The average college freshman will gain between five and 15 pounds during his or her first semester.

To avoid this statistic, students enrolled as West Virginia University freshmen can sign up for the Student Recreation Center’s Freshman Fit-teen program.

fitness16x9 “We are hoping this program will positively effect WVU freshmen by exposing them to fitness activities the SRC offers as well as educate them about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle,” said Nancy Oliverio, manager for fitness and wellness at the SRC and creator of the program.

The goal of the program is to provide support, encouragement and education to incoming freshman to help them avoid gaining the “freshman 15” their first year of college. The program will help participants maintain or reduce their body fat, weight and circumference measurements during their first semester at WVU.

The free 12-week program will run from Sept. 14 to Dec. 4 and is based on a point system. Participants will receive points for attending required activities and each pound of weight, percent of body fat and circumference measurement will be worth points.

As an incentive, a grand prize will be given to the participant who has the most points. However, smaller prizes will be given to every participant who maintains their weight and body fat throughout the 12-week program.

Some of the activities include personal training sessions, group exercise classes and nutrition consultation. Participants will receive points for those activities as well as maintaining body weight, body fat and girth.

Also, participants must sign up for a pre/post fitness assessment and keep track of their activities.

“First year college students are developing their own habits and it is typical to carry on these habits throughout their life, which will inevitably affect the lifestyle of their family, spouse and children,” Oliverio said. “It is our goal to teach students how to make healthy lifestyle choices and changes in order to positively impact the present and future life of the WVU student.”

For more information or to sign up for the program, visit www.studentreccenter.wvu.edu and click on the Freshman Fit-teen link in the left-hand column. Deadline for registration is Sept. 11.

Freshman Fit-teen Rules and Regulations:

• Must be enrolled as a WVU Freshman
• Must sign up between Aug. 24-Sept. 11
• All initial personal training appointments must be scheduled Sept. 14-Sept. 28. (Pre-fitness assessment data will be collected at this time by your trainer)
• All final personal training appointments must be scheduled Nov. 16-Dec.1. (Post-fitness assessment data will be collected at this time by your trainer)
• All required activities must be completed no later than Dec.4.
• All activity sheets must be turned in no later than Dec. 11.
• Participants who maintain their initial weight and body fat throughout the entire 12-week program must meet the minimum activity point requirement (210 points total) in order to qualify for the maintenance prize.
-WVU-

jh/09/03/09

CONTACT: Nancy Oliverio, Student Recreation Center
Nancy.Oliverio@mail.wvu.edu