The getfit challenge is a 12-week, team-oriented fitness challenge open to the entire MIT community.
The goal of getfit is to help make MIT a healthier community by encouraging participants to exercise regularly. During the challenge, which typically runs from early February through April, teams of five to eight people can qualify for prize drawings based on the average number of minutes exercised each week. Prizes are awarded weekly to teams and individuals selected at random from among those teams meeting the steadily increasing weekly exercise goals. The Grand Prize winner is selected randomly from all eligible teams meeting the minimum average exercise threshold for at least ten out of twelve weeks of the competition.
Make lasting lifestyle changes
Results from past 12-week challenge have shown that getfit participants often make lasting lifestyle changes. Each year, nearly three-quarters of getfit participants tell us they began exercising more as a result of the fitness challenge. More importantly, most of them kept it up for at least six months after the program ended! Other benefits reported by at least a quarter of participants include:
- Weight loss
- Reduced stress levels
- Improved sleep
- Improved general mood
- Improved muscle tone
- Improved eating habits
- Improved flexibility
getfit is presented by:
Major sponsorship is provided by:
- The Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation (DAPER)
- The MIT Federal Credit Union
For more information, see:
- Rules (below)
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The 2021 getfit challenge begins on February 1, 2021, and ends on April 25, 2021.
- All teams must register online at getfit.mit.edu between January 11 and January 24, 2021. Team rosters must be finalized by January 31, 2021.
- Teams must consist of five to eight people, including two co-captains. Note that co-captains must have an email address ending in mit.edu, draper.com, broadinstitute.org, or technologyreview.com. Participation is open to all members of the MIT community and family members aged 16 years and older.
- No changes may be made to team names after January 24, 2021. No changes to team rosters may be made after January 31, 2021. Exceptions to this rule will be made only in the rare situation that a team member has no choice but to drop out before the end of the challenge (serious illness, leaving MIT, or similar circumstances). In such situations, please initiate the roster change by using the “contact us” page.
- Individuals may be a member of only one team.
- Any physical activity done at a level that increases the heart rate and/or challenges the muscles will count as exercise.
- The getfit week runs from Monday through Sunday.
- Participants must keep a record of total minutes exercised every day.
- Participants’ minutes must be entered online at getfit.mit.edu each week. To be eligible for weekly team and individual prize drawings, as well as the end-of-challenge Grand Prize and Onward & Upward awards, participants must enter minutes for the previous week by 11:59 p.m., EST, each Monday. The getfit database will calculate the average number of minutes exercised by each team per week, and team and individual rankings will be posted on the site’s Leaderboard.
- Weekly prize drawings will be held to award prizes to at least ten individuals. All participants meeting the exercise goal for a given week will be eligible for that week’s prize drawing for individuals.
- At least one team prize will be awarded weekly. All teams whose per-member average meets the exercise goal for a given week will be eligible for that week’s prize drawing for teams. Additional team contests will also be held during some weeks of the challenge. Details about, and eligibility requirements for, these special contests will be posted on the getfit website.
- Each team with a per-member exercise average that meets the weekly exercise goal for at least 10 of 12 weeks during the challenge will be eligible for the Grand Prize, the winner of which will be determined by random drawing among all eligible teams at the end of the challenge.
- “Onward & Upward” prizes will be awarded by random drawing to two individuals at the end of the challenge. To be eligible for this prize drawing, an individual must have recorded exercise minutes for every week of the challenge and demonstrated a steady and consistent increase in exercise minutes from week to week, but is not required to have met weekly exercise goals.
- Organizers of the getfit challenge and members of their families are ineligible to win individual prizes. Teams with ineligible members are ineligible for team prizes.
- The exercise goal for each week of the challenge will be as follows:
- Week 1 -- 150 minutes
- Week 2 -- 165 minutes
- Week 3 -- 180 minutes
- Week 4 -- 195 minutes
- Week 5 -- 210 minutes
- Week 6 -- 225 minutes
- Week 7 -- 225 minutes
- Week 8 -- 245 minutes
- Week 9 -- 260 minutes
- Week 10 -- 280 minutes
- Week 11 -- 300 minutes
- Week 12 -- 300 minutes
The organizations offering getfit perks have guidelines in place that follow CDC recommendations regarding the coronavirus. We suggest each individual decide whether to participate based on their own comfort level.
Participants living within the United States are eligible to receive a FREE 4-ply cotton getfit mask that will be mailed directly to you. Once the challenge begins on February 1, 2021, you’ll have an opportunity to provide your mailing address. Learn more about proper face mask use
These masks are brought to you by Community Wellness and the MIT Federal Credit Union.
Try CardioCast for free! As a participant of getfit 2021, enjoy a free 30-day subscription to CardioCast, an audio fitness app featuring more than a thousand classes, world-class coaches and hit music. Enter code GETFITMIT at checkout. This offer is valid from January 25 through April 25, 2021 and cannot be combined with any other offer.
All Lincoln Laboratory employees and subcontractors are eligible to buy this pass, which allows access to the Lincoln Laboratory Fitness Center and Zoom group fitness classes. This three-month trial pass is available for purchase between January 11 and February 12, 2021 and may be used from February 1 – April 25, 2020. The nonrefundable cost for this pass is $40 for Lincoln Laboratory employees and $80 for contractors. This getfit trial pass can be upgraded to an annual membership at any time during the three-month trial period for an additional $100 for Lincoln Laboratory employees, spouses, dependents, and retirees and $240 for contractors.
To purchase a Lincoln Laboratory Fitness Center trial pass, you must present your getfit profile page (on your mobile device or printed out) at the main desk of the Lincoln Laboratory Fitness Center, along with a photo ID. You will need to complete a membership application and waiver form. You may pay for your pass with a credit/debit payment at https://llevents.ll.mit.edu/fitnesscenter. If you have additional questions about the special getfit trial pass, contact Deb Craig by email at debbiec@mit.edu, or call 781-981-2104.
All Lincoln Laboratory affiliates (employees, spouses, retirees, subcontractors) are eligible to buy this pass, which allows access to Zoom group fitness classes. (This trial pass does not allow you access into the MIT LL Fitness Center.) This three-month trial pass is available for purchase between January 11 and February 12, 2021 and may be used from February 1 – April 25, 2021. The nonrefundable cost for this pass is $40 for Lincoln Laboratory employees and $80 for contractors.
You may pay for your pass with a credit/debit payment at https://llevents.ll.mit.edu/fitnesscenter. If you have additional questions about the special getfit trial pass, contact Deb Craig by email at debbiec@mit.edu, or call 781-981-2104.
Mention you are a getfit participant and get 25% off all personal training & small group training at the Burlington, Lexington, and Melrose locations. This includes both Live Virtual Personal Training as well as in-studio Personal Training and Small Group Training. Take advantage of this offer during the entire getfit challenge, ending April 25, 2021.
MIT getfit participants are eligible to receive two offers from Free4All Fitness by entering coupon code “getfit” at checkout:
- 25% off Premium account access. A Premium account allows participants access to all of the live & recorded classes with an ad free experience.
- $35 for a private live instructor led class for teams.
Take advantage of this offer during the entire getfit challenge, ending April 25, 2021.
Call to book a massage at any of Joint Ventures' locations where massage is offered and receive 25% off from February 1 through May 6, 2021. Mention you are a getfit participant to receive the discount. Locations include: Kenmore, Brookline/Allston, Downtown, Kendall, Prudential, and Wellesley.
Join us to find balance and strength for your body and mind. Yoga, Barre & Meditation are available via livestream or in our studio sanctuary in Lexington, MA. Please choose one of the special deals below.
- If you have never been to Lexington Power Yoga before, you are eligible for our Newcomer Special — two weeks of unlimited livestream or in studio classes for just $10.
- If you have been to Lexington Power Yoga before, come join us again — three livestream or in studio classes for $35.
Stop by Mother Juice at their Kendall Square, Newbury Street, or Boston Public Market location for $2 off any item. Limit one per person; no expiration date. Present this coupon at the time of ordering.
Go on a scavenger hunt for manhole covers! Take a walk to find these six manhole cover designs in the Boston area; find them all, post and tag on social media as instructed, and receive a printed card of one of the covers. In addition, all getfit participants receive 15% off manhole cover T-shirts; just use the coupon code “getfit2021” when checking out. Offer valid until April 25, 2021.
MIT getfit participants can take 20% off any full price class pack or drop-in class at Wonder Yoga in Arlington. Please email hello@wonderyoga.com to take advantage of this special deal. Offer ends on Sunday April 25, 2021.
A marketing and communications specialist at MIT Medical, Kim came up with the idea of the getfit fitness challenge in 2004 (see below for more about the history of getfit).
As the program has grown, Kim has remained the one constant presence. She has her reasons for staying involved: “I like the challenge of keeping people engaged and motivated,” she says, “and I love hearing from people and realizing that we’ve made a difference.”
As for her own fitness goals, Kim—not one to work out just for the sake of working out—says, “I find activities that I enjoy, and that also happen to be good exercise.” Stand-up paddle-boarding, cross-country skiing, and trekking to Chinatown on her lunch break are part of her regular routine, and she doesn’t mind boasting a little: “I’m probably in the same shape now that I was in college, much better than I was when getfit started.”
Liz, senior program manager since 2009, puts the “organizing” in the getfit organizing committee. She works to ensure that getfit reflects the people who participate, fine-tuning the program each year through feedback from the MIT community.
It’s all about the people for Liz, who loves to recount stories about some of her favorites: the woman who sent an excited e-mail on the day she did her first 80-pound leg press or teammates who wrote to say that they now walk together on their lunch breaks. Hearing about fitness milestones and community moments like these, she says, keep her inspired to devote a high level of energy to getfit. “Our goal,” Liz says, “is to get everybody moving, healthy, working together as teams, and building community.”
And how does she get in her exercise minutes? She does online workout programs consisting of cardio, weight training, pilates, and yoga—plus, of course, she charges around the campus making sure getfit is running smoothly!
Rachel has a background in event planning and administrative work. She enjoys working on getfit because it combines several aspects of her past work experience with her love of helping others. Rachel gets fit by taking her dog for long walks around Horn Pond, taking group exercise classes, and trying out new activities. She also walks in many 5Ks around the Boston area and loves to play games, including bowling, billiards, darts, corn hole, card and board games, and snooker. She and her husband routinely follow the Red Sox and Patriots and go to as many Red Sox games as they can each season.
Even before joining the getfit planning team in 2009, Lisa was on a getfit team in the MIT News Office. So she had a user’s perspective, handy in her job as getfit website manager.
Lisa says that getfit stands out among the projects she’s worked on at MIT because it involves the whole community—“it’s one of the few things that can bring everyone together on campus”—and because the organizers are always brain-storming. “This is a very creative group. It’s one of the most fun things about the job, finding solutions that reflect both what the data is telling us and our own ideas.”
Lisa tries to counteract the effects of spending a lot of time in front of a computer with stand-up paddle-boarding, hiking, and—since she is car-free—walking all over Boston and Cambridge.
The getfit fitness challenge is the brainchild of staff member Kim. In 2004, as editor of the now-defunct health@mit newsletter, she had an idea for making a bigger health impact on campus through a fitness challenge. During the pilot year of getfit in 2005, she laid out the program hallmarks: participating as part of a team, counting exercise minutes, going on tunnel walks, and free T-shirts for all.
Almost 1,300 people signed up to participate that first year. It was hard work to keep the program running with a team of seven people, all of whom had other, full-time, job responsibilities. Kim remembers, “I would get here early in the morning and hang maps in the tunnels, and I led all the tunnel walks myself the first year.”
The first challenge did more than raise the activity level of the participants; many also shared stories about how getfit had increased their sense of community at MIT, an unexpected result that delighted the organizers. Kim feels that “getfit made a difference in the way the community viewed MIT Medical. It let everyone at MIT know that we care about them, regardless of whether they get their health care here or not.”
The getfit organizing committee was recognized with an MIT Excellence Award in 2006.