What it takes to be a fitness presenter, Marcus Benson

Fitness presenter Marcus Benson is someone I highly admire. He has such awesome energy about him, guides workouts with amazing clarity and brings a down-to-earth humble style to his presentation.

A former Les Mills International Presenter, Marcus is a presenter for SH1FT Fitness and until recently, created new fitness products, content, and training as Head of Fitness for energie Fitness. He now running an online coaching business.

I managed to chat with Marcus to understand more about what it takes to excel as a fitness presenter and what the pressures are.

Can you briefly describe yourself, and a bit of your background, experience and qualifications?

My first job was at Champneys Henlow. I never planned on teaching classes but there, teaching classes was part of the role which I really enjoyed! At my next gym, I taught LES MILLS BODYATTACK and LES MILLS BODYPUMP. I fell in love with those. I did the training and thought, "I want to be a master trainer!"

Worked my butt off and got an opportunity to do the bootcamp. I joined the team in 2009 going into 2010, initially for LES MILLS BODYPUMP and LES MILLS BODYATTACK.

It took some graft in the Les Mills team to get the opportunity to film but that was from a lot of hard work, feedback, drive to improve and a desire to teach at bigger events.

I went on to film a variety of BODYPUMP's, GRIT and LES MILLS SPRINT. I worked with Les Mills International on various projects like THE TRIP, delivering training internationally for clubs, trainers and presenters.

In 2017 we had the opportunity to work in Dubai to start the new Les Mills office where I supported the training manager in the growth of Les Mills in the Middle East.

When filming GRIT we did a lot of workouts, probably too much HIIT that it turned us all into absolute idiots. Somehow we were just laughing all the time, being very silly and there were a lot of Jelly Dinosaur sweets consumed!

I left Les Mills in early 2019 to join énergie Fitness as their Head of Fitness. I was heavily involved in creating new fitness products, content, and training for their 85+ clubs.

Over my career, I’ve always offered personal training and had various group exercise manager roles also.

SH1FT Fitness came about as I know Will Brereton . I’ve spent so many years presenting I thought it was a great chance to do something different and dust off my presenting skills!

For the last 18 months, I’ve been working on building my own online coaching business as I’m passionate about helping others. I also work freelance with other companies in the fitness space to support them with my skills, expertise and knowledge in various capacities.

Did you have any presenter training? Or did that come naturally!?!

We had presenter training within Les Mills, but you needed those skills or a strong level of those skills before joining the team. When it comes to teaching, those skills transfer, but for me I spent countless hours in studios, filming constantly, refining what I do, and seeking feedback constantly. I was relentless in the pursuit to be the best I could be. Everyone has the ability or potential but it’s about putting in the hours and graft to become better.

What are the differences, if any, in terms of your style, how you present, and what you have to be aware of, when instructing a group of people, such as a BODYPUMP class in a gym, compared to a filmed workout?

In terms of style, between a normal class and a filmed workout, there really should be no difference in my opinion because you should be being yourself.

I’ve taught 2 people in classes to over 2000 and I’ll still deliver in much of the same way but of course, there are nuances. In a local class, I would spend more time coaching people on their technique. There might be some banter and connection to people in different ways around the delivery.

The filming for Les Mills was a learning tool for instructors so we also had to focus on making sure that it would help instructors with their coaching, technique, and how to bring the tracks alive. There would be slightly less of some of the things in a real class environment.

If there’s no audience in a filmed workout, then it still requires the same skill set but you have to create the ability to connect with people through the camera using various presenting skills.

But, I go back to the fact that overall most things are very similar and should be!

Just for the sake of using an example, taking GRIT 19 - how long would you typically take to rehearse for that, and how much input do you have into the structure of the workout and moves?

The workout and moves are generally set before we start the rehearsal process because at Les Mills they are tested prior to that point. We will review moves in the workout, still practising as a move might feel better in a slightly different way after teaching it. We will ensure we have all the right alternatives.

"On the day of filming, adrenaline is pumping and once you are finished, you are super taxed mentally and physically from hitting that peak of performance."

When I first started LES MILLS GRIT, we had more rehearsals and we would have a week to rehearse where we would teach a workout a day or sometimes two. As the releases went on, we did scale that back as we found we didn’t need the rehearsal time and we felt better when it came to filming not having done it too many times, especially with it being a program where we coach people on the floor in a live capacity. Outside of the classes we would rehearse the movements, practice our coaching, transitions from presenter to the next, and apply feedback.

Hard to put a number on it but on average you’d spend 3-4 hours a day on it. GRIT was very chilled!

Is there extra pressure from a physical, psychological or mental point of view, when presenting a filmed workout, when the audience is so much larger in comparison to a gym class?

There 100% is. It is not so much about the audience being larger as it can be bigger or smaller but the demand is still the same. It’s like competing in a sport and building up to a peak to compete on a particular day. Physically you have to be your strongest, fittest role model with perfection. Psychologically and mentally it’s intense because you are so focused on delivering a perfect workout that people will be inspired by. On the day of filming, adrenaline is pumping and once you are finished, you are super taxed mentally and physically from hitting that peak of performance.

It was horrendous. I was in New Zealand, in bed all day every day for about 10 days. So that wasn't the best filming for me!

Can you share any interesting stories while filming any of your presented workouts?

When filming GRIT we did a lot of workouts, probably too much HIIT that it turned us all into absolute idiots. Somehow we were just laughing all the time, being very silly and there were a lot of Jelly Dinosaur sweets consumed!

In a BODYPUMP rehearsal, in the chest track (all rehearsals are filmed and we watch back for feedback). No one noticed at the time but when watched the video, Glen went to lie down, the bench popped up and he flew off it!

I think I was due to film GRIT 16, one of them anyway! On the day of landing, I went to take part in a GRIT class, just to move my body and I didn’t feel right but thought it was just jetlag.

On the next day, I was absolutely wiped out and had to go to the emergency doctors in New Zealand. They thought it might have been some kind of virus. I literally could not even walk to the toilet. It was horrendous. I was in New Zealand, in bed all day every day for about 10 days. So that wasn't the best filming for me!

Is the filming as close to real-time as possible?

All the filmed classes have scheduled time slots and they are stuck to. Les Mills has done this for so many years that it’s a highly tuned and refined process where no stone is left unturned. Everything is accounted for and it's like being on a film set. We turn up, get our mics put on, sound check and good to go!

What are the audition processes? Have you found there are EXTRA qualities a fitness presenter needs, compared to a group-ex instructor in a gym?

Audition processes will vary from company to company. To be a Les Mills presenter at the time I joined, we had to attend a 3-day bootcamp from 9-6pm.

To be filming for Les Mills International, it’s based on your performance and the training manager will put your name forward for selection. Other presenting work I’ve done has really been based on my delivery in my Les Mills filming’s and people can see what I’ve done previously.

There are EXTRA qualities needed; you have to be exceptional at what you do. You need to be physically fit, strong and at the top of your game from that perspective. You have to be able to deliver with more pressure, be yourself, be able to create dynamic contrast in your voice, understand how to bring music alive, be free of any self-doubt, coach with absolute precision and quality, be an entertainer and enjoy it on stage. Be a master at every aspect of teaching.

I’ve seen a lot of presenters’ film from across the world at Les Mills filmings, and quite a lot find it hard even though they are presenters already. The difference is the pressure of the event, the pressure you put on yourself and the nerves and anxiety. A big amount of self-doubt can happen and it can be a rollercoaster of emotions in that filming week. Some can’t be themselves in that environment and can’t manage and overcome those feelings, which affects performance.

It's so similar to sporting events; your mind can get the better of you and the event can feel so much that it has a negative impact on your performance.

I have looked into why men shy away from group fitness - what has your experience been? Do you have any thoughts on this?

Generally, it’s been a higher percentage of women than men in my experience. There’s been very few occasions where I’ve seen the opposite.

These are only my personal thoughts; I still believe the perception from guys is that classes are exercise-to-music in the aerobics way - everyone moving at the same time, doing 80's/90's aerobic-based movements in a studio in a conventional gym.

Also, it can be intimidating for men; you do become very self-conscious in a group environment. Again, it’s a perception that they can’t get good results.

Often when guys do certain classes, they get hooked into them. In more recent times with functional spaces, an approach to strength training; and functional fitness, these cool urban boutique functional spaces, I believe that style of training and space makes it more appealing to guys. CrossFit appeals to guys because of the type of training it is, Hyrox has that same appeal, again only in my opinion and experience, men tend to like the circuit, boxing, bootcamp, and functional workouts and are drawn to those.

To find out more about Marcus Benson, check out his Instagram page here.

Sh1ft Fitness Interview with Marcus - https://sh1ftfitness.net/blog/marcus-benson