I had the opportunity to attend Reebok Les Mills Live in London. I’ve been a big fan of BODYPUMP and the various group exercise programmes that Les Mills create for a long while but I’ve never experienced a fitness event of this size in real life. As you can imagine I was a little nervous as to whether I’d be able to do a full day’s worth of exercise classes and also excited to see what the day had in store.
What is it?
Les Mills and Reebok have teamed up to create an event open to fitness enthusiasts and Instructors. Labelled as the ‘Biggest Fitness Party of the Year’ attendees can choose to take part in up to x6 classes per day over the 2-day weekend event, which travels the globe. We were lucky enough to join the activities on Saturday to experience what Reebok Les Mills Live had in store. Here’s a diary account from my day:
5.45am – Alarm goes off (and brain sighs…why are you getting me up this early on a Saturday?) I haul myself out of bed, pick up my sister and fuelled with coffee and porridge we’re on the train up to the ExCel Centre in London.
9.30am – After much nattering, a 2.5-hour journey on the train and having checked in and dumped our bags we’re at our first class of the day BODYBALANCE, an hour long yoga based class. I thought it would provide a good opportunity for us to limber up for the rest of the classes of the day. I am absolutely blown away by the experience of working out with so many people (not sure on numbers but it felt like 1000’s). It’s surreal to watch everyone move to music together, incredibly motivating and inspiring.
11.10am – BODYPUMP!!! Big fan of this one. We went to ‘The Best of’ class, which was slightly shorter at 45 minutes (strategic thinking!). For those that haven’t experienced it, BODYPUMP is a barbell workout to music. You use light to moderate weights with lots of repetition for a complete body workout. It’s strangely addictive and I’m yet to meet anyone who’s tried ‘PUMP’ and not become obsessed.
13.00pm – Its time for my new favourite, LES MILLS SPRINT. As the Brandwave team will agree, I’m a bit obsessed with bike workouts generally and this one did not disappoint. The Les Mills Instructors who came down from Bristol to deliver this class were absolutely amazing, coming into the crowd to motivate us whilst we worked out. SPRINT is a 30-Minute High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workout on a static bike, which combines periods of high intense exercise and rest. The bursts of exercise from everyone in the class are seriously intense so I pushed myself even harder than usual. We’re absolutely exhausted and very sweaty at the end of this one!
13.40pm – Les Mills GRIT Plyo was the final one in our schedule for the day (I’m seriously wilting at this point!). It’s a 30-minute HIIT plyometric-based workout. What this amounts to is the use of a bench and a lot of explosive jumping exercises in the class. Again it was the Les Mills Instructors that absolutely made this session for me. After about 3-minutes my mind was telling me I couldn’t do it but the team kept me motivated and focussed. I left feeling like I’d given it everything I had left in the tank.
14.30pm – (late) Lunch! By this time, we felt like we’d earned it so it was time for some food. It also gave us an opportunity to hang out in the athlete’s area. There was a Reebok shop, food and fitness retailers and it also provided a viewing platform to watch others working out in the room below which was pretty amazing as a spectator to see.
15.30pm – Time to go. We’re absolutely broken but buzzing from the event. Passing others on the train and tube in Reebok and Les Mills kit looking equally happy and sweaty we made our way back to the sunny south coast and a cheat day dinner.
Review
If you are into fitness or you are thinking about starting your fitness journey you absolutely have to try Reebok Les Mills Live. I loved how accessible the event was, there were people at all levels of fitness. It’s up to you as a participant whether you take part in one workout or you go for the full twelve available over the weekend. This means that absolutely anyone can come along and try a class. What really made it for me was the Les Mills Instructors and the experience of working out in a massive crowd. The instructors created a really motivating and inclusive atmosphere and it was inspiring to have the opportunity to workout with so many people. It’s a really special experience and I’ll definitely be back for more. Interested in attending?
Visit https://www.lesmills.com/uk/les-mills-live/ to learn more.
