November Wellness Initiative

Winter months mean holiday treat temptations, and colder temperatures make it difficult to exercise outdoors. To combat the inertia and motivate a healthy lifestyle, Sanford Lab’s Environment, Safety and Health team is ushering in yet another wellness initiative starting Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018. It will run for three months, concluding Tuesday, February 12, 2019.

The purpose of this new wellness initiative is to continue increasing physical activity over the winter months. This initiative is open to all SDSTA and E&O employees. You can participate as an individual or in teams of five. Each person that enrolls and participates will also receive a water bottle.

Here’s how the initiative works.

Get moving! 

To encourage accountability and friendly competition, we will be tracking the number of total minutes worked out and total number of workouts completed overall.  When we receive your registration form, your name (for individuals) or team will be placed on the activity tracking board that will be across the nurses’ office. It will be responsibility of the team to put a sticker on the board next to the date with the total number of minutes worked out. 

•    Each workout should be greater than or equal to 20 minutes to be counted. 
•    Workouts don’t have to be at a gym—things such as biking, hiking, swimming, home workouts, yoga, Pilates, etc. all count! 
•    Workouts are meant to encourage you to go over and above your normal day-to-day activities, thus, they do not include activity at work. However, workouts can be completed on your lunch break. 

 Prizes will be awarded for:
 
•    Individual with the most minutes worked out
•    Team with the most minutes worked out
•    Team with the most work out days completed

If you would like to have your progress (baseline weight, BMI, and tape measurements) monitored by the nurse during the competition that option is available to you. This information will be kept confidential between you and the nurse and is for your tracking purposes only.  

Optional gym membership & training

For those participating, SDSTA will pay for an individual, 3-month gym membership. If you chose to attend either local gym (Deadwood Rec Center or Lead Handley Center) your membership will be covered by SDSTA upon registration.  If you wish to utilize a different gym or already have an existing membership in another location, please submit a receipt to the payroll department to receive $20.00 per month reimbursement for each of the three months of the challenge. Most gyms do offer a 24/7 access card to work out as your schedule allows. 

There will also be an instructor-led circuit training class offered at the Handley Center in Lead if enough interest is shown. This class will be offered every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during the three-month initiative from either 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. or 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m., depending on level of participation. The training cost is $63.00 for three months and will be at a participant’s own expense.  There is a spot on the registration form to designate if you would like to sign up for the class. A minimum of 12 participants is needed in order for the instructor to hold this class, so sign up as early as possible.

A registration form for this initiative was emailed to all SDSTA and E&O staff. To register, you must fill out and return the form to Laura Baatz by Wednesday, November 7. Please contact Laura at lbaatz@sanfordlab.org with any questions.