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Get Active America! – It’s the week that can change people’s lives…
What is Get Active America!?
Get Active America! is the fitness industry's campaign to combat overweight, obesity and inactive lifestyles. The goal of Get Active America! is to show people first-hand what a supportive, safe and fun environment health clubs can offer, and provide people with simple-to-follow recommendations for adding activity to their everyday, busy lives.
The "heart" of Get Active America! is a week-long series of in-club activities geared toward encouraging people to be more active. Each year, during this one special week in May, participating clubs open their doors free of charge to welcome any person who wants to learn more about what really goes on in his or her local health club. This past May, tens of thousands of consumers visited the 800 participating IHRSA clubs throughout the week.
Events
Last year, clubs across the United States got creative with their Get Active America! promotions, programming and events. In addition to opening their doors for free to the general public, many clubs offered special discounts, classes and lectures during Get Active America! week. The following are just a few of the fun activities that took place at health clubs across the country during this year’s Get Active America! week.
- ACAC Fitness & Wellness in Charlottesville hosted a Family Fun Day at their water park during Get Active America! week.
"Family Fun Day has a long list of activities including face painting, a prize wheel, diving contests, and class demonstrations, such as belly dancing and Karate. We also gave away food samples from our café and the spa provided massages. We have a DJ from a local radio station that does a live remote and promotes our summer camp several times each hour. Parents and kids can tour the camp facilities, meet the camp counselors, and register at that time."
- Stephanie LoSciuto, marketing director for ACAC Fitness & Wellness and Fitness Centers, Charlottesville, Virginia
- "We hold a special day for our senior members, which includes a barbecue/social gathering after a morning of special fitness classes and lectures. In 2007, we had Suzanne Nottingham, international presenter and director of education for LEKI USA, the manufacturer of ski, hiking and trekking poles, give lectures and demonstrations on balance training. She also took participants on an outdoor activity – Nordic Walking."
- Lori Pine, Program Director for In Motion Fitness in Chico, California.
- To keep its Get Active America! program fresh, Susan Najarian, Recreation Manager at Club Sport in San Ramon, California, and Andrea Scott, General Manager, created a new agenda for 2007, which lasted throughout the month of May. They put on a T.G.I.F barbeque each Friday and hosted a month-long incentive program called “Rock Your Body,” which awarded members a new t-shirt each week for completing a list of fitness activities. They also had a special treadmill class in the fitness center portion of the club for all Get Active America! attendees.
Stay tuned for more success stories from this past spring!
Get Active America! In The Media
This year, Get Active America! was recognized in many outstanding publications and online resources including AARP Magazine, All About Kids Magazine, the Chicago Daily Herald, the Rome News-Tribune, the Northwester, the Sun Herald, the Enquirer Online, the Pulse and the Los Angeles Times Health Blog, just to name a few.
Why You Should Get Active!
Physical activity is essential to living a healthy lifestyle and is associated with a decreased risk of a host of conditions and diseases such as heart disease, stroke, high cholesterol, diabetes, osteoporosis as well as certain cancers.
Exercise is also a powerful mood elevator. It can increase positive feelings, help regulate sleep patterns and increase energy during the day. Research shows that physical activity also wards off stress, anxiety and depression.
However, the benefits do not stop there! Exercise has also been shown to increase brain activity and make people more alert and productive at work. Teenagers who are physically active get better grades and stay out of trouble in school.
If those reasons aren’t enough, maybe this one will be: exercise can help your physical appearance! People who are physically active have lower body weight and more muscle tone. It’s also been shown that exercisers have a better self-image and higher self-esteem.
Stay tuned for details about next year’s Get Active America! week.
All questions about the program should be directed to Sara Lehrhoff at healthpromotions@ihrsa.org or 617-951-0055 ext. 159.
Thank You Get Active America! 2008 Sponsors!
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