Go Gold 2014 Sends Participants Across Russia to the Winter Olympics in Sochi

MIDLAND, Mich. - Dec. 5, 2013 - PRLog -- Through a new employee wellness campaign designed by Health Enhancement Systems, Go Gold 2014 (http://www.hesonline.com/gogold), participants can experience the sights and sounds of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games while tracing the path of the torch bearers and learning about various Russian cities, people, and culture along the way.

“It’s like taking a tour of Russia on your way to the pageantry and excitement of the Olympics,” notes Health Enhancement Systems President and founder, Dean Witherspoon. “Except after each stop, participants earn the right to explore the next city by reaching physical activity goals.”

The virtual journey across Russia to the Olympic City of Sochi is propelled by each participant’s real activity here at home. So walking 10,000 steps in a day not only earns a gold medal but also unveils that day’s featured location. Goals of 6000 and 8000 steps daily or equivalent fitness activity earn bronze and silver medals while revealing that day’s tour sites.

This turnkey health promotion challenge allows participants to record steps or fitness minutes through their organization’s custom Go Gold website, by smart phone using the free companion app, or automatically with the optional Fitbit® or other step-tracking device.

The science behind why Go Gold is effective goes way beyond the basic feature of logging activity to experience an online adventure. Go Gold follows the Health Enhancement Systems research-backed approach that high participation and engagement levels require a wellness challenge to not only be fun, but also provide challenging goals and encourage teamwork/social connections.

Being accountable to a group is an important part of any wellness challenge, so Go Gold participants can form or join teams and engage in friendly competition with other teams from their organization. The Go Gold Village message board supports a sense of community — it’s a virtual meeting place for participants to post pictures and text, including words of encouragement. A feature called Rivals allows participants to view each other's medal counts and offer support.

Additional features include daily health tips, 200+ delicious recipes, and articles on achieving and maintaining an active lifestyle.

A no-obligation Go Gold demonstration is available for wellness professionals at http://www.hesonline.com/gogolddemo, but first be sure to watch the 2-minute video introduction, or learn more at http://www.gogold2014.com (http://www.hesonline.com/gogold).

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Health Enhancement Systems creates employee wellness programs for organizations in North America and throughout the world. More than 20 effective, engaging wellness campaigns have been adopted by over a thousand organizations — serving hundreds of thousands of participants.

For more information, visit HealthEnhancementSystems.com or call 800.326.2317.