Boost Team Morale and Health: Implementing Workplace Strength Challenges

What is a Workplace Strength Challenge?

TikTok is rife with challenges. Many ridiculous, some outright dangerous. But the concept of coming together as a community and committing to a goal goes far beyond over consuming cinnamon and ghost peppers to the point of illness.

Nearly 15 years ago, way before TikTok, one of the most popular challenges making waves on social media was the plank challenge. For about four weeks, employees would take 5-10 minutes out of their work day to commune together on elbows and toes in an attempt to best their time in plank position.

Planking in the good old times

These types of challenges are not only great for team morale, they also have real benefits for everyone involved. Let’s dig deeper.

Benefits of a Workplace Strength Training Challenge

According to a study by OnePoll, workouts are not unlike partners. And not in a good way. Just as we are likely to remain in comfortable but dysfunctional relationships (53% of those surveyed), so, too, are we prone to persist in doing a workout that provides no results or benefits (68% of those surveyed) simply because it is easy and familiar. When it comes to embracing new challenges, human nature would rather stay on the couch with a bag of chips. Having a training partner, or several, is excellent motivation to get on our feet.

Camaraderie & Productivity

Not everyone finds the idea of group strength training appealing. For some, the thought of exercising with colleagues might seem more like a recurring nightmare. But there are real advantages to embarking on a strength training journey with moral support:

• Team building: Working together towards a common aim creates a sense of community.
• Incentive to keep going: Not everyone can be motivated all of the time. But with a team of people tackling a challenge, there will always be someone ready to boost morale.
• Increased energy levels and productivity: Strength training increases oxygen flow in the body, which boosts energy levels. This can raise workplace productivity

For some reason, Jake preferred to do push-ups in the conference room

Mind & Body

And then there are of course all the health benefits.

• Improved physical health: A strong body is a healthy body, one that is less susceptible to injuries and typical workplace ailments like back pain and neck and shoulder tension. That means less absenteeism.

• Enhanced mental well-being and stress reduction: Strength training increases endorphins, also known as happy hormones, which not only enhance our mood, but also help us cope with existing stress levels.

Planning & Implementing a Workplace Strength Training Challenge

Now that all the benefits are clear, how can you get started in your workplace?

Get everyone involved

A strength training challenge should be a company-wide affair. Feeling involved increases our sense of accountability. The more people are counting on us, the more likely we are to show up. So…

• Involve leadership and upper management
• Ensure that remote employees can participate
• Design challenges that are inclusive and accessible to people with different fitness levels and disabled persons
• Create mixed teams based on workplace roles and fitness abilities so employees can interact and support one another

Set goals and objectives

Make sure that everyone knows where they are and where they’re headed.

• Determine baseline fitness levels so everyone can measure their personal improvement
• Create daily, weekly, and monthly targets to be achieved

Track success & provide incentives

Tracking and celebrating our success helps us remain driven. And a little workplace competition creates stronger bonds and increases focus and determination. And prizes never hurt!

• Keep a running tally of team wins
• Set a budget for possible incentives, perhaps a pizza party for this month’s winning team

Definitely healthier than working on an Excel file

What Types of Challenges Work Best?

Strength is not simply measured by the number of squats or pull-ups you can do. Our strength and endurance can also be measured by how well and long we can balance or hold difficult poses (like plank!). So when creating your challenge, be sure to include a variety of different strength training exercises for everyone involved. Here are some examples:

• Single-leg shoe challenge: Participants have to put on their socks and shoes and then lace up all while balanced on the opposing leg
• Dead-hang challenge: Participants are timed as they hang from a pull-up bar
• Push-up challenge: Participants are given one minute to do as many push-ups as possible
• Lunge-walk challenge: Participants walk in lunges for as long as possible and the distance is then measured

These are just a few ideas. Get creative. Maybe your employees have some ideas of their own.

How KeeptheScore.com can help

Now that your challenge is ready, what is the best way to measure your progress? Let’s take a simple example — a push-up challenge — and see how KeeptheScore can help you stay on track with your goals. Create Leaderboards and Goal Trackers with KeepTheScore so everyone can easily follow their progress.

Using a Goal Tracker

It is straightforward to create an online goal tracker like the one shown below:

A goal tracker from Keepthescore.com

Here is how to proceed:

1. Click the button above 👆
2. Once the goal tracker is created, click on SETTINGS > Rankings and scores
3. Change the Score suffix field to reps
4. Create as many Goal Trackers as you have teams, and under Name, write the name of each team
5. Set a goal value per team.
6. Track team progress by regularly updating the goal.
7. Once a goal has been achieved, celebrate!

Using a KeeptheScore Leaderboard

A more compact way of showing progress is by using one of our leaderboards.

An online leaderboard from Keepthescore.com

To create one, proceed as follows:

1. Create a Leaderboard by clicking the button above 👆
2. Enter the name of each team
3. Click on "Create your leaderboard"
4. Your leaderboard has been created!
5. Under SETTINGS > Rankings and scores Change your Score suffix to Reps
6. That's it, you are ready to go!

Safety Considerations for Workplace Strength Training Challenges

Strength training challenges are an ideal approach to making exercise fun and accessible. However, keep in mind that not everyone will be at the same level. Even if you take into account varying fitness abilities and offer a wide range of challenges, exercises done incorrectly can lead to injury. Especially if employees already have underlying physical issues. Requiring a doctor’s note and hiring a trainer to oversee more difficult challenges is recommended.

Also, be sure to create a healthy and secure environment for exercise:

• Remove potential obstacles
• Ensure participants are wearing the proper attire and footwear
• Make sure everyone is well-hydrated and nourished.

Giving consideration to everyone’s well-being and safety will help ensure a successful and enjoyable challenge.

Have you ever participated in or organized a strength training challenge? Tell us about it!