Franklin & Marshall College

New! Circuit Training Program

Think that you don’t have time for a strength workout along with your aerobic program?  Looking for a new program?  Try this circuit program at the Alumni Sports and Fitness Center.

Lifestyle Returns

Franklin & Marshall College’s Lifestyle Returns Wellness Program was developed by the College’s Wellness Committee and Highmark Blue Shield. This program allows you to participate in various health, wellness, and fitness-related activities in order to earn points. If you earn enough points, as outlined in the brochure below, you will receive a cash Wellness Reward at the end of the program. Incentives have been increased this year to  $30, $110 or $160, depending on how many activities you complete.

You may also check out some Frequently Asked Questions:

Programs for Lifestyle Returns Points:

 Eat Well for Life

The Wellness Committee would like to offer a new program that builds on last semester’s Eat Well for Life newsletter campaign.  While not the most original name, Eat Well for Life  I is a lifestyle improvement program that champions optimal health, vitality and long-term weight management through the power of good nutrition.  Participants discover easy meal planning tools, smart shopping strategies, the connection between mood and food, and healthy ways to cook great tasting foods.
 
The EWFL I program is six hours in length.  An instructor will come to the College to present the classes; each class would be 60 minutes in length, once a week, for six weeks.
 
The class is free for Highmark members and associated members.  Participation in the Eat Well for Life Newsletter Campaign is not a pre-requisite of participation in this program.
 
Since there is a minimum number of participants required to offer the program on campus, please respond  by January 11, 2012, if you are interested.  We will notify the interested parties of the dates, times and location of the classes, once an instructor has been secured.  
 
Lifestyle Returns® program participants earn credit for attending five of the six classes.
 
Happy New Year!  We hope that 2012 will be a very happy, healthy year for you and yours.
 
Tia Guinivan
On behalf of the Wellness Committee

LMA Workshops

You will receive 25 points for completing any Wellness Workshop offered by Life Management Associates. Call (717) 394-6688 or visit their website to register. Upon completing these workshops, you must enter the date you attended the workshop into Lifestyle returns to get points. A list of upcoming workshops is also available here.

Downloadable brochures describing many of the programs that are part of the Lifestyle Returns program, such as Smoking Cessation are available here.

Highmark Blue Shield On-Line Programs

A list of Highmark's on-line programs is available here.

Highmark Community-Based Programs

2011 schedules for community classes being offered by Highmark are now available here.

February Wellness Tip: Walking as Aerobic Activity

Walking is easy to do, no special equipment is needed, and it can be done almost anywhere...at home or here on campus. To get aerobic benefit, you must walk briskly – fast enough to make your pulse and breathing increase, but not so fast that you can’t talk comfortably.

Aerobic fitness means increasing how well the body uses oxygen, which depends on the condition of the heart, lungs, and muscles. Aerobic activity can be described in three intensities: light, moderate, and vigorous. When people do moderate-intensity activities, like walking briskly, they notice a faster heartbeat.

The goal of aerobic fitness is to increase the amount of oxygen that goes to the heart and muscles, which allows them to work longer. If the activities are done regularly and raise the heart rate for an extended period of time, fitness can be improved. It's recommend that adults try to do moderate aerobic activity for at least 2½ hours a week.

Some people start by walking daily during lunch or after work. Others start more gradually, with a 15- to 30-minute walk every other day. You can add up exercise time over the course of a day or week. Walking 15 minutes, 3 times a day is roughly equivalent, benefit-wise, to walking 45 minutes, once a day.

You can increase your steps in simple ways. These suggestions can get you started:

Add a few extra steps to your everyday activities:

• Park farther than usual from your workplace (or get off the bus before your stop).

• Take the stairs rather than the elevator for one or two floors.

• Set an alarm on your work computer to alert you to get up and move around at least once an hour.

• Walk instead of drive for short trips:  to work, a friend's house, a place for lunch, a nearby store.

•  When you meet with someone or visit with a friend, suggest taking a walk instead of staying inside.

• Find a new area to walk in. Allow yourself some extra time in case this walk takes longer than your usual route:

•  Around your neighborhood. See some places you rarely see from your car. Meet some neighbors.

• Around a whole park. Try pathless areas.

• A mall. The indoor track at the Alumni Sports & Fitness Center or the outdoor track within Sponaugle-Williamson Field.

• Try the walking routes of various distances around F&M and environs that can be found here.

• Walk at various times of day. Use “transition times” (time between activities when you don’t have to be anywhere) to get out and walk, such as:

 - After work, when you might sit in front of the television.

 -  First thing in the morning. See a part of the day you normally might miss.

 -  During your lunch break. Ask a co-worker to join you for a walk.

• Walk with others:

  -  Ask family members, friends, and co-workers to join you. Set goals together.

  -  Join a walking group or club.

  -  Set a goal to take part in an organized fitness walk.

  - Walk a dog every day.

  - Plan family outings around walks together. Being physically active with kids sets an example they’ll follow as they grow older.

Finally, you may want to check out the HealthMedia Stride and HealthMedia Move, online programs personally tailored at the Highmark Blue Shield site, https://www.highmarkblueshield.com, after logging into your Member Account.  Click on the "Improve Your Health" tab at the top and on "Improve Your Health" on the left sidebar.  Click on "Get Active" and choose either the "Walk Pain Free" or "Stay Active" option.  Click on "Digital Coaching" to access a list of HealthMedia programs, which include an online consultation, suggested personal plan, resource tools and check-in communications.

Cindi Dinger, on behalf of the Wellness Committee

Assess Your Health

Use this Harvard Public School of Health site to find your future risk of heart attack, stroke, cancers of various sorts and diabetes and what if anything you can do to reduce your risk.  The risk factors for some diseases are well established  but are less well defined for other ones as you can see from the number of questions asked for each case.  There are some risk factors that you can control, e.g. smoking, and others that you cannot, e.g. your age & family history.  If you take all of the tests in one session (~ 15 minutes total),  the answers on one test are transferred to similar questions on the other tests so you can finish faster. Reminder: people should also keep their family doctor apprised of their risk factors and other pertinent information so that they can help them to make the best of their health.