Winter is here, and with so many members of the MIT community working and studying at home, the Institute's annual getfit fitness challenge may be coming at just the right time.
Faced with social distancing, closed gyms and dropping temperatures, you may be looking for ways to feel better physically and mentally. One remedy is to get moving and forge connections with others —even remotely — something getfit has been facilitating for 17 years.
The 12-week, team-oriented fitness challenge is open to the entire MIT community, including students, faculty, staff, affiliates, and family members. Registration for the 2021 challenge begins January 11.
After a smaller steps challenge held this past fall, comments from participants underlined the particular value of exercising and connecting with others during the pandemic:
“Thanks again for trying to keep us connected during Covid. I will admit when we first started working from home, I stopped working out and this program gave me the incentive to start back.”
“This was great, it was inclusive and in these days of working remotely, it felt like I was part of the MIT community — which felt good!”
“I was worried about what working from home over the winter would do to my mental health. Aiming for more steps helped me establish more active habits in my daily life. I feel more confident about not just surviving but enjoying the winter.”
getfit will look a little different this year. Instead of t-shirts, we will mail out sturdy four-layer cotton masks printed with the getfit logo to participants in the US. And instead of organized tunnel walks and other in-person events, we'll have virtual activities that you can do at home.
However, the core of the challenge will remain the same:
- Create or join a team of five to eight members during registration.
- Work to meet team and individual exercise goals by logging minutes each week on the getfit website. Logging minutes will make you and your team eligible for weekly prize drawings, as well as end-of-challenge awards.
- Motivate each other by using communication tools on the getfit website and our getfit Facebook and Slack groups. Your teammates — especially your remote teammates — need you even more this year! So dust off your memes and practice your best trash-talking and/or motivational speeches!
Key dates:
- Monday, January 11: Registration starts. Form a team with people you know — including family members — or visit the “find a team” forum, where you can connect with teams looking for members or individuals looking for teams.
- Sunday, January 24: Last day to create a team or change a team name.
- Sunday, January 31: Last day to invite people to join your team or accept an invitation to join a team.
- Monday, February 1: The 12-week challenge begins.
getfit is presented by MIT Medical and Community Wellness at MIT Medical, with major sponsorship from the MIT Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation and the MIT Federal Credit Union.
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