STRONG Studio

MEET LORI

Lori is the originator and founder of STRONG Studio. But, it didn't come without its persistence and passion and decades of commitment. Always athletic, Lori grew up in Chicago and spent hours playing softball in the parking lot across the street with the neighborhood kids and alley basketball with her older brothers and their friends. She stayed active through elementary school playing team sports such as basketball, softball and cheerleading. Her freshman year in high school she made the varsity dance team and became co-captain of the squad her sophomore year. 

At the age of 19 Lori sought after her first personal training certification from American Council on Exercise (ACE). She knew she not only wanted to learn more about fitness and wellness but knew she needed to know more. Following her drive to learn more she studied Physical Education and Health at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago and earned a Bachelors Degree. Throughout her college years she held a variety of jobs in the fitness industry at commercial, community and corporate fitness centers and acquired many fitness certifications such as Lifeguard, Water Safety, International Sports Conditioning Association kickboxing (ISCA), Emergency Medical Technician Basic (EMT-B), Pilates with Resist-a-Ball, Spinning, American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and Vitality performance and Reconditioning (ViPR). One of her most memorable jobs was working under the Bears former trainer Fred Caito. Go Bears!

After graduation Lori was excited to be offered her first salaried job at the Wellness Center at Motorola in Arlington Heights. This was one of Lori’s favorite jobs to this day. She taught exercise classes, helped run the fitness center, held informational workshops, rallied groups for corporate outings to 5k races and more. 

While working at Motorola, Lori had a second job with World Instructor Training Schools (W.I.T.S.) and taught a personal training certification course at Chicagoland community colleges. This is where Lori first heard about Slow Movement training. One of her students had asked her if she heard about this method of training. Not having heard of it in all these years of being in the fitness industry she was more than intrigued and went to a local studio in North Shore Chicago specializing in this style. The owner of the studio put her on the MedX leg press, and after she went to the bathroom and almost threw up from how hard it was and instantly fell in love. 

From there she learned everything she could about Slow Movement exercise, Arthur Jones, Ken Hutchins, Nautilus, MedX and more. She learned the protocol, shadowed the trainers and was certified by local master Tim Ryan and trained in the North Shore Slow Movement studios. Since then she has always trained abiding by the slow movement philosophy and her aspiration to open her own slow movement studio one day has prevailed through life's ups and downs. 

Some of her biggest personal fitness accomplishments have been the Chicago Marathon (goal was no walking and finished in 4:45), Chicago ½ Marathon, 3 different Triathlons and qualifying for the Olympic-distance race at the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships after finishing in the top 10 percent in her age group at the Iron Girl, and of course tons of 10k and 5ks.