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The "Maintain, Don’t Gain" challenge is back, but this year the focus will shift from weight to body composition. By shifting the focus, we hope to add an educational element to this challenge for employees.
Muscle weighs more than fat and is metabolically active, burning calories even while we are at rest. While our Holiday Fitness Challenge will keep up motivated to move (including conversion of activities such as weight-lifting), some of us may be able to gain some muscle mass over the course of the 6 week holiday season! We will be using a scale and (noninvasive) bioelectrical impedance machine to quickly and easily measure each participant’s total weight, muscle weight, bone weight, and fat weight. The results provide us with the participant’s body fat percentage. Participants who gain weight in the form of muscle mass will likely see their body fat percentage decrease, even in their total body weight slightly increases.
The results will provide each participant’s body fat percentage, and employees who maintain, lose or do not gain more than 1 percent body fat between Nov. 20 and Jan. 12 will be entered into a prize drawing.
In collaboration with the Robert and Virginia Foster Fitness Center and Exercise is Medicine, participants’ body composition will be measured using a noninvasive bioelectrical impedance machine.
The initial participant data collection will be in the Anita Aldrich Human Performance Lab, located inside the Foster Fitness Center, at the following times:
Data collection at the end of the challenge will take place the third week of January; dates and times will be announced later.
Your personal measurements will be held confidentially by Dr. Melissa Van Buren, Northwest’s employee wellness coordinator. Employees may also meet with Dr. Van Buren to review body composition results in greater depth, if interested.
As we come to the end of our “Fall into Fitness – Together” challenge, we are excited to announce a new MoveSpring holiday fitness challenge, “Holiday Island Odyssey Adventure.” The challenge begins Monday, Nov. 20, and continues through Sunday, Dec. 31.
The goal for each race participant is to complete approximately two miles per day, or the equivalent in converted activities, for six weeks, achieving a total goal of 84 miles. Participants who complete two miles per day or 14 miles per week will visit a new “island.” Each island adventure milestone provides mindfulness information, reminding us to be present in the moment and help us in our goal of achieving balance and overall wellness during the holidays. Participants who complete the challenge will be entered into a prize drawing.
We hope you will join the holiday fitness challenge using the free MoveSpring app.
Access the MoveSpring app by creating an account on app.movespring.com or by downloading the iOS or Android app.
Already have a MoveSpring account? Log in to your MoveSpring account and click the blue "+Join" button in the middle right side of the screen. You will then see the "Holiday Island Odyssey Adventure" challenge as an option. Click "+" and then "Join."
Need help?
Check out the MoveSpring Help Center, how-to videos or contact their support team. To contact MoveSpring Support in the mobile app, tap the menu bar at the top left corner of the dashboard and then tap the green message support button at the bottom of the utility panel. On the web, click the blue chat icon at the bottom right of the screen. You also may contact the MoveSpring support team at help@movespring.com.
If you participated in the Summer Fitness Series or Bearcat 5K and signed up for a free t-shirt or tank top, visit Dr. Melissa Van Buren’s office in Administration Building Room 102 or the Office of Human Resources in Administration Room 105 to pick it up.
Membership to Hughes Fieldhouse and Foster Fitness Center are free for full-time employees and their spouses.
New to the Foster Fitness Center? Take a guided tour around the space and learn about the equipment.
Workplace ergonomics: The science of designing workplace, keeping in mind the capabilities and limitations of the worker.
Goal: Reduce the stress and eliminate injuries associated with the overuse of certain muscles, poor posture and repetitive tasks.
Office Ergonomics 101:
Ergonomic Basics. Be a Better Bearcat Presentation, 2016. Presented by Dr. Rhonda Beemer, PhD, ATC
