Body Jam dvds?

[BriscF]

Hi!

I was reading on another thread about Body Jam workouts and how they are a lot of fun. Are these mostly dance workouts? Do they sell dvds for them? Where can I find them? I put them on my trade wishlist, but I don't think I'll be able to get them in trade. Maybe I can buy them someplace.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Lynne

[Hej]

I think these are Les Mills. They are quarterly training DVDs and not for sale to non-certified LM instructors. You can sometimes get them on Ebay, but since instructors aren't legally able to sell or pass them on, I don't think you're allowed to trade for them here at VF. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

You can buy downloads of Misty Tripoli's own Groove workouts here:

http://www.mistytripoli.com/store#!__store

She's kindly made this download available for free:

http://www.bodygroove.com/free7564209.html

[BriscF]

Wow, Hej! Thank you so much. I'm going to download the Body Groove workout. That's great she offers it for free!

Has anyone tried her other Groove workouts? How are they? Do you find them fun and get a good workout?

Thanks!

Lynne

[BriscF]

Originally Posted by Hej

I think these are Les Mills. They are quarterly training DVDs and not for sale to non-certified LM instructors. You can sometimes get them on Ebay, but since instructors aren't legally able to sell or pass them on, I don't think you're allowed to trade for them here at VF. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

You know? I can't figure out why they (Les Mills, Zumba, etc.) can't make these workouts available on DVD to the public. Not everyone goes to the gym for their workouts. Plus, they could probably make a whole bunch of more money. They could release the workouts maybe 6 months after the instructors get them and they've been played out in the gym/club. That way the gym members will get the fresh content first, but the home users can still have fun and diverse workouts.

I thought it was all about the money for these production people. They could make millions more selling the monthly/quarterly backlist! Isn't it suppose to be about VOLUME in sales?

[Hej]

You're welcome. I hope you enjoy the Groove

Originally Posted by BriscF

You know? I can't figure out why they (Les Mills, Zumba, etc.) can't make these workouts available on DVD to the public. Not everyone goes to the gym for their workouts. Plus, they could probably make a whole bunch of more money. They could release the workouts maybe 6 months after the instructors get them and they've been played out in the gym/club. That way the gym members will get the fresh content first, but the home users can still have fun and diverse workouts.

I thought it was all about the money for these production people. They could make millions more selling the monthly/quarterly backlist! Isn't it suppose to be about VOLUME in sales?

A major reason is the licensing of the music-- unlike most "freestyle" instructors, Les Mills legally licenses original artist current hits for use in their live classes. The reason Les Mills instructors aren't allowed to pass on their DVDs is that the music isn't licensed for non-training, non-live licensed class use.

Another reason is the Les Mills business model. They make their money through licensing fees from clubs which want to use their prechoreographed classes and through instructor certification and ongoing training. Home workout DVDs are one of the largest "competitors" of gyms running group exercise classes. Why pay gym membership fees and go to all the hassle of making it to scheduled classes when you can get a similar experience at home with DVDs? Every music beat of a LM class is prechoreographed, and phrases, gestures, coaching points, etc. are all provided. Then Les Mills hires "the best of the best" for their training DVDs and coaches THEM to model the class in the hopes of enabling "ordinary" instructors to provide level of quality experience in the live group exercise setting. What the clubs are buying is standardization of quality in a live class setting. By making that "experience" directly available to home exercisers by selling their DVDs to the public, Les Mills would seriously p.o. their main customers and undermine their whole business model.

They DID once make a sort of sample DVD available in cereal boxes. The idea here was to make people "fall in love" with Les Mills and hopefully run out and join their nearest LM licensed club...

There are Zumba home exercise DVD sets available I understand. And Zumba is a different sort of set up. From what I understand, individual Zumba instructors are encouraged to use their own "suitable" music if they want and can choreograph their own moves once they have enough experience.

[pumptmuscle]

Originally Posted by Hej

I think these are Les Mills. They are quarterly training DVDs and not for sale to non-certified LM instructors. You can sometimes get them on Ebay, but since instructors aren't legally able to sell or pass them on, I don't think you're allowed to trade for them here at VF. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

Originally Posted by BriscF

You know? I can't figure out why they (Les Mills, Zumba, etc.) can't make these workouts available on DVD to the public. Not everyone goes to the gym for their workouts. Plus, they could probably make a whole bunch of more money. They could release the workouts maybe 6 months after the instructors get them and they've been played out in the gym/club. That way the gym members will get the fresh content first, but the home users can still have fun and diverse workouts.

I thought it was all about the money for these production people. They could make millions more selling the monthly/quarterly backlist! Isn't it suppose to be about VOLUME in sales?

I won't rehash the entire story here but I won 2 Body Step dvds on Ebay (for just $11 total including shipping ) and had some problems, not with the dvds but potentially getting them.

I believe I have seen some Les Mills dvds in both wish and trade lists but as hej says, they're only supposed to be owned by instructors. I do feel very safe in saying though that, as far as legality itself is concerned, instructors most certainly can sell their LM dvds to others. The bottom line is that if you own something, you have the legal right to sell it to someone else, assuming they have the legal right to have it. An adult, for example, couldn't sell beer to a child nor could someone legally sell drugs to anyone because that's illegal. As far as dvds go, you own them, you can sell them to whomever you'd like.

This issue can actually get very interesting because what happens when an instructor dies? What does Les Mills feel should happen there? Should the dvd be destroyed? I guess they'd say it should be given back but how would the new owner even know about any issues with the Les Mills company? Their vigilance about only instructors having their dvds can get pretty absurd if you think about it. I definitely agree with BriscF that, if they were released after they were well past being used in clubs (I'd say at least a year), they could make out very well financially.

As for the workouts themselves, you really can't go too wrong with any of the Les Mills workouts. I have the Body Step 63 and 64 sets (dvd, cd and choreo notes) from the Ebay auction. I just did 63 yesterday and as always, completely loved it. They're very hard to get but if you can get your hands on one, or if you can find a local class through their website, give it a try. They're such a blast. In all likelihood, you'll pay a lot for them, but they'll be worth it.

[BriscF]

Thanks for all the detailed explanations about why regular folks can't get these videos. It's a total bummer though.

[Debbie S.]

Bob, I agree. But, LM instructors do patrol Ebay and they will have Ebay pull a listing if they can catch it in time.

Chalene was smart. She couldn't control instructors selling their Turbo Kick instructional DVDs, so created the Fan subscription. Through the fan subscription you get only the DVD instead of the DVD and CD. Les Mills and even Zumba could easily do the same thing.

I LOVE Les Mills workouts and have spent a mint on my ongoing collection. The music in their more current releases aren't as good as the earlier releases because they have gotten spanked with the music license fee issue. But the music is still much better than the majority of the workouts on the market today.

[horsemom2]

I like Tribal Energy BUT do not love the TIFTTing (Taking It From The Top) style to learn a routine.
When I do these kind of feel good fun workouts, I like to do a certain move or combo a few times then move on to other moves and combos without repeating the earlier ones. Prefer more spontaneous following than memorizing a routine with the same earlier moves being repeated usually way too often for me.

This is an individual preference.
Some prefer learning a routine and others like myself do not.

Barb S
who isn't criticizing other VFers' choices but just identifying my own

[sologirlie]

Originally Posted by horsemom2

I like Tribal Energy BUT do not love the TIFTTing (Taking It From The Top) style to learn a routine.
When I do these kind of feel good fun workouts, I like to do a certain move or combo a few times then move on to other moves and combos without repeating the earlier ones. Prefer more spontaneous following than memorizing a routine with the same earlier moves being repeated usually way too often for me.

This is an individual preference.
Some prefer learning a routine and others like myself do not.

Barb S
who isn't criticizing other VFers' choices but just identifying my own

Barb, I too hate learning a routine! I like to jump right in and get moving Which is strange since I took ballet/jazz/tap/etc. for years when i was younger - learned many routines, hehe. But then again I ways always waiting for that opportunity to "free dance"

I'm interested in what these Les Mills workouts are......I love rare stuff...I live for hunting for impossible to find workouts!!

Star