Canadian fitness icons Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod shared health tips and tricks with Carleton students Feb. 11 as a part of the Carleton University Students’ Association’s (CUSA) Health and Wellness Week.
The pair, known for their roles in “Body Break” commercials shot in the late 80s for ParticipACTION, a government-sponsored health and fitness program, spoke to over 50 students about healthy habits and life choices.
“Quite often, when you’re 19, 20, 21, you really don’t think too much about your health. You really think you’re invincible and that it kind of doesn’t matter,” Johnson said. “It really does matter because what you do now will affect you for the rest of your life and the habits that you create right now will lead you for decades to come.”
Johnson and McLeod also shared their experiences as competitors on CTV’s The Amazing Race Canada. Johnson said they “channelled” some of their old Body Break moments throughout the race—lessons about fitness and managing stress, which he said, are very applicable to student living.
“What we felt was that all the tools and tricks we learned over the years doing Body Break, all of those things came in handy,” he said.
The Body Break event was one of several activities CUSA hosted Feb. 9-13 for Health and Wellness Week.
CUSA vice-president (student issues) Maddy Porter said the week is “aimed not only at giving students information, but giving them actual resources and the ability to de-stress and participate in balanced lives.”
Porter said Carleton students had the opportunity to take free classes at Athletics, get massages in the Unicentre Atrium, and play with therapy dogs from Therapeutic Dogs Canada.
She said Carleton’s Health and Counselling Services also hosted a workshop on balancing students’ eating, sleeping, and exercising habits with academics and Ottawa Public Health held an alcohol awareness event at Oliver’s Pub and Patio to talk about the risks of alcohol and binge drinking.
“We want students to make those little changes in their lives, whether it’s healthy eating or just taking a moment to go chill with a therapy dog,” Porter said.
Mary Scott, a first-year anthropology student at Carleton, showed up to see Body Break’s presentation in full retro gear. She said she had seen Johnson and McLeod on The Amazing Race Canada and wanted to hear what health tips they had to share.
“It was awesome,” Scott said. “It was definitely a refreshing look at healthy lifestyles. They’re still healthy at the age that they are so it’s really encouraging.”
Johnson said he hopes Health and Wellness Week helps students start building healthy habits for life.
“Hopefully students realize that this physical activity and stuff like that is important but the major thing is what you eat. You don’t realize how much you’re consuming—how much sugar, how much fat, how much salt,” he said. “I hope they understand that physical activity and eating well doesn’t start when you’re 40. It starts now.”
Johnson and McLeod also created a video in preparation for their Carleton appearance. Check it out below:
