Fitness Fanatics gear up for the Governor’s Challenge

Pat Martin

The Signal Staff

Cary Hair, coordinator or fitness, recreation and wellness, and Lindsey Fulton, coordinator of student assistance center, get fit in the UHCL Fitness Zone.

Men’s Fitness magazine named Houston the sixth fattest city in America for 2009. In fact, three Texas cities were in the top 10. Such findings have forced Texas lawmakers to introduce new ways to help its citizens begin living a healthier lifestyle.

Gov. Rick Perry has adopted the Texas Round-Up initiative to improve the health of Texans through education and promotion of physical activity and healthy living. To help achieve this goal, the governor has initiated the GetFitTexas Governor’s Challenge.

The GetFitTexas Governor’s Challenge is a statewide fitness program that challenges all Texans to complete six consecutive weeks of 150 minutes of physical activity per week. This could be 30 minutes a day for five days a week, or any other combination that totals 150 minutes. GetFitTexas offers a free online service to log your progress throughout the six week challenge.

Meredith Garcia, executive director for Texas Round-Up, explains that Gov. Perry launched the statewide fitness program to motivate and encourage Texans to become more active and incorporate healthy choices into their daily lives.

“The main goal of this program is to provide Texans with the tools needed to increase the amount of physical activity accomplished each week, while reducing the number of Texans living a sedentary lifestyle,” Garcia said.

Almost any type of physical activity will count as exercise. In addition to traditional activities such as weight training, walking or jogging, other acceptable types of activities could include golfing, fishing, climbing stairs or even gardening.

The GetFitTexas Governor’s Challenge also invites teams of participants to compete and be crowned the “Fittest in Texas.” Nichole Eslinger, UHCL coordinator of work life services, is encouraging participants to join the UHCL Fitness Fanatics team.

“We have two goals to accomplish: One is to encourage our UHCL faculty, staff and students to engage in physical activity and to make healthy choices in their everyday lives,” Eslinger said. “Second is to win the competition.”

In order to further help students achieve these fitness goals, UHCL has hired Cary Hair as the new coordinator of student life for health, wellness and recreation. He is available in the Fitness Zone to assist students with proper exercise techniques.

“In 2008 when UHCL competed in this challenge, we had 114 team members sign up,” Hair said. “Of those, 81 finished the challenge. Our goal is to have a high retention rate. This is the best way to judge our success.”

The UHCL Fitness Fanatics team is offering a few extra prizes for participants who are up for the challenge.  All participants who finish the program are eligible to win a free personal training package or a boot camp pass courtesy of the UHCL Fitness Zone. In addition to these prizes, all participants who finish the program will receive a certificate of completion signed by Gov. Perry.

“We are competing against other state agencies and we want to win,” Eslinger said. “We want UHCL to be recognized with the unique honor of being the fittest in Texas.”

To accept the challenge, first go to www.texasroundup.org to register for the program. Click on the ‘Join Program’ link and then select the ‘I am a State Agency Employee’ icon. Next, join the UHCL Fitness Fanatics team.  The deadline is April 10 to accept the challenge, and begin living a healthier and more active lifestyle today.