In the hopes of drawing more student participation, the Get Buff for Break program is getting a facelift for the new year.

When it was first created, the program was simple but cumbersome, said Amy Campbell, assistant director of wellness at Campus Recreation.

“It used to be a paper-pencil method,” Campbell said. “We had participants of 500 to 600 so we had a lot of work to do.”

Campbell said the program, which had remained more or less the same since its inception, needed a makeover after last year’s “really slow” program drew about 400 students. The 2010 Get Buff for Break had almost 1,500 people sign up.

“It gave us a need for change,” Campbell said.

The program encourages students to get themselves back in shape for Spring Break and keep up their New Year’s resolutions, as participants track their fitness times and types. The program lasts from Jan. 23 to March 2.

The new changes include weekly challenges that allow for participants to earn extra points and maximize their two-hour allotted time frame per day. The weekly challenges, overseen by Brooke Derouin, graduate assistant for wellness at Campus Recreation, are seen as a way to level the playing field for those participants who are not as regimented in their workout routines. Examples of weekly challenges include doing a hundred sit-ups or drinking more water.

To better suit the individual, the program is divided into two parts, fitness and competitive.

“The fitness category is maybe for someone that’s not as competitive, maybe just starting to work out,” Derouin said. “The competitive category are the people who have been working out pretty consistently.”

The individual decides which category best suits them and works towards a point goal. Members of the fitness category will be privy to see the scores of fellow fitness members.

Top scorers receive prizes.

“We’d like to keep it a surprise,” Derouin said. Although no specifics were given, both Derouin and Campbell hinted that the prizes were “very cool.”

The new changes are aimed at making the workout experience different each time.

To access the program students, need to register online at the Campus Recreation website. Registration opens midnight tonight. Students will then be able to track their progress on the website using a username.

“The goal of it is to encourage individuals to live that regularly active lifestyle,” Campbell said. “Overall, it’s been very successful.”

jcampbell@lanthorn.com