DeCA is On the Move during the DoD-wide Fitness Challenge

By DoD DeCA

While walking through DeCA headquarters, one may notice a lot of activity in the building. You might see a group of women in summer dresses and workout shoes walking, a man with a gym bag and wet hair coming out of the locker room, and several people walking up the stairs instead of using the elevator. And, when shopping at the local commissary, you are likely to hear about several employees walking on their lunch break, going bowling after work or taking an exercise class together.

We are on the move at DeCA – one step at a time – as being active and making healthy choices are not only good for us but are also fun. Last year DeCA employees participated in the President’s Challenge with more than 4,800 completing the challenge. This year the Department of Defense is sponsoring a DoD-wide “Leap into Fall” Fitness Challenge that runs from August through October for all DoD civilians, contractors and their families. Team DeCA is participating in the challenge.

There is an overall DoD goal of 1,500,000 hours of physical activity during that 10-week period. To help make it even more interesting, DoD components will compete against each other for a fitness award. Participating individuals that have achieved at least 25 hours of physical activity over a 10-week period or groups whose members on average have 25 hours of physical activity during those 10 weeks will receive a Certificate of Achievement at the end of the DoD Fall Fitness Challenge. The results of the top three most active groups and individuals that contribute toward achieving the overall DoD goal will be announced on the DoD Worklife/Wellness website.

We encourage you to join the challenge at www.presidentschallenge.org. Ask your family, friends and co-workers to join, too. Qualifying fitness activities include just about any type of movement – including walking, running, golfing, gardening and even doing household tasks. Join the challenge with us and enjoy moving along to better health today in the commissary.

Secrets to success include:

1. It really helps to get buy-in from the top down.
2. Create a competition between sections in your organization. Most people enjoy being part of a team and competing to achieve a goal.
3. Throughout the challenge and at the end, share examples of events and activities that both teams and individuals can do to make it enjoyable and real for people.
4. Share the success of accomplishment through incentives and media promotion.

How are you creatively promoting physical activity in your organization?