Valerie Skinner and her husband, Chad, will open Fast Fitness Boot Camp on Jan. 17 at 1301 Jamie Lane in Waterloo. (Sean McGowan photo)

Valerie Skinner and her husband, Chad, started Fast Fitness Boot Camp in 2011 to give people a unique group workout and fat loss experience.

With two locations in Glen Carbon and O’Fallon, Valerie said she started to receive a push from friends and family to develop a third location.

That led them to the Monroe County area.

“We really love the community,” she said.

When asked what sold them on the area, Val said “the people.” She and Chad went to a Waterloo Chamber of Commerce meeting before deciding on a location, where she said she met a lot of charming people.

The Skinners began work on adding a location to Waterloo and will officially open at 1301 Jamie Lane – the former Tequila’s Mexican Restaurant – on Jan. 17. An open house will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 14 at the studio.

Pictured is the inside of the Glen Carbon studio. Valerie said the Waterloo location will share the same features. (submitted photo)

Chad said the open house will include the opportunity for people unfamiliar with the program to come in and talk to Fast Fitness veteran members, as well as serve as a time to demonstrate some of the workouts performed at Fast Fitness and how those workouts can be modified for people with physical limitations.

The open house will also include snacks and refreshments and giveaways, such as six months of free membership, every half hour.

There will be a pre-sale at 6 a.m. on Saturday for those interested in getting 50 percent off of their membership at the Waterloo location. In order to register for the pre-sale offer, interested parties need to go to https://fastfitness.clickfunnels.com/6-month to sign up to be on the email list.

An email will then go out the day of the pre-sale, and the first 50 people to click the link provided in the email will win the half-price membership.

For more information on the pre-sale and other offers or on Fast Fitness Boot Camp, go to facebook.com/ColumbiaWaterlooFastFitnessBootCamp or visit fastfitnessbootcamp.com. Contact the Glen Carbon facility at 618-444-9913 or the O’Fallon location at 618-580-9834.

Sessions are held at 5:15 a.m., 6 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. on Saturdays. Classes are in small group format and are 30 minutes in length.

“You have a community of people that are on the same mission,” Valerie said of the group format.

“It’s the other members that help each other out,” she added. “The support they give each other is awesome.”

According to Valerie, the 30-minute class came from the idea that a majority of Fast Fitness members are moms or people with families that don’t have a lot of time to exercise during the day.

The classes include weight lifting, exercises that increase flexibility, pull ups, bench pressing, dead lifts and other similar exercises.

“We’re definitely not an aerobic facility,” Valerie said.

In addition, lead fitness person Nikki Gentes, who began her journey as a “boot camper” and went through the proper certification to become a trainer, will manage the facility. Valerie said Gentes carries a lot of passion for the job.

“She’s so sweet and compassionate and very friendly, so she’ll be a great fit here,” Valerie said.

The main goal of Fast Fitness Boot Camp is to help people develop lifestyle changes rather than solely focusing on weight loss. In order to achieve this, Valerie said Fast Fitness also develops nutrition plans for members that will help them lose weight and keep it off.

“We like to teach a way of nutrition that’s sustainable because it’s being able to create a lifestyle change,” she said.

According to Valerie, Fast Fitness members are started on a detox program that uses natural, organic ingredients for meals. They also focus on eating lean proteins to help with fat loss. But regardless of the need, Valerie said anyone should be able to walk into Fast Fitness and get on a program that will help them reach their goal.

“It’s a personal touch. It’s no guessing when you walk in,” she said.