MADISON – Residents can commit to a healthier lifestyle with moral support of a friend with “Spring Into Fitness,” a new program from Heart of the Valley YMCA.

The Spring Into Fitness initiative allows an individual and his or her friend to start an easy regimen of exercise. The setup of Spring Into Fitness relies on the “Bud-dy” Challenge. Both people will have a ‘casual workout’ and receive a chance to win an impressive set of beach swag.

YMCA employees urge residents to enter an “win awesome beach swag!” The challenge will run from March 27 through April 21.

After teaming up with a partner, the ‘bud-dies’ will work for four weeks to earn 2,000 or more MEPs each. Participants must end the challenge within 10 MEPs of each other.

The acronym “MEP” represents “Myzone Effort Points” or a measurement or milestone of the work that a person completes in a YMCA project, usually for exercise.

If a person wants to participate in Spring Into Fitness but doesn’t have a partner, the YMCA staff can help. The person needs to include the number of times he or she visits Hogan Family YMCA during the week.

The more effort that a person exerts, the more MEPs that a person earns. Staff at the front desk of the YMCA can offer further explanation about MEPs.

Participants should email all “Bud-dy” requests to these contacts:

* Hogan Family YMCA — Stephanie.Holloway@ymcahuntsville.org

* Southeast — Sharon.Allen@ymcahuntsville.org

* Downtown — Nicole.Brown@ymcahuntsville.org

Grand prizes for the Bud-dy participants are a SunSoul Sport-Brella tote bag and a YMCA beach towel. Second prize is a Nautica beach umbrella.

Photographs of people in the “Bud-dy” program are available at ymcahuntsville.org/1000-mep-march-myzone-challenge-winners. On this webpage, people can also see the MEP current score totals for each bud-dy.

In other community outreach, Hogan Family YMCA offers free health screenings each month on the second Friday of the month from 9 a.m. to noon. The Mobile Medical Unit of Huntsville Hospital visits Hogan Family YMCA in Madison and offers complimentary screenings for cholesterol, glucose, Body Mass Index or BMI and blood pressure checks.

Hogan Family YMCA’s address is 130 Park Square Lane in Madison. For more information, call 256-705-9622, or visit ymcahuntsville.org.