Virginia Tech students and community are currently participating in an eight-week FIT Extension program to help improve diet, exercise habits and overall quality of life.
The program, started in late March, is designed to help students meet the national guidelines of 150 minutes per week of moderately intense physical activity. This includes swimming, biking, yoga and other types of cardiovascular exercise.
Joan Wages, associate extension specialist for health and nutrition, said the FIT program is based on group support.
"The program is team based," Wages said. "It is designed to help people receive social support. Other people on their team can encourage a person to meet their exercise and health goals."
Wages added that she hopes participants will continue living a healthy lifestyle after the program is completed.
Dawn Barnes, FIT extension agent for Montgomery County, said the program helps students learn about the types of food they are eating.
"In addition to the physical activity, we want students to become aware of their food intake and improve upon that," Barnes said. "The program tracks their intake of food as well as their physical activity."
Barnes added that the program is created for the adult population across all of Virginia.
"There was an interest on campus; anyone on campus is eligible to participate," Barnes said. "As a nation, we know that we are not as healthy as we need to be. We need a boost, and a team atmosphere helps with this."
Tami Watson, accounting clerk at Tech and captain of the "Triple S" fitness team, said her team has been doing very well with the program thus far.
"The program is a good way to be motivated to meet your goals," Watson said. "You do not want to let your team down. My team works really hard to encourage each other to work out; it is a wonderful motivation."
Wages said the program was created through the statewide Virginia Co-op Extension program.
"Throughout the state there is a need for increased physical fitness," Wages said. "Fifty percent of young adults do not meet the current national guidelines for physical fitness."
Wages added that the program invites friendly competition between the different fitness groups.
"The program is based in groups, but what happens is that people participate within the group and compare their exercise numbers to other teams in the county," Wages added. "In Roanoke, there are about 60 teams. We have a central Web site where all of the teams report their progress to show how many miles each team has achieved for the week."
To earn one mile, Wages said a person must complete 15 minutes of moderate physical activity.
"We do miles because it is fun to see if people can meet our goal of walking across Virginia, which is 480 miles across," Wages said. "So if six people can achieve 150 minutes of physical activity per week, it will add up to 480 miles very quickly."
Watson said her team encourages one other on a daily basis to meet the number of minutes they need per week.
"We call and e-mail each other every day," Watson said. "When we are discouraged, we help each other out. I did not know several people before I started working with them on my team, and they help me considerably when I am having a tough day. We are working together; it really is a team effort."
Wages said the program is part of a research project between Tech and Carilion Medical Center.
"This is the first year we are doing this program," Wages said. "It is a partnership between Tech and Carilion. We are comparing this program to one that was done at Cooper Clinic called 'Active Living Everyday.' We trained 14 people for that program, and we trained 16 for the FIT program. The extension is being done in several counties, so we keep in touch with the agents we have trained to see how their programs are going."
The individual team members log their miles and report back to the team leader, Barnes said.
"There is a chart for the team leader to use to track each person's fitness," Barnes said. "Every person also has an individual chart for their personal use."
Watson said the program is helping her feel better about herself.
"As a group we are all working together, but we also each have personal goals that we are working on as well," Watson said. "The program has really motivated me to watch what I am eating. It also carries over at home. I have kids, and I am helping them eat better, too."
Barnes added to the importance of the team in the program.
"The team is there for support," Barnes said. "Sometimes the competition that goes on throughout the team is also an encouragement. For some, it is very competitive, and for some it just more of a support system."
To sign up or join a team, contact Dawn Barnes at (540) 745-9307.