Tasmanian club finds Les Mills Virtual supports instructor longevity

Les Mills Asia Pacific has shared the experience Health & Fitness World in Launceston and the positive response the LES MILLS™ Virtual program has generated from members and staff.

Just months after introducing LES MILLS Virtual, Health & Fitness World owner, Karen Rawlings explained “our instructors are recovering quicker because they don’t feel they need to work if they are injured or unwell, and our other Instructors are not burning out from taking too many classes.”

Looking back, Rawlings noted “I can’t believe months have already passed since Health & Fitness World delivered a great launch of LES MILLS Virtual into the club.

“In response to the launch, member comments quickly followed, such as ‘I suppose I will try it but I know I won’t like it’ and ’Are all the instructors being replaced?’ Just as quickly though, things settled down and the members’ curiosity got the better of them. Many tried it and, as expected, some loved it and some didn’t. What they all really loved though, is that there are no more class cancellations – like, ever.”

As a club owner, Rawlings sees the biggest benefit of LES MILLS Virtual has been the reduced stress in running group fitness, commenting “although the instructors were a little hesitant at first, they now realise that this is a great asset to our club, and they appreciate that it has taken the pressure off them trying to find covers or letting the members down if they are unable to instruct their class."

Another positive has been with school groups, with Rawlings explaining “a one-hour class is often too much for a school group, yet 30 minutes is not worth their time to come in; so we are offering 30-minute Instructor-led classes such as BODYPUMP® or BODYATTACK®, followed by a 15-minute Virtual stretching class to finish off, and they are loving it! This is something we will promote to all schools next term.

“It’s a great option for clubs who are unsure of how to better engage schools.”

In May/June 2021, Rawlings ran a very strong membership drive for four weeks, which resulted in 138 new members.

Here she explains “we offered a variety of memberships with upgrade options that included group fitness classes. The pleasing thing was that 70 per cent of the new members took the upgraded membership. As you can imagine, it’s been a huge effort getting all of these new members onboarded, but the class numbers in the first week of July have been very encouraging as a result.

“With LES MILLS Virtual, we believe there are members who are going into classes during unstaffed hours who have not booked in - they just see it on the screen and give it a go - so we are confident that the attendances are even better than recorded.

“We are working with GymMaster to see if there is a way when a member books an On Demand time slot that they can select a class and other members can choose to join them. These classes currently can only show one participant, yet we know there are often more in attendance. I would be interested if any other clubs who offer LES MILLS Virtual have a solution to more accurate tracking of the attendance in these classes.

“So far, LES MILLS Virtual has been a wonderful addition to our club. It sets us apart again, it shows we care about our members (the new heaters in the group fitness room have also helped!), and it confirms we are confidently looking to the future. After a tough 15 months, it’s so good to look at figures that are trending up and not down.”

For more information click here to contact Les Mills Asia Pacific via their entry in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory.

Main image: Health & Fitness World, Launceston. Credit: Les Mills Asia Pacific.