LIGHT IT UP!

Irma Colasurdo
October 11, 2017
Light it up! New gym offers fun, friendly environment
October 11, 2017
Irma Colasurdo
October 11, 2017
Light it up! New gym offers fun, friendly environment
October 11, 2017

A new gym in Houma is built around fun, high-energy workouts in an accessible and comfortable environment.

Light It Up is a locally-owned fitness center on West Park Avenue, located in a former thrift store. Owner Louise Johnson signed her lease in May and has been renovating the area ever since, first welcoming members at her new location at the end of August.


The West Park gym is the third iteration of Johnson’s business, a venture in which she’s staked her own path since opening in 2014. Johnson started the business out as a Brickhouse Gym franchise off of Corporate Blvd. before moving to another, smaller location. Since moving to West Park, she has foregone franchising to start Light It Up, an independent gym with a focus on empowerment and comfortability.

Johnson’s new space has a massive 2,500 sq. ft. workout/dance floor, a far cry from the 900 sq. ft. she was previously in. She said Light It Up’s members were taken aback by the new floor.

“Everybody loves it,” Johnson said. “We told them that it’s big, then they walk in here and they’re like, ‘It’s huge!'”


The workout floor is usually dark during most classes, with glow-in-the-dark paint on the side walls and a multi-colored party light providing the only light. Johnson said the idea of Light It Up was to light up the studio and its members with a more welcoming atmosphere, noting the darkness makes members still uncomfortable with their workout form or physique able to avoid feeling watched in the same way they would at a normal gym.

“The cool premise behind it was just having group fitness classes and allowing ladies that normally wouldn’t go to gyms to come in and feel comfortable,” Johnson said. “They don’t have to walk through a bunch of weights.”

Johnson also offers competitive pricing to bring in first-time members who are looking for a more cost-effective way to get a sweat in. She said the $25 membership she offers is an opportunity for those who do not want to spend $50-70 a month on a gym that they wouldn’t be going to all the time.


Light It Up has a variety of classes throughout the week, including Zumba classes, PiYo (a hybrid of pilates and yoga), spin sessions and kids’ fitness games. Johnson said Light It Up also offers body pump and body combat classes – high-repetition, low-weight workouts with adjustable weight bars that focus on each body part and build long, lean muscles.

Johnson said while she is a stickler for workout form, most of her members have great form and do not need advice. For newcomers to any of the classes, Johnson or other members who have trained and gone on to become certified instructors themselves are on hand to provide guidance.

“People that are new, people that have never done it before, we help them. We don’t pick on them, we help them some,” Johnson said. “A lot of times there’s another instructor in class or somebody who’s just really good at it that can help the new person.”


Johnson said the benefit of breaking away from the franchise model is the flexibility she has in her business. She can instantly implement a new workout into Light It Up’s schedule, and she said she is willing to try anything to see how it works. She said being her own gym allows her to support the local community by leading and hosting fitness-related fundraiser events throughout the year, such as the Sweat for St. Jude fundraiser. Johnson said she enjoys the chance to help the Houma-Thibodaux area while also building a supportive and growth-oriented community within her own gym walls.

“I’ve succeeded in surrounding myself with good, positive people. Everybody here knows each other, and some of my best friends are members,” Johnson.

Light it Up Fitness can be contacted at (985) 262-1564.


Light It Up owner Louise Johnson shows off the workout/dance room at her gym’s new location. Johnson said the dark atmosphere and glow-in-the-dark lighting fun experience.

KARL GOMMEL | THE TIMES