Employee Fit/Health Challenge Ideas for Summer/Winter for 2015/2016
** Note: Challenges should be 4-5 weeks long so employees do not get bored or lose motivation to complete the challenge**
**All employees must sign up prior to the start of the challenge**
1. Grocery List Challenge (because health/fitness starts and ends at home!)
Have employees keep track of their grocery list for 4 weeks and offer prizes for those who consistently buy healthy/healthier food options
2. Drink water challenge
Have employees keep track of their daily water intake and the employee with the most water intake for the month gets a prize like a pass to a water park, state park pass for the year, cash, Meijer gift card, etc.
3. Exercise challenge
Have the employees keep an exercise log.
– Award prizes/incentives for the person who does an exercise everyday
– Award prize for creativity?
– Award prize for most improved (ex: if an employee turns in a log saying that the first 2 weeks they did an exercise every 3 days, but for the last 2 weeks did an exercise every day or every other day
4. Exercise Minutes Challenge (would be more advanced than the above mentioned exercise challenge)
Have employees log how many minutes a day they exercise and award prizes based on who has the most minutes of exercise for the 4-5 weeks
Also can have the most improved award or whatever other awards you want
5. Steps Challenge
Get pedometers and have employees keep track of their daily number of steps for 4-5 weeks
Award prizes/incentives for the employees with the greatest number of steps for the month
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https://www.custompedometer.com/Personalized-Single-Function-Pedometer-Blue?gclid=CMTXg5rUp8MCFZOBaQodjBkAzQ
– This is a cheap version of a pedometer ($1.14), but it would get the job done
http://www.pedometersusa.com/omron-321.html?productid=omron-321&channelid=FROOG&utm_source=CSEs&utm_medium=GoogleShopping&utm_campaign=PedometersUSA&gclid=CI7O_-HUp8MCFQoOaQodgikAEQ#scProductReviews
– Here is a little more expensive version ($9.95), but again it gets the job done and has GREAT reviews
6. Sleep Challenge
Have employees log the number of hours of sleep they get each night for a month and award prizes for those who got the recommended amount of hours of sleep each night
Do this challenge for 4 weeks
– Getting the right amount of sleep can improve memory, help you live longer, reduce your risk for heart problems, awaken creativity, sharpen your attention, help you lose or maintain a healthy weight, increase energy and lower stress levels
– Having a challenge to encourage good sleeping habits could then lead to employees stretching and doing more exercises at their desk due to increased energy and lower stress levels
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Fitbit-Model-Bluetooth-4-0-Healthy-Bracelet-Pedometer-Calorie-Burnning-Sleeping-Moniter-Stopwatch-Long-Standby-Wristband/1921314026.html?gclid=CPbV453Wp8MCFQsFaQodbJ8A9g
– This fit bit is around $40 and tracks sleep as well as steps(calorie burn)
7. 30-day challenge
Create a calendar with a different challenge for each day
– The challenge could be an exercise set, nutrition challenge, a stretch or meditation challenge, etc.
If employee completes all the challenges for each day they get a prize
EX: I would recommend only one challenge for each day, not 2
This challenge is nice because you could do the same month challenge overall, but have different challenges each day all the time
Probably my favorite challenge because you can incorporate so many different things into it
8. Bring an Exercise/Stretch to Work Day!
There are a ton of YouTube videos, brochures, pamphlets, magazines that all have ideas for 3-8 exercises/stretches that can be done at a desk or an office setting
Assign all participants a day in the challenge where they have to bring 3-8 exercises or a stretches for participants to do each day
– Suggestion: make the time participants do the assigned task around lunch time since it is a team type challenge and everyone will have to be together to complete it
– Have a sign up for each time the participants gather and award prizes for those who show up to the most sessions
– If possible give participants access to a computer in the area so YouTube or other videos can be used.
– By asking participants to provide the exercises and stretches it allows them to be more engaged and accountable
9. Partner Challenge
Have participating employees partner up (preferably with someone near their own workspace if possible)
Have the partners keep track of all the exercises/stretches they do TOGETHER
– The team with the most days exercised and the team with the most exercises total get a prize
10. Health Quizzes
Once or twice a week print out an article on health, wellness, exercise, etc. and send it to participating employees to read. 2 days after the article was sent have a lunch time ‘quiz’ on the article.
– EX: Article sent Monday, Quiz Wed. Another article sent on Wed and quiz Friday
Award consistently well scoring employees a prize
NOTE: this challenge could be longer then 4-5 weeks because it is not an everyday thing
11. Weight loss/BMI gain or loss challenge
Employees MUST give their weight and BMI measurements before the challenge starts
In 4-6 weeks award employees who had the most weight loss, who lost the most body fat, and who gained muscle mass
This way all body types can participate and have a chance at getting the prize
12. Nutrition/Food In-take Challenge
Have participants keep a food log for 4-5 weeks
Award the healthiest eaters as well as 1-2 employees who most improved their diet
– To determine who eats the healthiest assign a points system
– Ex: Fruits= 2point, Vegetable= 3, Grain= 1, etc.
13. Push-Up Challenge
Have employee participants have to do 1,000 push-ups in 30 days (33 push-ups a day)
– Have them keep a push-up log for the month
Employees who complete the challenge get a prize (ex: since doing push-ups is so uncomfortable all who complete the challenge get a Friday jean day and some other small prize)
You could do this challenge with a number of different exercises
– Ex: triceps dips and squats (these are easier than push-ups so may want to increase the number that has to be achieved in the month time-span)
To make it more fun have employees post pictures or videos of them doing the push-ups on the company website or within the company for other people to see
14. Beat Yourself
Choose any physical activity you want and try to improve upon your time or score. Give yourself a month to get better at anything from running to swimming to weight lifting (or any other physical activity you can think of!). Post your initial results at the beginning of the month, show your progress with comments, photos, and videos, and then post your end results. Anyone who improves upon their initial time or score wins!
– Hard to really determine a winner or monitor results so make the prize small or something like a jean day( that is cost effective)
15. Try Something New
Go paddle boarding, try a new recipe, a new healthy food, do a new workout class, or try something else that you think would be fun 2-3 times a week
– Participants keep a log and if they tried something new 2-3 times a week then they are awarded a prize
16. No Dessert for a MONTH!
Many times we eat bad food because we are craving something sweet or hearty (honey is sweet and nuts are hearty, but those are not the first things we grab)
Have participants give up sweets for a month.
– Have them take pictures and keep a log of what they eat instead of sweets for a month
– Award prizes for creativity, healthiest, etc.
17. 30-day fitness challenges
Website with all sorts of 30 exercise challenges
– http://30dayfitnesschallenges.com/challenges/page/2/
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