Gym owner brings fitness into 'Real-Time'
Business. Mychal Jensen Lida played soccer at Newton High School and now at age 28 he owns two local gyms called "Real Time Fitness," in Hackettstown and in Andover.
By Laurie Gordon
The owner of Real-Time Fitness, Mychal Jensen Lida, has always been interested in fitness. His gym in Andover is the second location, and this entrepreneur has big plans for the future.
“I thrive on watching people get into working out and seeing the results,” Lida said. “That's what Real-Time is all about.”
Lida started his first personal training job when he was 16 years old at Planet Fitness in Morris Plains. He is an NCP Heavyweight Bodybuilder and placed third in his last show. He's been competing for six years.
“I started my fitness journey when I was 19 years old at 140 pounds,” he said. “In 2019, at age 27, it was my heaviest muscle year at 285 pounds.”
Lida has always played sports including soccer, basketball, track and swimming. Soccer was his favorite, and he played varsity all four of years at Newton High School.
At just 24 years of age, he opened his first location in Hackettstown.
“My impetus to open a second location in Andover was because I grew up in the area,” he said. "...I started a new company including both the Hackettstown and Andover gyms and renamed and rebranded.”
“We're a 24-hour access gym, that’s open 365 days a year, and we have expert coaches on staff,” he said.
With a primary focus on personal training, the gym features one-on-one training for either 30 or 60 minutes. These sessions come with a full nutrition plan, workout plan and supplement plan.
The gym has multiple membership offers for students, police, firefighters, emergency responders, and teachers.
Memberships range from $19.99-$300.
The gym is located just off of Route 206 in Andover next to the historic Grist Mill that now houses Old Crow's Coffeehouse & Cafe which features a lot of healthy food choices.
The biggest challenge of running two gyms?
"My time has become very, very limited because of both locations, between updating, setting up new clients, overseeing all my coaches, and making sure all clients and members are happy," he said.
The Andover location is at 5 Lenape Road. Call 973-786-7818 or visit www.realtimefitnessnj.com.