DESIRE2MOVE
Registration for the 7th annual Desire2Move (D2M) physical activity challenge is currently open! This year our goal is to enroll 25 departments and over 350 employees from across the university to take part in the challenge. If you think your department is up to the challenge, please contact, Dr. Rebecca Ellis, Program Coordinator.
What is Desire2Move?
D2M is an eight-week physical activity competition between departments at Georgia State University.
Each team selects a team captain. The captain sends weekly emails to team members.
Each team member logs their minutes of physical activity. The team with the greatest average minutes at the end of the eight weeks wins a trophy — the Golden Shoe Trophy.
For more information please contact, Dr. Rebecca Ellis, Program Coordinator.
Desire2Move Information
- D2M usually begins in early February and continues for eight weeks.
- Online registration usually opens in early December and continues until the beginning of the program.
- In addition, you need to create an account with the MapMyFitness website or mobile app. To complete the process, you will have to accept a “friend request” from a KH liaison who will keep track of your minutes for the competition.
- You log your minutes of physical activity using either the MapMyFitness website or smartphone app.
Physical activity is any intentional body movement that works your muscles and requires more energy than resting. Examples include walking the dog, jogging, golf, tennis, yoga, calisthenics, weight training, housework, yard work and so much more.- Although current guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week, any amount of any type of physical activity will count towards your team’s D2M minutes.
- For our beginning participants, during the first four weeks of the challenge, your minutes will be doubled.
- We will be able to determine if you are a beginner from registration.
- D2M is an inexpensive, easy and fun way to be physically active and improve your health.
- Tracking your physical activity during D2M can help you earn well-being credits with USG.
- We offer free fitness assessments before and after D2M to all participants.
- “Beginners” will also be eligible for individualized health coaching.
- All participants will be eligible to earn great prizes. This year, we raffled off a massage stick roller, resistance bands, a yoga mat, an Adidas duffle bag and a FitBit Charge 3 activity tracker.
Watch videos and get step-by-step instructions on how to sign up on our MapMyFitness Tutorial page.
As a Georgia State employee, you are eligible for various health & wellness programs at little to no cost!
Employee Development and Wellness Services (EDWS)
The EDWS hosts daily, weekly, and monthly activities on fitness, mental health, and nutrition.
Wellness Calendar: https://hr.gsu.edu/service-centers/edws/wellness-calendar/
EDWS website: https://hr.gsu.edu/service-centers/edws/
Wellness Programs:
- Wellness Wednesdays
- Guided Mediations
- Fun Fitness Fridays
- Tobacco Cessation
- Phone Number: 404-413-3342
Panther PERQs:
- Partnerships with local, statewide, and national businesses that offer incentives to Georgia State employees
- https://hr.gsu.edu/service-centers/edws/panther-perqs/
Mental Health Program:
- Therapy Assistance online, https://hr.gsu.edu/service-centers/edws/tao/
- On campus: EDWS (Employee Development and Wellness Services)-email request for one-on-one counseling to edws@gsu.edu
- Off campus: ESPYR-https://espyr.com/-password = USGCARES
Student Recreation Center Membership Information
- Faculty, staff, and retirees can join the Student Recreation Center for $252 x year or $84 x semester (~ $21 x month; payroll deduction).
- You can also pay for a $5 daily pass. Personal training and nutritional consultations are available for additional cost.
- https://recreation.gsu.edu/about-us/membership/
Moving University Students Closer to Leadership in Exercise Science (M.U.S.C.L.E.S.)
- 10 – 15-minute weekly workouts are hosted on campus by M.U.S.C.L.E.S.
- All fitness levels are welcome
- Tennis shoes and loose-fitting clothing are recommended
- Workouts change each session and range from group walks, to bodyweight exercises, to yoga (& much more!)
- Please contact Tomas Molina (President): tmolina1@student.gsu.edu or Sarah Appleton (Workout Chair): sappleton1@student.gsu.edu for more information
Previous Champions
After an exciting competition, Physical Therapy repeated as the D2M Champion (captained by Masiki Williamson) and retained the much-coveted Golden Shoe Trophy with an average of 4843 minutes. Recreational Services (4715 minutes) and World Languages and Cultures (3420 minutes) finished second and third, respectively.
This spring, 19 departments and 286 employees participated in the 6th annual Desire2Move (D2M) Physical Activity Challenge. Team members tracked their minutes of physical activity and the department with the greatest overall average minutes was the winner.
Returning teams (with team captains) were College of Education & Human Development Dean’s Office (Matt Gillett), Counseling and Psychological Services (Don Davis), Honors College (Larry Berman), Human Resources (Nikki Marshall and Tony Price), Kinesiology and Health-Downtown (Pete Rohleder), Kinesiology and Health-Perimeter (Anthony Serpico), Nursing-Downtown (Kenya Kirkendoll), Nursing-Perimeter (Brandi Pinckney), Nutrition (Molly Paulson), Physical Therapy (Masiki Williamson), Public Health (Lynette Reid), Recreational Services (Larissa Brown) and Sociology (Mathew Gayman).
This year we also welcomed six new teams including Biology (Francisco Cruz), Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (Laura Carruth), Middle and Secondary Education (Gwendolyn Kearney), Occupational Therapy (Pey-Shan Wen), University Library (Scott Pieper) and World Languages and Cultures (Vicky Hanning).
Congratulations goes to the 2019 Most Valuable Beginner Participant, Larissa Brown (Recreational Services) who completed 6300 minutes of physical activity during the challenge. Other top minute earners in this category were Sue Hopkins (Nursing-Downtown; 5871 minutes), Tim Kellison (Kinesiology & Health-Downtown; 5524 minutes), Tony Price (Human Resources; 5502 minutes), and William Lake (World Languages and Cultures; 5158 minutes).
Congratulations also goes to the 2019 Most Valuable Participant, Courtney Strosnider (Kinesiology & Health-Downtown) who completed 9894 minutes of physical activity during the challenge. Other top minute earners in this category were Devin Topping (World Languages and Cultures; 8899 minutes), Laura Abbott (Kinesiology & Health-Downtown; 8538 minutes), Gordon Warren (Physical Therapy; 7625 minutes), and Jessica-Kim Danh (Nutrition; 7479 minutes).
We raffled off some great prizes including a massage stick roller, resistance bands, a yoga mat, an Adidas duffle bag, and a FitBit Charge 3 activity tracker! The lucky winners were:
Emily Williams (University Library) — Massage Stick Roller
William Lake (World Languages and Cultures) —Resistance Bands
Lytricia Florence (Human Resources) — Yoga Mat
Jacob Jackson (Honors College) — Adidas Duffle Bag
Kristy Winkler (World Languages and Cultures) — FitBit Charge 3
Congratulations to the winning team and to all the amazing competitors! We hope to see you in 2020 for the 7th annual D2M Physical Activity Challenge.
- 2014: Kinesiology and Health
- 2015: Recreational Services
- 2016: Honors College
- 2017: Honors College
- 2018: Physical Therapy
- 2019: Physical Therapy