What is the V53 Alternative Olympics?
At Vineyard 53, we love creating environments for people to connect with others. This July the Olympics should have been held in Tokyo. In it's place, we wanted to promote community around physical fitness and exercise - especially in this time of social distancing and isolation. That’s where the V53 Alternative Olympics comes in!
This is open to everyone - whether you consider yourself part of Vineyard 53 or whether you are new to us - so do invite your friends too! Everyone is in need of some community right now and we’d love to involve as many people as we can.
Check out the below video that explains what it involves:
This is open to everyone - whether you consider yourself part of Vineyard 53 or whether you are new to us - so do invite your friends too! Everyone is in need of some community right now and we’d love to involve as many people as we can.
Check out the below video that explains what it involves:
How can I get involved?
There are a number of ways you can get involved - we hope that there’s something for everyone of every age and ability. There are three categories with challenges for each: 'for kids', 'fun fitness' and 'competitive'. The specifics of each category are outlined further down this page in our 'Rules & Guidance'.
We have a Facebook group called 'V53 Alternative Olympics' where we’ll be be posting training tips, guides, and if you wanted, share your training progress to inspire others too. Here's the link to the Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/3222155661181850 Why not consider joining this group to receive updates and be encouraged by others wanting to exercise a bit more?
The challenges must be completed on (or before) the 4th of July. On this day, we are planning to live stream some attempts into the group, to provide some fun commentary and announce the winners - like you were actually watching the Olympics! Well, maybe not quite, but it should be a fun day nonetheless. There will be prizes!
There are three steps to take part:
We have a Facebook group called 'V53 Alternative Olympics' where we’ll be be posting training tips, guides, and if you wanted, share your training progress to inspire others too. Here's the link to the Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/3222155661181850 Why not consider joining this group to receive updates and be encouraged by others wanting to exercise a bit more?
The challenges must be completed on (or before) the 4th of July. On this day, we are planning to live stream some attempts into the group, to provide some fun commentary and announce the winners - like you were actually watching the Olympics! Well, maybe not quite, but it should be a fun day nonetheless. There will be prizes!
There are three steps to take part:
We recommend that teenagers take part in the intermediate challenge (or the advanced group for those who are competitive). We also have a challenge for younger children too.
4-7 years
For those of school age up to the end of KS1, we have two challenges:
8-12 years
This is for those from the start of KS2 up to teenage:
We will judge this category in two sections, 8-10 year olds and 11-12 year olds.
For all the children’s challenges, entry can be made by a parent on the child’s behalf into the Facebook group, stating age, name and what they achieved. If you do not post about your children on social media, feel free to simply post the name of the challenge and what was achieved. E.g. ‘Standing long jump, 1.2m’. That way we still know enough to contact you if your child wins. Alternatively, you can email your child’s entry confidentially to laura@vineyard53.org
4-7 years
For those of school age up to the end of KS1, we have two challenges:
- Catch and Clap Challenge:
This is a challenge of speed and coordination. You’ll need a small ball and a space where you can throw it without getting in trouble. The challenge is to see how many times you can throw and catch the ball, clapping once each time the ball is in flight. To train you might want to start by getting better at catching, adding a clap in nearer the time of the challenge. - The Speed Bounce Challenge:
This is a test of speed and endurance. You’ll need a smooth, soft patch of ground and an item at least 7.5cm tall. Place the item on the ground and stand to one side of it. The challenge is to see how many times you can jump over the item in 60 seconds. Both feet must touch the ground to complete one jump. You must also make sure you jump over the item and not around it.
8-12 years
This is for those from the start of KS2 up to teenage:
- Standing Long Jump:
This is a simple challenge - how far can you jump from a standing start with both feet together? Make sure you start with your feet parallel and get a parent to measure the distance. - Endurance Run:
This challenge is also simple but that doesn’t detract from its brutality. How far can you run in 10 minutes? Get an adult to measure your distance, either by tracking the distance on a smart phone with you (they can cycle beside you if you’re going too fast for them to keep up!) or by noting where you start and end and plotting the route on a website like www.onthegomap.com
We will judge this category in two sections, 8-10 year olds and 11-12 year olds.
For all the children’s challenges, entry can be made by a parent on the child’s behalf into the Facebook group, stating age, name and what they achieved. If you do not post about your children on social media, feel free to simply post the name of the challenge and what was achieved. E.g. ‘Standing long jump, 1.2m’. That way we still know enough to contact you if your child wins. Alternatively, you can email your child’s entry confidentially to laura@vineyard53.org
This is for anyone who wants to get active but doesn’t want the pain of the advanced group! The idea here is that you set your own challenge and use the community to help keep you accountable. So, either as a group (obeying social distancing guidelines) or as an individual, think about what challenge you can set yourself. We have some ideas below but first here are some general guidelines:
Here are some suggestions:
3 minute challenge of cardio fitness and muscular endurance. This is something that gets your heart beating and gets you feeling the burn in your muscles such as stepping up and down or walking up a steep incline.
2 minute balance challenge. Strike a pose and hold it for 1 minute on each leg. You’ll want to work on your core to manage this - it’s harder than it sounds!
1 minute strength and muscular endurance challenge. Hold a plank (put your knees down if you need) for one minute.
Hopefully there are enough ideas there to get you thinking and coming up with your own challenge. We will be posting videos to demonstrate these ideas and you can post in the group for inspiration. We will also share details of fitness instructors / personal trainers who’ll be able to lend you a hand at finding a challenge and a training program that will work for you.
Entry into this category is not competitive but we’d love to see how you’re getting on and help keep you accountable to reaching your goals. Post in the group when you are training with a picture, how you’re feeling and any inspiration for others along the way!
- It’s only a few weeks until July now so don’t pick anything too ambitious. If you aren’t too active at the moment, pick something that will require you to be more active but not to completely change your lifestyle.
- That being said, pick something that will require more physical activity than you are managing at the moment. Challenge yourself!
- Pick something you enjoy or will allow you to engage in something else you enjoy. Maybe you really don’t like exercise but love being outside and enjoying the view. Then pick an outdoor activity like cycling rather than an indoor weights based challenge.
- If you have underlying health issues be particularly careful. We will have fitness instructors / personal trainers available to advise you.
Here are some suggestions:
- Running: maybe couch to 5k, or even challenge yourself to improve your 5k time or even to run 10k.
- Cycling: Could you challenge yourself to improve your fitness enough to cycle a certain distance on the 4th July?
- Nordic Walking: How far could you walk?
- Skipping: More of a challenge than it sounds - how long could you skip for?
- A variation of the competitive challenge detailed in category 3: Perhaps push-ups resting on your knees, squat jumps and chair dips.
- The 4, 3, 2, 1 Challenge: This challenge has 4 activities, challenging Cardiovascular fitness, Muscular strength & Endurance and Balance. The challenge is outlined below:
3 minute challenge of cardio fitness and muscular endurance. This is something that gets your heart beating and gets you feeling the burn in your muscles such as stepping up and down or walking up a steep incline.
2 minute balance challenge. Strike a pose and hold it for 1 minute on each leg. You’ll want to work on your core to manage this - it’s harder than it sounds!
1 minute strength and muscular endurance challenge. Hold a plank (put your knees down if you need) for one minute.
Hopefully there are enough ideas there to get you thinking and coming up with your own challenge. We will be posting videos to demonstrate these ideas and you can post in the group for inspiration. We will also share details of fitness instructors / personal trainers who’ll be able to lend you a hand at finding a challenge and a training program that will work for you.
Entry into this category is not competitive but we’d love to see how you’re getting on and help keep you accountable to reaching your goals. Post in the group when you are training with a picture, how you’re feeling and any inspiration for others along the way!
This is for those of you who enjoy getting your heart beating hard or are up for a challenge!
The Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) is designed to test the muscular strength, endurance, and cardiovascular respiratory fitness of soldiers in the United States Army. Soldiers are scored based on performance in three events consisting of maximal push-ups in 2 minutes, sit-ups in 2 minutes and the speed of a two mile run.
Scores, out of 300, can be calculated using: https://goodcalculators.com/apft-calculator/ or the points system can be found here:
https://usarmybasic.com/army-physical-fitness/apft-standards?fbclid=IwAR2M7JYESNXPh-UxaNLU9ua1ZUCAT3mmrO0_e98tUdRzNVQPGSoFfDpsfEk
All three of these activities need to be completed within a two hour time period!
Push-ups
Sit-ups
Two Mile Run
The two mile run must be recorded on Strava or a similar app. Try and keep it fairly flat!
For entry into Category 3, we require videos of your push up and sit up efforts to be posted into the Facebook Group on the 4th of July. We also require that you share a screenshot of your strava (or similar app) for the relevant run. This is a competitive category so we want to make sure that everything is fair and square! It will be professionally judged!
If you’d rather remain anonymous, you can email your entries to laura@vineyard53.org
The Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) is designed to test the muscular strength, endurance, and cardiovascular respiratory fitness of soldiers in the United States Army. Soldiers are scored based on performance in three events consisting of maximal push-ups in 2 minutes, sit-ups in 2 minutes and the speed of a two mile run.
Scores, out of 300, can be calculated using: https://goodcalculators.com/apft-calculator/ or the points system can be found here:
https://usarmybasic.com/army-physical-fitness/apft-standards?fbclid=IwAR2M7JYESNXPh-UxaNLU9ua1ZUCAT3mmrO0_e98tUdRzNVQPGSoFfDpsfEk
All three of these activities need to be completed within a two hour time period!
Push-ups
- Feet must be less than 12 inches apart
- Maintain a straight line from head to ankle
- Arms must reach parallel/90 degrees at elbow
- Arms must be fully extended at the top
- You can’t rest on your knees once you have started
- If you want to rest you must be in the ‘up’ position
Sit-ups
- Heels must keep contact with the ground at all times
- Knees bent at 90degrees
- Fingers must stay interlocked behind head throughout
- Torso must reach vertical
- Go down until scapula/shoulder blades touch the ground and then go back up with no resting at the bottom
- Someone can hold ankles down
- Feet together or up to 12 inches apart
- You can only rest in the up position
Two Mile Run
The two mile run must be recorded on Strava or a similar app. Try and keep it fairly flat!
For entry into Category 3, we require videos of your push up and sit up efforts to be posted into the Facebook Group on the 4th of July. We also require that you share a screenshot of your strava (or similar app) for the relevant run. This is a competitive category so we want to make sure that everything is fair and square! It will be professionally judged!
If you’d rather remain anonymous, you can email your entries to laura@vineyard53.org
