The Wellness Challenge is a workout challenge held in the Ruth Lilly Fitness Center that is intended to increase the number of students using the weight room. It began a few weeks ago and will continue through the rest of the semester.
Senior psychology major and Campus Recreation Coordinator Gracynn Jennings explained the overall purpose of this challenge.
“The Wellness Challenge began because we wanted to increase the population of students that know about this facility,” she said. “We want everybody to live a healthy and active lifestyle.”
Jennings said that one of the main rules is that a student must turn in his or her tracking card to a staff member in the weight room and have that staff member stamp, sign off and initial it.
Freshman elementary education major and weight room staff member Olivia McKnight works closely with those participating in the challenge, since she stamps the tracking cards.
“People just have to come in and workout for 30 minutes.… It’s our way of trying to encourage people getting in here to work out and get healthy,” McKnight said.
McKnight said that without the specific stamp, the tracking card is considered invalid. This particular stamp is needed so that the staff members can be completely sure that the stamps and signature were not forged.
According to McKnight, the days that a student works out do not have to be consecutive, as long as he or she completes seven days. If a student works out seven days for 30 minutes and has all of the times signed off, at the end of the challenge his or her name is put in a box in the weight room. The box is located on the staff member’s desk near the sign-in sheet and ID collection box. According to Jennings, at the end of the semester, once all the tracking cards are collected and put in the box, a staff member from the Wellness Challenge will draw a name. The winner of this challenge will receive a Fitbit.
According to Jennings, the main concern of the challenge is that a total of seven days is completed before the end of the semester.
“We do require a Monday through Sunday, technically, but it could be a Monday this week and a Sunday next week,” Jennings said.
Jennings said that to be eligible for this challenge, a student working out must go through a staff member. If the staff member is not directly in charge of the gym or workout room, the student cannot count those days. The student will not receive credit if he or she does not work out in Ruth Lilly.
“I know there are other places on campus that you can work out, but we won’t be giving you credit for that because we do not see it and don’t run those facilities,” Jennings said.
According to Jennings, although the workout time has to be at Ruth Lilly, a student can bring a yoga mat in the hallway or another fitness room in the facility. The machine a student chooses to work out on has nothing to do with the challenge. Jennings said that a staff member will check in to make sure a student is actually working out and not sitting down to have their card signed off on.
According to Jennings, the staff plans to continue the Wellness Challenge for many semesters, but with different prizes each time.
