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In today’s corporate world, burnout, sedentary lifestyles, and workplace stress damage employee health and productivity. Investing in employee wellness has become non-negotiable.
A 2024 Wellhub report reveals that 95% of companies got positive ROI on their wellness programs, and nearly two-thirds report at least $2 in returns for every $1 invested, along with immediate reductions in healthcare expenses and absenteeism.
But here's the catch getting people to engage in wellness isn’t easy. That’s where workplace fitness challenges shine. These initiatives combine movement, motivation, and friendly competition to transform passive wellness goals into active habits.
From step goals and dance-offs to mindfulness breaks and hydration streaks, fitness challenges help employees move more and foster connection, boost morale, and improve mental well-being, even in hybrid or fully remote setups.
In this blog, we’ll explore:
- What workplace fitness challenges are?
- Their proven benefits
- Easy steps to roll one out
- Top 30 ideas for workplace fitness
- How Empuls simplifies the entire experience
What Are Workplace Fitness Challenges?
Workplace fitness challenges are health and wellness initiatives that companies plan and organize to encourage employees to adopt healthier lifestyles through friendly competition, group activities, or personal health goals.
The wellness challenges typically aim to improve physical activity, mental well-being, teamwork, and overall morale in the workplace.
Top Benefits of Workplace Fitness Challenges
Benefits of workplace fitness challenges:
Boosts employee engagement
Fitness challenges motivate employees to work towards a common goal, boosting morale and fostering a sense of community. They encourage participation across departments, breaking silos and improving cross-team interaction.
Promotes healthy habits
Regular movement, hydration, and mindful eating become more attainable when employees are motivated by fun challenges. Repeated participation builds lasting behavior change, leading to healthier lifestyles.
Improves mental health
Physical activity is proven to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. Challenges often include mindfulness or wellness components, encouraging holistic health.
Encourages teamwork and connection
Group or department-based challenges strengthen collaboration and camaraderie. They create a culture of support where employees cheer each other on, which is especially valuable in hybrid or remote teams.
Enhances productivity and focus
Short movement breaks or fitness goals can reduce fatigue and improve focus. A healthier body supports better cognitive performance and fewer energy slumps throughout the day.
Step-by-Step Guide to Roll Out a Fitness Challenge
Here is a step-by-step guide to launching a successful workplace fitness challenge:
Clarify goals and secure leadership support
Start by determining what you want to achieve, such as boosting employee movement, fostering teamwork, or reducing stress.
Get buy-in from senior leaders and managers. They should actively participate in and champion the initiative, motivating employees to take on the challenge.
Gather employee input
Survey or host focus groups to understand what challenges your employees would enjoy (e.g., walking, yoga, hydration, mindfulness).
Choose the right type and format
Offer inclusive formats like step counts, movement logs, hydration goals, or “deskercise.”
Mix challenge types, such as a daily step goal alongside a weekly mindfulness or squat challenge, to make things more interesting.
Set rules, duration, and tracking methods
Typically, challenges run 4 to 6 weeks, which takes time to build habits without losing interest.
Have a precise scoring method (1 point per 1,000 steps or 10 minutes of activity) and track via spreadsheets, fitness apps, or employee engagement platforms like Empuls.
Communicate and promote
Launch with a kickoff event (in-person or virtual) and promote across email, intranet, Slack/Teams, posters, and team meetings.
Maintain momentum with weekly updates, leaderboards, motivational emails, and mini-challenges.
Offer incentives and recognition
Use a combination of rewards such as participation prizes (gift cards), performance-based rewards (smartwatches, fitness gear), and social recognition.
Balance rewards so that even non-top performers earn recognition.
Celebrate and gather feedback
Host a closing event to recognize achievements and hand out awards after the challenge is over, and survey participants to understand what they liked and what could be improved for the next round.
Top 30 Workplace Fitness Challenges
Here is a list of the top 30 workplace fitness challenges suitable for remote and in-office employees.
The challenges aim to boost physical activity, wellness, and team spirit, and can be adapted for hybrid teams.
- Stepathalon: This is a challenge in which all participating employees track daily steps, aiming to beat the set target (10,000 steps per day). Over 3-4 weeks, the challenge will determine the winner.
- Take the stairs challenge: Use stairs instead of elevators and track who climbs the most flights.
- Deskercise challenge: Every week, before starting the day, for only 5-10 minutes, perform short exercises (chair squats, seated leg lifts, stretches) at your desk.
- Walking meetings: This one is trending since COVID-19 hit worldwide. Employees hold meetings while walking, either outdoors or around the office.
- Lunchtime walking group: Organize group walks during lunch breaks for social and physical benefits.
- Virtual fitness classes: Participate in online yoga, strength training, or aerobics classes.
- Burpee challenge: Set daily burpee targets and gradually increase the number of daily burpees to build strength and endurance.
- Squat challenge: Similar to the burpee challenge, you can have a squat challenge where you do a set number of squats daily, increasing over time. You can add hold time for the squats to make things more interesting.
- Plank challenge: How can we miss everyone’s favorite plank? To strengthen core muscles, challenge your team to find out who can hold a plank for longer daily.
- Push-up challenge: Do a set number of push-ups daily, using desks for support if needed.
- Sports day: Just like in the old days, have a sports day in your office. Compete in traditional games like relay races, jump rope, or obstacle courses.
- Stretching Challenge: Incorporate daily stretching routines to improve flexibility and posture.
- Yoga Day: June 21st is International Yoga Day. Having an office-wide yoga class is physically good and brings calmness.
- Dance break competitions: Dancing is fun and a great way to move everyone. Organise dance breaks during the workday and challenge employees to show off their best moves. Turn this into a friendly competition with teams or individuals. The most creative or energetic dance moves win the challenge.
Physical activity challenges
B. Healthy lifestyle challenges
- Healthy eating challenge: To encourage healthy eating among employees, conduct a challenge to eat nutritious meals and share healthy recipes.
- 8-glasses-of-water challenge: Drink at least eight glasses of water per day and track progress.
- Vegan Mondays: Eat plant-based meals every Monday.
- Healthy snack swap: Replace processed snacks with fruits, nuts, or veggies.
C. Mental wellness and social challenges
- Mindfulness challenge: Practice meditation, deep breathing, or guided visualization daily.
- Digital detox challenge: Take breaks from non-essential digital devices during the workday.
- Gratitude challenge: Write down or share something you’re grateful for daily.
- Acts of kindness challenge: Perform small acts of kindness for colleagues.
- Silent retreat day: Focus on deep work with minimal conversation or distractions.
- Community service day: Volunteer for a local cause as a team or individually.
- Mental health awareness webinars: Attend educational sessions on managing stress and work-life balance.
- Sleep challenge: Sleep is vital for mental health, and many chronic diseases have been linked to insufficient sleep. Sleep challenges focus on educating employees on the importance of a good night’s sleep and ways to practice healthy sleep habits.
D. Team & Hybrid Challenges
- Fitness Bingo: Complete various fitness or wellness tasks in a bingo-style format within your team.
- Hydration challenge: Compete to see who consistently meets their water intake goals.
- Wellness app leaderboard: Use a digital platform to track and compare real-time progress.
- Photo Challenge: Share pictures of healthy meals, workouts, or outdoor activities.
Why Empuls Is Perfect For Running Workplace Fitness Challenges
Organizing and tracking employee wellness initiatives is a logistical nightmare in the hybrid work culture.
This is where Empuls steps in. It is an AI-powered employee engagement platform designed to make wellness challenges easy to launch and deeply impactful.
AI-driven engagement meets wellness
Empuls uses intelligent nudges, personalized recommendations, and gamified experiences to drive participation in fitness and wellness activities. Whether you're hosting a step challenge, a hydration goal, or any other challenge, our solution ensures employees feel seen and motivated.
Seamless setup and customization
Create tailored challenges for diverse fitness levels, set goals, define teams, assign points, and monitor progress all from a single dashboard. The platform supports both in-office and remote participation, making it ideal for today’s distributed workforce.
Real-time tracking and leaderboards
Empuls offers real-time tracking and automated leaderboards, helping foster friendly competition and high visibility. Employees track their progress, view peer rankings, and stay motivated throughout the challenge.
Built-in rewards and recognition
Empuls doesn’t stop at participation. It integrates recognition and rewards so you celebrate milestone achievements, distribute badges, or award gift cards to top performers, instantly boosting morale.
Insights to understand the well-being strategy
The platform provides analytics on participation, engagement levels, and challenge impact, giving HR teams actionable insights to refine future wellness initiatives.
Ready to energize your team? Book your demo now and explore how Empuls drives well-being and workplace culture.
