Healthy bodies supporting healthy minds is a culture that Memorial’s Marine Institute (MI) fosters for students and employees alike. One of MI’s best kept secrets just might be the driving force behind that mentality.

Enter the institute’s health and wellness co-ordinator, Rose Hatfield. Ms. Hatfield is the muscle behind the fitness program that has led to a lifestyle change for many employees and students.

Ms. Hatfield is a certified personal trainer, with a recreation diploma and Canadian Fitness Professionals (Canfitpro) certification, who has transformed the institutional attitude since kickstarting an employee fitness program 13 years ago.

The idea for the program was sparked by the incentive of a free T-shirt for joining Distance Education, Learning and Teaching Support's (DELTS) annual MUNdays health challenge.

“Before the program was established, I conducted a lot of intramural sports for the students but there wasn’t anything for the employees aside from a few of them coming to me for weekly weigh-ins," said Ms. Hatfield. "I decided to provide one-on-one counselling to help them incorporate exercise into their lifestyles and once word spread interest skyrocketed. I created the fitness program to help me keep up with the high demand. Now there are 70 participants in the program.”

Ms. Hatfield has divided the fitness participants into seven groups and instructs two classes on Mondays and Wednesdays and five classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition to the structured fitness program for employees, she also instructs free cardio classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays that are open to both employees and students.

During the winter months, the classes consist of spin training, various circuits and plyometric training and abdominal work. Once the snow melts, the participants trade their indoor shoes for their running sneakers and hit the trails around Long Pond and Kent’s Pond to begin their training for the annual Tely 10 Road Race.

Ms. Hatfield is aiming to recruit 50 runners for this year’s Tely 10, to show support and raise awareness of MI’s Golden Jubilee.

The fitness lifestyle has not only encouraged the MI community to be more healthy and active, it has also led to inter-departmental networking, which has facilitated a “family” atmosphere at the institute.

After working as an instructor in MI’s School of Maritime Studies for three years, Ann Harris realized that she only knew a handful of people and had very limited knowledge of what MI had to offer.

“MI is such a large place that it’s easy to stay within your own work space and only make contact with those you work with directly,” she said. “I’ve been in the fitness program for the past 10 years and I have to admit that I was initially drawn to it for the social aspect. It allowed me to meet people from all over MI that I would not have had the opportunity to meet. Having an exercise group keeps me committed to my workouts and pushes me to try new things and work a little harder.”

Ms. Hatfield works behind the scenes to ensure she is delivering quality fitness programming and lifestyle advice. MI employees and students involved in her various workout classes view her as someone they can rely on for professional fitness direction.

Her motto is that she won’t implement an exercise or program without personally testing it first.

Ms. Hatfield also stays active in the national fitness community by attending the Canfitpro conference every two years to gain insight on emerging techniques and training knowledge.

“I think I’ve exceeded my goal of trying to get people active in this building. I’ve accomplished what I set out to do and from now on my focus is on staying current with fitness strategies to build upon the current program.”