DESIRE2MOVE©
Registration for the 10th annual D2M physical activity challenge will open Monday December 12, 2022 and remain open until the start of the program on Monday February 6, 2023. Registration includes completing the online form and creating an account with one of the free mobile apps (TBD) we will use to track your physical activity minutes during the challenge.
Now, more than ever, it is important for us to be physically active. Physical activity is an effective way to manage symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression, it improves our immune system, and it can be safely done in many settings. Please consider joining D2M so you can experience the benefits of physical activity in a socially supportive community. If you think your department is up to the challenge, please contact, Dr. Rebecca Ellis, Program Coordinator.
What is Desire2Move?
D2M is an eHealth, team-based physical activity challenge between university departments.
Each department competes as a team and will select a team captain. Each team member logs their physical activity minutes using free mobile apps (or websites) for eight weeks.
The team with the greatest average minutes at the end of the 8-week challenge wins the Golden Shoe Trophy.
For more information please contact, Dr. Rebecca Ellis, Program Coordinator.
Desire2Move Information
- D2M begins in early February and continues for eight weeks.
- Online registration opens in early December and continues until the beginning of the program.
- In addition, you need to create an account with one of the free mobile apps we will use to track your minutes of physical activity during the challenge. We will share more information about these apps soon.
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 aerobic 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.
- D2M is a convenient and easy way to be physically active and improve your physical and mental health.
- Tracking your physical activity during D2M can help you earn well-being credits with OneUSG. Click “Manage My Benefits” and login with your campus ID and password. At the top of the page, click “Other Benefits” and select “USG Well-being”. This will take you to the Virgin Pulse webpage where you can sync your wearable device or mobile app so your D2M minutes can help you accrue well-being credits.
- “Beginners” will be eligible for individualized health coaching.
- All participants will be eligible to earn great prizes. Prizes from previous years have included resistance bands, FitBits, and Amazon gift cards.
Please visit the D2M YouTube Channel or refer to the written instructions below for step-by-step instructions for getting started with MapMyFitness or Strava.
Georgia State University Resources
Employee Development and Wellness Services (EDWS)
The EDWS hosts daily, weekly, and monthly activities on fitness, mental health, and nutrition.
- EDWS website
- Wellness Calendar
- Phone Number: 404-413-3342
Panther PERQs:
- Partnerships with local, statewide, and national businesses that offer incentives to Georgia State employees
- Visit Panther PERQs for more information
Mental Health Program:
- Therapy Assistance online
- On-campus: EDWS (Employee Development and Wellness Services)-email request for one-on-one counseling to edws@gsu.edu
- Off-campus: ESPYR 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).
- Faculty, staff can pay $5 for a daily pass. Personal training and nutritional consultations are available for an additional cost.
- Visit recreation.gsu.edu for more information
Other Fitness Resources
Free Online Fitness Class Videos
- Atlanta BeltLine Partnership (ABP)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- New York Times
- National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD)
Meditation + Yoga Resources for Beginners
How to be Active from Home
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC
- American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
- CNBC – The Best Apps for Workouts at Home if You Can’t Get to a Gym
- Most apps offer a free trial period, 1 week up to 30 days
- Types of exercises range from HIIT, Strength, Yoga, Pilates, Dance, and more
Physical Activity Safety Tips
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC
- American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
- The World Health Organization (WHO)
- Mayo Clinic
- Emory University’s Dr. Marybeth Sexton
- An infectious disease expert + assistant professor of medicine was interviewed by Today.com and gives 8 mistakes to avoid when returning to the gym
Check out our latest findings…
Davis, A., Wilson, K., & Ellis, R. (2021). An observation of the impact of tailored messages on participant non-compliance in Desire2Move. Translational Behavioral Medicine. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1093/tbm/ibab092
Biber, D. D., Rice, K., & Ellis, R. (2021). Self-compassion training within a workplace physical activity program: A pilot study. Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment, and Rehabilitation, 68(4), 1059-1067. DOI: 10.3233/WOR-213436
For more D2M and physical activity promotion research, please visit our Psychological Research on Exercise and Physical Activity Promotion (PREPP) Lab webpage. Coming Soon!
Previous Champions
This spring 19 departments and 243 employees participated in the 9th annual Desire2Move (D2M) Physical Activity Challenge. D2M is an 8-week, eHealth, team-based competition during which team members track their minutes of physical activity with mobile apps. The team with the greatest overall average minutes is the winner of the Golden Shoe Trophy.
This year we had 16 returning teams (with team captains) that included Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (Avani Raval), Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Online Education (Mary Helen Hoque), College of Education and Human Development Dean’s Office (Matt Gillett), Counseling and Psychological Services (Katie Lowry), Early Childhood and Elementary Education (Rebecca Clough), Educational Policy Studies (Jennifer Esposito), Human Resources (Nikki Marshall and Jim Lee), Kinesiology and Health (Pete Rohleder), Middle and Secondary Education (Gwen Kearney), Physical Therapy (Masiki Williamson), Psychology (Mike Beran and Vonetta Dotson), School of Public Health (Lynette Reid), Recreational Services (Larissa Brown), Respiratory Therapy (Robin Gardenhire), University Library (Leslie Madden), and an expansion team from the Department of Sport Management, Wellness and Physical Education at the University of West Georgia (Ashlee Davis). This year we also welcomed three new teams including Applied Linguistics and ESL (Jordan Batchelor), Building Services (Astley Willacey), and College of Arts and Sciences (Vicky Hanning).
The 2022 D2M Team Champion was Building Services with 10,188 minutes.
Kinesiology and Health (6458 minutes) and Physical Therapy (4921) finished second and third, respectively. In the second year of the inter-university battle between GSU Kinesiology and UWG Kinesiology, GSU came out on top with 6458 minutes.
Congratulations to the winning team and to all the amazing competitors! We hope everyone stays well, keeps moving, and returns in 2023 for the 10th annual D2M Physical Activity Challenge.
Congratulations goes to the 2022 Most Valuable Beginner Participant, Haoshan Ren (Applied Linguistics and ESL) who completed 5344 minutes of physical activity during the challenge. Other top minute earners in this category were Alexandria Johnson (Educational Policy Studies; 4997 minutes), Nika Daryooni (College of Arts and Sciences; 4836 minutes), and Talyn Sands (Recreational Services; 3017 minutes).
Congratulations also goes to the 2022 Most Valuable Participant, Jason Thomas (Kinesiology and Health) who completed 16,318 minutes of physical activity during the challenge. Other top minute earners in this category were Tomás Molina (Kinesiology and Health; 15977 minutes), Avani Raval (Andrew Young School of Policy Studies; 14,240 minutes), Willie Woods (Building Services; 12,732 minutes), and Carolyn Richardson (Andrew Young School of Policy Studies; 12,520 minutes).
Our MVPs each earned a $50 Amazon gift card.
This year we raffled off seven gift cards to the following D2M participants:
$25 Amazon Gift Card Winners
Micayla Clark-College of Arts and Sciences
Mary Helen Hoque-Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Online Education
Erin Scussel-Educational Policy Studies
Gertrude Tinker Sachs-Middle and Secondary Education
$50 Amazon Gift Card Winners
Lauren Johnson– Sport Management, Wellness and Physical Education, UWG
Nikki Marshall-Human Resources
$100 Amazon Gift Card Winner
Jamaal Madison-Early Childhood and Elementary Education
We also want to thank our student liaisons and health coaches for their hard work and dedication to D2M:
Jeenifer Alberto – B.S. Exercise Science
Jason Callis – Ph.D. Psychology of Physical Activity
Jared Clark – M.S. Exercise Science*
Andrew Corbett – Ph.D. Psychology of Physical Activity
Emma Devis – B.S. Exercise Science*
Alessandra Echeverria – M.S. Health Sciences/Nutrition*
Sarah Guikema – B.S. Exercise Science*
Karina Gurgenyan – Ph.D. Exercise Physiology
Jessica Hunter – M.S. Health Sciences/Nutrition*
Alyna Inigo – B.S. Exercise Science*
Mekensie Jackson – M.S. Exercise Science*
Octavio Jimenez – B.S. Exercise Science
Dereck Kol – B.S. Exercise Science
Elise Mitchell – M.S. Exercise Science
Tomás Molina – M.S. Exercise Science*
Kayla Osmon – B.S. Exercise Science*
Zach Salling – Ph.D. Neuropsychology
Jardon Sharpe – B.S. Exercise Science*
Jackie Shemaria – M.S. Health Sciences/Nutrition*
Mariah Smith – B.S. Exercise Science*
Astley Willacey – M.S. Exercise Science
*Graduating Spring/Summer 2022
- 2014: Kinesiology and Health
- 2015: Recreational Services
- 2016: Honors College
- 2017: Honors College
- 2018: Physical Therapy
- 2019: Physical Therapy
- 2020: Recreational Services
- 2021: Recreational Services
Content, components and the name Desire2Move (D2M)© are copyrighted by Rebecca Ellis, Ph.D., 2014.