Les Mills’ ‘educational’ Fitness Classes Helped Me Understand Why My Favourite Workouts Work
I have never been a natural athlete. I didn’t play sports as a child, I never enjoyed working out, and it was only as I got older that I began to be interested in the health benefits of movement. The only thing that makes me go to the gym is vanity, and I can afford it.
Given that I have no intrinsic motivation to master physical skills, you might think I hate the gym. But I don’t, for one stupid reason: To fulfill my undergrad physical education requirement, I took a two-week intensive weightlifting class, thinking it would be easier (and less humiliating) to pass out. I spent two weeks in the gym, 10 hours a day, learning not only how every machine in the gym worked, but also the science behind the exercises . I learned how to fuel my body for the activity I was planning, when and how to schedule rest days, and how to measure my progress.
In all these years, I’ve never felt overwhelmed or overwhelmed when I went to the gym, but I know that’s true for many newbies and occasional gym-goers. I’ve long dreamed of giving others the same crash course in fitness that I did, so that we could all feel as bold as I do when joining a new gym or starting a home workout . And recently, I realized that the Les Mills+ fitness app offers its subscribers something that fits that bill.
Les Mills+ app offers educational fitness courses
For the past few weeks, I’ve been testing Les Mills+, a program that offers at-home versions of the world-famous brand’s popular group fitness classes. Ultimately, I decided that Peloton is the better choice for most people , despite its higher price. However, Les Mills+ beats Peloton in one way that’s worth noting, especially if you’re a beginner and want to better understand how and why exercise affects your body.
Les Mills+ offers your usual cardio and strength training classes, plus a library of videos that dive deeper into related topics. These aren’t workout videos, they’re instructional videos.
When you open the app, you’re greeted by a menu of workout programs (BodyCombat, BodyStep, or Les Mills Barre). For the first week or so of testing LM+, I stuck with one of these. But if you keep scrolling, you’ll see a subheading called “Goal-Based Workout.” It links to landing pages like “Getting Started,” “Habit-Forming Strategies,” and more. Within this portal, you’ll find healthy lifestyle tips, advice on best practices for exercising during pregnancy and menopause, and a “Change” series with tutorials on health differences and body image.
Understand why you train a certain way
The topics are designed to help you connect your workouts to your overall health, increasing your motivation and helping you stick to the program. The videos are evidence-based, yet easy to understand. Certified instructors explain the material using research and data, and connect it to exercise, nutrition, and health. On-screen graphics highlight key points, and the instructors speak clearly, making it easy to understand even when the topics are complex. In one video, the trainers briefly explain why BMI is not a reliable indicator of overall health and how you can assess your fitness in other ways, then tailor your workouts and overall health plan accordingly.
Some of the topics may seem a bit trivial , but even they are presented in a way that makes them engaging and motivating. A great example is the video on rest and recovery from the Getting Started series. You know, of course, that you need rest days to give your body a chance to recover from a workout. I felt a little smug starting this, thinking it would be obvious. However, I learned a few things. The video goes into detail about the different types of fatigue the body can experience and how they relate to physical performance, something I didn’t know.
Other videos give you a quick taste of what to expect from certain workouts, so you don’t feel overwhelmed when you open a video of a class and are immediately confronted with unclear instructions from the instructor. I find these teasers valuable. If you don’t understand what’s going on in a class, you’re probably not going to enjoy it and you may not come back. Even a three-minute orientation video can help you get the hang of it on your first try.
A good tutorial for beginners.
Given the breadth and depth of the material, I consider these instructional videos a worthy part of the Les Mills+ subscription, which costs about $15 a month. Many apps charge money in exchange for choreographed workouts you can do on your own, but this informative content goes above and beyond.
As I mentioned, my motivation to exercise is vanity. I know about the physical and mental health benefits (I’m a certified spin teacher and have a Master of Public Health), but that’s only part of the motivation. Everyone has their reasons: My students are training for a competition, working on cardiovascular health, or looking for an endorphin rush. My boyfriend goes to the gym every day because he’s proud of his long-term goal. One of my friends goes on her lunch break because the mental health benefits are more important to her. All of these motivations would be even stronger if I learned more about the science behind how it all works and how to train more effectively to reach my goals.
Also, I think this is really helpful information for beginners. Knowledge about nutrition, rest, different types of exercises, technique, and more is critical to safe and effective training. If you are trying to achieve your health goals in an unhealthy way, at best you will burn out or lose the joy of training, and at worst you will get injured. None of these results are the reason you are training.
The videos are available during a free one-week trial. Check them out.