UAH fitness program JMI celebrates 11 year anniversary

JMI is celebrating 11 years of promoting healthy lifestyles and wellness at UAH. Participants may compete as part of a team or on their own and earn points for exercising and other healthy behaviors.

Michael Mercier | UAH

The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) annual fitness program, Just Move It (JMI) is celebrating 11 years of promoting healthy lifestyles and wellness in the university community. The campus-wide health and fitness competition is open to all faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

The kick-off event for the 2016 Just Move It (JMI) campaign will begin the week of January 25 and continue through the second week of April. "The goal of JMI is to encourage everyone to incorporate exercise and healthy behaviors into their daily lives," said Liz Redding, Program Specialist in the Department of Kinesiology (DoK). "Participants may still compete as part of a team or on their own and will earn points for exercising and other healthy behaviors."

Redding said, once again, JMI and Scale Back Alabama will provide the opportunity for the UAH community to make 2016 the healthiest year yet! Scale Back Alabama#Drop 10 (for the program's tenth anniversary) is the state-wide weight loss contest; the goal of both programs is to challenge participants to eat less and move more.

"Everyone will be challenged to meet a fitness goal and a healthy behavior goal," Redding said. "We looked at exercise recommendations from several respected health organizations (American College of Sports Medicine, American Heart Association, National Institutes of Health, etc) and set the goal at 150 minutes of exercise/moderate activity a week," said Redding.

"Even though that may sound daunting to some, that equates to about 30 minutes of activity most days of the week, and that 30 minutes can be broken down into 10-15 minute segments. We will also identify a healthy behavior for each week of the challenge and participants will be challenged to accumulate 50 points for healthy behavior each week."

At the end of the 10-week competition participants who reach the bronze level (60-74% of the challenge total) will have their name entered into a drawing for a prize. Participants who reach the silver level (75-89% of the challenge total) will have their name entered into a drawing for a prize, and those who reach the Gold level (90% or above) will be entered into a drawing for a prize. The team with the highest challenge total will be recognized with the President's Cup trophy.

Redding said additional JMI incentives for 2016 include:

• Participants will be able to sign up after the holidays, and may participate as an individual or as part of a team
• DoK will offer several special activities and seminars throughout the program, including a seminar at the beginning of the program detailing all the changes to the program
• All participants who complete the program will get a free t-shirt

Registration for JMI and Scale Back Alabama#Drop 10 will begin Monday, Jan. 11. Please visit the website at www.uah.edu/jmi for general information about this year's program. Specific questions about JMI 2016 may be directed to Liz Redding, at 256.824.6007.