Lori Hooper might be the successful owner of two fitness studios now, but just a few years ago she was Lori Avila, a student at Turlock High School and a member of the cross country team. Hard work paid off for Hooper, who opened her second studio in Turlock in January.

“I was studying at Stan State when I had my daughter and had to quit going. But I told myself I would open a fitness studio when she started kindergarten,” Hooper said.

And Hooper kept her promise to herself; she opened The A List Fitness in 2009 in Modesto. She started with only 25 clients, but the business grew steadily. Hooper’s studio offers TRX, a type of resistance training that uses only bands and body weight. The specially designed bands are attached to an A frame, and fully assembled, the set up looks a lot like a swing set.  The bands are elastic and the resistance can be adjusted by the trainer for a more challenging workout. Lori and her husband, Vince Hooper, see clients of all ages at their studio.

“We have a few high school athletes who come in, and we also have clients who are close to 60 years old. One of the good things about this system is that we can adjust and add modifications,” Vince Hooper said.

Lori said that she found out about TRX on the Internet and decided to try it. She really liked the concept of body weight resistance training and decided to get certified in TRX training.  

“I knew as a trainer that this would be a great workout,” Hooper said.

Lori married Vince Hooper after she opened her Modesto studio, but they both currently teach classes and run The A List Fitness. They decided to expand to a second studio and opened the doors to their Turlock location in January. Hooper was seven months pregnant at the time. 

“I continued training until I delivered, and I came back two weeks after. I think it actually helped us get more clients. They saw me go from nine months pregnant to where I am now. We have a lot of moms now,” Hooper said.

The A List Fitness offers TRX training at their studio on Fulkerth Road.  Daily classes are an hour long, and members say they get the workout they came for. Renee Jakosa is new to TRX, she started taking Hooper’s class two weeks ago. Jakosa said she normally works out by herself, but she heard from other people in Hooper’s class and decided to join.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before, I thought it was pretty unique. I feel like it pushes me harder than working out alone,” Jakosa said.

Opening a second studio was a personal accomplishment for Lori. She said that her studio has grown mostly by word of mouth as clients recommend it to their friends. Being back in her hometown has also helped.

“It’s an awesome experience to know I started from nothing and built all of this,” she said.

The A List Fitness Studio is located at 1640 Fulkerth Rd. Pricing information and class schedules are available on The A List Fitness facebook page, or by calling Lori at 277-1124.

To contact Andrea Goodwin, e-mail agoodwin@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2003.