DUNMORE, Pa. — Since getting fit and healthier are among the top goals or resolutions for the new year, a free program might be coming at the perfect time, especially if you’ve been struggling this month to get your goals on track.
After a year like 2020, so many of us can probably use a "reset button." It's the focus of a new and free campaign that's now registering participants.
"This challenge actually started at the YMCA in Cincinnati. It was quite different. It was the STRONG challenge and it was so successful that they have opened this up to YMCAs across the country," said Meghan Carnevale. "So, the Greater Scranton YMCA is super excited to join this challenge now titled 'The Reset Challenge.' It's open to everyone in our community. Y members, nonmembers, completely free, and it's a six-week challenge."
How does it work?
Text the word "reset" to 22454 and you will get a link to begin the registration process. The program starts February 1, 2021.
"You're going to get everything from nutrition tips, family engagement tips, opportunities for play," added Carnevale. "It's really just everything from fitness to wellness, but really, really bringing together the mental health component of it, which I think that we all could use a little boost in at the start of 2021."
Each week, there's a new challenge:
"We'll start with wellness, of course," explained Carnevale. "As a participant of the challenge, you'll have access to the website where you'll have so many different options of group exercise on-demand classes, just a ton of different things where we provide you with resources to obtain your goals."
How does this help people with accountability?
"So the wonderful thing about this is like I said, it's nationwide. So you are going to be immersed with reset challenge participants across the country, thousands of them. So you'll have access to the Strong Challenge community group on Facebook. You can pose your questions, your successes. But the beauty of it is you are paired with people in a team, and there's a Y staff person who oversees your team so that Y staff person can guide you through the resources that are available to you," said Carnevale. "That staff person is going to make sure they check on you. So if you registered for this challenge, you're going to be checked on multiple times each week."
Newswatch 16's Ryan Leckey asked, "Even though you can do this program virtually, does it allow me to come into a YMCA in my community and use some of the equipment?"
"So what I would suggest is reaching out to your local Y and see if they are offering the 2021 reset challenge," added Carnevale. "But we are in the process of brainstorming ways to get you access to the facility. We're really all about gaining control of your life. Post this crazy 2020 year. So, we're really trying to get families together, healthy, and happy in the new year."
As Carnevale mentioned, registration for the 2021 Reset Challenge is now open. The six-week program starts February 1 and can be done entirely virtually if you want.
To sign up, you can text the word RESET to 22454 or click here.