Trainers

Kjersten Barke
Hometown: DeForest 
Age: 27
Occupation: Personal Trianer/Strength and Conditioning Coach
I have spent my life as a self-proclaimed, “Gym Rat” and the journey continue. I attended the UW where I played basketball, ran track and found a passion for health, fitness and advanced training. I firmly believe in the benefits of a comprehensive approach to health and wellness that begins with exercise and nutrition. I was a collegiate athlete at the UW and feel the benefits of a healthy lifestyle everyday. My biggest success story is I worked with a 59 year old female over the last three months helping her lose over 30 pounds and regain strength and confidence. She is now sharing her skills and lessons learned to benefit her friends and family. Winning is near the top of my list when it comes to personal goals. However, helping the contestants learn health and fitness skills for life is the priority. This is a lifelong journey for these contestants, not just a 12 week journey. It’s my responsibility to help contestants find ways to incorporate fitness in their lives every day. 

Jon Schnell 
Hometown: Wausau 
Age: 32
Occupation: Personal Trainer/Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)
I moved to Madison in 2002 to attend college. I graduated from UW-Madison in 2008. Fitness and a healthy lifestyle have been a passion of mine since I was introduced to weight training by a high school friend. I’m very active in sports and play softball, disc golf, cricket, racquetball and soccer. I love strength training and don’t know what I would do without it. I love spreading my knowledge of exercise with new people and watch them completely change their lives for “A New You”. I have a passion for fitness and wanted to share my knowledge with others. I love coming to work everyday and seeing how my clients transform themselves and reach their fitness goals. My biggest success story would be I trained a mother and daughter who have worked great strides in a small amount of time. The mother has lost 80 pounds in eight months and the daughter has lost 50 pounds. My personal goal for my team is to have my clients meet their fitness goals and maintain a healthy lifestyle. 

Paul Marx
Hometown: Waunakee 
Age: 31
Occupation: Personal Trainer
I have a wonderful wife and three beautiful kids that support me in all facets of my life. With their support, I’m able to work a job that I love. Fitness has always been a passion of mine. Working a job that I enjoy has always been important to me, and I get to work with wonderful people with a passion to change their lives. I had the pleasure of working with a father and son to help them reach their goals individually and as a family. I have been working with them for close to two years and continue to do so. My personal goals are to win the competition, but more importantly to have each of our clients reach their personal goals for their weight loss. 

Pat Lahr
Age: 23
Occupation: Personal Trainer
I’m 23 years old and have been working out since I was 17 years old. I instantly fell in love with fitness and nutrition. When I finished with school, I needed a job and I figured what better than to do what I love, training. So I moved to Madison, Wisconsin and started personal training at Anytime Fitness for Fitness Management Group. I got started with personal fitness in high school when I started life guarding and realized I needed to take my shirt off. I started working out and fell in love. Once I got to college, I started competing in bodybuilding contests from there I went on to start personal training and never looked back. My biggest success story would be client of mine named Grant. He started last September (2010) at 280 pounds. Now a year later, he’s 175 pounds and still working hard. I have seen him go from not making it through a whole new workout to coming in an extra hour early to our current training sessions. Also, he is now competing in marathons. My personal goal for my team is to win the competition and, to meet and exceed Jackie’s weight goal.

Lisa Mueller
Hometown: Spring Green 
Age: 29
Occupation: Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant
As a former college athlete, I know what it takes to lead an active healthy lifestyle. It wasn’t until a scare with cancer that I knew not only that I was going to dedicate my life to fitness, but also help others. I am a national level fitness and figure competitor. I am a certified personal trainer and nutrition and wellness consultant. Fitness has been a life long passion of mine. After a scare with cancer (Hodgkin’s Lymphoma), I knew I wanted to spend my life teaching others healthy lifestyles. One of my biggest success stories (I have to pick just one?), I helped a girl lose a hundred pounds. She went from waling into the gym with her head in her shoulders to having a new level of confidence. My personal goal for my team is to help my client reach his weight loss goal. I want all of my clients to feel comfortable in their own bodies and have confidence.