Les Mills The Trip Launched At Filex2016 | Our Review

Chantal, Leisl and myself attended the launch class of Les Mills ‘The Trip’ last Sunday at FILEX2016.

‘The Trip’ is a branded immersive cycling experience. And it is exactly that! You are immersed in light and sound on a cycling journey.

The room set up has this 10-15m wide screen.

And tiered stadium seating. Which after my recent cycling experiences I would absolutely build into my club. For maximum vision and impact, stadium set up is a must.

The concept of the class is “Visual content is projected onto cinema-size screens in a purpose-built studio, and the content synchronises perfectly with music and exercise. Live instructors cue all the moves, but the experience becomes your own as you adapt to the visual, audio and physical stimulation around you.” As taken from the Les Mills website.

So what did we think?

Leisl

For me The Trip was a trip. It was mind-blowingly amazing. I am someone who doesn’t love to cycle because there isn’t enough to keep me interested in the workout. With The Trip I was captivated by the Imax screen images and the world’s we rode through.

With the instructor facing the same way as the participants, it gave the feeling of riding in a pack through brave new worlds. I imagine members would find their natural position without that pack – leading, bringing up the rear, riding in the safety of the middle of the pack. I could see this invigorating a many flagging cycle programs.

The soundscape played an equally big role in creating the journey and keeping the rider in the moment. I would see this working well scheduled once a week and used for special events. It would also work magnificently well as a staff/team building class. I loved it.

Chantal

I can definitely see the appeal of the immersive experience, I think participants would find it an escape from reality in a non-intimidating environment.

I see it as an occasional class, rather than a regular class, perhaps in feature days/times like Sunday mornings.

I’m not sure it would appeal to the hard core cyclist who is used to a more traditional format & higher intensity ride.

My positives were:

• A real journey
• Complete visual & auditory experience
• You don’t think about the time
• Less intimidating (than traditional cycle) therefore good for new comers
• Positive group feel, more so than cycle, perhaps due to room layout/ staggered heights
• Good mixture of intensity and ride profile

And my challenges were:

• My neck was sore from looking up at the screen
• Concern about instructor not seeing poor/dangerous participant form
• Question over timetable frequency versus investment as I’m sure the investment could be substantial

My thoughts

I am not an indoor cyclist and I’m trying really hard to do more classes and like them. So The Trip created enough stimulation for me to stay engaged in the class and not realise how much my legs were hurting.

I have to admit I was concerned when several people warned me about the possibility of feeling motion sickness!  They even suggested to ride in the second row behind the instructor – that’s where we went!

No motion sickness but some tummy flips as our speed changed and the vision on the screen. A little like a rollercoaster!

On a more serious note, I felt that as we came toward the end of a sprint or hill ride, visually seeing the top of the hill I worked harder! I felt myself pick up the pace. Apparently, Les Mills have done studies comparing a class with the same music and no visual and then with the screen and people worked 28% harder – that was me!

The workout was great. The experience awesome and immersive.

The economics of the program will be the challenge for club owners – especially smaller independent gyms. While the final cost to install has not been confirmed to do it properly, I imagine it will more than the cost of a treadmill or piece of Queenax – currently the more expensive kit in your club.

If you invest in this program you’ll want to run 7-10 classes a week – maybe even more.  I find it interesting, Leisl and Chantal’s thought that you’d run limited classes. I assume this is to drive people into the time slots? Or it is around boredom doing the same ride?

I’d also be really tempted to charge.  And I’d build my studio properly.

I can imagine some owners plonking a TV screen at the front of a room and that being “their” immersive experience. This will not work! You need a dark room, big screen and I firmly believe stadium set up.

The Trip was a great experience. It was immersive. But you’ll need a solid business strategy to ensure a ROI. It won’t be a case of ‘build it and they will come.’

I’ll watch this space for how clubs roll out ‘The Trip.’