Les Mills Bodypump Question

[Malia]

I have the Les Mills Beachbody kit already. I've been looking at the other pump dvds on ebay (my family wants ideas of what to get me for my birthday). I love pump but I don't need "instructor kits" - I just want to work out with more DVDs that are similar to the Beachbody DVDs. What am I supposed to be looking for? They all seem to be numbered (Bodypump 88 etc)

[dutchgirl]

The instructor kits have a DVD with all the tracks, a CD of all the music, and a pamphlet with notes for the instructor on how to cue the track, etc. The CD & pamphlet would be of little use to the home exerciser and the DVDs are just like the ones that were part of the Pump kit.

[katchaser1]

They come up with new ones every 3 months- the newest is 92. I don't have 92 yet but I own many and love them. They all go by the same order: Warm-up, Squats, Chest, Back, Triceps, Biceps, Lunges, Shoulders, Abs, and then Cool-down. They switch up the instructors in each edition but Glen is pretty much in all of them. I have never used the notes and will rarely use the cds. I also bought most of mine on ebay, but you have to have patience to get a good deal and what I do is I put the amount of weights I used for each exercise on a post it note and leave it in the case so the next time I return to that edition I have an idea of what weight to use. I love that they use real music.

[luprisi]

Are they different from say Pump Revolution or extreme? How do they compare? They're quite pricey.

[jhsimpson]

Yes, what you find on e-Bay and CraigsList are 'probably' a person trying to recover their cost for purchasing the Instructor Pack. As explained above a LesMills instructor (BA,BF,BJ,BP,Grit,RPM, etc...) who is certified to teach a particular LM course has to purchase an Instructor RELEASE (numbered e.g. BP 88) quarterly. Within the release is a booklet of choreography notes, CD of the release music and DVD of the release being taught (MasterClass) by the Program Director(s) at LesMills in front of a live class that is usually LM instructors who fly to New Zealand when they film these classes. Think 'pilgramage' amongst the LM instructors who are fanatics.

A friend of mine who at one time was a LM instructor in BodyPump explained to me how she was recruited (somewhat cult-ish) into the fold but ultimately left as her educated profession took more of her focus and time.

We both worked out at the same gym and she kept more in touch with the gym's instructor who was teaching the BodyPump class for all of us. They hit it off and while I consider myself a person who can't remember choreography to save myself. My friend was awesome and probably knew the routine much better at times than the instructor presenting the class to all of us. In fact the instructor would mention to the newbies in class to watch my friend perform the workout with all of us if the instructor would stop performing the movements and walk around the floor offering some tips on movement while the music was still going. Not a big room so my friend would sort of take over the verbal cueing while the instructor helped with how to hold/move the barbell for proper technique.

The process for becoming an instructor is they have to be sponsored by the gym who has 'licensed' the program to be taught at that location. Then the instructor-in-training (I-i-T) has to attend a workshop to start their certification process (usually over a weekend Fri-Sat-Sun). The I-i-T has to shadow/group teach with an already certified instructor (mentor) for a certain period then they submit a video to LM corporate/regional director as a final exam/practicum that the I-i-T can be a certified LM instructor for that program. Workshop costs are pricey and depending on where they are taught you may have travel and accommodation expenses. Into the few thousands for my friend as I recall as she flew to another state for the workshop.

Once you are a certified and to maintain your certification in good standing you have to purchase EVERY quarterly release for your certified program regardless if you are able to teach or are still employed at the LM licensed gym. You MAY NOT teach the choreo at an un-licensed venue or risk having your certification revoked. These quarterly releases run around $50 (probably more) so that is another $200 per year in expense on the LM instructor.

You also have to attend a gathering (quarterly event) where the region (think multi-state) assembles to go over more techniques and training for that LM program. These quarterly events are usually run in tandem with the above mentioned workshop/trainings for I-i-T so expense wise if travel is involved the expense is in the thousands potentially. I think my friend stated that even though there are potentially 4 quarterly events an instructor just needs to attend one per year to keep their teaching certification.

When my friend and I were taking these classes we were just out of college and our salary from employment was on the low end. So these expenses can be somewhat PRICEY for the young instructor still in college or just making their way into their career-path.

Which is why you will see E-Bay and Craig's List posting for the Quarterly release materials are in the hundreds. The instructor is NOT suppose to re-sell the items as they are copyrighted materials and if LM can substantiate who violated their instructor's agreement they will yank that person's certification (black-ball). So the stakes are very high and the level of anonymity needed.

LM is trying to curtail the loss of cash-flow as this revenue stream from instructors as well as the licensing fees from the gyms to teach these programs affects their profits. I've seen on other message boards that streaming will be the only way that future releases will be transmitted to certified instructors. It also alleviates the production costs and lead-time needed for pressing DVDs and printing materials to be mailed internationally to all LM instructors.


As an aside - My friend still teaches (only on Saturday) a 'PUMP-like' class as our gym has since dropped their LM licensing. We stay in touch at class and a few of us head for coffee afterwards and catch up. She now uses the RIP materials from PowerMusic which are VERY similar to LesMills. Occasionally she will sneak in an old 'track' from when we both were younger and the music was better (in my opinion) and do a golden oldie (think 90s boy band) to what she learned/remembers from her LM days!

[dutchgirl]

Originally Posted by luprisi

Are they different from say Pump Revolution or extreme? How do they compare? They're quite pricey.

Pump Revolution and Pump Extreme are identical in format to an instructor release. The other workouts in the Pump set just had certain tracks removed to make them shorter and less intense.

[IceQueen07]

I would love to get a hold of some of the releases but they are expensive on ebay. I love pump, but am getting a little bored with the same ones all the time. Its a great program. We don't have a gym that teaches near me.

[luprisi]

Originally Posted by jhsimpson

Yes, what you find on e-Bay and CraigsList are 'probably' a person trying to recover their cost for purchasing the Instructor Pack. As explained above a LesMills instructor (BA,BF,BJ,BP,Grit,RPM, etc...) who is certified to teach a particular LM course has to purchase an Instructor RELEASE (numbered e.g. BP 88) quarterly. Within the release is a booklet of choreography notes, CD of the release music and DVD of the release being taught (MasterClass) by the Program Director(s) at LesMills in front of a live class that is usually LM instructors who fly to New Zealand when they film these classes. Think 'pilgramage' amongst the LM instructors who are fanatics.

A friend of mine who at one time was a LM instructor in BodyPump explained to me how she was recruited (somewhat cult-ish) into the fold but ultimately left as her educated profession took more of her focus and time.

We both worked out at the same gym and she kept more in touch with the gym's instructor who was teaching the BodyPump class for all of us. They hit it off and while I consider myself a person who can't remember choreography to save myself. My friend was awesome and probably knew the routine much better at times than the instructor presenting the class to all of us. In fact the instructor would mention to the newbies in class to watch my friend perform the workout with all of us if the instructor would stop performing the movements and walk around the floor offering some tips on movement while the music was still going. Not a big room so my friend would sort of take over the verbal cueing while the instructor helped with how to hold/move the barbell for proper technique.

The process for becoming an instructor is they have to be sponsored by the gym who has 'licensed' the program to be taught at that location. Then the instructor-in-training (I-i-T) has to attend a workshop to start their certification process (usually over a weekend Fri-Sat-Sun). The I-i-T has to shadow/group teach with an already certified instructor (mentor) for a certain period then they submit a video to LM corporate/regional director as a final exam/practicum that the I-i-T can be a certified LM instructor for that program. Workshop costs are pricey and depending on where they are taught you may have travel and accommodation expenses. Into the few thousands for my friend as I recall as she flew to another state for the workshop.

Once you are a certified and to maintain your certification in good standing you have to purchase EVERY quarterly release for your certified program regardless if you are able to teach or are still employed at the LM licensed gym. You MAY NOT teach the choreo at an un-licensed venue or risk having your certification revoked. These quarterly releases run around $50 (probably more) so that is another $200 per year in expense on the LM instructor.

You also have to attend a gathering (quarterly event) where the region (think multi-state) assembles to go over more techniques and training for that LM program. These quarterly events are usually run in tandem with the above mentioned workshop/trainings for I-i-T so expense wise if travel is involved the expense is in the thousands potentially. I think my friend stated that even though there are potentially 4 quarterly events an instructor just needs to attend one per year to keep their teaching certification.

When my friend and I were taking these classes we were just out of college and our salary from employment was on the low end. So these expenses can be somewhat PRICEY for the young instructor still in college or just making their way into their career-path.

Which is why you will see E-Bay and Craig's List posting for the Quarterly release materials are in the hundreds. The instructor is NOT suppose to re-sell the items as they are copyrighted materials and if LM can substantiate who violated their instructor's agreement they will yank that person's certification (black-ball). So the stakes are very high and the level of anonymity needed.

LM is trying to curtail the loss of cash-flow as this revenue stream from instructors as well as the licensing fees from the gyms to teach these programs affects their profits. I've seen on other message boards that streaming will be the only way that future releases will be transmitted to certified instructors. It also alleviates the production costs and lead-time needed for pressing DVDs and printing materials to be mailed internationally to all LM instructors.


As an aside - My friend still teaches (only on Saturday) a 'PUMP-like' class as our gym has since dropped their LM licensing. We stay in touch at class and a few of us head for coffee afterwards and catch up. She now uses the RIP materials from PowerMusic which are VERY similar to LesMills. Occasionally she will sneak in an old 'track' from when we both were younger and the music was better (in my opinion) and do a golden oldie (think 90s boy band) to what she learned/remembers from her LM days!

Thanks for taking the time to write this response. It's seems like too much trouble, I just want some variety but I'm not willing to go through that hassle. I might consider buying one on eBay if the price is right.

[luprisi]

Originally Posted by dutchgirl

Pump Revolution and Pump Extreme are identical in format to an instructor release. The other workouts in the Pump set just had certain tracks removed to make them shorter and less intense.

I still haven't done those two since I'm only on week 2 of the program but it's good to have these two since they are considered instructor released like. Thanks for responding!