Get Motivated to Move with The Fitness Challenge

August 7, 2006 -- I don’t have time, I’m too tired, it’s too tedious, I can’t seem to get motivated, I’ll start tomorrow – sound familiar? Say goodbye to common excuses for not exercising with The Fitness Challenge! The Fitness Challenge is an eight-week exercise program packaged in the form of a colorful and fun game and is perfect for anyone who wants to get fit. This revolutionary exercise program does what no pedometer, health club or piece of exercise equipment can—it gives people the much-needed motivation to exercise.

The object of The Fitness Challenge is for two people of any age or fitness level to challenge each other to participate in and complete an eight-week exercise program. Based on the buddy system, The Fitness Challenge succeeds where other programs fail by having a partner hold you accountable. Each player completes a contract with a start and end date, agrees on their respective current fitness levels, and builds a wager book of coupons for awards they’d really like to win—think a day at the spa or dinner on him. The chance to win the wagers provides the motivation to exercise and creates a friendly competition between spouses, friends, co-workers and kids. A scoreboard hangs in daily view and lets players see how they’re doing against their competition.

Vicki Sorensen, a software sales professional, thought up The Fitness Challenge as a way for her and her fiancé to shed some pounds and get in shape for their wedding. “We all know that physical fitness is a necessity for keeping the pounds off and maintaining our overall health and well-being,” she said. “But many of us don’t have the same internal drive to exercise that Lance Armstrong has. The Fitness Challenge provides that motivation.”

Many experts agree that exercise is an important part of losing or avoiding unwanted weight. In fact, when the Food and Drug Administration unveiled its revised food pyramid, it added physical activity for the first time ever as a requirement to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, the National Weight Control Registry says that those who successfully lose weight report making substantial changes to both eating and exercise habits. And the Centers for Disease Control recommend that adults engage in physical activity for at least 20 to 30 minutes a day, three to five days a week.

Sorensen has reaped the rewards of the program she designed. “I gained 60 pounds after having my two children,” she said. “The Fitness Challenge kept me motivated to lose the weight. Today, I’m in the best shape of my life.”

The Fitness Challenge, $29.95, is available nationally at all Border’s Bookstores and online at Amazon.com, drugstore.com, Target.com, and Walmart.com. One dollar from the sale of every game goes to The Fitness Challenge Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote health and wellness, medical research, and family and child welfare. To learn more about The Fitness Challenge, visit www.fitnesschallenge.com.

SOURCE The Fitness Challenge