- Les Mills International
Les Mills International is a
New Zealand company that is the world's largest provider of pre-choreographed exercise-to-music programs [cite web|url=http://learningaswork.cf.ac.uk/outputs/Moving_to_the_Music_Final.pdf|last=Felstead, Bishop, Fuller, Jewson, Lee, Unwin|title="Moving to the music: Learning processes, training and productive systems - the case of exercise to music instruction"|publisher=London, United Kingdom, p.6|date=2006] distributed to health clubs. The first Les Mills program wasBodypump , and there are currently seven variants of this program.History of Les Mills International
Les Mills International was founded by Phillip Mills and named after his father,
Les Mills , four-time Olympian and founder of the [http://www.lesmills.co.nz Les Mills World of Fitness] chain of gyms inAuckland ,New Zealand .Phillip Mills in 1980 developed a series of exercise-to-music programmes that would later become the Les Mills programmes in current release. Their success in the Les Mills gyms in New Zealand led Phillip to release them internationally. After a successful debut in Australia, the programmes have expanded to more than 10,000 gyms and health clubs in 55 countries, with an estimated four million participants every week taking a Les Mills class.
In 2004, Phillip Mills was Ernst & Young's [http://www.ey.com/global/Content.nsf/New_Zealand/Press_Release_-_Phillip_Mills_Exercises_Entrepreneurship_To_Take_Top_New_Zealand_Award New Zealand Entrepreneur of the Year] , and the following year he competed in Monaco as a finalist for Ernst & Young's World Entrepreneur of the Year award. In 2005, Les Mills International was named [http://www.nzte.govt.nz/section/11894/13032.aspx New Zealand Services Exporter of the Year] by NZ Trade & Enterprise.
The Les Mills Programs
Currently eight Les Mills group-fitness programs are in release. Four are floor-based aerobic routines using different themes (
Bodystep ,Bodycombat ,Bodyattack andBodyjam ), with aerobic routine using an exercise bicycle (RPM), a weights program (Bodypump ), and a strength and flexibility class using techniques ofPilates ,yoga andtai chi (Bodybalance , known as Bodyflow in the United States of America) andBodyvive (a low-impact class aimed at active adult gym members in their 40s, 50s and 60s).[http://www.bodyactiveaustralia.com/index.php?id=29 University research] has compared the caloric expenditure of some of the Les Mills programs (see further academic references below).
References
Research
* Lythe J., Pfitzinger, P. [http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:IM_U-GQT4RkJ:www.veenendaal.dds.nl/RPM0203CaloricExpenditure.pdf+pfitzinger+lythe&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=11 Caloric expenditure and aerobic demand of Bodystep, Bodyattack, Bodycombat and RPM] . Auckland: UniSports, University of Auckland, New Zealand, 1999:15.
* Pfitzinger P, Lythe J. The aerobic demand and energy expenditure during BODYPUMP. Auckland: University of Auckland, 1999:17
* Lythe, J., Pfitzinger, P. and Ho, D. The Physical and Psychological Response to 13 weeks of Structured Group-fitness Exercise in Untrained Individuals. UniSports Centre for Sport Performance, University of Auckland, New Zealand, 2000:33.
* Stanforth, D., Stanforth, P.R., & Hoemeke, M.P. (2000). Physiologic and metabolic responses to a Body Pump workout. [http://nsca.allenpress.com/nscaonline/?request=get-abstract&issn=1533-4287&volume=014&page=144 "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research"] , 14, 144-150.External links
* [http://www.startupjournal.com/runbusiness/worthwhile/20060524-worthwhile.html Phillip Mills profiled in "Wall Street Journal"]
* [http://www.whatsyourmotto.com/Articles/WhereFitnessFits.aspx Phillip Mills quoted in "Worthwhile" magazine]
* [http://www.nzte.govt.nz/section/11894/13032.aspx Les Mills International is New Zealand Services Exporter of the Year 2005]
* [http://www.ey.com/global/Content.nsf/New_Zealand/Press_Release_-_Phillip_Mills_Exercises_Entrepreneurship_To_Take_Top_New_Zealand_Award Phillip Mills is New Zealand Entrepreneur of the Year 2004]
* [http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006611270307 Bodyattack in "Tallahassee Democrat"]
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20C12FB395E0C738FDDAF0894DD404482 Bodyflow/Bodybalance in "New York Times"]
* [http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149191211800&path=!flair&s=1045855936229 Bodypump in "Richmond Times-Dispatch"]External links
* [http://www.lesmills.com Les Mills International site]
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