Lauren Recinos

Two thirds of my life has been happily consumed by group fitness! My name is Lauren Recinos and I am a passionate group fitness instructor, enthusiast and lover!

My 8th grade year I began to gain weight and my mother took me to see a nutritionist. Truthfully I was not happy about food logs and the restrictions given but once Ann, the nutritionist gave me a box of 5 pound, nylon, sand weighted dumbbells, I fell in love with the whole idea of fitness. I read the instruction booklet daily, doing every exercise listed and then making up my own. This interest I developed in exercise spurred my mother and I to join a women's only gym, newly opened in our town when I was 15. I took every class I could after school and on the weekends. I knew every instructor's routine by heart! One Saturday, the morning hi/lo instructor did not show up for class. The woman at the front desk knew I was a regular and asked if I could teach it. She put the tape in the tape deck and helped me with the wired lapel microphone (yes, I said tape deck and wired lapel mic ;-). I received a standing ovation at the end and was hooked! I was hired the following Monday. My very first job was at the Women's Club in Snellville, GA teaching aerobics at 15 years old!

Because of my unique job, I was asked to lead aerobics during PE electives in high school. This is where I learned that I could make a difference in people's lives. You didn't have to run track or play basketball to exercise or be fit. This was a way to bring fitness to everyone with a team feel of excitement without having to be on an organized team or having a winner and a loser. Everyone got to be a winner and felt good at the end, not just the popular kids or star of the soccer team.

I taught classes in college and was one of the very first step instructors learning from Gin Miller herself in 1989. We used home built plywood boxes in our clubs before Reebok steps could be bought. I also taught Slide classes during that short fad and may still have one in my house somewhere, booties and all!

Because of my passion for specifically group fitness, in 1997 I moved into the administration or director side of things in addition to teaching. Now I began hiring and mentoring instructors and building group exercise programs that truly improved lives.

My true love is teaching and my favorite class to teach is whatever I am teaching at that moment. I began with hi/low back in the 80's, moved to Step aerobics then  kickboxing, aqua and cycle in the 90s on up to now with Les Mills, Insanity,  pilates and yoga. I attend multiple yearly workshops to stay on top of the current trends and to continue to try to improve the lives of those around me.