Form a team and take the getfit@mit challenge
What does it take to start an exercise program and stick with it?
Will power? Motivation? Determination? A clear goal?
What worked for Ruth Fishbein was peer pressure.
In the spring of 2003, when MIT's Center for Health Promotion and Wellness sponsored the "Tour de MIT," a fitness challenge for MIT Medical employees, Fishbein, MIT Medical's performance improvement and risk management coordinator, joined one of the teams. "Before the fitness challenge, I did try to exercise," she says, "mostly walking, but I was not terribly consistent."
Once the competition got underway, Fishbein found herself going for almost-daily walks and bike rides. "I exercised even when I didn't feel like it," she explains, "because if I was just letting myself down I could live with it, but I couldn't let my team down."
And she kept up the pace even while away on vacation. "One week I submitted my exercise log by email from Italy ," Fishbein says. "Honestly, my biggest exercise challenge in Italy was managing not to twist an ankle while walking on the cobblestones," she laughs. "I never figured out how the Italian woman are able to navigate those streets on their narrow spiked heels."
Being part of a team "really gave me an incentive to exercise consistently," Fishbein continues. "I had made a commitment, and I felt I had to keep up with, and contribute to, my team's total. It really kept me going."
Starting in January 2005, MIT Medical and health@mit will be offering the entire Institute community the same opportunity to harness the power of positive peer pressure through getfit@mit, a three-month, team-oriented fitness challenge. The central goal of getfit@mit is to foster a healthier MIT by encouraging participants to exercise at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
Participants can form and register teams of five to eight members online, starting in early December. Activities get underway the first week in January, beginning with a lunchtime kickoff event at the Z-Center, where participants can pick up information packets and getfit@mit tee shirts, enjoy a healthy snack, and take a walk or jog around the track. Final team rosters may be submitted through the end of that week.
Once the challenge is underway, teams will participate in individual or group activities of their own choosing and keep track of their individual activity minutes. Team captains will submit time totals for their team members each week, and an online database will maintain individual records and calculate an average for each team. Participants will also be able to post messages, ask questions, and find out about getfit@mit events through an online message board at http://stellar.mit.edu/S/project/get-fit/index.html (MIT personal certificate required).
"This fitness challenge is not just for competitive athletes," emphasizes MIT Medical health educator Deirdre Neylon. "It's a great way for beginners, or those who don't exercise regularly, to get started. Any activity done above a normal pace will count towards the daily total. Walking briskly for fifteen minutes scores the same as running for fifteen minutes."
Exercising during the winter can be a particular challenge, and Neylon encourages teams to think creatively. "There are many activities that can be done indoors with little or no equipment," she notes. "Stair-climbing and walking the MIT tunnels are great indoor activities that can be done on one's lunch hour." Neylon also recalled some of the more creative activities teams came up with during the 2003 Tour de MIT. "For example, the team from MIT Medical's X-ray Service-they called themselves 'The Skeleton Crew'-did a round-robin of activities one afternoon. They rotated between jumping rope, doing the hula hoop, crab-walking up and down a hallway, and walking up and down the stairs in the E25 atrium."
But don't think wintertime means staying indoors, Fishbein adds. "Walking outside during the winter is great. New England is beautiful, and it's prettiest when there's snow on the ground. If the sun is shining, who cares if it's a bit cold? With rare exception, you can always dress for the cold. And unless the weather is bad enough for boots, mostly I just wear my sneakers. I actually find my walks are more of an aerobic workout in the winter, particularly if I have to move around in the slush and snow."
At the end of March, the team with the highest average number of minutes exercised over the course of the challenge will win the overall competition, but everyone who participates has a chance to win. Weekly team prizes will recognize accomplishments such as consistency and improvement. And at different stages of the challenge, every participant who has maintained the 30-minute-a-day, five-day-a-week pace through that point will have their names entered into special prize drawings.
But, says Fishbein, it really isn't about winning. "I can't wait for getfit@mit to start," she says enthusiastically, "and it's not because I expect to be on the winning team. Honestly, I can't even remember how my team ended up in the final 'Tour de MIT' rankings. Though I know we never won anything," she laughs. "But as far as I'm concerned, winning matters not in the least. The fitness challenge got me moving. It got me into the habit of exercising regularly, and that's a good habit to have!"
For more information about get fit@mit, visit http://getfit.mit.edu .
[PHOTO CAPTIONS]
1) Dental assistant Marsha Walsh (left) joins Maureen Stanieich, patient service representative in MIT Medical's Dental Service, for a lunch-hour run. Walsh, a regular runner for many years, says it was "peer pressure" that started her running in the first place. "I started working at MIT 33 years ago, and that's when I began exercising," Walsh recounts. "Somebody would always say, 'Let's go out for a jog' or whatever. So, I kind of picked up the exercise habit, and I've been at it ever since."
2) Yoga is just one of the classes offered by MIT Medical's Center for Health Promotion and Wellness and open to the entire MIT community. For registration information and a list of other classes, visit http://web.mit.edu/medical/c-wellness.html. Discounts are offered to MIT Health Plan members, MIT students, and MIT retirees.
Joanne Cavignano's co-workers in MIT Medical's Dental Service call her "the sergeant." It's a title the dental assistant wears proudly. "I keep everybody moving," she says emphatically. "I tell them they have to take the stairs. No more elevator!" Cavignano also organizes group walks at lunchtime and has started planning an indoor exercise program for those inevitable winter days when inclement weather will prevent outdoor activity.
Cavignano's own motivation to exercise suffered a blow about a year ago with the death of her cousin. "My cousin and I used to go dancing three times a week and walking two nights a week," explains Cavignano. "When she passed away, I went from exercising five nights a week to nothing. I gained weight. I was very depressed. When I got home from work, I'd just go to bed and sleep."
Last June Cavignano decided it was time to get active again. "I just told myself, 'No more sitting on the couch!'" she declares. "I was determined to make a change in my life." Initially, she started exercising on her own, but before long, she'd recruited co-workers to join her on her daily walks along the Charles. "People always think they'll be so tired if they exercise in the middle of the day," Cavignano says, "but exercising actually gives you more energy. When I see my co-workers sitting around the lunchroom complaining about how tired they were, I say, 'You should just get out and get some fresh air. It'll perk you back up!'"
Exercising with a group has also helped keep Cavignano motivated. "When we go out walking as a group, it seems like we're back before we even realize it," she comments. "But sometimes when I'm out by myself, I'm practically counting the paces to get back. Having other people to exercise with makes it so much easier."
Fitness has quickly become a part of Cavignano's daily routine. In addition to her lunch-time walk, she's found ways to build strength and flexibility exercises into her regular workday, doing stretches or knee bends, for example, while she waits for dental x-rays to develop. "I have it timed perfectly," she laughs. "One x-ray equals 20 knee bends-10 on one leg and 10 on the other." Cavignano also tries to do some aerobic exercise or strength training in the evenings at home. "You don't need fancy equipment to do strength training," Cavignano says. "If you don't have weights, you can use little bottles of water or even cans of vegetables."
Without dieting, Cavignano has lost 15 pounds in the last six months and says she feels much healthier, has more energy, and is better able to handle stress. And, she says, she can't wait for the getfit@mit challenge to begin. "Everyone in the Dental Service wants to be on my team," she says, "because they know I'll crack the whip!"
PHOTO CAPTION: Dental assistant Joanne Cavignano and clinical assistant Bernadette ("Bernie") Santos are regular lunch-hour walkers. "When you're going to walk mid-day, you have to change your clothes," Cavignano says. "You have to put on a tee shirt and whatever else makes you comfortable. Do something that says, 'I'm going to do this, and I'm not afraid to sweat.'"