The President’s Fitness Challenge is a program started by the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports as a youth fitness test program. It has since grown beyond its days in school gyms and is now part of everyday life. The program is organized for four different age groups — kids, teens, adults and seniors — with appropriate challenges for each. For example, an adult can register for the Active Lifestyle Program. This program requires at least 30 minutes of activity per day at least 5 days a week. If a participant works hard and is regularly active beyond the goal of 30 minutes a day for 6 weeks, s/he can earn the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA). Every person who registers also gets a personal activity log to record their activities.
For the more active among us, there is the Presidential Champions Program. This program sets the bar high to see just how active one can be. In this program participants earn points for every activity logged. The points are based on the amount of energy used, so the more energetic the activity — the more points earned. There is a cap of 750 points per day to encourage participants to be physically active every day. One must accumulate 20,000 points to earn a bronze medal. The online activity log informs participants when they have earned an award. The award can then be ordered online or by mail. There is also the Advanced Performance Presidential Champions Program, which also gives points based on the amount of energy burned. In this program participants need to accumulate 40000 points to earn a bronze award. There are separate groups for children, teenagers, and seniors.
The Presidents Fitness Challenge also allows groups to enroll and to subsequently add members. This feature of the program has been used by towns, schools and corporations. It allows group members to motivate each other and help other participants complete the challenge successfully. Schools often use the Challenge’s Fitness File to track student performance in both the Physical Fitness and Health Fitness programs. Awards can be ordered for all who have earned them and awarded at a public function recognizing their efforts.
Results
The President’s Fitness Challenge is very popular among educators and there are about 3 million school children currently registered. About 10,000 groups are registered with the President’s Fitness Challenge including several corporations. The State of Wisconsin has organized a Wisconsin Governor’s Challenge, working with the President’s Fitness Challenge. In addition, about 300,000 individuals are currently registered for various programs of the President’s Fitness Challenge and on average 45 to 50 percent of the participants earn rewards.
Lessons Learned
The President’s Fitness Challenge rewards those who engage in physical activity beyond what is the recommended minimum for their age group consistently for a certain period of time. Rewards work as a great motivational tool to encourage members to stay active. It is also beneficial to provide the participants with a tool to record their activities as the President’s Fitness Challenge does. While maintaining a log on the website is helpful, participating as a member group enhances the effectiveness of the program as fellow participants motivate each other. People are more likely to stay with the challenge if they meet or talk regularly and help each other through the slack days.
Resources
www.presidentschallenge.org
The President’s Fitness Challenge encourages all Americans to make being active part of their everyday lives and motivates participants to improve regardless of initial activity and fitness level
www.wisconsinchallenge.org
Wisconsin Governor’s Challenge, working with the President’s Challenge, provides an interactive tool to track physical activity and fitness
