About the Show

So, what's the deal with this fitness program anyway? How were these participants selected? What were their motivations? Just how intense is the regimen? Consult our fitness challenge overview for answers to all pressing questions.

Posted December 14, 2009

Maryanne wants to play soccer again. Sandra hopes to set an example for her children. And Joe is aiming to run a marathon in under four hours.

Those are the fitness goals of three of the nine individuals (click here to read their profiles) who will take part in Get Fit New Jersey, the debut online fitness reality show presented by New Jersey Monthly and Life Time Athletic, and sponsored by the Center for Medical Weight Loss.

Get Fit goes live at njmonthly.com the first week of January and will continue through June. Each week for 24 weeks, the nine members of the fitness team will work toward their personal goals at Life Time Athletic, the 114,000-square-foot health and fitness center in Florham Park.

The team’s progress will be documented each week by a New Jersey Monthly video team. Visitors to njmonthly.com will be able to watch our cameras track the trials, tribulations, and—we hope—triumphs of the team members as Life Time tests their endurance and commitment to personal and physical improvement.

Among the members of the team is New Jersey Monthly editor Ken Schlager, who declares himself more than slightly out of shape. “Clearly, this program won’t be easy,” says Schlager. “I think I might be looking at a major embarrassment.” Sandra Lee, another competitor, doesn’t mind that possibility. “I work better in a team,” she says. “I need the threat of public humiliation to keep me motivated.”

Though the group dynamic will certainly evolve over time, some members already have thoughts about what their roles might be. “I’ll be the troublemaker,” admits Adrienne La Rosa. “I just like to have fun so working out is not so grueling.”

The members of the team were chosen from a group of applicants at Life Time clubs in Florham Park and Berkeley Heights. Fitness goals for each participant will be set at the initial team meeting on January 4, based on individual fitness evaluations and metabolic assessments by Life Time’s personal trainers.

The team will then plunge headlong into two consecutive twelve-week Life Time Athletic team programs. The first, Team Weight Loss, focuses on exercise, education, and nutrition. The second, Team Fitness, works on body weight, body composition, strength, and endurance.

Through the weekly video and an ongoing blog, the participants will describe how they and their fellow team members are dealing with their personal challenges. The participants will be supporting each other as a team; there’s no getting kicked off this island. But they also will be competing to see who can meet or beat their personal goals.

What’s at stake? Pride, bragging rights, reduced waistlines, and a package of prizes, including a full makeover and spa treatments from the Life Time Athletic Life Spa.

Click here to read the Get Fit blog.

For more stories about: fitness, exercise, Health