Couch to 5K Initiative

Elisa presenting her research at the conference.
Photo Courtesy of http://www.worcesternews.co.uk

Concord University wants to assist students, faculty, staff, and community members with living a healthy lifestyle this spring. It does not matter if someone exercises daily, or not at all, the new initiative put in place is to help everyone, no matter where one may stand with their fitness level. Dr. Jill Nolan, Assistant Professor of Health Education and Master of Arts in Health Promotion Coordinator, discusses the “Couch to 5k” initiative and what it sets out to do for Concord University students.

    “Couch to 5k” is a new initiative that has been set up this spring to get the students at Concord involved in a more active, healthy lifestyle. Concord University’s Wellness Committee typically conducts a walking challenge in the spring and the committee thought it would be a good thing to do something different. “’Couch to 5k’ is a training program that can be found at coolrunning.com that can take someone from not running at all to running a 5k,” says Nolan. The program lasts nine weeks, starting with minimal walking and progressively intensifying running each week.

    Nolan explained that this new initiative differs from the previous walking challenge that is typically offered in the spring. “Some people didn’t like the walking challenge because it was competitive, and you had to have a team of four. With ‘Couch to 5k,’ all you need to do is complete the training program and you can walk every single workout if you want to,” states Nolan. Concerning the teams that had to be formed with the walking challenge, “Couch to 5k” strays away from that because teams do not have to be formed, however, students can form a team if they desire to do so. In this way, the Wellness Committee hopes to offer people to find more ways to have fun while being physically active.

    Previous initiatives have been successful in getting students and employees to participate; as a result, Nolan says that it is very inspiring for her and the committee because the goal of the project is so important. She says, “The goal is to increase physical activity. National guidelines recommend that people get 150 minutes of moderate activity a week… or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week.” If one can complete the “Couch to 5k,” they will be increasing the amount of physical activity they do per week along with meeting national guidelines for activity.

    Not only do students and employees at the university incorporate more physical activity into their lifestyles, but Nolan enjoys doing these things. She said her favorite part about initiatives like these are getting her students involved. “I teach a community and health class, and recruiting and promoting the spring initiative is always  built-in as an assignment. Some students get very motivated and actively recruit people and that is fun to watch,” Nolan explains. She says that her interest is high when it comes to planning with the students while receiving their input.

    The Wellness Committee is always looking for more active participants. The committee includes staff, faculty, students, and community members. Nolan says that if people are interested in becoming an involved member within the committee, that she would love for them to participate and come to meetings. This would help for the planning of additional wellness events on campus. If anyone is interested, Nolan says they can contact her or Dr. Meeteer.