Who Wants to Do a One-Arm Handstand on Top of Mount Washington?
Jennifer Hoffman established LOCO Fitness to feed the mind, body and soul — just on her own terms.
Jennifer Hoffman’s fitness regime began when a client joked about her becoming the next Jillian Michaels. However, with Hoffman’s universally can-do approach to exercise, her client’s joke is becoming a reality.
“I really believe in building a community, not just training people,” Hoffman says. “That’s literally what LOCO stands for: LOve and COmmunity.”
Hoffman launched LOCO Fitness more than a year ago with the support of existing clients, hosting individualized sessions and corporate training. One such example is her hourlong boot camp, which she'd held atop Mount Washington in the great outdoors.
Even as her client base expands, she intends to continue establishing a personal connection with each newcomer, encouraging those interested to text her or send her a Facebook message. Hoffman caters to her closely knit client base.
“I try to meet everybody right exactly where they are,” she says.
In an outpouring of Pinterest boards brimming with workouts routines and fitness tips trending on Twitter, Hoffman aims to be a reliable source. However, her brand of fitness is far from routine. In fact, as far as she can recall, throughout her six years as a trainer, she never repeated a workout. While her exercises remain the same, each routine is laid out in a unique sequence.
Can you describe the mission of LOCO Fitness?
My big thing that I always tell my clients is, “Fitness is like faith — it’s a journey and there’s going to be ups and downs. And nothing's going to happen, and that’s OK because it’s all yours and it’s all your own process. That’s what’s awesome about it — you just have to hone what that is for you."
How do you cater your exercises to a class with varying athletic ability?
[I consider] fitness levels, injuries, age … I mean, I have ex-football players, I have people who have been sedentary for years, you know it really just depends on the human. But any good program that is designed for humans should be able to be progressed or regressed — because everybody's different every single day.
Describe the most inspirational moment for you, while teaching the boot camp and why?
When I hear another client say, "How’s your family?" And they know details … It’s something that’s legit like a family. It’s something that you can call your own and it’s not like anything else. People care about you on a different level. You know fitness is fitness. You can go to a lot of different personal trainers … and they can adapt to you to meet your physical needs. But what I think makes LOCO different is offering a community where people feel welcome and safe.
So that is how you adapt to the community aspect of LOCO?
Yeah — like I’m not trying to make everyone have a six-pack. That’s not my motivation. I say this to my clients all the time: "Your life is bound, it’s spiritual, it’s physical, it’s a lot of things. So if you aren't in check mentally or spiritually or emotionally then you won't even be able to function physically. It’s finding the balance of it all." … I’m trying to meet people where they are on all parameters.
You teach CoreStix classes at FullBody Fitness. Could you give some insight on how the equipment works?
They are fiberglass sticks, and each floor component has … 12 holes in each arch. Each arch has a different angle so the pole is based on leverage. Once you stick the pole in, just by putting your fingertip on it adds enough poundage per pressure point and the stick won't actually pull out of that hole. So what you end up getting is a resistance training similar to a pulley system … but with sticks.
