Meg Caprio has always been involved in fitness. She still is, just not the way she expected to be, after switching careers and opening up her fitness studio, Vault Training, three years ago.
She was an athlete in college, performing with the cheer team and running track and field. She then graduated and began her professional life. At that time she did not consider, or even think about, connecting her life as an athlete to her work.
“I had always been an athlete, and I never quite associated any physical fitness with a career,” said Caprio. “It was just what I did.”
That all changed when she had three children.
Caprio had been out of the office for eight years and was home taking care of her kids while her husband, Chris, was traveling constantly for work. Her time was continuously bound by having to take care of the children. After a while, she realized that getting involved with fitness was something she could do from home while caring for her kids.
“I would be at my house and that’s when I started thinking ‘OK, this is the only thing that I can really do that allows me to have flexibility with my time,” she said.
That was how her path to becoming a fitness instructor began. Slowly. One certification at a time. She began teaching classes at venues, and decided that she wanted to help people with their fitness goals in a smaller, one-on-one environment.
Now, Caprio’s studio has become the heartbeat for building community through exercise in Lynnfield.
Wedged between Santander Bank and Trés Belle Beauty Bar in Centre Court, Vault Training is a place where all types of people, with all types of goals, are welcome. That is quite literally represented in Caprio’s client base.
“I get all ages. I have fifth graders through 75-year-olds, so I get everybody,” she said.
Upon entrance to the studio, a number of machines, dumbbells, weights, and other exercise tools can be seen, most of which are designed to be movable around the gym space.
In the back, the dark, metal walls are left bare. It is to keep the aesthetic of the old bank vault, the inspiration for the business’ name, that was once in the same location. The squat racks against those walls are carved with the names of clients and motivational messages.
She gets to the gym as early as 4:30 a.m., helping her early-bird clients get a workout in before they have to commute to work or drop their kids off at the bus stop. She is full of energy when clients walk through the door, playing pump-up music and walking them through their workout for the day.
Two of her clients, Adam Dorsky of Lynnfield, and Maryianne Fortier, of Beverly, were asked why they like coming to Vault after their late-morning workout. Both replied that the sense of relationship-building that Caprio provides is what makes the studio what it is.
“What I enjoy is the camaraderie of working out with a group that is all kind of rooting for each other,” said Dorsky, who has been training at Vault for roughly a year.
For Fortier, she appreciates the friendships she has made. Even though she lives out of town, she is able to keep up with happenings, both in town and in her friends’ lives.
“I’ve made so many friends here. I don’t live in Lynnfield but so many of them do, so I’m keeping up with everything that’s going on in the area,” said Fortier.
The community-building done by Caprio at Vault doesn’t stop there.
She has collaborated with different organizations in town, primarily with the Police Department, to put together community workouts for various causes. The most recent one in April served as an autism-awareness fundraiser, where more than 50 people came out to participate. She had shirts made for the event, and a donation was made to an autism-awareness organization for each shirt purchased.
“That was the third in our series. We’ve been trying to do every month or every other month,” said Caprio.
The series that Caprio mentioned all started when she was approached by Capt. Chris DeCarlo of the Police Department. Since starting her business in Lynnfield, Caprio has done an immense amount of work in the community for organizations and institutions like Girl Scouts, Tower Day School, the Lynnfield Moms Group, multiple middle and high school programs, Youth Softball, Youth Football, and even collaborations with other businesses in town like Sobella, Booty by Brabants, and StretchLab.
From elementary schoolers, to senior citizens, Caprio is not only strengthening the muscles and the minds of her clients, but strengthening the community of Lynnfield, one exercise at a time.
