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News Release

Last modified: Monday, June 9, 2003

HPER staff practice healthy lifestyle through walking program

More than 100 faculty and staff at the Indiana University School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation were able to practice what they preach during the spring semester.

To support the school motto of "Living Well Through Healthy Lifestyles," they participated in a walking program where their progress was measured regularly with pedometers. "Everyone who participated wore a pedometer to accurately monitor how far they walked each day," said Michelle Miller, coordinator of the fitness specialist program at HPER, who has more than 20 years of experience as a fitness educator and instructor. Students in Miller's exercise leadership class assisted with the project by serving as lifestyle coaches to help with health, wellness and exercise behavior change.

At a recent awards ceremony, miniature tee shirts were presented to 50 of the participants who met the goal of 250,000 steps, or 100 miles, during the 10-week period. Fred Hanson of the computer support staff recorded the highest total of 650,000 steps, or more than 240 miles. The 50 who received prizes averaged 331,000 steps, or 130 miles, during the program.

"Walking is one of the safest and most effective workouts you can do for enhancing health and wellness," said Miller, "and any walking we do is better than a sedentary lifestyle of no exercise." She noted that the nation's surgeon general says Americans should accumulate at least 30 minutes or more of physical activity on most days of the week.

"To be well, we must live well," Miller added, "and this is just a simple thing we can add to our lives to make that happen."

David Gallahue, dean of HPER, said, "This program is a way to emphasize our message of living well through healthy lifestyles and represents a way to incorporate physical activity into our daily life routine." He said the project will resume in the fall and that several other units at IU have expressed interest in starting a similar program.

For details on this program, contact Miller at 812-855-8167 or michmill@indiana.edu.

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