West Virginia University students who have returned from break can already start looking forward to getting healthy and toning up for their spring vacations with Physique7.

Physique7 is a seven-week contest sponsored by the WVU Student Recreation Center, which used to be known as Body for Break.

With the new program there will be an additional grand prize winner, more components taken into consideration in choosing the winners and an online supplement to the program.

Registration for the program will be held until Thursday, Jan. 20. The program kicks off on Monday, Jan. 24 and will run until March 13, the week before spring break. In order to qualify for the program, participants must be full-time WVU students.

In past years the male and female winners were chosen on the basis of who lost the most body fat, this year the program will be judged on the basis of participation and time spent at the center.

“Our Tanita scale alone used to determine the overall winners of the program, and we’ve found that there is a three-to-five percent error range, which doesn’t make for the most reliable kind of source. The scale measures differently if the person is hydrated or dehydrated, for example,” said Nancy Oliverio, manager for fitness and wellness at the Student Recreation Center. “We’re taking in more than just ‘who lost the most body fat’ this year. In addition to looking at weight loss and lean-to-fat mass ratio, we want to reward and recognize the individuals who take the most advantage of training sessions, boot camp classes and simply come to the center to work out as much as they can.”

Physique7 is free to WVU students. The personal training and nutrition coaching benefits will be offered with all services on a first-come, first-serve basis. Personal training sessions, which have filled up quickly in the past because of more students than trainers, will now be offered in a multi-client format. These sessions will combine three or four students with similar fitness goals in one training session to accommodate more appointments. Sign-ups for personal training are available on the Physique7 website at http://www.physique7.com/accounts/register/ .

The website is also fully equipped for students to track their progress based on their intended goals and receive points for checking in.

Alan Viars, WVU alumnus and president of Videntity Systems, Inc. created the Web program for Physique7, where students can compare their statistics to other contestants and check their current ranking in the program.

Students’ attendance will also be recorded by swiping their student ID cards at the center’s front desk. Students can announce their progress on Twitter using hashtag #wvu7 .

Out of the 400-600 students that have typically signed up for past Body for Break programs, Oliverio said, about 300-500 of them have showed up for fitness assessments and 10 percent of those students showed up for their post-assessments.

“The students that don’t show up for post-assessments are usually those who think that they didn’t lose enough weight or body fat to win,” Oliverio said. “This is why we wanted to revamp the contest and make it more participation-based. Now, even if a student doesn’t lose the amount of weight and body fat they desired, they can still return for their post-assessment knowing that they are still eligible to win based on their dedication to the program.”

The prizes are: for the top ranking male, a free River Expeditions Whitewater Rafting trip for four, including two nights’ stay in a rustic cabin; for the top female, a personal shopper and spray tan at Lavish Boutique, a facial and makeup application at BellaRosa skincare and a haircut, color, manicure and pedicure at the Morgantown Beauty College; and for the Most Valuable Participant award, a two-day, one-night vacation for two at Canaan Valley Resort.

In addition to the grand prizes, a prize will be raffled off each week for all participants who have at least three attendance points for the week.

To learn more about Physique7, visit http://studentreccenter.wvu.edu/physique7.

-WVU-

mm/01/14/11

CONTACT: Nancy Oliverio, WVU Student Recreation Center
304-293-5065, nancy.oliverio@mail.wvu.edu