When Vanessa Rivera, Staff Accountant for New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, learned about the 2019 Reach Your Peak (RYP) 3.0 Walking Wellness Challenge earlier this year, she knew it would be the motivation she needed to commit to an exercise program.
So did many others. Approximately 4,000 faculty and staff throughout the Mount Sinai Health System—a record number for the third installment of the program—enrolled and aimed to walk 10,000 steps a day over a 12-week period. Ms. Rivera talked up the effort among her Department of Finance colleagues at the Mount Sinai Corporate Services Center. Ultimately, 13 of them formed “Team Turtle,” they appointed Ms. Rivera captain, and they started walking, each tracking steps through apps and logging them weekly.
They walked individually and, occasionally, as a group. “We were not alone,” says Ms. Rivera. “We definitely encouraged each other. I would send daily motivational emails.” On workdays, Team Turtle members, like other participants, walked during lunchtime, and for their commutes, they walked to more distant bus or train stops. Ms. Rivera gained extra steps playing soccer on the weekends, she says.
Providing motivation to all participants across the Health System were videos posted on the Mount Sinai Wellness website that featured stretches and exercises to improve strength. At the conclusion of the program in August, participants not only achieved their walking goals, but reported other improvements—weight reduction, healthier eating habits, and a desire to return to former active hobbies, for example.
Says Ms. Rivera: “The trick is to keep walking. Find any excuse to walk. Every step you take adds up.” For Team Turtle, it surely did: they logged an average of 20,909 daily steps. “We all feel we are more fit and more energetic,” says Ms. Rivera.
To learn more about RYP, personal nutrition coaching services, exercise videos, and additional wellness offerings, visit www.mountsinai.org/about/ms-fit/wellness, and watch for announcements about registering for RYP 4.0 in 2020.