Phu Minh Pham, Denmark
I’m a Les Mills instructor because I love to teach and help people evolve from being an insecure fitness member to maybe even becoming a Les Mills instructor. Members come to fitness classes with different stories each day. They could have a really good day or their day could have been really bad. Whatever story they have, I feel proud and humble being their fitness instructor and changing an entire day of negativity into a smile on their faces. To be a part of their journey and see them evolve has been fascinating and life-changing. The more people I can influence, the better and fitter a planet we can get.
Freja Holm Thomsen, Denmark
The reason why I love to teach group fitness is that it holds an immense power to heal not only our bodies but our minds as well. We push ourselves through so many aspects of life, either not noticing ourselves or being dissatisfied with it. As a psychologist, I treat people on a daily basis who suffer mentally because of this. It's also why I believe that development starts with acknowledgment. Acknowledging who we are, what we've done, our needs... This is the core of everything I do in my main profession and as a Les Mills Instructor. It's grounded in the theories of the relaxation response, beginner's mindset, and spontaneous attention. With these approaches, we can often regulate much of that mental suffering into more thriving psyches - which I find completely magical that we can do! My classes are therefore a free space for my participants to check in with and acknowledge themselves - no matter if that's through gentle stretching or through smashing the ab track. Plus smiles and laughter have healing powers too.
Joakim Iivonen, Sweden
The greatest feeling as an instructor is to see people smash a goal or a challenge that they made for themselves. That goosebump feeling when all connect in a class with music and movement is just awesome. I think that one of the things that help us build confidence and self-esteem is just that, to have a goal and beat it. That’s why, in my classes, I always try to challenge the participants by making a specific goal during that class, or perhaps at the beginning of a new period of release. For example at the end of a period, I want everyone to try doing at least one jump knee if they haven’t tried.
Seeing a participant adding more weights on BODYPUMP or keeping up the energy and giving it all till the end in a GRIT block if I know that the participant smashed a goal, that is one of the things, together with music, coaching, a connection that gives me that goosebump feeling and makes me really satisfied as an instructor.
Sercan Kaya, Sweden
It all started with a friend challenging me to try to survive an LES MILLS GRIT class and I've been sold ever since. As a youth, I played basketball on the national team level so I was familiar with HIIT training, but this was something else and I decided to become an LES MILLS GRIT coach. Undoubtedly one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. There is a special magic when performing the workouts - amazing music, cool moves that boil down to feeling great and grateful about everything in life. The absolute highlight is to deliver high-quality fitness classes to everyone regardless of their background and experience in the group. It greatly fulfills me. I give everything on stage, and I get back even more from my participants - the joy they are experiencing during the workouts shines through. Moving, sweating, and working out together with my participants make me happy, and I hope to continue forever. Because nothing beats GRIT!
Gabriel Hurtado, Sweden
Too many times have I heard heartbreaking stories where participants have felt negatively about a class. Maybe they haven’t felt welcomed or good enough as new to a class. This is something that has become my mission and my calling. I claim that I can provide a view of group fitness where everyone is welcome and included. I love to create connections and help people become the best versions of themselves and of course feel welcome to my classes. I’ve seen seniors, disabled, and others who felt misplaced become regulars to my classes and I’ve created lifelong friendships and connections with the people I meet. Within Les Mills everyone is welcome. If you can’t use your legs, use your arms. If you can’t use your arms, use something you can. Just do it, and have fun.
Nadja Klimova, Sweden
Every single Saturday for about the past 10 years I have come to the same fitness center, same time, basically, the same group of people, to teach a BODYBALANCE class. What motivates me to wake up at 7 o’clock in the morning every weekend all those years? The magic, the celebration of unity, the energy exchange. Do you know which moments I love the most? The shivers, the literal goosebumps I get on my skin when everything connects, the music, the moments, the coaching and it gets through to the participants. The literal electricity in the air. The calmness at the end of the class. The literal tears from the released tension in the eyes of the people after mediation and relaxation part. It is those moments, moments of unity and connectedness, when music, movements, words, well, everything, get straight into the hearts of the participants.
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