Fitness Challenges In the Office
This past Saturday morning, I found myself on the road going for a run. Actually it was more of a walk/run. Or maybe a walk/run/walk. I’ve always been big proponent of fitness, but before working at Fitbit I had found myself in a little downward spiral of inactivity. I would read articles about getting fit and talk about fitness trends and studies for hours with friends, but at the same time I would tell myself to postpone working out for another day, or that I needed to rest and relax from a tough work week — and I slowly became less fit (and chubbier).
Here at the Fitbit Offices, it’s hard to avoid being motivated to be active every day. In fact, this past weekend I got a big dose of motivation in the shape of a contest our CEO posed to a bunch of us late Friday night: walk 20,000 steps in one day that weekend. The consequences of the bet were quickly flushed out. There weren’t rewards for the highest steps; it was simply whoever didn’t hit 20,000 steps on Saturday or Sunday had to write an email to the rest of the company, declaring their shame in not living up to Fitbit love. We discussed quickly the exceptions to the bet (what if we broke our legs?); in the end, we all agreed.
So there I was on Saturday morning, walking/running/walking. And there I was, on Saturday afternoon, walking to the grocery store. And there I was Saturday evening, hitting all the errands I was postponing to get those steps. And at my friend’s dinner, I was very eager to jump up and help out just to get a few more steps. We were all texting each other our progress and it came right down to the wire. But I made it! Whew.
Apparently the CEO was walking around late Saturday night to get the last 2,000 steps before midnight, much to the amusement of his wife. A bet is a bet.
Have you guys ever participated in a stepping contest? Let us know all about it by emailing us at welovefitbit.com.
What a great idea. I wish I worked with you guys. I need someone to kick my ass.
Not yet but I would love our company to do one! It would be great to split into teams and see who gets the most steps in real time! This is wear an API and developer could help. I think you could sell many more in the market place.
I have MS and Stage 4 cancer but I do own a fitbit for about 2 years. You don’t have to be in an office, group of friends with fitbits or healthgroups at gyms. They give good support and help each other when they get down. If you don’t have a fitbit you can order it online or buy it at Best Buy. I was thrilled to see it out on the market!!! Make your own group. I step maybe not as much as others but I get that drive on most days when not having a hard MS day.
Thank you for sharing, that sounds like a lot of fun. My organization is currently using fitbits for a walking challenge and we’re all hooked. It’s funny what we come up with for those “last steps”. Personally, I like dancing while getting ready in the morning.
I have been a member of the “Active with Fitbit” forum, during our threads in August; we decided to create a “Game On” challenge to all active members to set a Steps Goal for the month of September. Everyone who wished to participate set their own Goal for Number of Steps they wanted to try achieve for the month of September. Run from my genes (our leader) motivated us with her comments: Come On – What do you have to lose?? (Weight of Course!!) What do you have to gain?? (Satisfaction that you did it!!)
Our forum cheered each other on all month long, Len opened each day with his motivational words and what he accomplished the day before. I personally set a goal of achieving 1,000,000 steps during the month of September. Each day I proudly posted my steps and my month to date total. At the end of the month, I surpassed myoriginal goal with a total of 1,150,083 steps. Everyone who participated was a winner.
Since then we have created other challenges to motivate ourselves; increased our Very Active Minutes for October and November we are increasing our Calories Burned each day.
There have been many evenings after I synced my Fitbit that I needed to step more or do something to increase my very active minutes, but I love the challenge!
Fitbit helps us Keep Moving in Many Different Ways!!
Cute. Sounds like a fun contest. Looks like you had to help out a friend more to get your steps in. Help is always a good motivator that comes with it’s own reward. A nice smile from a friend.