The Winter Blahs
Now that we have set our clocks back, the leaves have fallen, and the cold weather is setting in, we may find ourselves moving less and our activity levels plummeting.
One way the Upper Grand Family Health Team has been staying active and connected with our colleagues is by participating in fitness challenges. We recently completed the ParticipACTION Great Big Move fitness challenge for the month of October which consisted of ‘virtually’ moving across Canada by accumulating a set number of move minutes per province.
After completing the challenge, we surveyed employees who participated and found that 100% of staff enjoyed the Great Big Move fitness challenge, more than 80% had an increase in daily activity level and 100% of participants found themselves thinking about how to be more active during the day. In addition, staff found the challenge improved their overall well-being as they felt more connected with colleagues while working virtually and were motivated to keep moving through the competitive challenge with team goals and prizes to be won.
So if you find yourself having the winter blahs and needing some motivation to get moving, then invite some friends, family members or colleagues to join a fitness challenge! Our next fitness challenge at the Family Health Team is to accumulate 10,000 active minutes in 31 days by utilizing the Stridekick app. We have created two teams of 10 staff members to motivate each other and work together to achieve our target!
If you are interested in participating in a fitness challenge here are a few we have found during our search:
- Stridekick or Move Spring
- Conqueror Virtual challenges
- ParticipACTION – create weekly challenges
- Charity Miles
Another great way to get motivated and move this winter is to train for a virtual race! A great app to assist with training for a race is the Couch to 5k app.
There are endless options for staying active this winter so don’t let the winter blahs get the best of you!
