ANTHEM, AZ -- It's not inside church, but in Anthem a group of pastors gather early in the morning and begin praying.
The men and women are praying for strength and the God's will to get through another workout.
"It started off as a couple people for our first meeting and it just took off," said owner and trainer Josh Rogers. "The next thing you know we had pastors all over the place coming in."
Altogether, 22 pastors from Anthem-area churches are teaming up for a 12-week challenge to get in shape and raise money for charities like the
Salvation Army.
The men and women are doing their training at a workout facility called "Sweat."
Lead by Rogers, the group moves from workout to workout.
Aside from the physical benefits, the pastors say they're getting a something out of the workout spiritually.
"It's a tough workout," said Pastor Ted. "But it's very effective, just a terrific engagement of life."
The pastors just hit the halfway point. As a whole, the group is down 286 pounds and are already ahead of their goal right now.
"First couple of weeks I couldn't even get out of bed," said Pastor Rick Casto. "But now that I do it, I miss it when I'm not working out."
Casto, who leads Christian Life Ranch in New River, runs Teen Challenge of Arizona.
"He's one of my favorites," said Rogers. "He'll do anything I tell him. Even though it looks like he's not going to make it, his eyes are barely open he finds a way to do it."
In seven weeks Rich has lost the most weight so far, about 34 pounds. He's also lost about 14 percent body fat.
"When I started this I was 280 pounds and feeling terrible all the time," said Casto. "When we started doing this I started feeling better."
The workouts are so intense there is a lot of praying going on.
"I pray during planks," said pastor Laurie Smith, from Cross of Christ. "Let me get through it."
To reach "Sweat" call 623-551-5753.
