Mental health is a persistent concern for all Sailors while COVID-19-associated stress has impacted everyone. September is Mental Health and Suicide Prevention month. The Navy Environmental Preventive Medicine Unit 2’s (NEPMU-2) Health Promotions and Fitness Teams have joined forces to promote physical fitness, and highlight mental health through a special “Tour de Naval Station Norfolk” (Tour de NSN) event throughout the month of September.
Tour de NSN, like the Tour de France, contains multiple stages to allow cyclists, at varying skill levels, to bike around the base and observe different sites. The goal is to complete a total of 25 miles for the month. Each mile represents a Sailor lost through suicide. According to the Department of Defense Annual suicide report, active-duty suicide rates are approximately 25 per 100,000 service members.
“With restricted access to gyms and normal workout routines, the creativity this teams has used to come up with exciting and different ways to encourage work-outs and healthy lifestyles has been phenomenal to see and participate in,” Said Cmdr. Steven Schutt, NEPMU-2’s Officer-in-charge. “These are challenging times for all of us, and getting a little exercise is so critical to maintaining good mental well-being.”
The global pandemic resulted in the Navy’s decision to waive both of the 2020 Physical Fitness Assessment Cycles, to minimize outbreak. Continual changes to normalcy may lead to increased anxiety, sadness, and loneliness. Because of this, NEPMU-2’s Health Promotions and Fitness Teams believe the Navy’s 21st Century Sailor initiatives are more important than ever. 21st Century Sailor promotes resiliency in all service members and Navy families, as well as collaboration and synergy across a spectrum of wellness that maximizes total force fitness.
While many commands have responded differently to maintaining physical readiness, since May NEPMU-2 Command Fitness Leaders have engineered innovative, monthly fitness challenges to promote unit health and well-being. They designed and posted a series of weekly exercises, to complete in a cubicle or at home, with directions on how to properly perform each. From squats to planks, NEPMU-2 challenges resulted in 20 staff members who participated in more than 40 different exercises, and 690 repetitions, throughout a period of 10 weeks. Top performers received a Health Promotion award.
“We wanted to provide multiple ways to help our Sailors maintain readiness and have a healthy way to break up the day,” said NEPMU-2’s Assistant Command Fitness Leader, Lt.j.g. Eleanor Moen. “The cubicle challenge really promoted unit cohesion since, officers, enlisted, and civilians all participated, encouraged, and competed with each other to do as many repetitions [of each exercise] as possible.”
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), regular exercise can improve well-being, reduce anxiety and improve health outcomes. As a preventive medicine unit, NEPMU-2 strives to provide innovative and evidence-based health promotion and wellness activities Navy-wide. Fleet Health Promotion Program Coordinators (HPPCs) at all units should contact NEPMU-2 for Information on improving their own programs.
For help with your Health Promotion program call NEPMU-2 at (757) 953-6600 DSN: 377-6600 and ask for the Health Promotion Divisional Officer or coordinator. To participate in the event cyclists can take photos at each checkpoint and send them to nepmu2@med.navy.mil. Submissions will be accepted through 15 Oct 2020.
| Date Taken: | 09.21.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2020 12:53 |
| Story ID: | 378267 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, US |
| Web Views: | 157 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NEPMU-2 Sailors Stay Physically and Mentally Fit During a Global Pandemic through Cubicle and At-Home Workout Challenge, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT