Whatever your current activity level, GCC offers a fun opportunity to team up with colleagues to improve your fitness and achieve personal health goals, whilst engaging in a bit of healthy competition with colleagues (oh, and 40,000 or so other teams across the world).
Last year, 27 teams across the School took part in the challenge, with the 189 participants covering an average distance of 6 miles a day, or 15,117 steps. This was equivalent of walking around the world 4 times – a fantastic achievement from all involved.
It is important to remember that this wasn’t a bunch of amateur athletes undertaking a sporting challenge; this was a diverse mix of employees all upping their activity levels for health gains and the camaraderie that came along with competition. Before the challenge, less than 30% of participants reported that they normally met the 10,000 daily steps recommended as part of a healthy lifestyle. By the end of the challenge, 95% of participants were meeting this level of activity. 43% of participants reported weight loss after the 100-day period, with an average weight loss of 8.1lbs.
Small changes to daily habits are just as important as headline sporting events, if not more so. Swimming and cycling can also be converted into equivalent steps. Build in any of the following into your working day at LSE and the numbers soon clock up (steps will vary based on leg/stride length!):
• Tower 1, ground floor to 4th floor (stairs) = 66 steps
• Lionel Robbins Building, ground floor to 5th floor (stairs) = 225 steps
• Houghton Street to Holborn Tube Station = 675 steps
• Houghton Street to London Waterloo = 790 steps
• Houghton Street to Chancery Lane Tube Station = 1,574 steps
• NAB entrance to LIF, once around the park, and back to NAB = 1,238 steps
• Houghton Street to City Thameslink station = 1,272 steps
• Houghton Street to St Paul’s station = 2,050 steps
• Houghton Street to Bank station = 2,875 steps
• 1,000 metre swim = 4,500 steps
• Houghton Street to Aldgate East station- 4,865 steps
• 10km walk = 12,400 steps
This 100-day activity challenge starts on 27th May 2015 and registration will be open from 13th April 2015 to 1st May 2015. You can register your team here|, but do take a quick look at the ‘Team Rules’ guidance first. Please note that registering a team unfortunately does not guarantee your team a place in the challenge, as places will be limited. We will however do our very best to accommodate as many teams as possible. You will be notified by 8th May 2015 whether you have a secured place on the challenge.