We all know that staying active is key to good health. APHA’s Keep It Moving Challenge is helping people reach their physical activity goals, stay motivated and have fun too.

The annual challenge encourages everyone to get a little more physically active by tracking their movement together. Studies show that when people are active together, they’re more likely to stick with it, enjoy it and even exercise harder. That benefit can come even we’re exercising together virtually.

Any kind of activity counts in the Keep It Moving Challenge, from dancing, swimming or bicycling to tai chi, yoga or gardening. The challenge uses the APHA Moving app, available for free online. The tracker can convert activities into steps, which is helpful when engaging in activities other than walking. For example, yoga or stretching for 30 minutes converts to 1,350 steps. 

More than 1,100 participants have collectively amassed about 240 million steps so far. That’s more than 80,000 miles — we’ve walked from New York City to San Francisco and back again 14 times!

As of mid March, in first place was the Fitness Enthusiasts, which has an impressive 735,000 steps with their 10-member team. A close second is Region X (OR WA ID AK), an 8-member team that has taken 666,000 steps. 

If you’re on those or any of the other challenge teams, give yourself a big public health pat on the back! We’ll announce the winning teams and top participants next month.

The Keep It Moving Challenge runs until April 10, the last day of National Public Health Week, which means we’re nearing the finish line. Let’s make these last two weeks the best ones yet. Join us!

Photo by Gustavo Fring, courtesy Pexels