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A Compromise Solution?
First I'd like to thank everyone for the fabulous comments - it means a lot to Tami and I. (Click here for background information if you're not yet up-to-speed on the Les Mills / BTS controversy) Also, an update: Our club's Group Fitness Manager will be in Atlanta this weekend to experience the BTS programs. She's also an instructor so we trust her judgment as to whether the BTS releases are as good as claimed. Unfortunately these sessions are not open to non-GFM instructors, as Tami mentions below, so we won't be able to attend (our car was packed and ready to go when that news was broke to us!)

Well, we believe that our GFM will probably find that the routines and music will be good - the question at hand, though, is whether or not they're better than Les Mills. Because if they're not, then it seems unlikely that a cost/benefit analysis would show it worthwhile to make the switch right away. As JJ rightfully points out in comments to Tami's post (below), this decision needs to be less about emotion and more about the long-term gain for class participants. We believe it would be prudent for club owners to hold off on making immediate decisions to switch away from Les Mills until BTS has a chance to get more releases developed.

So here is a compromise solution that I heard someone mention earlier today: It seems plausible that a club would consider trying out the new BTS material for a month or so - in other words, run a GroupPower class a few days a week inside of the current BodyPump schedule - to see how it plays. It may be more expensive in the short term to license the same type of program from both companies ($200/month, from what we understand) and get a couple of instructors going on the new release, but that pales in comparison to the huge long-term risk of making the wrong decision in a hurry.

I don't have access to the club licensing agreements, so it's not possible for me to know first-hand whether or not this solution is possible. It certainly seems like something a club might look into, though. Comments?
4 Comment(s):
On 12 May, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Has Goodlife Fitness acquired exclusive rights to the Les Mills programs in Canada?

 
On 12 May, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi...I think they have--I saw a big article on it...I will try to find it and post the link here!

 
On 12 May, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi--regarding having both programs at the same time...I don't think that is a plausible solution. I read on BTS' website that instructors could not hold both certifications--therefore I would assume that a club can't have both programs. I could be wrong though.

 
On 13 May, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

BTS already told our club we could NOT have both. Go with them all the way, or not at all. IMHO, the way they popped this on us was not a very honest way to conduct business.

 

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