On Saturday I spent the day at the Excel Arena in London at the Les Mills Live London date of their global tour. Les Mills is a fitness brand you may have heard of in your local gym. They say ‘We’re on a mission to create a fitter planet. This doesn’t mean making people work out. It means helping people fall in love with fitness so that they want to work out.’
The live global tour saw Les Mills teaming up with Reebok hosting 9 events worldwide where both instructors and participants could take part in a day long of live instructed classes. If you have done their classes in the gym you will know what to expect (not me so much) but can imagine the atmosphere with it being on such a large scale. The music is blasting, lights are flashing, everyone is raring to go and bodies are jumping, stretching, lunging, you name it in time with the amazing instructors.
And I did it with some of the amazing guys from Team Scrambled Legs that I did Nuclear Fallout and Bear Grylls with too. Now I can’t lie I was nervous especially as 3 of our group are instructors and they all train together in these classes. I was a Les Mills virgin. Well not completely but I’ve not done Body Step or Body Pump in well over a year and even then that was my limited knowledge so I felt like I knew nothing.
We started with Body Balance, which is a yoga-based class aimed to improved flexibility and strength in which you complete moves from yoga, tai chi and pilates. I was next to Laura and Steve so on one hand Steve was in the zone from the start and every time I looked at Laura I giggled as it was clear I am not overly flexible but I held my own and got through the class absolutely fine so my nerves were a lot calmer.
Our second class was Body Attack, which is a cardio class. It was high energy right from the start and included all sorts of moves including running, lunging, jumping, lunges, push ups and squats. Everyone seemed to know what to do and I managed to follow for the most part though positioned myself near Vicki, Amy and Lauren (who are the instructors in our group) and tried to copy them as they were the pros. Initially I was next to my friend Laura but she was like a woman possessed and if I’m honest scared me a little. I did ok though did have a few moments where I was like Phoebe in Friends when she did her tap class and sort of free styled a little (probably whilst looking like a complete idiot but I was having fun).
The third class was Body Pump and I had done this before though I must admit I never really knew what I was doing and so once again I positioned myself near Vicki, Amy and Laura not really knowing what weights I should be using so they helped me massively and this was my favourite class. So much so that I am signing up this week at the gym and will be including this in future for sure! This class works on all the muscle groups and focuses on strength for a total body workout. To give an idea of the scale of this event the photo below shows the room before the class started – huge! Amazing!
The last class was Sprint. I am a regular spin class participant so figured this would be more in my comfort zone but I can only describe it as a spin class on drugs. It is a 30 minute class and is basically a HIIT version of RPM and because it is on the bike there is minimal joint impact as well. HIIT sessions are always good as you are burning off calories after the workout itself and I am always up for that!
I had such an amazing day and will absolutely be back for more on the next tour. The guys I was with were amazing and I am going to look forward to attending their classes in the future though also a little scared as they were like duracell bunnies and I am sure they could just keep going and going!
It’s also an excuse to buy more active wear – I’ve never seen such a collection of lycra in one place. Thank god there was not a fire as I am sure so much synthetic material would have been a disaster.
Also pleased I had spare clothes and deodorant with me as the centre by the end of the day this place had a smell of its own – much like a school gym changing room on heat but with a party atmosphere!
Leave a Reply