The 2008 National President's Challenge, set to launch Thursday, aims to encourage all Americans to become healthier through regular physical activity. This fun and free six-week challenge includes a series of programs, open to all people, regardless of fitness level, and helps motivate participants to achieve goals.
Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. It has been shown that as little as 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, done on most or all days of the week can have substantial health benefits. For those who need to lose weight or maintain weight loss, the recommendation is 60 to 90 minutes.
The Active Lifestyle program is for those who are active less than 30 minutes a day, five times a week or 60 minutes a day for youths younger than 18. The program helps each person set realistic goals and make a commitment to being more active, with encouragement toward fitness for a lifetime.
After registering on the President's Challenge website (www.presidentschallenge .org), there are all types of activities to choose from, along with a personal activity log to guide you every step of the way.
To recognize participation, awards can be earned, including the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award, given to those who perform regular activity beyond a daily activity goal of 30 minutes a day for adults and 60 minutes a day for youths 18 and younger, performed at least five days per week for a total of six weeks.
You can also use a pedometer to count daily activity steps and use this toward meeting your goal. Tracking your progress, type of activity and time spent can be done online, or you can keep track of your progress on paper by downloading an activity log form. Once registered, the site allows you to go back a maximum of 14 days to enter past activities.
The Presidential Champions program is for those who are already active and seeking a new challenge. This program lets you choose from many different activities and enter what you have done for that day. Each activity is worth varying amounts of points, which are automatically calculated. Points are based on the amount of energy (calories) burned, so the more active you are, the more points you earn.
Registering for the Presidential Champions program allows you to earn bronze, silver and gold awards. The bronze award takes 20,000 points, or 40,000 for the Advanced Performance Presidential Champions program. Once you earn the bronze award, you can go on to earn a silver or gold award. You can participate in the National President's Challenge alone, with family, co-workers or friends. As you log your daily activities, you can also review and compare your progress to others.