Sweat For Good and make world history in Toronto

YMCA of Greater Toronto attempts to break GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for Largest exercise ball demonstration/class!

 

As temperatures drop outside, the gymnasium at the Central YMCA will be filled with over 500 members of the community sweating it out to break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the Largest exercise ball demonstration/class on Thursday, January 11, 2018.

 

Celebrity fitness trainer Eva Redpath will lead the class, with support from the YMCA’s Sherry Perez. This event catapults the YMCA GTA’s “Sweat For Good” campaign into the spotlight to help showcase that when you choose to work out at the YMCA, you are connecting yourself to a larger purpose. At the Y, members not only sweat for themselves, they sweat for others, for positive change, and for the community.

“When you choose the YMCA, you are choosing to be part of an organization that seeks to build the foundation for a healthy, vibrant future for every individual in our community, and our society as a whole,” said Medhat Mahdy, President and CEO of the YMCA GTA. “People may think that all health and fitness centres across the GTA have similar ‘stuff,’ but we have five important factors that set us apart:

  • Our broad offering: We offer diverse programs for every interest and stage of life.
  • We create a sense of belonging: We bring people together, nurture their growth, and promote inclusivity.
  • Our people-first culture: Our dedicated and expert team of staff and volunteers proactively supports members’ health goals; removes barriers to achieving those goals; and believes that everyone has the ability to continually improve.
  • We are committed to doing local good: We address community-specific needs and invest in building permanent facilities in communities across the GTA.
  • We are a charitable organization: Our Health & Fitness Centres are part of a much larger charitable organization that provides programs and services that make people strong in all sorts of ways — physically, of course, but also mentally and socially.”

 

The YMCA is the largest charitable program and service delivery organization in the GTA. For more than 160 years and through hundreds of programs, the YMCA offers individuals opportunities for personal growth, community involvement and leadership.

The current GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title boasts 453 participants completing an exercise ball class. The YMCA GTA aims to secure 500 participants to “Sweat For Good” and break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title. To get all the details, please visit SweatForGood.ca.

Guests will also have the opportunity to meet with Olympic Gold Medalist Mark Tewksbury and hear firsthand about how he “Sweats For Good” in support of the YMCA GTA’s mission, and how his experiences have shaped his current role as a global leader in human rights.

 

YMCA GTA Sweat For Good

 

Participants

When: Thursday, January 11th, 2018 from 6:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Where: 20 Grosvenor St, Toronto, ON M4Y 2V5

Admission: FREE

 

Media

When: Thursday, January 11th, 2018 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. (class: 7:40 – 8:10 a.m.)

Where: 20 Grosvenor St, Toronto, ON M4Y 2V5

Admission: FREE

Light refreshments will be provided

 

Visit SweatForGood.ca for all the event details

 

 

For more information contact:

Deane Code, Veritas Communications/YMCA of Greater Toronto
E: code@veritasinc.com | T: 416-640-4661 | M: 416-732-4835

Kassandra O’Brien, Veritas Communications/YMCA of Greater Toronto

E: obrien@veritasinc.com | T: 416-482-2617 | M: 289-264-6499

 

 

About the YMCA of Greater Toronto

For well over a century, we’ve provided leadership and worked with partners solving complex social problems to create real, measurable outcomes that have strengthened the social health and fabric of our communities. As a charity, the YMCA offers a variety of programs responding to the needs of the community, including education and training, employment and immigrant services, family and youth services, health and fitness programs, child care, and camps. The breadth of our programs, and the diversity of the communities we serve, is the basis of our new Sweat For Good campaign: when you break a sweat with us, you’re showing your support for all of these programs that give everyone their chance to shine. Serving the population of the GTA, Durham, Peel, York, Halton Region and Dufferin County, the YMCA connected with more than 557,000 people across 438 locations last year.

www.ymcagta.org

http://sweatforgood.ymcagta.org

 

About Guinness World Records

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ (GWR) is the global authority on record-breaking achievement. First published in 1955, the iconic annual GWR books have sold over 138 million copies in over 20 languages and in more than 100 countries. Additionally, the Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition, first published in 2007, has sold more than 5 million copies to date.

 

GWR’s worldwide television programmes reach over 750 million viewers annually and more than one million people subscribe to the GWR YouTube channel, which enjoys more than 300 million views per year. The GWR website receives 21 million visitors annually, and they have over 12 million fans on Facebook.

 

The GWR commercial sales division provides bespoke consultancy services for some of the world’s top brands and agencies to help place record breaking at the heart of their marketing campaigns, employee-engagement programmes, and live and experiential events.

 

Sun Life Financial, Fitbit and new rewards for daily steps contribute to app's growth

carrot

Canada's celebrated wellness incentives app, Carrot Rewards, recently introduced new initiatives and partnerships as part of its long-term growth strategy.

A new daily step tracker feature allows users of the popular free app to earn rewards for achieving their personalized walking goals. A large majority of BC users are already earning daily rewards for walking and nearly ten billion steps taken by British Columbians this summer have been tracked and rewarded through the Carrot app.

Starting today the Carrot app will also be integrated with the industry leading activity tracking device, Fitbit. BC residents will now have one more convenient option for connecting and earning daily activity rewards through Carrot (in addition to Health Kit and Google Fit).

Also starting today Sun Life Financial, in close collaboration with the Canadian Diabetes Association, is proudly joining the broader Carrot coalition in British Columbia as the sponsor of all the Steps rewards that BC residents earn through the app.

"Thousands of British Columbians have already taken steps toward a healthier lifestyle with the Carrot Rewards app," Government of British Columbia Health Minister Terry Lake said. "We know that increased activity can have positive benefits for our health and, thanks to these new partnerships, there are now even more incentives to get people moving and receive rewards for healthy behaviour."

"We're proud to be expanding the Carrot eco-system and functionality so significantly again," says CARROT insights (developer of Carrot Rewards) CEO Andreas Souvaliotis. "By joining hands with genuine game-changer organizations like Sun Life, Fitbit and the Canadian Diabetes Association, we are further enhancing the effectiveness of our powerful program and we're helping build an even healthier Canada."

"One in three Canadians is affected by diabetes or prediabetes," says Rick Blickstead, President and CEO, Canadian Diabetes Association. "The good news is that in many of the cases,  type 2 diabetes can be delayed and/or prevented with healthier eating or increased physical activity. By partnering with Carrot and Sun Life, we hope to encourage people to take charge of their health and be rewarded for achieving a healthy lifestyle."

Sun Life is committed to the prevention of diabetes and its related complications. Since announcing support of the cause in late 2012, Sun Life has proudly committed over $13 million towards diabetes awareness, prevention, care and research initiatives.

"Sun Life is proud to partner with CARROT Insights and the Canadian Diabetes Association in supporting this unique health initiative in British Columbia," says Chris Denys, SVP Possibilities, Digital Health Solutions, Sun Life Financial Canada. "It aligns with our mission to proactively engage Canadians and empower them to take a more active role in managing their health and well-being."

The Carrot Rewards app has seen significant success since it launched in BC six months ago. To date, nearly 2% of British Columbians have downloaded the app and have earned over a hundred million loyalty points just for learning how to live healthier and for achieving simple daily activity goals. Carrot is now being rolled out across the rest of Canada with similarly impressive results.

The Government of Canada, through the Public Health Agency of Canada, invested $5 million over five years in the Carrot Rewards app project. The Government of British Columbia provided $2.5 million to support the early launch of the app in B.C. Including contributions from the private sector, a total of more than $15 million has already been invested in this world-leading program.

Learn More:
Carrot Rewards: https://www.carrotrewards.ca/
CARROT insights: www.carrotinsights.com
Sun Life: https://www.sunlife.ca/diabetes
Public Health Agency of Canada: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/
Canadian Diabetes Association: www.diabetes.ca
Heart and Stroke Foundation: www.heartandstroke.com
YMCA Canada: www.ymca.ca