Quarterly Check-in: What’s Shaking in Move Well?

 

Hello, my Bruin Fitness Pals!

We are finally in the home stretch! Two more weeks left until winter break (or maybe even less for you lucky ones with early finals)!

As the quarter comes to a close, I want to give you all one last update on the programs and projects MoveWell has been working on this year thus far.

• Flexible Fridays
  

  Photo via Ellen Gerdes

  If you are a lover of yoga or if you’ve ever wanted to try it out, this program is for you! On “Flexible Fridays,” MoveWell offers yoga classes that are completely free! These classes happen every single week at locations both on campus and on the Hill. Since there are multiple sessions each Friday, there’s bound to be one that fits into your schedule. You can even go to multiple if you are really getting into the yoga mood! So come around if you want to join in. The times are 10:05 – 10:55 AM at Wilson Plaza (below Janss Steps), 11:10 – 11:55 AM at the Court of Sciences, 3:30 – 4:30 PM at Sunset Rec, and 5:00 – 6:00 PM at Hedrick Mov Studio. For more information about Flexible Fridays, you can also visit @YogaAtUCLA on Facebook! The page also provides updates if a certain session may be cancelled due to acclimate weather or a possible alien invasion (probably the first one).

• UCLA Recreation 
  

  Photo via Google Images

  
  UCLA Recreation offers dozens of fun and interesting classes each quarter. While most of the instructional exercise classes and workshops have probably ended for this quarter, you can start thinking about what you want to take for next quarter! You can’t enroll just yet, but UCLA Rec does have the list of all the classes they have and which quarters they are offered (click here for more!). These classes are phenomenal and are pretty decently priced, ranging from $25-50 for the ENTIRE quarter. Most classes are 2-3 days a week, so its quite a bargain! They have classes in dance, martial arts, arts (like knitting and the art of DJ’ing: didn’t think we offered that, did you?), and even yoga (if Flexible Fridays don’t fit into your schedule)! The skies are the limit for how many classes they offer, so go ahead to their website and check out all of the amazing courses and programs they offer!

• The Bruin Health Improvement Program
  
  Sorry undergrads, this one is only for UCLA staff, faculty, and graduate students. But for those eligible, this is a fantastic program as well! It is under UCLA’s FITWELL initiative that is trying to help UCLA staff and faculty achieve wellness in various areas of fitness and health. BHIP is a three-month long program that offers participants intensive lifestyle training in areas of exercise, nutrition, stress management and mental conditioning! It consists of comprehensive conditioning of strength training and cardiovascular fitness, while educating the members on becoming more physically active and nutritionally mindful. The Fall 2016 session is over but they will be enrolling for Winter 2017 very soon so keep checking back if you are interested in this intensive program! You can also check out the ongoing events by just going to the session and, possibly, speaking with the coordinator during Week 10 (schedule here) if you want a sneak peek at what the program is about before deciding to enroll!

• Sitting is the New Smoking
  

  Photo via Google Images

  Our wonderful ResearchWell pod has been doing extensive research on how much our sedentary habits are affecting us. This even affects those of us who consider ourselves to be quite active individuals! There is so much sitting incorporated in our jobs and classes, from sitting in meetings, in class, while working at a desk, and while driving! The amount of time we actually sit in a day adds up! The constant sitting can lead to a lot of adverse effects, such as increased risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and possibly even depression, according to this research. UCLA has started to implement “instant recess”, which is an incorporation of 10-minute physical activity breaks during meetings, designed to help improve health and productivity. It is to help combat these sedentary habits while also getting people to recognize how much just a bit of movement can help you refocus and feel refreshed. For more information about the research being done on this and other movement topics, check out this website and scroll down to “Data and Statistics” and “Searching for Research Literature”.

So have fun on your fitness journeys: whether it is exercising your body or mind! And good luck to all you students who are entering the Finals Zone soon! Just don’t forget to keep up your movement!

Tiffany Hu is an undergraduate student at UCLA majoring in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics with a minor in Bioinformatics. She is a blogger for Move Well of the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative. She is the co-Director of the Student Health Advocates, which focuses on educating students on various intersections of health. Tiffany is also the Special Projects and Alumni Coordinator of the UCLA Care Extender Internship, which helps students volunteer at all departments in the UCLA Medical Centers.