If there’s one person that embodies the energy and positivity of BODYATTACK™, it’s Lisa.

The self-confessed Pinterest fanatic always has a new motivational quote on the go. Whether it’s “Be thankful,” “Live in the moment”, or “Be positive”, her enthusiasm radiates through every part of her life.

Lisa’s love for fitness and Les Mills runs in the family. Husband Pita is an instructor and their sons Jackson and Hunter are regular features in the Les Mills BORN TO MOVE™ series.

A three-time aerobics world champ, Lisa thrives on competition. She is constantly reinventing her own training as well as BODYATTACK. “It’s about staying ahead of the game, I don’t want to be the same person next year or the year after.”

Jackie is co-program director for our popular BODYBALANCE^™ program. She is also a specialist in nutritional medicine, an obstetrician and general medical practitioner. She is tertiary qualified in Physical Education and a former national gymnast and aerobics champion.

As Les Mills’ Chief Creative Officer, Jackie is responsible for the development of all LES MILLS^™ programs, which are refreshed every three months with new music and choreography.

Dan has embraced New Zealand culture with open arms since moving from the United Kingdom to take up the post of co-program director for BODYCOMBAT^™ in 2003. His distinctive traditional Maori Moko (tattoo) symbolises perseverance, hope and strength.

Dan is a purist when it comes to BODYCOMBAT, using his experience as a professional fighter to road-test new martial arts trends for at least a year before introducing them to the program.

Serious about his own training, Dan credits CXWORX^™ with helping him recover from a serious back injury and is a true believer in the benefits of a strong core.

An 8-year-old teaching school dance classes sounds crazy. Or as ‘G’ himself might say, “That’s cray cray yo”.

With such precocious talent, Gandalf had locked down his own dance class at Les Mills Auckland City gym by age 15. His trick to staying fresh after ten years as program director is to try as many different dance classes around the world as possible.

“When you give all the time, it’s so nice to go to someone else’s class and just get given to.”

G also finds inspiration dancing with his sons Max and Gio. “Just their pure love of movement and their zero inhibitions. There’s a hand line or an arm gesture you can often take out of it.”

Above all else, music is what drives G. He spends days and days listening to music.

“So much music, rubbish song after rubbish song, just to find that one diamond in the rough.”

It’s hard to picture now, but the man whose name has become synonymous with BODYPUMP^™, RPM^™ and LES MILLS SPRINT^™, had early dreams of being a world-class aerobics instructor. The aerobic stage is behind him now and 20 years later Glen now divides his (very busy) days between BODYPUMP, RPM and the high-intensity interval training of LES MILLS SPRINT.

Music is at the core of everything for Glen, and he believes that it all comes down to feel - “What do you feel when you listen to this song? What does it make you want to do?”

Heading up three key LES MILLS^™ programs could be a task with too much pressure for some, but Glen always keeps a cool head.

“As long as I trust myself, have a great team supporting me and do the basics right, the rest will come.”

Mark Nu’u gets cranky if he doesn’t exercise and is even known to take a LES MILLS SMARTSTEP^™ on holiday.

‘Do what you love and it doesn’t feel like work’ is his mantra. In his younger days Mark was a competitive figure skater. It gave him a few injuries (and a massive butt), so when he discovered the addictive nature of group fitness he was quick to hang up his skates.

Mark has been with Les Mills for two decades and has competed successfully in international aerobics competitions. As Program Director for BODYSTEP^™ his focus is on developing and evolving modern step-based training.

As the daughter of Phillip and Jackie Mills, fitness is in Diana’s blood, and from the age of 12 she has worked after school at the gym, and then in between lectures while completing her degree in Philosophy and Classical Studies. Her father began apprenticing her as a Creative Director when she finished university, the role she has held for the past five years.

“I am thrilled to come to work with my whole family every day.”

Diana is Creative Director for BODYCOMBAT, BODYJAM^™, BODYPUMP and RPM, which involves the creative process of selecting music and helping shape the choreography of each program. She is also the BODYBALANCE Co-Program Director, working with her mother Jackie to develop a new yoga-inspired release every quarter.

When she’s not working you’ll find Diana in the kitchen.

“I love cooking for people. Good food, and showing people how to fall passionately in love with it, is the other side of helping people create truly healthy lives."

As grandson of the original Les Mills, Les Jnr is the right guy to re-imagine group exercise. Much like his grandfather and father, Les Jnr is working to revolutionize the industry by creating experiences that appeal to his generation.

Les Jnr created the popular LES MILLS GRIT^™ Series in 2012. He then began looking for a new challenge and with his good mate Adam Lazarus, developed a next level experience that is likely to change the way people exercise. We call it IMMERSIVE FITNESS^™.

Rach “fell into fitness” after answering a job advert for gym instructors at her local club which stated: “Personality more important than qualifications.” She now boasts years of martial arts training and dance qualifications, but Rach’s personality has never been in question.

Directing such different programs as BODYCOMBAT and SH’BAM^™ is a tough task, but Rach wouldn’t have it any other way.

“They each feed different parts of me. SH’BAM makes me feel free and light with no cares or worries. BODYCOMBAT deals to the darker side of me which is strong and driven and I get to expel my energy in a fiercely empowering way.”

Bryce is the man with the power to make or break any new release. This is why the team cheekily refer to him as “God”.

With ultimate sign-off on all safety and training aspects for all Les Mills programs, he’s often showered with gifts of his favourite vice, chocolate (he’s not fussy which kind).

It’s a belief in the power of fitness that fuels Bryce’s passion. In his 28 years as a physiotherapist he saw people “getting their lives wrong” every day, but felt he was an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.

“Working in fitness you get to be the fence at the top.”

Janine did her first group fitness class at 16. By 19 she was an instructor, and she joined the Les Mills creative team not long after. That was 30 years ago... She is now the Les Mills Creative Director for youth programming, and oversees the development of all five BORN TO MOVE programs.

“Being active and fit benefits everyone in many ways but it also gives children the confidence to say ‘I can’ – and this is what inspires me. I love giving children the opportunity to realize their potential through physical activity."

Janine’s passion is infectious, so much so that her two teenage children, Taine and Corrah, have joined the mission to help children fall in love with physical activity – they are both BORN TO MOVE choreographers.

Janine is a BODYBALANCE International Master Trainer, a BODYSTEP Trainer, a BODYATTACK Instructor and a qualified personal trainer. She has also completed a Bachelor of Architecture. When not at Les Mills HQ, Janine lives with her husband Pete in the mountains of New Zealand’s Mt Aspiring National Park. It’s here that she fuels her other passion, designing and building earth houses.

Anna oozes fun. She is a Sweden-based expert in children’s activity and engagement and a professional dancer who has taught dance-based classes for children and teens for thirty years.

As Program Director for Les Mills’ programs for young children, Anna shapes the development of the classes. Composing music with a specialist music team she creates fresh, fun and engaging content every four months.

“The focus is always on letting youngsters have fun being youngsters. There’s no point forcing a child to be active for the sake of being active. We want them to enjoy moving because they feel good and have fun.”

Anna says she thrives on the energy, enthusiasm, laughter and sparkly eyes of young people.

“The goal is to keep kids smiling and arm them with a lifelong love of physical activity.”