Following sell out events in London, Glasgow and Belfast Les Mills’ GFX series took over the BT Convention Centre at the Liverpool Echo Arena in November for the final event in the GFX series and delivered a day-long festival of cutting- edge fitness, bringing together more than 2,000 fitness experts, instructors and enthusiasts alike. Hosting the hottest dance, high intensity interval training, martial arts, indoor cycling and mind body workouts, GFX demonstrated to the North-West what group fitness is all about in true Les Mills style!
Dave Kyle, UK head trainer for Les Mills UK says:
“Liverpool was the biggest and best GFX event we have hosted so far. The atmosphere was electric and it was inspiring to see so many people taking part and really getting stuck in with the Les Mills programmes – it really showed the power of group exercise. We often talk about the power of the Les Mills Tribe and GFX is the essence of this.
We work in partnership with Reebok to bring the Les Mills party to the big stage, to host the show stopping productions and to captivate the audience and inspire both consumers and instructors. The feedback is incredible and the result of this day long festival of fitness is that consumers and indeed instructors (about a 50:50 split) return to their clubs feeling energised and engaged with the Les Mills programmes. GFX events inspire more people to move more often at their local facilities; morning, noon and night.”
Local charity, the Steven Gerrard Foundation received a £3,500 donation from the Les Mills Fund for Children, a charitable fund set up by Les Mills UK and the main man himself took time out of his busy schedule to come along and personally accept the cheque and learn about how Les Mills is creating a fitter planet. Steven Gerrard said: “It was great to see the event itself, and the Les Mills Fund for Children is doing a fantastic job. Health and Fitness is definitely becoming more popular and events such as these are a fantastic opportunity to increase awareness of the benefits a healthy lifestyle can have. We are very grateful to all involved with choosing my foundation to receive this donation.”
To top off a truly amazing day local children from the Carmen Maria Academy staged a takeover in the middle of BODYATTACKTM and owned the stage with their electrifying performance showcasing the latest Les Mills ‘BORN TO MOVETM’ programme, an innovative and inspiring children’s programme, which has recently launched in the UK.
GFX Liverpool also hosted the final of the Les Mills GRIT CHAMPSTM™
the ultimate challenge in fitness and endurance. Since March, teams from across the UK have been battling it out in regional heats in their clubs and other GFX events to secure their place in the finals. Teams from Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves joined the fittest of the fit GRIT-ers to face the ultimate in fitness endurance and strength in their quest to be crowned UK GRITTM Champions and win a £10,000 studio make-over for their club. There could only be one winner and the team from Roko Portsmouth secured the title and will be benefiting from a brand new Les Mills studio in 2015.
Dave concludes: “We invest a great deal into making the GFX series big and bold but we ultimately do it to inspire our club partners to think outside the box when it comes to our programmes. Events like this, but on a smaller scale can work in all clubs and every time we release our new choreography there’s no reason not to host a Les Mills party and re-launch the programmes with a bang!”
GFX Liverpool may have been the last in the 2014 series but there will be more ground-breaking fitness for Les Mills next year...watch this space!
