Registration is now open for the 11th year of Active U, MHealthy’s 12-week physical activity challenge. Each year, thousands at U-M look forward to the program as motivation to set their New Year’s exercise goals and get moving with colleagues.
This year, participants will be able to spend more time moving and less time logging minutes thanks to the program’s new Fitbit integration.
more information
- Active U is open to all university faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students, retirees and employee spouses or OQAs.
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Tracking starts Jan. 12 and continues through April 4.
David Peters used the Fitbit sync when it was introduced for this fall’s Active U Autumn program and says it helped him figure out his activity minutes each day.
“I’m on my feet all the time for work, and in past years I’ve struggled meeting my activity goal because I couldn’t figure out how many minutes I was active,” says Peters, senior OSEH representative for the Department of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health. “Syncing my Fitbit was essential and helped me reach my weekly minutes. I thought it was great.”
Sign up for Active U as an individual or by joining or creating a team. Then, from Jan. 12-April 4, track exercise minutes in the program’s online tracker.
Program highlights include:
• Map the distance to the Rio games — In celebration of the 2016 Olympic summer games in Rio, when participants add their minutes to Active U, the program will convert the minutes to miles and map the trek from Ann Arbor to Rio de Janeiro.
• New mobile app — Coming soon.
• Charity donation — Make an optional small donation to be given to charities chosen by Active U participants.
• Prizes — Opportunity to win prizes each week just for logging exercise minutes.
• Active U T-shirt – Earn a 2016 T-shirt for successfully completing the program, which is free to employees and graduate students; small fee for spouses or other qualified adults (OQAs), undergraduate students and retirees.
• MHealthy Rewards — Qualifying benefits-eligible faculty and staff have the opportunity to earn $100 for successfully completing both Active U and the MHealthy Rewards 2016 health questionnaire.
At the end of program, team standings in each of 14 divisions will be determined based on the highest percent of goal achieved.
Janet Martinez says she appreciates how the program encourages her and her co-workers to come together as a team focused on the common goal of better health.
“I have participated for several years as an Active U team member and captain,” says Martinez, an administrative specialist associate in the Office of the Chief Operating Officer, U-M Hospitals and Health Centers.
“I want to live a life filled with wonderful experiences and don’t want to be limited by physical constraints. Being a part of a team helps to keep me focused and accountable.”
Karen Isble
Thanks for the Fitbit sync!