I’ll never forget my first Body Pump class. It was in a hotel gym in Buenos Aires, and I’d just arrived after 14 hours of flying. Jet-lagged, cranky, and desperate to feel human again, I found the tiny fitness room full of locals lifting dumbbells to a thumping soundtrack. The instructor shouted in Spanish, but I knew every move. The squats, the lunges, the clean and press. That consistency — the same choreography, the same beat — was oddly comforting in a foreign city.
That’s the magic Les Mills built. And this week I heard that its founder, Les Mills, died at 91. He was a New Zealand Olympian in track and field, but his real legacy is the global fitness brand that turned working out into a choreographed, group‑music experience. If you’ve ever taken a Body Combat or Body Balance class in a gym in London, a community center in Thailand, or a cruise ship studio somewhere in the Caribbean, you’ve felt his influence.
Why Les Mills classes are a traveler’s best friend
When you’re on the road, finding a familiar workout can be a lifeline. I’ve done Les Mills classes in over a dozen countries, from a sweltering rooftop in Phnom Penh to a polished club in Tokyo. The routines don’t change — same songs, same counts, same instructors on video. It’s like a teleportation device for your muscles. You don’t need to speak the language to know when to drop into a squat or push through a final set of chest presses.
Some gyms offer the live instructor version, but most play the pre‑recorded classes on large screens. That sounds impersonal, but in practice it’s freeing. You can show up in any city at any hour, and the workout is exactly what you signed up for. No surprises, no
