Naperville trainer makes fit-tastic journey to open her own gym

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After pouring her blood, sweat, and tears into her business for the last nine years, Jen Hoeft has officially opened up her own fitness studio, J-fit.

“It’s a dream,” she said.  “It’s something I’ve wanted for a long time.”

What J-fit offers

Located at 550 Industrial Dr. Suite A, in Naperville, J-fit offers small group classes, strength training, and high-intensity interval training.

“But the biggest thing is that community that we’ve grown, that everyone just feels welcome, and they feel like it’s a second home they want to come to,” said Hoeft.

How it got started

Hoeft started planting the seeds of that community back in 2016.  After leaving Life Time Fitness where she worked as a fitness instructor, she went on to pursue personal training on her own.  She would lead classes wherever she could, from outside in the park, to a friend’s house, to the basement of Naperville Running Company.

“It was like Fight Club. I had to tell people, ‘Hey, come down to the basement,'” said Hoeft. “I couldn’t believe how many people showed up to that and that it just grew organically with each location we’ve been at.”

Fast forward to today, people are now showing up to the J-fit facility, which had its grand opening on January 26.

“Now we’re here at our own space, which I’m so excited for and blessed for,” said Hoeft. “I feel like I have to pinch myself, that I have my own space and could reach so many more people,” said Hoeft.

Fighting Parkinson’s through fitness

Some of the people she’s now reaching are those in the Rock Steady Boxing class, a non-contact boxing class designed to help fight back against Parkinson’s disease.  

“They’re working on flexibility, balance issues a lot of the time, but also their strength and cardiovascular. I just feel so inspired to be able to help them and the consistency of when they show up and how much effort they put in, and every boxer will tell you how much it has helped their overall health,” said Hoeft.

Hoeft is running those classes out of her new facility alongside her personal training and other classes.  She expects to add even more programs, such as yoga, to her studio, continuing to evolve her business dream.

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