12 Ideas of Fitness Challenges For Workplaces to Try

In today's fast-paced work environment, maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be challenging for employees. However, incorporating fitness challenges into the workplace can significantly improve employee health, morale, and productivity. This blog explores various office fitness challenge ideas that can be easily implemented in any workplace.

The Benefits of Fitness in Office

Less absenteeism

Business owners insist on fitness in the workplace first and foremost to reduce absenteeism. An employee health and gym equipment program could save companies a great deal of money by encouraging a healthier workforce. Exercise keeps people healthy and makes them less susceptible to common illnesses; thus, they spend more time at work and save money.

Fitness creates less stress

Employers can provide employees with workplace wellness programs or garage gym ideas to help them feel better when working, both mentally and physically. Workplace stress and fatigue are due to neck, back, wrist, and arm fatigue caused by sitting at a computer all day. As a result of looking at a screen for so many hours, many employees complain of eye strain. You can avoid both by using an exercise chair for abs.

Better work performance

A corporate fitness program is associated with a longer employee retention rate for companies that offer it. Compared to companies without wellness programs, those with wellness programs report lower voluntary attrition.

Fosters teamwork

The benefits of a workplace fitness program include camaraderie, which is harder to measure. As a result of participating in an employee fitness program, employees are more likely to feel a sense of teamwork at work. Exercise together helps employees establish stronger relationships, and those enhanced relationships lead to various benefits.

Top Office Fitness Challenges

1. Step/Walking Challenge

One of the simplest and most popular workplace fitness challenge ideas is a step challenge. Employees can use pedometers or smartphone apps to track their steps. Setting daily or weekly step goals can motivate employees to move more. Consider introducing a treadmill with a 500 lb weight capacity in the office to accommodate everyone.

Regarding encouraging remote employees to be physically active, walking challenges are the most popular and well-known fitness challenges. Several studies demonstrate how health benefits of walking for employees. Most people who work from home don't do it enough, so they get foldable under a desk treadmill.

Step challenges or walkathons require participants to walk a specific number of steps daily. Walking challenges are effortless and convenient to participate in. Alternatively, you can modify the challenge to suit your needs. 

The standard for the challenge should be the number of steps you want. The number of steps your employees take daily can range from 5000 to 10000. Providing small gifts for completing the daily step count will motivate people to complete the challenge.

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2. Active Minutes Challenge

Encourage employees to engage in any physical activity they enjoy, such as walking, cycling, or even gardening. The goal is to accumulate a certain number of active minutes each day. For those wondering, how many active calories should I burn a day can be a good guideline to set realistic goals.

3. Stair Climbing Challenge

Stair climbing is an excellent cardiovascular workout. Organize a stair climbing challenge where employees compete to see who can climb the most stairs. Compare the benefits of StairMaster vs jogging to highlight the effectiveness of this activity.

4. Deskercise Sessions

Incorporate short exercise sessions that employees can do at their desks. Simple stretches, chair squats, and seated leg lifts can help reduce the negative effects of prolonged sitting. Providing guidance on how to use a massage gun effectively and safely can also help employees manage muscle tension and soreness.

Providing fitness equipment such as resistance bands, dumbbells, or even a treadmill can encourage employees to stay active. When choosing treadmills, consider the pros and cons of manual vs electric treadmills.

5. Yoga and Meditation

Yoga and meditation can significantly reduce stress and improve mental clarity. Setting up a yoga corner or a dedicated space for relaxation can be a great addition to the office. For inspiration, check out these backyard yoga studio ideas. Improving sleep can also enhance productivity. Learn how to go to sleep earlier.

6. Start your day between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m.

Spend a month waking up extremely early. There is a reason almost every successful person does this, even if you don't think it gives you much benefit. Test it yourself using the best foldable walking pad to see why.

7. For 30 days, refrain from listening to or reading any news

Ignoring everything going on and returning afterward to see what you missed is the challenge. This news presents a lot of negativity, which you miss most.

8. Don't consume any sugar

You’d be surprised at just how much sugary junk food we consume as you think you do. It is relatively easy to diet, become a vegetarian, or go vegan. Spend 30 days avoiding sugar to see if it works for you.

9. Make sure you exercise harder than you think you can

Try adding more reps and sets to your routine instead of adding more weight, or jog for longer or swim a few more laps. You should only start counting when it actually hurts for the rest of the week/month. Counteract the ill effects of sitting with a 2-in-1 folding treadmill.

10. Every day, lie down in public

You only need to find a very busy area (lunchtime in the city should work fine) and then lie down for 10 seconds. Continue on without explaining yourself.

11. Every day for a week, spend two hours with yourself

Observe for 2 hours in utter silence without any person, object, or electronic distractions. Two hours alone in a quiet, empty room. The effects speak for themselves, even though it's a challenging challenge.

12. Breathe deeply for three minutes

Exercises that promote deep breathing can improve our mental health as well as improve our state of mind. Workplace deep breathing challenges are fun.

Organizing a Fitness Challenge at Work

Set Clear Goals and Rules

Clearly define the objectives of the challenge, the duration, and the rules.

Track Progress

Use apps or spreadsheets to track employees' progress.

Offer Incentives

Provide rewards for those who meet their goals. Incentives can include gift cards, extra vacation days, or even fitness equipment.

Promote Participation

Encourage everyone to join, regardless of their fitness level. Inclusive challenges ensure that everyone feels welcome and motivated.

Tips for Successful Implementation

• Create a Supportive Environment: Encourage a culture of health and wellness. Provide resources and support to help employees succeed.
• Regular Updates and Communication: Keep employees informed about their progress and the overall status of the challenge.
• Celebrate Successes: Recognize and celebrate the achievements of participants to maintain motivation.

Conclusion

Implementing fitness challenges in the workplace is a fantastic way to boost employee health, morale, and productivity. From step challenges to yoga sessions, there are numerous ways to encourage physical activity and well-being at work. Explore additional ideas like setting up a small garage gym or providing tips on how to lose weight as a college student to support your employees' fitness journeys.

By creating fun, engaging fitness challenges with healthy doses of competition, you can help teams of all sizes engage their audiences. The size of your team is the first factor to consider. In case you are looking for fitness challenges for workplace, here are a few suggestions: 

• Engaging people can be accomplished by starting simply and focusing on one metric listed on an office fitness challenge chart.
• Motivate employees by rewarding them based on their % improvement, not just the top of the leaderboard.
• It could be a 'Walk to Disneyland' challenge or moving the office to another location. Count Your Steps, an open platform such as Count It, to receive rewards individually or in groups.
• Are you interested in getting two departments to work together or putting them in fitness challenge ideas for groups? For ultimate bragging rights, pit two teams, such as sales and engineering, against each other in an intra-office challenge.
• Is your team attending an out-of-office conference? Create a fitness challenge to show your employees how healthy your culture is. As well as encouraging your team to stay active, this is a great time to gauge how everyone is doing. 

We have seen some companies structure teams and fitness challenges to work creatively. These are just a few ideas. In order to make your challenge successful, you need to get management's buy-in and have a platform to track employee engagement and work fitness challenge leaderboards.