Starting Monday, the competition between the University of Michigan and The Ohio State University will grow to include one more battle as faculty and staff from each university go head-to-head to see who is the most physically active.
More than 5,000 U-M employees have already registered for the first-ever Rivals Challenge.
The Rivals Challenge is open to all university faculty and staff. Register today and track exercise minutes May 2-June 26.
For U-M participants, the program will feel very similar to Active U. Participants set their own weekly exercise goal and log their active minutes for eight weeks in an online tracker using a computer, mobile device or by syncing a Fitbit.
The winning university will be announced at a special event July 8 at the Michigan Union and will be based on the highest average daily minutes per participant.
The Rivals Challenge includes opportunities to:
• Win maize-and-blue sneakers through sharing photos, increasing and achieving weekly exercise goal, or continuing to log minutes through the end of program.
• Get an MHealthy baseball cap by successfully completing the program.
• Earn up to $100 by completing both The Rivals Challenge and the 2016 MHealthy Rewards health questionnaire (qualifying benefits-eligible faculty and staff only).
• Join short, lunch-time walks around campus led by a U-M leader.
Rivals Challenge participants can also make an optional donation to Project Healthy Schools. Currently in more than 60 middle schools across Michigan, this community collaboration with U-M is designed to reduce childhood obesity and its long-term health risks.
Recent Project Healthy Schools research published in the October 2015 issue of American Journal of Public Health shows that not only did students’ cardiovascular risk factors improve after participating in this program, but the benefits were sustained over four years, compared to baseline.
