Are exercise goals on your resolutions list—again? Below, some of Jersey’s favorite fitness experts share their passion for movement to inspire you to join in.
LWL in Montclair & Jersey City
Photo: Natalie Chitwood
The music greets you at the door. The energy is frenetic, and the room is vast, with bodies in myriad shapes and sizes moving in relative synchronization. In front is the guru of the groove: Lloyd Pearson. A former dancer, and one-time music composer/producer for Sony, Pearson’s visibility skyrocketed thanks to his viral pandemic presence. “In 2020, I’d have as many as 10,000 people in my Zoom classes,” says 36-year-old Pearson.
After the masks came off, his online popularity was nearly outpaced by his in-person following. Scoring a spot in classes like Swag Hip Hop and Boogie Burn at the Arthur Miller Dance Studio building in Montclair is a bit like winning the lottery; classes sell out and leave hopefuls on waiting lists.
Pearson says it is the community that fuels him. It doesn’t hurt that he lives and works in the health-conscious enclave of Montclair, where celebs and soccer moms coexist, and fitness seekers range from yoga-pants-clad 18-year-olds to age-defying 75-year-olds. Nearly 1,000 people per week fill his full roster of classes, with 50-plus participants in each. Among his followers are retired professional soccer player Ashlyn Harris and makeup mogul Bobbi Brown, who Pearson gave dance instruction for three years.
To keep up with the demand, Pearson has hired instructors—“I need to clone myself,” he laughs—and opened a second location in Jersey City, with a Manhattan outpost to launch soon.
Raised in Essex County, Pearson, who graduated from Piscataway High School, seems to be enjoying the spotlight. He’s been featured in Men’s Health and Forbes, made numerous television appearances, including on Sherri, and was keynote speaker for the 2025 New Jersey Small Business Summit at Montclair State University—all without missing a beat.
“It’s all about having fun,” he says. “Don’t take it too seriously. Most people go into exercise with the intention of pushing hard, but I use fun as a tool. When you are having fun, you forget about the work. It’s all about a never-ending party.”
Photo: Natalie Chitwood
In addition to his signature hip-hop/R&B cardio dance moves, his all-inclusive fitness brand includes kickboxing, cycling, yoga, Pilates, strength training and one-on-one sessions. “Everyone wants to feel young and dance and move and stay strong,” he says. “Everybody is welcome here, and once you come, you can’t wait to come back. —Deborah P. Carter
The Atlantic Club in Red Bank • Eleven Jiu Jitsu in Sea Bright
Photo: Luc Jean-Baptiste
For Jada Covington, getting into her own flow was the first step in creating a movement that her hundreds of thousands of followers, from New Jersey to South Africa, now rely on for a sense of calm, fun and fitness.
Three years ago, Covington, now 26 years old, was working various gigs in public relations when she realized that yoga was her true calling.
“While working what felt like 12-hour shifts, the former—though I prefer the term forever—dancer in me knew I needed movement to salve the stress,” she says. “I dove headfirst into hot yoga, a love I uncovered a few years prior, and quickly reasoned that if I liked taking class, I might fancy teaching it.”
She completed her 200-hour yoga-teacher training during a difficult time that “begged for my presence at home. My grandma, who raised me since the age of two, was falling sick quite frequently, which prompted me to quit corporate and put this teaching thing to the test.”
The test worked. That summer, Covington dreamed up @flowgogirl, her now wildly popular social media account (with a strong presence on Instagram and YouTube) and started teaching three classes a day. (She also made ends meet by working retail, babysitting, animal-sitting, lifeguarding, doing administrative work, and running socials for a gym.)
Today, Covington, who grew up in Howell and now lives in Eatontown, shares her impressive yet easy-to-follow flows on social media and teaches in Monmouth County. She leads popular yoga and yoga sculpt classes at the Atlantic Club in Red Bank and warm yoga at Eleven Jiu Jitsu in Sea Bright. Her account has also led to partnerships with brands including Beyond Yoga.
“It started out as my movement diary and soon evolved into a movement itself,” Covington says of @flowgogirl. “It’s in our nature to want to find freedom through movement. To do so, you’ve first got to find fun. I think people are drawn to that fun I infuse in my flows.”
Her classes strike a balance between strength and stillness. “In yoga, we move with our breath; in fitness-focused classes, we move with the beat. In both, dynamic movement and moments to pause are weaved throughout.”
“You’ll often hear me echo the phrase, ‘It takes strength to be soft,’ and I like to think my classes embody that sentiment.”
Self love and acceptance are also important elements in Covington’s teaching. “I emphasize not a beach bod, but to nod to yourself. For showing up, for getting through, for breathing, for being. Gratitude offers a sense of ease that resistance does not,” she says. —Julie Gordon
Spa 23 in Pompton Plains • Santokh in Montclair
Photo: Courtesy of Laura Kasperzak
When Laura Kasperzak was a teenager babysitting at her sister’s house, she came across a videotape with a yoga instructor teaching a class. She had never seen anyone do yoga before (it was the late 1980s, after all) and was immediately enthralled. She ended up stealing the tape from her sister and getting the yoga bug.
Now, more than three decades later, Kasperzak is a yoga teacher who has taught all around the world and has a following on Instagram of more than 1 million people (@laurasykora).
As the self-described handstand queen, she believes she has an impressive following on Instagram in part because she was one of the first yogis to start an account on the social media site more than 15 years ago.
“My niece suggested I start an account, so it was my version of a diary. I just started posting photos of myself doing yoga and poses,” she says.
Kasperzak, 48, who lives in Lincoln Park and grew up in Maywood, has been asked to teach yoga in places as far away as Dubai, the Isle of Mann in Great Britain, and Singapore. She also coaches CrossFit (“It’s definitely a yin and yang to my fitness,” she laughs) and teaches power yoga regularly at Spa 23 in Pompton Plains and at Santokh yoga studio in Montclair.
Many of her posts feature Kasperzak doing her signature (and impressive) one-handed handstands. How does she do it?
“You have to start slowly and work on your form and alignment,” she says. “I like arm balances and inversions. I really like challenging people to step out of their comfort zone in a fun and safe environment. I want them to get out of the mindset where they say, ‘I can never do that.’”
She attributes her handstand prowess to doing gymnastics and cheering when she was growing up; she also has an acrobatic background.
These days, Kasperzak practices yoga and inversions every day. “I did things in my 30s, and now my 40s, that I probably couldn’t even do in my 20s. So that’s been a great challenge and fun,” she says.
Now, her daughter has developed the same passion for fitness and movement; a sophomore in high school, she dances competitively and is competing in Belgium at the Dance World Cup in December.
“I always tell her she’s good at dance because of me,” Kasperzak says. “She would do yoga with me growing up and was always very flexible. When I put her in dance, they were like, ‘What are you plans with her?’ She was just so bendy already.” —Jacqueline Mroz
