ARTA Wellness Challenge
The Wellness Challenge is a yearly event where ARTA members are encouraged to focus on their personal wellness over the course of three months (April 1 – June 30).
Time to Get Active: ARTA Wellness Challenge
Many of our members look forward to participating in ARTA’s annual Wellness Challenge year after year, and the enthusiasm is always encouraging. ARTA’s Wellness Committee has switched up the challenge this year, with a fresh new feel. The goal of the Wellness Challenge has always been to motivate people to be more active; this new version makes it easier than ever to participate.
Adults get the most value out of exercise when they do at least 150 minutes of aerobic activity at a moderate pace each week. That might sound like a big commitment, but when you break it down, it amounts to only half an hour of physical activity per day five days a week.
This year’s Wellness Challenge asks members to track at least thirty minutes of activity per day and submit their results to contests@arta.net or to their branch president.
How it Works:
- Below, you will a link to a form with three printable calendars for the months of April, May, and June. Each day you get your heart pumping for thirty minutes and check off that day’s box in the calendar to track your progress. You can also find sixty suggested activities below.
- At the end of the challenge, submit all three calendars to be entered to win one of many fantastic grand prizes. If you belong to an ARTA branch, submit your results directly to your branch president, and you will be helping your fellow members compete at the branch level.
| • Aqua Aerobics | • Jogging | • Rowing |
| • Badminton | • Jumping Rope | • Running |
| • Balance Training | • Kayaking | • Shuffleboard |
| • Ballroom Dancing | • Lawn Bowling | • Sit-Ups |
| • Basketball | • Line Dancing | • Soft Ball |
| Bocce Ball | • Mall Walking | • Speed Walking |
| • Bowling | • Martial Arts | • Squash |
| • Canoeing | • Mountain Biking | • Stair Climbing |
| • Croquet | • Orienteering | • Stationary Biking |
| • CrossFit | • Paddle Boarding | • Stretching |
| • Curling | • Pickleball | • Swimming |
| • Cycling | • Pilates | • Tabata Class |
| • Disc Golf | • Ping Pong | • Tai Chi |
| • Dragon Boating | • Power Walking | • Tennis |
| • Elliptical Training | • Push-Ups | • Volleyball |
| • Frisbee | • Racquetball | • Walking Outside |
| • Gardening | • Resistance Training | • Weight Training |
| • Golfing | • Road Biking | • Yardwork |
| • Hiking | • Rock Climbing | • Yoga |
| • Horseback Riding | • Roller Skating | • Zumba |
Bonus Challenge:
At the end of each month, submit a picture of your wellness calendar to contests@arta.net for the chance to win random draw prizes for participating in the challenge, regardless of how many checkmarks you’ve earned.
Please see below the posted results of past Wellness Challenges
Once again, ARTA members have risen to the challenge and made wellness a priority in their lives. Wellness is one of ARTA’s strategic goals, and each member who works to maintain an active and engaged lifestyle in retirement helps us meet that goal.
Margaret Inkster from the Calgary Retired Teachers’ Association was our individual winner this year.
The Okanagan Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association has won the Branch Participation Award with forty per cent participation.
Calgary Retired Teachers’ Association won the award for tracking the most active time. Getting our bodies moving and hearts pumping is the best thing we can do for our health. Thank you to everyone who participated in the challenge this year.
Just when we thought that COVID-19 was over and we could start enjoying our regular physical activities at our recreation centres and classes, we were shut down once again. Finding alternative ways to stay physically active did not seem to pose an issue for the members who participated in the annual wellness challenge. From gardening to tai-chi, our members tallied over half a million minutes spent on physical activity.
Results of the Wellness Challenge
- Reporting 11,281 minutes, Mike Romano from the Calgary Retired Teachers’ Association won the Individual Winner Award.
- The Okanagan Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association received the Branch Participation award with just over twenty per cent of their members participating.
- The Calgary Retired Teachers’ Association submitted the most minutes with a total of 203,719 — a stellar performance.
Prizes were handed out to the top performers and twelve randomly selected participants from the many submissions from members who either do not belong to a branch or whose branches opted out of the challenge this year.
Stay tuned for exciting updates on the 2022 Wellness Challenge.
Like most initiatives, the 2020 Discover Wellness Challenge felt the effects of COVID-19. With fitness centres and swimming pools having to close their doors to the public and group fitness classes being put on hold, Wellness Challenge participants had to come up with new ways to stay active and log their minutes in. ARTA members proved to be resilient, and participants found new ways to get their hearts pumping. The participation forms came rolling in, and a total of 756,349 minutes spent on a physical activity were tracked throughout the challenge.
Results of our Discover Wellness Challenge Andrew Tiong from the Wolf Creek Retired Teachers’ Association won the Individual Winner Award for the most time tracked. Andrew tracked 17,280 minutes and that is something to be proud of.
The Calgary Retired Teachers’ Association has once again received the Branch Winner Award with a total of 175,248 minutes tracked. The Calgary branch’s dedication to remaining active is an inspiration to all of us.
The Okanagan Retired Teachers’ Association received the Branch Participation Award with forty-four per cent of their members participating. Maybe it’s the warmer B.C. weather, but we are proud of the branch’s participation.
This year we had a record amount of participation from non-branch members and would like to thank all participants who sent in results. In addition to prizes for the top performers, we introduced draw prizes this year and have randomly chosen twenty winners. The winners have been contacted: congratulations to them.
Stay tuned for the 2021 Wellness Challenge announcement in the spring 2021 issue of news&views.
As usual, ARTA members showed up and stood up for the annual wellness challenge. This year we called the challenge Get Moving ARTA to promote that being active doesn’t just mean walking or running. You can get active with a variety of activities — not every member has the same interests or mobility. Once again we asked members to track their time, in minutes, spent moving and being active. We provided our branch members with a resistance band to promote strength training as an optional wellness activity that could also be tracked as active minutes.
Get Moving ARTA
Here are the results of our Get Moving challenge.
Roger Mestinsek from Central East Retired Teachers’ Association won the Individual Winner Award for the most time tracked. Roger tracked 21,000 minutes, which is fantastic. Congratulations, Roger, and keep moving!
The Calgary Retired Teachers’ Association remains the champion for the Branch Winner Award with 214,343 total active minutes tracked. Way to go, CRTA! You are an inspiration to our members.
The Okanagan Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association won the Branch Participation Award for the branch that had the highest percentage of participants involved, with forty-seven per cent of OKARTA members. Perhaps the beautiful sunshine that OKARTA members get helps with getting members active. Great work, OKARTA.
With so many ways you can keep active, we were pleased to see some new activities listed, such as tai chi, weight training, and canoeing. Of course, the most popular activities were walking and swimming. Keeping active is an important part of mental and physical wellness. Find an activity you enjoy that keeps your heart pumping. If you are consistent at being active, you will see the benefits that being active can bring to not only your physical body but your mental state as well.
Keep moving, ARTA, and watch for the 2020 wellness challenge announcement.
This year, ARTA announced a major change to the ARTA Walking Challenge and introduced a new challenge called Time of Your Life in which participants were asked to track time spent on wellness activities rather than steps taken. Digital heart watches were given to participants who required a method of tracking their time. The response was overwhelming, and we had a record number of participants.
Here are the results!
Catherine Thurston from the Calgary Retired Teachers’ Association won the Individual Winner Award for the most time tracked. Catherine tracked 24,630 minutes, which is incredible. Congratulations to you, Catherine!
The Calgary Retired Teachers’ Association (CRTA) has once again taken the Branch Award with 491,484 total minutes tracked. This is the fourth year in a row they have taken home the trophy.
The Okanagan Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association (OKARTA) won the Branch Participation Award for the branch that had the highest percentage of participants. With fifty-two per cent of OKARTA members participating, it was a six per cent increase from last year’s participation.
Some of the activities tracked were walking, swimming, pickleball, yoga, and gardening. The Time of Your Life challenge encouraged our members to try a variety of activities rather than simply tracking steps. We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the participants as ARTA continues to promote a healthy, active, and enhanced quality of life for retired people. We look forward to seeing next year’s challenge results.
The Walking Challenge results are in! Well done to all our branch members who got out, got active and enjoyed the fresh air.
This year saw a 19% average increase in total overall steps.
Most steps – Individual Category
WINNER: Esther Dyck from Foothills Retired Teachers’ Association (FRTA) with 1,813,700 steps
RUNNER-UP: Barry Dillon from Camrose & District Retired Teachers’ Association (CDRTA) with 1,139,134 steps
Most Steps – Branch Category
WINNER: Calgary Retired Teachers’ Association (CRTA) with 32,319,603 steps
RUNNER-UP: St. Albert & Area Retired Teachers’ Association (STARTA) with 12,163,525 steps
Highest Branch Participation
WINNER: Okanagan Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association (OKARTA) with 44% branch participation
RUNNER-UP: Heartland Retired Teachers’ Association (HARTA) with 31% branch participation
With more participation per branch and more steps per individual, we are setting the pace for a healthier, more active and enhanced quality of life for retired people.
Congratulations to all our winners and runners-up! Let’s step it up again next year.
The Walking Challenge results are in! Well done to all our branch members who got out, got active and enjoyed the fresh air.
This year saw an 18% average increase in participation and 25% increase in individual steps.
Most steps – Individual Category
WINNER: John Bauer with 1,750,357 steps
This is John’s fourth year in a row.
RUNNER-UP: ARTA’s John Takahashi with 1,225,286 steps
Most Steps – Branch Category
WINNER: Calgary Retired Teachers’ Association (CRTA) with 15,854,547 steps
RUNNER-UP: Central Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association (CARTA) with 13,222,367 steps
NEW CATEGORY Highest Branch Participation
WINNER: Heartland Retired Teachers’ Association (HARTA) with 32.0 % branch participation
RUNNER-UP: Okanagan Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association (OKARTA) with 21.8% branch participation
Congratulations to all our winners and runners-up! Let’s step it up again next year.
We would like to congratulate the 2015 Walking Challenge Individual – John Bauer from CARTA branch who won for the 3rd year in a row with a whopping 1,601,756 steps.
The winning branch was CRTA with a total of 14,384,428 steps and the full quota of 30 participants. The most encouraging result was the increased number of participants in all branches and the number of repeat entries. The goal of the annual Walking Challenge is to encourage people to get out and walk – we are succeeding. The 2016 challenge will include a Participation prize – watch for more communication around the 2016 Challenge over the next few weeks.