If you resolved to get fit in 2013, you are not alone. A University of Scranton study found that 38 percent of Americans planned to make that resolution. However, the same study indicated that less than 65 percent will maintain it through the month of January.

Many fitness organizations, like C&C Fitness Studio in Sumner, are offering programs to help people become part of the more successful side of that statistic.

The Sumner studio primarily offers Zumba classes, a dance-based workout that includes steps from the salsa and meringue among other fast-paced Latin moves. For 12 weeks, it will offer a 2013 Get Fit Challenge.

Before the challenge, each person contributes $5 to a jackpot. Then individuals are put into teams of five, including a captain, and each person weighs in and has a “before” photo taken.

The captain monitors the weight-loss progress of the team and helps keep everyone accountable for 12 weeks. The studio offers its regular classes, provides healthy recipes and recommends a dietician and personal trainer to each team.

At the end of the challenge, the person who loses the most weight wins the jackpot.

“We really encourage people,” said Carla Torres, co-owner and instructor at the studio.

“It’s a mental process, too,” she said. “As long as they’re trying, whether they win or not, it’s better than not trying at all.”

Kacie Youngman said the challenge is an opportunity.

“It’s a way to start the year in a positive way,” said Youngman, who will take part for a second year. “I do it just to stop and rethink my goals for the year. This year, I’m focusing more on strength and muscle building.”

The goal is to create a holistic weight-loss program and to integrate healthy eating with exercise.

And there’s a lot to gain by participating. Last year, 35 five-person teams combined for a total of $875 in potential winnings.

Torres owns C&C with her business partner, Corinne Goedecke. They started by cooperating with the Sumner Parks and Recreation Department to create satellite locations in Orting, Bonney Lake and Buckley, and they opened their own studio in Sumner in 2010.

Torres said they came together under a shared vision.

“We fell in love with helping people have a sense of community, and helping people get in a healthy lifestyle, even if it’s just coming to relax,” she said. “Wherever we go, we want it to be open and for people to feel at home. We call our Zumba group the ‘Z’ family.”

C&C also participates in food drives and frequently hosts Zumba-thons for charities. It operates out of a home studio in Sumner, but it also works with other businesses in the area to rent space and hold Zumba classes off-site. Regular satellite bases are at the High Cedars Golf Club in Orting, Lakeridge Middle School in Bonney Lake and Buckley Hall.

The studio offers a variety of classes, including introductory, hour-long, traditional cardio and a 30-minute intensive blast that targets specific muscle groups.

Youngman recommends all women try Zumba.

“There’s all kinds of women, and it seems like they all meld together nicely,” said Youngman, who has been going to C&C for a year and a half. “It’s just a really comfortable environment.”

For more information, visit www.ccfitnessstudio.com.

Leah Traxel, a freelance writer based in Parkland, is a member of the MediaLab program at Pacific Lutheran University.