Overview
The Spring Into Fitness Challenge (SIFC) at Dickinson College is an annual tradition that began in 2012 as a friendly, peer-institution challenge with other local colleges, and more recently transitioned to a campus wellness challenge for employees as well as students. For 2020 and 2021, this became a virtual based challenge due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in some innovation and collaboration with Fizika Group, developers of a smart wellness platform known as Fizikaflex.
In 2021, the SIFC started on Sunday, March 21 with 90 participants registered and ended with 80 as of Saturday, May 1. (Ten participants dropped out during the six-week challenge due to personal reasons or unexpected changes in their schedules.) The majority remained and enjoyed camaraderie along with the fun events that took place to inspire overall wellbeing.
During the challenge, weekly events offered the chance to build both fitness and connectivity with other members of the campus community. Through the generosity of Martha Lester Harris ’77, Founder and CEO of Fizika Group, Fizikaflex provided a virtual platform for reporting participation data, while offering a great option for motivation through the personalized dashboard. Mini-teams formed during the registration process enabled participants to engage in fun mini-team challenges. Each week wellbeing focal points within Fizikaflex – Water, Sleep, Nutrition, Exercise & Fitness variety/intensity and Socialization – were highlighted to engage and promote healthy behaviors. Incentives and some prizes added to the fun and friendly competition to make this a great springtime event for the campus community.
Fizikaflex positively impacted all participants by encouraging healthy behaviors and increasing overall fitness for the campus community. The mini-teams gamified the challenge further and promoted virtual socialization within and between the teams, boosting the fun and providing an opportunity for increased motivation and inspiration! An extra bonus for administering the Challenge included the automation for managing data through Fizikaflex.
Fizikaflex | Dickinson College
2021 Spring Into Fitness Challenge
Mini-teams competed with each other for cumulative garnering the highest level of fitness points within Fizikaflex. Simply Smashing Six, a student team, earned the highest points within Fizikaflex. The FunRaisers consistently dominated the Challenge all six weeks but was surpassed during the last week by Simply Smashing Six. All teams did a great job of inspiring each other within the teams, and gained fitness and fun as a reward for their healthy competition spirit. Points were awarded based on data entered into Fizikaflex for all areas of wellbeing!
Awesome Academian Quartet
Waffles, Friends, and Work(Out)
Mini-teams competed with each other for cumulative garnering the highest level of fitness points within Fizikaflex. Simply Smashing Six, a student team, earned the highest points within Fizikaflex. The FunRaisers consistently dominated the Challenge all six weeks but was surpassed during the last week by Simply Smashing Six. All teams did a great job of inspiring each other within the teams, and gained fitness and fun as a reward for their healthy competition spirit. Points were awarded based on data entered into Fizikaflex for all areas of wellbeing!
Activity / Fitness Variety
Activity / Fitness Intensity
Activity / Fitness Variety
Activity / Fitness Intensity
Active Minutes Self-Assessment Before and After Challenge
After the challenge, a greater percentage of participants reported they were active for at least 30 minutes per day. In addition, after the challenge, a smaller percentage reported they were not active or only sometimes active for 30 minutes per day. Similar increases were reported for strength, cardiovascular, and stretching exercises. These data suggest Fizikaflex and the Spring into Fitness Challenge might have encouraged these benefits.
Agreement with the Statement 'I try to be active for 30 minutes per day'.
Nutritional Satisfaction Self - Assessment Before and After Challenge
By promoting well-balanced diets, the challenge appears to have increased participants’ reported satisfaction with their overall nutrition. The bar chart below indicates that a larger percentage of participants reported scores of 4 and 5 on a 5-point scale, 5 being extremely satisfied with nutrition. Greater consumption of the following food groups was also reported: water, vegetables, and fruits. A slight increase in protein consumption was also reported while dairy intake remained nearly identical before and after the challenge. Less consumption of whole grains was also reported.
Satisfaction with Nutrition, on a Scale from 1 - 5
Sleep Improvement Self-Assessment Before and After Challenge
As a holistic tool, Fizikaflex also allows users to track their sleep habits. Fewer people indicated a desire to improve their sleep after the challenge, suggesting sleep quality might have improved among respondents. In a separate question, a similar proportion of respondents reported experiencing sleep deprivation before and after the challenge.
Agreement with the Statement 'I would like to improve or increase my hours of sleep'
Neither Disagree or Agree
Socialization Self-Assessment Before and After Challenge
Satisfaction with socialization—which continues to be disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic—also appeared to improve after the challenge. As illustrated below, a greater proportion of people reported satisfaction with their amount of time spent with friends and families daily.
Agreement with the Statement 'I feel satisfied with the amount of time spent with family/friends daily.'
Neither Agree or Disagree
