BHIP participant in a class last fall works out with a medicine ball.
Death-by-10-meter sprints. Arm-aching push-ups followed by lunges, then laps. Heart-pounding stair-climbing at Drake Stadium in the heat of high noon.
 
Ah, BHIP! In the three years since its inception, UCLA’s Bruin Health Improvement Program has earned a reputation as a butt-kicking boot camp among the hundreds of faculty and staff "graduates" who can now boast of muscles toned, inches lost, and health and well-being renewed. Some of them love it so much they’ve joined a post-BHIP regimen of classes.
 
But BHIP, it turns out, isn’t for everyone, said Elisa Terry, program director of UCLA’s Recreation’s FITWELL Program. While the program has proved very successful in serving the vast majority of faculty and staff, some participants have struggled to keep up with BHIP’s physical demands; some have injured themselves and dropped out.
 
This is especially true for those who are overweight and haven’t exercised for years. In fact, many in this condition don’t even bother to apply for BHIP in the first place.
 
So UCLA Recreation is launching a kinder, gentler version. Dubbed BHIP .5, the program is currently accepting applications from faculty and staff who are 40 pounds or more overweight and severely sedentary.
 
Elisa Terry oversees members of a regular BHIP class doing push-ups at Drake Stadium.
Extending BHIP’s benefits to this population, said Terry, is a reflection of FITWELL’s overarching mission to foster a healthier workforce and a better working environment for everyone at UCLA. These programs receive financial support from UC’s Workers Compensation Rate Additive Committee.
 
"The feedback that we’ve gotten from some of the 1,000-plus people who have gone through BHIP is that they’re feeling better, are more alert at work, sick less, don’t have pain and are less likely to be injured," Terry said. "When all of that happens, then they’re able to enjoy all the other aspects of their life. Your health is wealth."
 
Beginning in February, both BHIP and BHIP .5 will run simultaneously for 12 weeks. But the new program will have smaller classes — 20 members max compared to 40 or 50 in BHIP. Smaller classes, said Terry, means more personal attention, which is vital "because the issues are pretty complex when they get to that level. We’ll provide the most customization that we can for them."
 
A top priority will be BHIP .5’s emphasis on nutrition. Functioning as a support group, participants will attend weekly classes with a UCLA Recreation dietician, with whom they will also meet one-on-one.
 
Janet Bishop, who, with five other employees, took part in a small BHIP .5 pilot program that FITWELL ran last fall, vouches for this approach. "I thought I knew a lot about nutrition, but I learned so much," said Bishop, assistant to the chair of the English department. She added that she’s not so much concerned about weight loss as she is about healthy eating, which helps lead the way to a healthy weight.
 
The nutrition sessions were "such a valuable tool," Bishop said. What she learned about food choices and healthy cooking has since led her to turn away from preservative-laden, prepared foods. "I now only cook with raw foods. I know what’s going into my food. I’ve even come up with some recipes."
 
BHIP .5 will also move participants into exercise at an easier pace — but not too easy.
 
"It’s going to challenge participants enough so that they will have a sense of accomplishment and an opportunity for growth and improvement," said Terry. "BHIP .5 is not going to be easy. But as a customized program designed for people with complex issues, it will challenge them appropriately."
 
That means lower-impact exercise — no running or jumping unless an individual can clearly handle it — and a gradual increase in intensity. Working with participants on their core strength, balance and posture will be central, because excess weight and a sedentary lifestyle take their toll in these areas. Developing overall body awareness will also be key. "If somebody has been sedentary … for quite some time," said Terry, "their body awareness is usually a little dim. It needs to be woken up" with physical activity.
 
"It was such a wonderful experience," Bishop said of the pilot class. "It got me to move." Instead of doing the face-to-the-floor push-ups she hated, her instructor showed her how to do modified push-ups — leaning against a wall from a standing position. The challenge, however, came in doing 150 of them.
 
And while she started the program feeling achy trying to jog around the Drake Stadium track, "by the end of the program, I was able to do the 100-yard dash in 28 seconds. I’m really proud of myself. I never would have accomplished that had I not been in the group."
 
So encouraged is she by her progress that Bishop has signed up for the regular BHIP class. "I’m just so excited. Now I’m ready to go more into the boot camp experience that BHIP is."
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Find more information and online applications for BHIP .5 and other fitness programs here. Applications are due by Friday, Jan. 25. Participants will be chosen by lottery, and applicants will be emailed the results by Feb. 1. Questions? Email fitwell@recreation.ucla.edu or call (310) 206-6130. If you’d like to consult with Terry about which program is better for you, email her at eterry@recreation.ucla.edu.