This holiday season, and beyond, bring a healthy competitive spirit into the workplace with a company fitness challenge.
These “challenges” are engaging activities that help employees become happier, healthier and achieve their fitness goals. They are a positive addition to existing workplace wellness programs, or a great way to get one started.
Plus, there’s a lot of flexibility, and little to no cost, in creating challenges.They can be anything fitness or wellness related and last as long as you or your employees would like.
Holiday Inspired Workplace Challenges
The holidays often mean spending time with family and eating great food, and lots of it. Most adults gain at least a pound or two between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. A popular fitness challenge for the holiday season revolves around weight management, maintaining existing weight, and ‘holding it for the holidays’ if you will. Increased physical activity is a great way to keep potential weight gain in check.
Here are a few employee fitness challenges for the holidays. Employees can earn “points” if they:
- Walk at least 12,000 steps per day
- Exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes per day
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator
- Participate in “Mile-Per-Day” for specific aerobic activities
Creating a “Challenge” Culture
The most important factor is getting your team excited for these challenges. Once you have buy off, your team will start to look forward to the next challenge and have fun with the process.
The most important factor is getting your team excited for these challenges.
For each challenge, get creative, then set the parameters. Challenges can be done individually, in teams or as an entire company to reach the overall goal with points awarded for completing a specific task. For example, 1 point per 30 minute workout or maybe you decide on a popular location and take an imaginary company “road trip” based on how many miles the company collectively achieves.
Incentives and rewards are important, and can help inspire your employees to work a little harder during the challenges. Reaching, or exceeding, the goal could earn employees a jeans day, a healthy catered lunch, gift cards to local companies or other health conscious items.
In 2015 and Beyond
These challenges should not conclude at the end of the holiday season. They are a great way to encourage wellness year round.
A few additional fitness challenges include:
- Stretching for 15 minutes a day
- Completing a community event such as a walk or run
- Resistance or Strength Training for 30 minutes
An advantage of challenges of this style is that they are totally dependent on your creativity and the enthusiasm of your employees. Why not extend these challenges into nutrition, wellness, emotional health and much more?
Check out these examples:
- Sleeping a minimum of 7 hours each night
- Eating five servings of fruits and vegetables per day
- Reducing Body Mass Index
- Drinking 32 oz. of water during the work day
- Getting a health screening
There’s still time to get your employees moving this holiday season with a company fitness challenge. A quick, two week challenge inspiring employees to exercise 30 minutes each day during their vacation time is a great way to keep them focused on fitness, and get their new year off to a healthy start.
