The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that almost 80% of American adults do not get enough exercise each week. This could have a negative impact on your company’s productivity and long-term success.
Exercise during the lunch hour has been shown to increase productivity and performance in the workplace. In fact, a study that was presented to the American College of Sports Medicine showed that employees who exercised for between 30-60 minutes in their lunch breaks reported an average performance improvement of 15%. Get the free Company Culture Code Template now Although it is important for long-term company goals, fitness at work can be costly and hard to implement. There are many fitness challenges that can be easily integrated into your workplace. A fitness challenge can help improve your employees’ productivity and health, as well as strengthen coworker relationships, promote inclusion, and encourage healthy competition between departments.
We’ll be exploring seven fitness challenges that can get your team moving. You can choose the one that best suits your culture or try several.
- Inspiration for a Fitness Challenge
- Make a push-up or plank challenge.
- A team bonding trip that includes exercise is a good idea.
- Make an office “step” challenge.
- Walking meetings should be a regular part of your daily routine.
- You can use a fitness app such as Tribe or YouTube videos.
- Encourage employees to sign up for a team 5K or obstacle course race. This raises money for charity.
- Use the Charity Miles App.
1. Make a push-up or plank challenge.
This one is the easiest and most affordable on our list so I’m going to start with it. HubSpot already does push-up and plank challenges. I discovered this when I was sitting down to a cup of coffee and saw a small group who were standing in a circle on the floor with their heads in the middle, and in plank positions. As they completed a three minute challenge, I watched. After they had fallen to the ground, I approached one of them and asked her what she was doing. I asked her what they were doing. She said, “A plank challenge.” “We make it harder every week. We started with just one minute and are now up to three. It’s impossible to say that you don’t have the time or motivation to complete this simple fitness challenge in just one to three minutes. Encourage your team to do push-up or plank challenges during lunch breaks or between meetings to strengthen their connection and muscles. This is a good starting point for your group — as they get better at holding a plank, they will hopefully be more confident to try other activities.
2. A team bonding event that includes exercise should be planned.
Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite has made health and exercise a priority at Hootsuite. Hootsuite also has an office gym. “Groups [at Hootsuite] often set out from the office for lunchtime runs or evening hikes.” We’ve had a team of road cyclists, a hockey team, and even a team that plays Quidditch in the park. You can organize many fun outings for your team that include exercise. Maybe your team could go on a hike. You might consider ice skating, sledding, or finding a trampoline park nearby as winter draws near. You could also walk with your team to a nearby restaurant for dinner. To find out what your employees are most passionate about, you can take a poll among the team. Team bonding doesn’t need to be about food. In fact, it could involve healthy competition or exercise that can help build deeper relationships among your team members.
3. Make an office “step” challenge.
Many people today are obsessed with reaching their daily step goal using a fitness tracker. You might create a “step” challenge in all departments to capitalize on this trend. There are rewards such as a half-day work day or a catered lunch. Many of your employees will likely have a fitness tracker such as an Apple watch or FitBit. It’s fine if they don’t, there are many free apps that can track steps like Step Counter on Android and Stepz on iPhone. You might tell your teams that you will measure their collective steps each week and award a prize to the team who walks the most. You could also offer a number, such as the first team to reach 100,000 steps.
4. Walking meetings should be a regular part of your daily routine.
Some meetings, such as those where you have to present a Powerpoint presentation to the group, don’t lend themselves to walking. But, I’m willing bet you can think creatively and transform other meetings into outdoor exercise. Perhaps you could transform your monthly brainstorming session to a walk. You might also consider creating walking meetings with a department “step challenge”, such as the one above. You could challenge all departments to organize as many walking meetings possible. At the end of each month, the winning team will be awarded a prize.
5. You can use a fitness app such as Tribe or YouTube videos.
You don’t have to set up a fancy gym for employees to exercise together with today’s technology. You could instead use an app like Tribe. Tribe lets celebrities and sports influencers, such as Corey Liuget or JahleelAddae, engage with their audience and offer fun workout challenges to app users. Encourage your team members to take part in challenges together or to attend classes simultaneously. You could also create a YouTube challenge, such as the 15-Day Fit Body Challenge from IdealFit. You might be able to block out an hour each day at lunch for those who wish to take part in the challenge. This will ensure that meetings don’t get in your way.
6. Encourage employees to sign up for a team 5K or obstacle course race. This raises money for charity.
It’s a great way to get two birds with one stone: organize an exercise event to raise money for charity and help your company. Begin by looking into local 5Ks and obstacle courses. Encourage your team to sign up together. Your company may offer prizes for all participants or only the top finishers. Incentives to team members will increase if you allow employees to give back to their community.
7. Use the Charity Miles App.
Each member of your team may have a different charity they would like to support. With the Charity Miles app, you can encourage exercise and let your team members raise money for their favorite charities. This is how it works: Each employee downloads the app, then chooses a charity. They can then move as they please, including running, biking, dancing, and walking. Your employees will earn money for charities every mile they move. This is a great incentive to get moving more during work and at night. You can also sponsor people through the app. This allows you to encourage healthy competition within your department and encourage different teams to sponsor different people and causes.