GVSU launches “Take the Stairs” campaign
Kristin Coppens
| 2 min read
As an addition to the ongoing focus on health, wellness and sustainability, Grand Valley State University (GVSU) now has a new campaign to promote their focus on these three initiatives. The “Take the Stairs” campaign urges all of us to take the stairs instead of the elevators whenever possible.
Sponsored by some of the GVSU departments, Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Health and Wellness, Facilities Services, Movement Science, and Disability Support Services, the Take the Stairs campaign integrates saving energy resources throughout the campus with a mission to stay fit and stay active. Explained by GVSU Health and Wellness Coordinator, Lindsey DesArmo, “all of our small daily habits are what really add up when it comes to physical activity…take five minutes every hour to burn—and save—some energy taking the stairs.”
GVSU offers a number of different resources to aid in the Take the Stairs campaign through their website. You can find walking maps of the campus with distances and even walking calories and food calories calculators. For example, GVSU suggests Mackinac Hall Building B, Zumberge Library main stairwell, and Padnos Hall of Science main entrance stairwell on the Allendale campus, and Eberhard Center, DeVos Building 5E near Loosemore Auditorium, and the Cook DeVos Center for Health Sciences main stairwell on the Downtown campuses for areas to take the stairs.
The Take the Stairs campaign boasts a number of different reasons that switching from elevators to taking the stairs can be a beneficial and pertinent addition to your day. For starters, we spend the majority of our lives at our place of work so we need to incorporate fitness and physical activity into our workday. Climbing stairs is a simple addition that contributes to the recommended 30 minutes of exercise per day. In fact, by taking the stairs at different periods of your day, you’ll be surprised how fast you accumulate 30 minutes! Physical activity can help prevent cardiovascular issues later in life, just as taking just two flights of stairs per day can result in 6 lbs. of weight loss per year.
What simple ways do you add exercise into your day?
Photo credit: moyogo
