St. Thomas is challenging Augsburg College once again to see which school is more physically active. Since Augsburg won the traveling trophy last year, UST will have to work harder to secure a victory in 2011.

All faculty and staff can participate in the nine weeks of competition from Feb. 16 to April 19. Work out at the location of your choice for at least the required 30 minutes (one point) to a maximum of 60 minutes of activity (two points). You can break it down to 10 minutes of continuous exercise three times a day (totals 30 minutes per day). Two points per day and 14 points per week is the maximum you can record. See a list of suggested activities below.

The UST Health and Human Performance Department and Augsburg College Faculty-Staff Fitness Wellness Program will add up the weekly totals and announce the school winner. After the nine weeks of competition, the school that has won the most weeks will take the trophy.

Rules of the Competition:

• Sign up by e-mailing Lisa Keiser.
• Keep track of the number of points earned each week. (A week starts on Wednesday and ends at midnight on the following Tuesday.)
• Each week by 1 p.m. Wednesday, e-mail Keiser the total number of points you earned that week; no entries will be allowed after 1 p.m. Submit points weekly – see the schedule below.
• When submitting points, just put the week number and the total number of points in the subject line – no other information is needed, e.g., Week 1: 10 points.
• If you miss reporting your total by 1 p.m. Wednesday, your points will not count for that week. You can participate the following week but you will not be allowed to use points from the previous week.
• New participants can start the program and begin counting points at any time.

This is a fun competition between Augsburg and St. Thomas, but the main goal is to get faculty and staff motivated to add some physical activity into their weekly routine amid the doldrums of winter.

Activity suggestions include: biking, dancing, gardening, running, Pilates, stretching, swimming, shoveling, snowshoeing, skating, sledding, skiing, snowboarding, walking, walking a dog, weight training and yoga. (Sorry, house cleaning doesn’t count.)

Weeks of competition

• Week 1: Wednesday, Feb. 16, ends Tuesday, Feb. 22
• Week 2: Wednesday, Feb. 23, Tuesday, March 1
• Week 3: Wednesday, March 2, ends Tuesday, March 8
• Week 4: Wednesday, March 9, ends Tuesday, March 15
• Week 5: Wednesday, March 16, ends Tuesday, March 22
• Week 6: Wednesday, March 23, ends Tuesday, March 29
• Week 7: Wednesday, March 30, ends Tuesday, April 5
• Week 8: Wednesday, April 6, ends Tuesday, April 12
• Week 9: Wednesday, April 13, ends Tuesday, April 19