BODYCOMBAT 100: Inspire your club’s members with an epic event

In an industry as transient and trend-driven as fitness, it takes something truly special to stand the test of time.

For 25 years, BODYCOMBAT™ has been pulling crowds and changing lives, becoming the world’s most popular martial arts workout. Today, BODYCOMBAT is enjoyed by millions of fitness fans each week – across thousands of the world’s top gyms and at home.

The program has also emerged as a frontrunner in the fledgling fitness VR space, with BODYCOMBAT XR quickly becoming the world’s best-selling VR fitness app. Crowned META Quest’s Best App of 2022, the game has won celebrity fans such as professional boxer Tommy Fury, F1 driver Charles Leclerc and META CEO Mark Zuckerberg, as well as new generations of gamers who have been inspired to embrace an active lifestyle, with many graduating into the gym space.

Constant innovation and evolution have been key to BODYCOMBAT’s longevity, along with staying true to its origins in martial arts and empowering lives.

“We’re always looking at how we can expand creatively,” says Dr Jackie Mills, Les Mills Chief Creative Officer.

“It’s something we’re doing across all of our programs because when you have more voices in the room, it just starts to get a broader scope. We want to have intergenerational voices in the room so that the program can appeal to everyone and continue to evolve.”

So how can clubs leverage the popularity of BODYCOMBAT to fill their studios?

September marks the launch of BODYCOMBAT 100, with clubs around the world readying to celebrate the milestone release and the communities they’ve built around the program.

To support preparations, Les Mills has created an easy-to-implement toolkit to help clubs plan, promote and measure the impact of their events. This includes event promotion assets, posters, trailers, social tiles, stickers and everything else required to host a killer event that delivers against key club metrics.

Power of events

Events have long been the bedrock of a thriving club. They remain the most powerful reminder of why members fell in love with your club in the first place and serve as a fantastic example of all the things your club can offer that fitness apps cannot. Great Instructors, pulsating workouts, and a strong sense of community come to the fore, bringing members a thrilling and fun fitness experience.

Like all the best things in life, fitness is an experience best shared with others. Research into the ‘group effect’ tells us workouts are more motivating and enjoyable when we work out together, while we also get better results.

So as consumer demand for live fitness experiences continues to grow, what better way to accelerate your club’s growth than by hosting an awesome BODYCOMBAT 100 event? Here are 5 simple steps to get you started:

1. Use your star players

Connection is a key driver of member motivation, so securing your top talent to light up the stage is the first step on the road to planning an unmissable event. 79% of members state that Instructors are extremely important, with the quality of Instructors the single most important factor for participants choosing group workouts. Getting your A-Team in place and announced swiftly will encourage early interest and drive buzz for the live experience.

Once your star players are locked in, ask Instructors to promote the event during their classes and on social media, helping members associate your event with their favorite Instructor. The whole club should be across the plans, so make sure everyone on the team is briefed to ask members if they’re coming to the event, reminding them of the great workouts and activities you have planned for the day.

2. Spread the word

Members are your most powerful marketing channel for your events. The magic of a motivating workout means group exercisers refer 20% more new members than someone who works out solo, with one in ten group exercisers referring more than 10 new members to their facility (Qualtrics, 2019).

Creating quality events is a way to ensure a steady stream of word-of-mouth wins. Member recommendations will boost attendance, so find a way to reward their loyalty. Referral perks are a great way to incentivize your existing members and remind them how much their support means.

Eye-catching, high-quality promotional material is also key to getting the event in front of your audience. If you’re already a Les Mills partner, don’t forget to use the suite of BODYCOMBAT 100 assets available via Marketing Studio.

Don Murphy, owner and managing partner of Gold's Gym Newburgh and Middletown in New York, says: “One of the things we really appreciate about partnering with Les Mills is the value and professionalism of the marketing offering. Everything is already formatted for different digital media platforms and the videos are world-class, so it’s a great value add to your facility’s marketing mix.

“You have brilliantly-produced marketing, graphics, images and videos that are there at your fingertips, ready to help you engage your members, keep your club looking great and bring in new audiences as well.”

3. Work up the wow factor

An event is a great way to drive footfall to your club, but don’t forget to factor in how fresh eyes will view your studio. The member experience starts when they enter your facility and continues through every aspect of the club. You can influence your members’ emotional response to their experience by paying careful attention to what they see, hear and feel in each area of the club.

This applies to the atmosphere in your studio, too. Fitness design guru Rudy Fabiano explains the key role workout spaces play in forming lasting emotional connections for members. “Group workouts aren’t just a class, they’re a performance,” he says. “So the studio has to support that performance and elevate it through design and the way it makes members feel.”

4. Innovate

Investing in innovative tech has helped Crunch Fitness, West Florida dial up their club profile and event marketing ability. Christian Dyer, Membership Engagement and Social Director says: “Something I would recommend to every club is buying a 360-degree camera. You can actually launch livestreams on your social channels with a 360-degree camera. We did that for one of our grand openings and it was an absolute hit.”

Content captured at your club’s event can be used as part of a broader marketing strategy, as Christian explains: “We’ll capture content from high-energy busy classes and then use this content to help promote classes in timeslots that aren’t performing as well.”

Providing a window to the positive atmosphere at your club is key to encouraging those reticent to enter the group workout space. By showing the personal connections your existing members enjoy with Instructors, they begin to imagine themselves as part of that community.

5. Stay with the fight!

Great club events needn’t be a ‘one and done’ affair. Creating regular life-changing fitness experiences your members will love reinforces the joy of working out at your club and reminds them you’re in it together for the long haul, with plenty to look forward to.

The benefits of bringing members together often is a winning formula for the JCC in Bridgewater, New Jersey. By using events to support their focus on in-club community, they’ve powered towards sustained growth.

Fitness Director Jess Kichura says: “Things like our quarterly Les Mills launches are calendar mainstays that help light a fire under our timetable, but we’ll also set up day trips and games nights that don’t have anything to do with fitness and are all about dialing up the sense of community.”

With two-thirds of exercisers reporting a preference to work out in a group, a jam-packed events calendar offering ample opportunities to socialize is key to creating a lasting emotional connection with members. The journey to success starts with taking your first simple steps – and there’s no time like today!