Making exercise accessible with Get Up Tritons!

“No-one should have to feel sore at the end of the day working at a computer,” says Tiffany Caddell. She is the power behind what may be the first-ever sit-down fitness program for computer nerds and office workers.

“Contrary to the old saying ‘No pain, no gain,’ which I feel is not an ideal, soreness is not really reflective of a job well done. There is another way,” she says.

And that’s what this UC San Diego fitness theoretician is seeking to create: A program for all us sedentary screen workers to get fit even though we barely get out of our chairs. It’s called “Get Up Tritons!” And it’s primarily aimed at UCSD students. But because it was a free subscription program, it leaked out to folks like me who just wanted to keep their bodies from atrophying before their very eyes. So I have become hooked on daily doses of videoed exercises at a rate of say 1-2 minutes per session. Some gal or guy comes on your iPad two or three times a day to show you do-it-now exercises like (seriously) wrist stretches, neck and shoulder release, reverse lunge, hip abductions, exercises in which you lean against the wall, others where you hold the back of your office chair.

“We really want to think about how the body feels when it sits for a long time, says Caddell, whose title is Fit Life Mobile and Operational Coordinator at UCSD Recreation, “not just providing movements and exercises, but reversing the effects of sitting for long periods of time.”

“Get Up Tritons!” was created in 2018. It’s free to anyone who wants to subscribe.

Caddell grew up in San Diego, did a lot of running. One thing that drove her was what she experienced at her parents’ business. “My family ran a convalescent home, so I experienced firsthand the negative impact of unhealthy lifestyle choices. I was really inspired to go into an industry where I could help make an impact on people’s well-being, and to promote longevity,” she says.

One thing that was important was to create a fitness program that would not intimidate students, or outsiders. “We want people to drop in every day, just for a minute or so, because we really want to offer things that are simple. The goal isn’t necessarily to get people to sweat, just help them incorporate some healthy movement into their life and routine. That’s why all the exercises that we offer are equipment-free. They are all things people can do with just their body, in their office, at their desk, and don’t really require a whole lot of space. We wanted it to be accessible to everyone.”

So far, she has 1500 members, with maybe 25 percent coming from outside the UCSD campus.

Especially in this time of covid, she says, it is really important to keep your body ticking over, looking forward to manageable daily stimulus. And because every day her crew offers a different exercise, there’s no dunning routine to fall into.

Also, there’s something about checking in each day that helps combat the other covid fallout: loneliness. “We’re starting to get a real sense of togetherness,” she says.