Les Mills has launched Bodypump Heavy, a new programme based on much-loved 30-year-old classic, Bodypump.

Bodypump Heavy combines the psychology of group training with slower weightlifting, allowing for increased focus on technique and the lifting of heavier weights. Classes are delivered by trained Les Mills instructors, with specially curated music.

Bodypump Heavy has been designed to make weightlifting safe and accessible for everyone and to remove common gymtimidation barriers.

Tempo-based and simple to do, Bodypump Heavy draws on traditional lifting techniques to build muscle and drive measurable performance gains. The slow tempo and longer recovery periods allow time for coaching, enabling participants to master form and technique.

Les Mills MD, Phillip Mills, says: “Strength is the biggest category in fitness, but our research shows many people are being held back by gym floor intimidation and queues for equipment, as well as challenges with technique or motivation.

“Bodypump Heavy is a turnkey solution to enable clubs to maximise their strength offering by making it accessible to all members, so they can reap the rewards of in-studio workouts, while freeing up capacity on the gym floor.”

The programme was tested in Les Mills’ New Zealand health clubs, where 82 per cent of participants said they’d be ‘highly likely’ to recommend it to their friends, 80 per cent said they were ‘highly likely’ to continue doing the workout and 79 per cent expressed ‘total’ or ‘very high’ satisfaction with the quality of the programme.

Geena Pannett, Les Mills’ New Zealand national group fitness manager and one of the team behind the creation of the programme, said: “Bodypump Heavy is particularly popular with men – who are inherently hard to get into the studio – and a massive success with new members.

“It gives them the opportunity to learn basic lifting techniques without paying for a personal trainer or facing the intimidation of being on the gym floor by themselves.”