For many students, staying healthy during college seems unattainable and with the pandemic occurring over the past year and a half, it may have seemed impossible.
The search for the motivation to exercise and stay in good health has become increasingly difficult, but with the Viking Fit Club in the palm of their hands, more than 80 members were able to connect and feel a better sense of physical and mental wellness.
After an eight year break, during fall 2020, faculty member Derek Oriee decided to resurrect the Viking Fit Club at Long Beach City College with a strong belief in the club’s power to keep students engaged.
“They used to do the Viking Fit Club when I was a student back in the late 80’s and early 90’s and that’s what made me think about it. I was trying to figure out what I can do to keep students engaged during COVID,” Oriee said.
Using the Strava app, the club members are able to track running, walking, swimming, mountain biking, hiking and other forms of exercise as they can input the time spent at the gym.
Strava is an app that incorporates social network features while using GPS data to track hours or miles spent exercising by the members. Strava also allows members to motivate and watch one another’s progress within their journey to a healthy lifestyle.
During the semester, students and faculty involved in the club can earn prizes due to reaching their milestones. For example, each mile that is jogged earns the individual one point and once they reach 100 points, they earn a milestone T-shirt.
“They have incentives. And about once a month or so I do a special thing where the person with the most points will get free Wahoo’s tacos or something similar. Every so often, I will also do a weekly challenge,” Oriee said.
Student member Camesha Maxwell joined the program after reading the Long Beach City College weekly newsletter.
“It was a great opportunity. It’s like a community and a motivating, encouraging version of social media,” Maxwell said.
In the beginning, Maxwell admits that she was not a jogger. She did have a gym membership before COVID, but when the world shifted, she spent most of her time walking outside and listening to lectures on youtube.
“I set wellness goals to help with coping mechanisms, as far as depression, anxiety, and to have when I was looking at the computer too long,” Maxwell said.
Eventually, Maxwell challenged herself to transform from walking to jogging.
“It wasn’t something that I did over a week. When I jogged that first mile, I was so proud of myself. It certainly motivates me, I feel a great accomplishment. Losing weight was not something that I anticipated doing, but I do see some results. It’s a good feeling, but that wasn’t my main goal. My main goal was to lead a healthier lifestyle to make sure that I achieve my goals,” said Maxwell.
While faculty club member, Lauren Zale exceeds expectations with 727 points, the highest of both faculty and student members, avid runner and student, Savannah Gomez holds the highest of student points at 395 points.
“Running is really about loving yourself. Running isn’t something that is easy to get into, so when you are running you do it because you want to. You are putting that decision forward. This club has helped me realize I am doing this for myself. It has made me more determined to stick with it and not give up.” said Gomez.
Anyone involved in the LBCC community can join the Viking Fit Club through the link below:
http://archive.lbcc.edu/StudentLife/Intramural/vikingfitclub.cfm?display=dev