Join the University Challenge and Walk for VMU!
Starting from 16 September, Vytautas Magnus University is joining the #walk15 University Challenge, which is all about representing your university’s community by collecting steps and thus fostering more conscious everyday mobility habits. Instead of driving a car and thus choosing to walk, we are improving our physical and mental health and are contributing to a cleaner environment, greener cities, and a better overall quality of life.
Assoc. Prof. Asta Mockienė, a coach at the VMU Sports Centre, says that despite its simplicity, walking is a great workout for our whole body. Regular walking strengthens the cardiovascular system, muscles and bones, improves psycho-emotional health, and reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
The University Walking Challenge will run until 16 November 2022, so we invite the entire VMU community – students, teachers, administrative staff, and alumni – to join the challenge by following these steps:
- download the app #walk15 on your phone;
- click on the cup icon at the bottom of the screen and select the “New challenges” button;
- click on the “University Challenge” button and enter the name of your University in the blank field;
- collect steps for VMU every day.
After joining, invite others to follow your example! The individual goal for each challenge participant is 400 00 steps. This milestone will be marked with a special virtual diploma, and at the end of the challenge, the TOP 3 most active universities will be rewarded with special prizes.
Let’s create a greener Lithuania together!
Read more: https://walk15.lt
Briefly about the benefits of walking
Researchers found that subjects who walked 15,000 steps every day had significantly better health indicators (BMI, cholesterol level, blood pressure, and blood sugar level) than those who walked 10,000 steps (around 8 km).
For those who don’t have the time to spend on physical activity, researchers suggest increasing the speed at which you walk – to have an impact on the structure and function of the body, a person needs to walk at a speed of 4-5 km per hour. Researchers also suggest trying interval walking, where you alternate walking speeds: walk at a moderate pace for one or two minutes, then walk at a faster pace for one minute.