the classes and that nearly 40% visit at least four times a week to take part. The average of at least 2.9 visits a week by Les Mills’ participants compares with IHRSA estimates that club members go to their clubs on 91 days a year – or just 1.75 times a week on average.
Russell Hill is the Communications Manager for Les Mills International. He can be contacted by email atrussell@lesmills.com, or visit www.lesmillsusa.com.
