It has been a year since HOTWORX opened its St. Johns location and the response has been just what Jamie Thibodeaux and her husband Aaron had hoped for from the community they now call home.
The concept behind HOTWORX is a 24-hour fitness studio that uses infrared techniques as part of the workout process.
According to Thibodeaux, infrared is easy on the joints, which is one of the reasons she has found so many people have gravitated to the infrared approach since they started the location at 45 Durbin Pavilion Drive, Suite 104 in St. Johns.
HOTWORX is a virtually instructed exercise program that consists of a 30-minute isometric workout, or a 15-minute higher intensity training session.
Although a workout takes only 15 to 30 minutes during a session, there are a number of benefits that come from using infrared, including penetrating a person’s body causing them to sweat and remove unwanted toxins from their body and muscles.
Not only is Thibodeaux a franchise owner, she's also a CEO and a mother of two children, Cecelia and Liam, and she's currently working toward her MBA in entrepreneurship.
“We have dabbled in ideas for a similar business model in the fitness realm in the community, and it finally seemed like a perfect time to make it happen by opening a HOTWORX,” Thibodeaux said. “My husband was from New Orleans and we moved here as a family six years ago. It just seemed the right time. Bringing our love for HOTWORX to our home community means a lot to us.”
Another way HOTWORX stands apart from other fitness models is by only allowing groups of three people at a time to take part in a certain workout session.
According to Thibodeaux, keeping the workout sessions small allows one to better achieve fitness goals.
“Sleeping better and improving sleep habits is something that many people have talked about since they joined HOTWORX,” Thibodeaux said.
Specific isometric workouts offered include hot yoga, hot isometric compressions postures such as hot Pilates, hot warrior, hot core, hot buns, hot bands, and hot barre none, while the high intensity training includes the likes of hot cycle and hot row.
The St. Johns location also has a more traditional gym atmosphere in the back part of the location’s building, so people can take advantage of that as well as the HOTWORX approach.
“We would love to expand our franchise in the future,” Thibodeaux said. “I’m interested to see what’s in store for us down the road. We love being part of our community and partnering with other local businesses and those that are family-oriented within the area.”
