Live Healthy Iowa's 10-Week Wellness Challenge concluded last month with more than 1,000 participants from the University of Iowa – but just because the challenge is over doesn't mean physical activity or motivation must drop off.

At the beginning of the year, liveWELL set a goal for UI teams to log 2 million activity minutes between January 8 and March 15. Hawkeyes rose to the occasion and recorded 2.8 million minutes across 212 university teams.

Forty-two percent of UI participants engaged in physical activity all 10 weeks of the challenge and 95% said their well-being improved because they participated in the 10-Week Wellness Challenge.

"This challenge was a fun way to compete against others in my department and it kept me focused on intentional exercise during what is typically a difficult time of year for me," said one UI participant in a survey.

"The number of UI employees who participated increased threefold compared to 2023 and teams logged 1 million more minutes of activity.

Kate Magsamen-Conrad, a professor in the Department of Communication Studies, says participating in the Live Healthy Iowa challenge changed her perception of physical activity for the better.

"It shifted my construction of being active to being more inclusive," Magsamen-Conrad says. "This means that I'm not undervaluing, for example, my mile walk every morning just because it doesn't increase my heart rate. Valuing activity and feeling like it counts inspires people to be more active."

Over the course of 10 weeks she logged 6,678 activity minutes.

If you're looking for a new challenge to help keep the momentum rolling, consider participating in Colorful Choices. This three-week challenge encourages you to make half of your plate fruits and vegetables. Register for the program and track how many days you can successfully incorporate fruits and vegetables into your meals. The program concludes April 7.

Visit the liveWELL Programs and Services webpage to stay up to date on upcoming and ongoing programs.