Category Archives: Fitness

Join The FREE Strive for FIVE Challenge

Strive to be healthy and happy! Join the 6-week nutrition and fitness challenge and receive support and guidance to make healthier choices. Program is free for all Group X members and BGSU faculty, staff and students.

Participating is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1.      Register – Join as an individual or as part of a team. Register online HERE. Registration deadline is June 19.

2.      Track Your Progress – From June 22 – August 2 track your daily habits using the Strive for FIVE scorecard provided. Earn points by achieving these goals:

Move More: Exercise 30 minutes or more, 5 days per week.
Eat Well: Consume 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day
Stress Less: Engage in 5 minutes of mindfulness or positive thinking per day

3.      Earn a prize while you improve your health! Submit your weekly points to the program coordinator at the end of each week. Reach a point goal and win a prize.  At the end of the six weeks, all participants/teams who reach the minimum point goal are awarded an incentive prize.

Stay motivated by competing with others in the challenge! The top 2 teams and top 3 individuals with the highest points win a special reward!

Contact Karyn Smith at karync@bgsu.edu or 419-372-9309 for more information.

Falcon Fitness Event Update

Sexual Assault Awareness Month 5K & Dog Walk – Tomorrow!
Show your support for Sexual Assault Awareness Month and participate in the SAAM 5K & Dog Walk. This event is a fundraiser to benefit the SAAFE center in Wood County. Participants will receive a T-shirt and dogs get a bandana.
Date: Saturday, April 11
Time: 10 AM
Location: Race begins and ends at the Student Recreation Center
View the attached flyer or website for more information. You can register tomorrow before the race at the Student Recreation Center Welcome Desk.

April 13 – GLOW Turbokick!
Fitness Instructor, Alex, wants to celebrate her birthday with all of YOU by teaching a GLOW Turbokick class on Monday, April 13 from 6 – 6:45 PM in Studio A. Glow sticks are provided, but feel free to wear other glow material you have! Bring a friend and get ready to dance, jump, kick and punch!

March Madness Fitness Challenge
Congrats to all who completed the March Madness Fitness Challenge. If you forgot to turn in your completed bracket, no worries, there is still time! To be entered into the drawing for free BGSU workout gear, give your completed bracket to a fitness instructor before Monday night, 8 PM. The drawing for our March Madness winner will be held on Tuesday!

Interested in Teaching Dance Fitness?
Falcon Fitness is seeking WERQ® certified instructors!

WERQ® is the fiercely fun dance fitness workout class based on pop, rock, and hip-hop music taught by Certified Fitness Professionals. The signature WERQ® warmup previews the dance steps used in class and the signature WERQ™ cooldown includes balance and yoga inspired poses. Become certified in WERQ® and be the first to bring it to the BGSU Student Recreation Center! Are you ready to WERQ®?

On Sunday, May 31, there is a training in Dublin, Oh. View details and other available training dates and locations here: http://werqfitness.com/instructor-training/
For More Information contact Kali Morgenstern at kalim@bgsu.edu

April Fitness Challenge of the Month – How many pull-ups can you do?
Women complete as many pull-ups as possible at 75% bodyweight on the assisted pull-up machine, men complete as many pull-ups as they can unassisted. Winners receive a Falcon Fitness Champ T-shirt! Take the challenge during the following days/times:
Mondays: 5 – 7 PM
Thursdays: 7:30 – 9 PM
Fridays: 10 AM – 1 PM

Meet the New Health Educator

The Department of Recreation and Wellness has a new, yet familiar, face among the staff.  Karyn Smith started as the new Health Educator with the department this past October.

Though she started her new position at BGSU this fall, she is not completely new to the campus. Smith received her Master’s in Public Health through the Northwest Ohio Consortium for Public Health and was a Graduate Assistant at the Student Recreation Center.

Before coming to Bowling Green, Smith grew up in an Ohio small town called Hamler where she graduated from Patrick Henry High School. Upon graduation, Smith attended Northern Kentucky University where she majored in Exercise Science with a Health minor, played basketball all four years and was a personal trainer.

Once she graduated from NKU and received her MPH, she was hired at Owens Corning as the Program Manager, where she worked on employee fitness. She was in charge of personal training, group exercise and nutrition programming. After a year and a half, Smith came back to BGSU this fall as the Health Educator.

Smith is in charge of the WellAware Program, which promotes employee wellness. She also supervises the Group-X and personal trainers, while working with the Peer Educators at BGSU.

Karyn Smith has been a personal trainer for four years.

Smith said she enjoys her new job, the environment and the people she works with.

“The Wellness Connection is very upbeat,” Smith said. “All of us have the same passion.”

Besides her new job, Smith enjoys working out, being outside and running. Smith also enjoys flipping houses with her husband Ryan and friend.

While she flips houses with her husband, she also flips her fellow employee’s fitness.

Smith’s passion is fitness and she has embraced that passion by sharing her knowledge and creating a new program.

“It’s a fun holiday challenge for faculty and staff,” Smith said.

The program is called “Maintain don’t Gain,” which is available to all BGSU faculty and staff for free. Participants receive practical tips, recipes and other information to help them successfully navigate through the holiday season. Participants also receive activity logs and food diaries to track progress. All those who either maintain or lose weight during the season win a prize.

“Research has shown that the average person consumes an extra 600 calories per day between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Smith said.

Smith said she wants to create an environment where healthy choices are easier choices.

As a certified personal trainer for the past four years, Smith also enjoys working with clients, preferably the ones that most personal trainers would not look forward to.

“My favorite clients are the ones that absolutely hate exercising,” Smith said. “

Smith likes being creative and finding fun ways to help these clients live active lifestyles and find a physical activity that they learn to love.

Smith has goals for her new position as Health Educator. She wants to revamp the personal training program, create new and exciting Group-X classes, provide employees with the tools and resources to help them and help the Student Wellness Network and Peer Educators continue to grow and increase programs and awareness on campus.

“BG will be the healthiest campus of them all,” Smith said.

Internship and Practicum Students Wanted for Recreation and Wellness

Are you looking for an on-campus internship or practicum for the spring semester? Look no further, Recreation and Wellness is now accepting applications for next semester from a wide variety of majors.

The internships and practicums are open to all majors including recreation and tourism, sport management, marketing and journalism.

“We base the jobs on what the academic credentials are of the student,” Lona Leck, Assistant Director of the Department of Recreation and Wellness, said.

Students can apply to the various departments within Recreation and Wellness including the Ice Arena, Intramurals and Sport Clubs, Youth and Family, advertising, Forrest Creason Golf Course, Perry Field House, Student Recreation Center and Wellness Connection.

Leck believes having interns and practicums within the department helps the staff and broadens the knowledge of the department overall.

“We want to get those new ideas from students,” Leck said. “You know what our programs are lacking more than we do.”

Leck also said the department sometimes gets lucky enough to find an intern or practicum student who they hire full-time.

Not only does interning or having a practicum with Recreation and Wellness benefit the department, but also the students.

“It’s a great experience to put on a resume,” Leck said.

Chris McDaniel, a senior Tourism and Event Planning major, interns with Recreation and Wellness and works on marketing in the Perry Field House. McDaniel said he feels he is gaining a lot of valuable knowledge that is going to help him in his future career.

Carolyn Deas, Senior Sports Management major also enjoys having her practicum at the with the Department of Recreation and Wellness.

“As a practicum student, you learn how to plan an event from the very beginning, from contract to execution,” Deas said. “And it’s rewarding to see it progress over time.”

Leck also said working with the department gives students a “taste of what the work in Recreation is really like.”

Students can  only gain valuable resume-worthy experience and enjoy where they work.

We’re really laid back, but we get our work done,” Deas said. “But that doesn’t stop us from taking a few minutes out of our lunch break to fly a kite, which we’ve done.”

While there are multiple internship and practicum opportunities available within the department, students are encouraged to apply early for positions and not wait until the start of the semester.

Leck also recommends students follow the instructions on the web site.

“We’re most impressed with students who follow instructions,” Leck said.

For those interested in applying for a spring internship, follow the link to learn more about the positions offered and apply now. http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/sa/recwell/page32775.html

Tai Chi’s Secret to Stress Relieving and Relaxation

Exercise is a key way to de-stress such as lifting weights, going for a run or taking a brisk walk around campus. One exercise that only few students are in on the secret of stress relieving and relaxation is Tai Chi.

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Tai Chi, also called tai chi chuan, is a noncompetitive, self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching. To do tai chi, you perform a series of postures or movements in a slow, graceful manner.”

Ashley Miller, senior Dietetics major, is the expert Tai Chi Group-X instructor and believes the class is great exercise and is a stress reliever. She has been doing Tai Chi for three years now and fell in love with it when she took a class at the YMCA in Sandusky.

“I think it’s fun and interesting,” Miller said. “Everyone should try it at least once.”

The average number of participants in her class ranges from two to six. Though Miller is enthusiastic about her consistent regulars in Tai Chi, there is still room for more participants and encourages more to sign up to enjoy a fun, relaxing and comforting.

“It’s not like the spinning or abs classes with hundreds of people,” Miller said.

One reason Miller pointed to the lack of attendance could be the change in time. Another cause for the low attendance could be a misunderstanding of the ancient exercise.

 
Tai Chi is a low impact workout, which means it does not involve cardio. Miller said Tai Chi is an exercise one might do after a high impact cardio workout. This low impact exercise has its benefits.

Miller said the benefits of Tai Chi include relaxation, body awareness, balance and blood circulation. It also helps with arthritis and joint pain. Better posture, a boost of immunity, an increase in mental awareness and clarity are also among the benefits.

Tai Chi is not for everyone though. Miller said it takes time to see the benefits and the first time may be boring for some people and then they choose not to return. However, Miller supports Tai Chi.

“It’s a real thing if you just stick with it; I actually broke a board,” Miller said. “Tai Chi helped me kind of relax and understand body awareness and special awareness.”

Miller teaches Tai Chi every Wednesday from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. in the Student Recreation Center. There is still time to purchase a Group-X pass to join and enjoy the benefits of Tai Chi.