Do you want to be a part of history? Because that is what this mob is going to be! We’re calling it “the entourage”, and we want you to be a part of it!

If you’ve visited my blog recently you will definitely have seen my posts detailing and updating the progress of the Generation Action Youth Summit and the team’s upcoming presentation to provincial leaders and decision makers. The entourage is one more piece of the puzzle that will fit together to make an amazing presentation from the Youth Summit team come to life!
Read more about the Generation Action Youth Summit

Quick summary: The Youth Summit team is presenting to these leaders and decision makers on behalf of the youth of Saskatchewan. That said, they feel (and Sask. in motion agrees) that the more youth representation we can have in the room, the better!

So…without giving too much away…we need children and youth volunteers (parents, coaches and teachers who can escort volunteers are welcome as well) to come on the evening of April 19^th and join the Generation Action Youth Summit team’s entourage! Are you in?

If you want to be a part of this fun, powerful and historic event contact us and we’ll tell you everything you need to know! I can’t wait to see you there; it’s going to be epic!

To join the entourage, contact us:
Send an e-mail to generationaction@saskinmotion.ca  In your e-mail express your interest in joining the entourage. Also, include your name, how many people you have interested in participating, your current e-mail address and a phone number if possible.
OR
Call us at 1-866-888-3648

Kenji

in motion hits the streets for an Active Transportation flash mob

It may be wishful thinking to say that spring has sprung with snow still popping up in the forecast, but I’m saying it anyway, spring is here!

To me spring means a lot more time outside! Don’t get me wrong – I love winter activities and getting out in the snow but I’m a warm weather gal at heart. Spring means it’s time to live and breathe the outdoors.

Spring also presents a great opportunity to get back into active transportation. The snow is melting and the sun is shining; it seems only logical to bust out your bike, boards, sneaks and blades!

I’m guessing you have an opportunity to choose an active form of transportation more than you think. How far is it to get to your school? Do you have a weekend or after school job? When you go to chill at a friend’s, how do you get there? Could you choose an active way to get there instead of driving? Do you?

Those are just a few examples of opportunities to choose active transportation with many more opportunities I didn’t mention that pop up on a regular basis. If choosing an active way to get yourself from point A to B isn’t normally your thing, I’m curious, why do you think that is? What makes you choose driving or getting dropped off over walking or biking?

At the recent Generation Action Youth Summit the participants identified some barriers to youth being physically active. They suggested time might be a factor, improper equipment (maybe you don’t have the right shoes or a bike), safety (maybe there aren’t any paths along a busy street you would need to use) or the youth team suggested that some people might just be lazy.

Saskatchewan in motion is all about identifying barriers to physical activity. We want to find out what stands in the way of people living active lifestyles, especially young people. Once you know what’s keeping you inactive you can change it for the better!

A great way to incorporate activity into your daily life (to help you meet daily physical activity requirements) is to choose an active way to get from place to place. But, what should you do if you want to choose active ways, or say, getting to school, but something like a dangerous road is in your way?

You should check out Active and Safe Routes to School! Green Communities Canada started the initiative to promote the use of active and efficient transportation to school. Not only does the program address health and traffic safety issues, it also encourages action on air pollution and climate change.

Check out the Active and Safe Routes website for resources, tools, information and links  to help you create an Active and Safe Routes program tailored to your area and needs.

If you’re an all season active transportation guru, it’s time to change tires and give your bike a tune up. 

Remember to always be safe out there, keep yourself protected by following the rules of the road, wearing safety gear,  keeping your equipment in good working order and making smart choices.

 See you out there!

Kenji

The Youth Summit Team has identified key messages and asks for the specific audience of leaders and decision makers that will be present at the Provincial Summit. They refined the messages and asks from a huge collection of barriers, benefits and opportunities they identified over the course of our two Generation Action Youth Summit meetings.

You’ll have to wait until after the Inspiring Action Physical Activity Summit to hear more about the key messages of the presentation…cliff hanger…

For now I want to share with you some of the other very important work the Youth Summit team has done to identify barriers, benefits and opportunities for physical activity in Saskatchewan.

The Youth Summit team extensively discussed a physical activity campaign that is designed by youth for youth. They feel that it is really important for youth who feel passionately about physical activity and the benefits of an active lifestyle to speak out and encourage their peers to choose an active lifestyle. The messages of the campaign would be from these Generation Action youth to their youth counterparts. A possible next step for the Generation Action movement would be to produce a television commercial/viral video made for youth by youth! –Awesome idea, hey!

The Generation Action Youth Summit team also feels strongly that more awareness around physical activity opportunities and benefits needs to be raised. They believe in Acting Out, Speaking Out and Getting Out for physical activity! The reality is that people like to know what they are going to get out of something before they do it, so let`s tell them and show them all the amazing things they can gain from choosing an active lifestyle!

The Youth Summit teams feels that communities need to be built to make activity the easy choice. To ensyre that an active lifestyle is the easy choice, community policies also need to support physical activity.

Here are some more highlights of the discussions around barriers, benefits and opportunities for physical activity from the Generation Action Youth Summit:

Physical
Barriers

• Opportunities to be active for University Students i.e. facilities, timing
• Comfort level i.e. new to class or sport, self conscious
• Accessibility to all, variety of activity choice

Benefits

• Health i.e. strength, stamina, cardiovascular health etc.
• Healthy lifestyle i.e. nutrition
• Energy

Opportunities

• Physical and emotional health
• Looking good
•  Body image/confidence

Economics
Barrier

• Cost

Benefit

• Community economy stimulated through sport

Opportunities

• Decreased health care cost (prevention of illness through being active)
• Decrease fuel cost for individuals when they choose active transportation instead
• Community engagement in coaching and supervising activity on a volunteer basis

Social
Barrier

• Political will for commitment to addressing the issue
• Cultural differences, expectations, language barrier
• Knowing how to get involved
• Media influence, quick fixes, unrealistic images

Benefits

• Relationships i.e. friends, mentors
• Life skills/team building
• Bridging cultures
• Looking good/body image/confidence-a “glow” or swagger/positive self esteem

Opportunities

• Inclusive options
• Free recreation
• Mentorship for children and youth
• Building on trends
• Giving back/volunteering/getting involved with your community
• Influence-peers, family, friends

Physical/Built Environment
Barriers

• Access/Proximity i.e. facilities, paths etc

Benefits

• Sense of community-know your neighbours, walk to the corner store
• Reduced congestion/traffic with walkable/active transportation ready communities

Opportunities

• Free recreation possibilities
• Mandatory physical activity
• Recess and activity breaks

 

The Generation Action Youth Summit has been incredible so far, but now the youth summit team needs your help to make their vision a reality!

Here’s the situation:

In January Sask in motion hosted the first ever Generation Action Youth Summit. The summit team was assembled from youth who applied to make a difference for physical activity in the province.
     >Read more about the first meeting of the Generation Action Youth Summit<

The youth summit team was assembled because less than 15% of Saskatchewan children and youth get the physical activity they need each day to be healthy. The young people who applied to be a part of the Generation Action Youth Summit are NOT ok with that! The purpose of the summit was to determine what youth can do to solve the inactivity crisis, as well as, what the youth of Saskatchewan need provincial leaders and decision makers to do to address the issue.

When the youth summit team gathered for the second time in February it was time to get creative.  The team had the huge task of evaluating all the brainstorming and information we had compiled at the first youth summit meeting. The group was speaking on behalf of all Saskatchewan youth and once the work was prioritized, it was time to refine the most important messages to communicate to provincial leaders at the Inspiring Action Physical Activity Summit in April.

At each gathering, the team was always conscious of the responsibility to represent all of Saskatchewan’s youth.

Each member of the youth summit team brought their own experiences, perspectives, circumstances and knowledge to the team. They talked about the groups that may not be represented and worked to consider circumstances beyond their experience that may need to be addressed.  Here are a few examples of the considerations the team always kept in mind:

• Various socioeconomic circumstances
• Disabilities
• Religious beliefs and cultural practices
• Gender
• Geographic location in the province
• Availability of facilities, instruction, coaches, volunteers and equipment
• Community support
• Academic schedules
• Body image

. . . And many other circumstances

The youth summit team believes in the power of youth and they believe in the power of their voices speaking out for the activity opportunities all youth need to be healthy. But, they don’t want to stop at just their voices being heard.

They are inviting all youth who care about physical activity, their health and future generations of our province to join them in speaking out! They are asking youth to join Generation Action by signing the Generation Action Youth Charter for Physical Activity (click for more details)  

In addition to the Generation Action Youth Charter for Physical Activity, the youth summit team is encouraging youth to become part of the Generation Action movement by recording brief Testimonial Videos (click for info on what you should include in your testimonial, how to submit and more!) that could be included in the youth summit team’s upcoming presentation.

On behalf of the youth summit team, thank you in advance for joining Generation Action! When we Act Out, Speak Out and Get Out for physical activity we can make a difference!

P.S. – add your name to the Generation Action Youth Charter for Physical Activity in the Comments below, or follow the link to find out how else you can sign on!

Kenji

While not everyone can be an elite athlete and physical activity doesn’t just mean sport, the dedicated lifestyle of an athlete is something to be applauded. The young athletes who compete for Team Sask are no exception.

These individuals spend a vast amount of time, effort and financial resources on developing their skills, practicing to improve and are enthusiastic about the sport or activity of their choice.

These athletes have truly chosen an active lifestyle! Hopefully because they love it and it makes them feel healthy and happy, physically and mentally. Perhaps they do it because of the potential opportunities they could have and even the people they get to meet. Through sport, individuals are granted the opportunity to be part of communities; the team community, their local community, the sport community, and more.

Over the past couple of weeks young athletes from across Saskatchewan have been competing at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax!

Our athletes did awesome and represented our province extremely well. We finished 6^th overall in the medal standings, with 23 medals!

Perhaps even more importantly, all of the young athletes who participated had the opportunity to showcase their skills and dedication to sport and physical activity! These young people have worked hard and had the support of their families, coaches, teams, schools, and many others to accomplish this goal. All that hard work and commitment has many benefits. These athletes have the opportunity to travel, to meet new people and to be active role models for other youth in Saskatchewan.

So, to the coaches, volunteers and especially the athletes, thank you for being inspirational role models for an active lifestyle. That goes for all the provinces, but a special shout out to Team Sask.!

Keep up the amazing work!

Take a look at some awesome pictures from the Games featured on the Team Sask facebook page, visit the page for more amazing pics from all the events!

Kenji

Speaking of which; I hope you all had a fantastic Family Day Holiday on the 21^st. At Saskatchewan in motion we decided to add a little something to the mix. We encouraged everyone to make it Family Activity Day!

Living an active lifestyle is only made easier when society embraces what that means. A great way to convince anyone that something is worth doing is by illustrating the benefits. So at Sask in motion we thought to ourselves, let’s reach out to the movement and ask them to share their active photos!

That means you! Anyone who likes to be active, supports physical activity, is interested in finding out more about physical activity, anyone can be a part of the Saskatchewan in motion movement. So whether they are from this year’s Family Activity Day or any day of any year! Post your pics to the Saskatchewan in motion Facebook page and you will be entered to win a $50.00 gift card to SportChek! You have until February 28^th to post your pics!

We would love to see how you get active, with your family or on your own. Remember physical activity means a wide range of activities, not just sports. So post your family raking leaves, riding bikes, swimming at the lake, skiing in the mountains or anything else that gets you up and moving!

What’s your favourite way to get active?

Kenji

At part II of the Generation Action Youth Summit we will be developing our presentation for the Provincial Physical Activity Summit Saskatchewan in motion is hosting in April. Our youth summit team will be building on the work we did at part I of the youth summit. We identified barriers, benefits and opportunities to increase opportunities for physical activity in our province, especially for children and youth.

This time our goal is to determine our messages and exactly what we want to ask decisions makers (educators, community leaders, elected officials, parents etc.) to do to address the inactivity issue.

The Youth Summit team has the opportunity to address many of Saskatchewan’s decision makers at the Provincial Physical Activity Summit and we can’t wait!

Check back later! More to come on part II of the Generation Action Youth Summit . . .

Kenji

When I heard there were going to be new physical activity guidelines for Canada my first question was, why?

Turns out the old guidelines were simply outdated. The new guidelines were developed because of all the new research that has been conducted recently. This new research allowed the scientists to make more specific recommendations about physical activity. The old guidelines also didn’t cover all of the ages, the new ones do. The best reason for the new physical activity guidelines could be that the inactivity crisis needs up-to-date guidelines to better outline the situation.

So, how much physical activity is enough?

After 4 years of research, analysis and development, followed by recommendations from 3 reviews and a widespread consultation process with organizations like the Public Health Agency of Canada [PHAC], Canadian Institutes of Health Research [CIHR], Health Canada, Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology [CSEP] and ParticipACTION the new guidelines were finally ready. The new Canadian guidelines are the most current recommendations for physical activity based on all of the scientific data to date.  

The guidelines are broken down into age categories: Click the category for the guideline information sheet

Children ages 5 – 11            [more for Children]

Youth ages 12 – 17               [more for Youth]

Adults ages 18 – 64               [more for Adults]

Older Adults ages 65 +        [more for Older Adults]

The guidelines for Youth – (12 – 17 Years) state:

• “For health benefits, youth aged 12-17 years should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity daily.”
• “Vigorous-intensity at least 3 days per week.”
• “Activities that strengthen muscle and bone at least 3 days per week.”
• “MORE daily physical activity provides greater health benefits.”

Once you read the guidelines the next question is, what do they mean by all that? Luckily CSEP made a handy glossary to help clear things up. I’ve taken the liberty of summarizing some of the really crucial terms.

Moderate intensity physical activity – On a scale of 0-10 moderate-intensity activity would put you at about a 5 or 6. The suggested rule of thumb is; when you are at a moderate intensity level you are able to talk but you won’t be able to sing during the activity (you are working hard enough to raise your heart rate).
Try: Active recreation (canoeing, hiking, cross-country skiing, skateboarding, rollerblading) Bike riding (stationary or road) Brisk walking, House and Yard work (pushing a lawn mower) Games that require catching and throwing (baseball, softball).

Vigorous intensity physical activity – On a scale of 0-10 vigorous intensity activity would put you at about a 7 or 8. When you are doing a vigorous intensity activity you won’t be able to say more than a couple words without taking a breath (you’ve raised your heart rate significantly).
Try: Bike riding, martial arts (karate) dancing, jump rope, sports (tennis, ice or field hockey, basketball, swimming, soccer) aerobics, running, games that include running and chasing (flag football).

Muscle strengthening activity – Strength training, resistance training or muscular strength and endurance exercises. Exercises that increase skeletal muscle strength, power, endurance and mass.
Try: Rock climbing, games like tug of war, resistance training with bands, weight machines & hand held weights, push-ups and crunches.

Bone strengthening activity – Activities that produce an impact or tension force on the bones that promote bone growth and strength. Running, jumping rope, and lifting weights are examples of bone-strengthening activities (weight-bearing activities).
Try: Hopping, skipping, jumping, sports (gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, tennis) and Weight training.

The youth guidelines are for all apparently healthy youth (12-17) no matter your gender, race, ethnicity or socio-economic status. The guidelines encourage a variety of activity choices that support development, are safe and fun!

You can get your daily activity through play, games, sport, transportation, recreation, physical education or planned exercise. The activity should be in addition to incidental movement through the day.

Following the recommendations can improve cholesterol levels, blood pressure, body composition, bone density, cardio respiratory and musculoskeletal fitness & aspects of mental health. CSEP says it best, “the potential benefits far exceed the potential risks associated with physical activity.”

Different organizations define “youth” by varying ages so don’t get hung up on terminology. The important thing is to note your age and then look at the appropriate guidelines. I still identify with the term youth, but I’ve cracked my 20’s now so I look at the Adult guidelines (18-64).

It’s totally cool to check with your doc if you have any questions about your daily physical activity.

Remember if you are on the inactive side right now; start slow and work up to the recommended levels. Gradually you can increase the duration, frequency and intensity of your activity!

Want to know more, get some background, investigate the glossary of terms to better understand the guidelines and check out FAQ’s. 

Are you meeting Canada’s new Physical Activity Guidelines? I’d love to hear about your activity in the comments below!

Kenji

The Summit brought together youth from across Saskatchewan who have something to say about physical activity, ranging in age from 16 – 23. The participants applied to be a part of this historic occasion. A group of 9 youth, including Graham and I from the provincial office (we are just young enough to fit our age demographic) made up the delegation.  I have to give a shout out to Nadia who couldn’t be there because she was feeling under the weather.

The group came together at this awesome (kinda creepy haha) place called Cedarlodge. The huge old lodge is built right on the hill at Blackstrap Provincial Park just outside of Saskatoon, SK. The atmosphere was perfect for a group of strangers to come together and form a team in a really short amount of time. We were the only guests at the lodge, with the exception of the permanent residents who run the lodge. The main room overlooked a snow covered lake with at least a two story high ceiling lit by “old school” wagon wheel chandeliers. It’s a perfectly modest place that takes you back a few decades in the best way. No TV’s in our rooms set the stage for us to entertain and get to know one another. We had tons of space including a gym/auditorium for activities and key note addresses, meeting rooms to really accomplish our goals, and a beautiful night to take a hike out onto the lake as a group.

Now that you have a feel for where the summit went down, I’m sure you’re curious what exactly we were all doing there…

In total there were 9 participants, (in no particular order) Katie, Kendra, Nafisa, Kirsten, Paul, Stacey, Brett, Graham, and me. The summit wouldn’t have happened without the awesome in motion staffers, Marnie, Nicole, Cathie, and Julie. Plus we brought in 2 more amazing individuals to round out this team, Don Ratcliffe-Smith and Farley Flex!

On Friday evening once everyone had arrived we all got to know one another a little better with an ice breaker activity. Then we had the pleasure of hearing in motion Manager Cathie Kryzanowski fill us in on the current physical activity situation. We heard a bit about how things were back in the day and the inactivity crisis as it is today.

Our good buddie Farley Flex was up next to get us in gear to really achieve some results at the summit. Farley motivated us to step up and be the leaders we all said we wanted to be when we applied to be part of the summit.  He made sure that we were conscious of the fact that we weren’t at the summit just to represent ourselves; that we had a responsibility to represent the complete spectrum of Saskatchewan youth as well as we could. We had to think inclusively and consider a wide range of economic situations, geographic locations across the province, and be mindful of limitations. Farley spoke about principles of character and leadership, like respect, responsibility, honesty, empathy, fairness, initiative, perseverance, courage, integrity and optimism. Cathie and Farley set the stage for the summit beautifully and pumped us all up for the work that was ahead of us.

After some chill time together discussing how our digs for the night were straight of the movie The Shining (you know, “here’s Johnny!”) and a night hike we all hit the sack to rest up for the big day ahead of us.

The graffiti wall captures what we have heard from youth across SK when they were asked to identify challenges, benefits & opportunities for physical activity.

Looking back I’m not sure how we got through all the work we did Saturday. We had an amazing breakfast! Have I mentioned how ridiculously awesome the food was all weekend? I’m sure it was a huge part of how we were able to accomplish everything we did. By 8:45 we were hard at work identifying challenges, benefits and opportunities for physical activity in our province to add to our graffiti wall. We had a great base of information to work from that the in motion team has gathered from youth across the province at Student Leadership Conferences, the Lieutenant Governors Leadership Forum session and other events. The amount of input from all the participants was fantastic and far exceeded expectations!

All of the amazing work to expand the graffiti wall presented a new challenge to the whole group. Now we had to take all of those challenges, benefits and opportunities and evaluate which ones we could develop realistic solutions for and actions for change around. We essentially prioritized what could realistically be done and what needed to be done first.

With excellent leadership from our facilitators, the participants began to generate solutions and messages directed at 3 specific groups

1)      Youth addressing speaking to Youth

2)      Youth addressing to Provincial Organizations and Community Leaders

3)      Youth addressing  Municipal or Provincial Government (i.e. Mayors, The Premier)

Finally we arrived at the last really ambitious task of the weekend. One of the main goals of the summit was not only to tell the physical activity story of our province from a youth perspective, but to provide actions directed at those three specific audiences from this collective of participants representing the youth of Saskatchewan.

How are we going to do that you ask?…

The participants of the Generation Action Youth Summit will be using a medium of the groups choosing to convey a message about the state of physical activity in our province, and asking for specific actions to improve the situation to those who are in critical positions to impact positive change at a Provincial Physical Activity Summit in April. The final session of the day was aimed at developing a strategy for this presentation.

We`ve got some amazing concepts to work from. No… I can`t tell you about them yet.. you`ll have to check back to see how things are coming together.

If you had the opportunity to speak to your Mayor or even the Premier, what would you ask them to do to address the physical inactivity crisis in our province?

Join the conversation; tell the Generation Action Youth Summit participants what you would like to say in the comments below!

PS Check out the Generation Action by Saskatchewan in motion facebook group to follow the work of the Youth Summit.

Kenji

We are honoured you are interested in joining other Saskatchewan youth leaders, Farley Flex and the in motion team to use your creativity, leadership experience and knowledge to tell a story that will motivate leaders in our province to take action to increase opportunities and choices for Saskatchewan youth to be  active.

 The Generation Action Youth Summit will take place January 14 &15th and February 11 & 12th
between 7:30 pm and 3:30 pm the following day. The first summit weekend everyone will work together to establish and document Saskatchewan’s physical activity story from a youth perspective. In February, we will produce our story in a format the group decides is the best way to speak out for physical activity.

Participation is key to the success of the summit. Please make sure you are able to attend both weekend sessions.

• January 14/15 -  Cedar Lodge in the Blackstrap Provincial Park 
• February 11/12 – Saskatoon – location TBD

Meals, accommodations, and transportation expenses will be covered. Participants under the age of 18 will need to travel with a parent(s) or legal guardian.  Accommodation arrangements have been made in Saskatoon and meal per diems will be provided for accompanying adults. 

The in motion team is planning a diverse summit of fun and exciting action. We are striving to provide the best facilitation, compile the most complete sources of information and provide all the tools and
resources you will need to tackle issues and crank out solutions and actions. We want to ensure you and your summit members have a unique and empowering experience, that you leave with some practical knowledge and renewed passion for changing the landscape for physical activity of youth across the province.

Send us a short video or write us using the questions below to tell us who you are and why you want to a part of the Generation Action Youth Summit.

 What and who motivates you to be active daily?

What stands in your way to being active every day?

What do you think it would take to get all SK youth (16 – 23) to be active? Be honest.

If you want get creative and customize it with music and photos but if you don’t have access to
multimedia tools, please feel free to type out your responses. We love a good read.

Please include your: name, age, mailing address, community, school/university/other, an active e-mail address in your application. Also let us know how many days a week are you active for 60-90 minutes?

a)  0-2
b) 3-4
c) 5-6
d)   7

Thank you so much for all your hard work and dedication to making a difference for Saskatchewan youth.  Every day, individuals like you confirm that you are the leaders that our province has been waiting for!

We are excited to receive your application!

Sincerley,
In motion commotion team

If you need more information or need some questions answered prior to submitting your application please email Kenji@saskinmotion.ca.