BREAK A SWEAT WITH HILO HOUSE
This article was written by Social Stylate
Posted on by Social Stylate
Maura Miller is bringing a new full-body workout to Delaware.
Working out. It’s difficult, it’s rewarding, it’s exhausting and invigorating. It makes us strong, it keeps us healthy, it puts us in a great mood, and it makes us really sweaty. It’s all of these things and so much more. Maura Miller, the House Director of Delaware’s first boutique fitness studio HiLo House, says, “The physical and mental benefits of exercise go hand in hand. At this point in my life, with three kids under three and opening a new studio, I need exercise for my mental health. It’s ‘my time.’ It’s a part of who I am.”
As the daughter of a former aerobics instructor, Maura is no stranger to fitness. She was introduced to gymnastics at the age of two, and by the time she was a teenager she was a three-season athlete, playing soccer, basketball, and softball. “I was in high school when I fell in love with exercise,” Maura tells us, “I loved how it made me feel. When I was able to drive, I would get up at 5am and go to the gym before school. Working out was a sense of accomplishment for me.”
That determination and love turned into a thriving business. Maura opened Pure Barre Greenville with just one pure barre class under her belt. She tells us, “I was presented with the opportunity to start Pure Barre and without hesitation, I said yes! My experience was in exercise and teaching yoga privately and to athletes. But I knew with hard work, determination, and passion, it was going to be a huge success! Mindset is everything!” She ran the Pure Barre studio for five years before saying it was time to give the opportunity of owning a business to someone else. “It was not an easy decision for me because I care about the community I created,” Maura shared. “Pure Barre was my first baby and will always hold a very special place in my heart. It took me almost a year and a half to find the right buyer. I was not going to sell it to just anyone.” We can certainly understand that!
Always on the move, Maura says she’s continuously looking for new ways to grow and to challenge herself. She found a new challenge in two fitness machines she discovered while on a trip in Colorado: the VersaClimber and Lagree Megaformer™. The VersaClimber, of Lebron James and Lady Gaga fame, provides all the physical benefits of climbing a mountain, sans the knee pain. This low impact, full-body training tool sculpts the upper and lower body simultaneously, giving us one serious workout. The Lagree Megaformer is a powerhouse machine from Lagree Fitness that’s all-encompassing. Imagine doing cardio, core, balance, flexibility, strength, and endurance training all at once and with minimal joint impact. Well, that’s what the Lagree Megaformer does. These two machines make up the foundation of fitness classes offered at HiLo.
“There is 100% a need in the boutique fitness market for high-intensity, low impact cardio, endurance, and strength training,” says Maura. She and her husband Nick are the first to bring this concept to Delaware. “I pitched my idea to the developer of 2000 Pennsylvania Ave and she loved it,” Maura says of the HiLo House studio location. “I knew that this was my opportunity to bring another fitness first to Delaware and to continue to share my passion for fitness, community, and creating a platform for others to grow.” The husband and wife team works together in this endeavor, with Nick as owner and Maura running the day-to-day operations.
So what’s a HiLo experience like? We needed to know. “Our guests can expect a space that encompasses community, fitness, killer beats, and mind-body health and wellness,” Maura explains. “My yoga background is at the core of who I am and creating HiLo from the ground up has allowed me to tap into that energy.”
The details direct from Maura: “At HiLo, you will experience instructor-led, group fitness classes on two different machines. The Versaclimber class is a 30-minute, upper and lower body workout. The Lagree Megaformer class is a 45-minute, full-body endurance workout that strengthens, sculpts, and stretches the body. We will also offer combo classes – 25 minutes on the Versaclimber followed by 25 minutes on the Megaformer. We will offer these classes in two studios; our Versaclimber studio boasts 15 climbers, and there will be 11 machines in the Megaformer studio. Both machines are low on impact and high on intensity, which means they are, safe on the joints, and extremely effective when it comes to producing the results you’re looking for: improving cardiovascular health, building muscle, and sculpting the body. ”
We’ll be able to get our fitness on at HiLo House soon; they’re slated to open in May. Leading up to their grand opening, HiLo will offer free community classes!
Maura echoes what many of us (especially on the Social Stylate team!) strive for: “I want to be healthy, I want to stand confidently in my own skin, and I want my body to do what it is meant to do, and that’s move! I want to age gracefully and set an example for my children.” And working out is a surefire way to achieve all of it.