WS Chronicle

New studio offers classes for all ages

Last summer Louis Lowery III set out on a journey to provide a pandemic-friendly fitness program that combined aerobics and hip-hop dance moves. From humble beginnings teaching classes outside at Griffith Park, in less than six months 21/90 Hip-Hop Step has grown tremendously. Now Lowery has his own studio that offers boxing workouts, a new toning and sculpting class, and several classes for kids.

When The Chronicle sat down with Lowery last June, he said his goal was to help the community make lifestyle changes and that it all begins with working out and leading a healthy lifestyle. That’s how he came up with the name, using the old saying: “It takes 21 days to form a habit and 90 days to make a lifestyle change.” Because gyms were closed when he started, Lowery held his hip-hop aerobic classes outside, but when it started to get cold, he knew he had to find a space to offer classes year round.  After doing a lot of research, things just fell in place. 

21/90 officially moved to its new home, 4140 N. Patterson Ave., earlier this year. Lowery said although they had lofty goals when he started 21/90, he didn’t expect to grow so fast. “It feels good to look and see how far we’ve come in such a short period of time,” Lowery said.

“From being outside to be able to progress and offer more is a blessing. It’s a blessing just to be able to help … that’s the main thing, being able to give back to the community.”

Nicole Lowery, Louis’ older sister and business manager, said, “When things are right, they connect fast and that’s been our story.

“We’re not perfect, we’re still learning as we go, but we’ve had strong support from the community and it’s just been awesome to witness that.”

In addition to the hip-hop step aerobics classes led by Lowery, 21/90 now offers boxing workouts for kids and adults led by Ralph Saunders, dance and toning classes led by Tiffany Jackson, and kids dance and step aerobics led by Ashley Stallings. Lowery said, “We’re branching out to offer something for the whole family.

“Some people may not feel comfortable stepping, so now you can do boxing or dance … we wanted to offer something for everybody.”

Following a boxing workout last Saturday morning, Iyo Powell, who joined 21/90 last summer, said when she came across the class, she was looking for something different from the average workout routine. She said she joined Lowery in the park a few days later and she’s been coming back ever since. 

“I started coming when we were in Griffith Park and I remember when we first came and saw the studio, everyone was really excited … It’s great to see how far it’s come.” 

For more information and a detailed schedule of classes, search “21/90 HipHop Studio” on Facebook.