Top 5 Reasons You Definitely Should Take Part in Your First Team Wellness Challenge

Have you ever found yourself wishing you could take part in a fitness challenge but feeling like you just don’t have what it takes?

Maybe it’s because you feel you’re out of shape, or it’s been too long since you’ve done anything physical. Your gym membership expired and you dread the days the elevator is out of action.

We get it. There’s a lot of reasons out there to prevent us from even thinking about stepping out of our comfort zones. Where just the mention of anything out of the ordinary and suddenly we remember that we were actually busy that weekend…

But you know what? The best time to sign up for an event like a team wellness challenge is precisely when you think you’re feeling like you’re not up for the challenge.

We’ll let you in on a little secret: everyone feels that way at first. That uncertainty, that little bit of fear and that voice that tells us we’re better off letting our fitter colleagues take part. But as soon as you sign up and start taking part in the training, you’ll be amazed at how quickly those feelings change!

Not only is exercise great for your mindset and productivity, but participating in team wellness events pay dividends both on the field and at the office – a few of them in rather surprising ways!

So in case you’re still on the fence, here are the top five reasons you should definitely add your first team wellness challenge to your schedule:

5 – It requires NO special skills or talents to participate.

The right wellness challenge is one that anyone at your company can do, and not just those elite athletes among us. You wouldn’t want to sign the office up for an intense basketball tournament or a mandatory marathon – those are the kinds of challenges where only a select few can qualify for or have the skills to carry them through.

The right team fitness challenge is one specifically designed to allow for and encourage participation.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen literally every kind of person you can imagine participate in the Fit Company team Challenge and have a blast. There’ve been people who were worried about their age, or their weight, or their fitness level, and they’ve blown through the Challenge on Event Day like they were born for it.

Heck, in 2018, we were super fortunate to have our first legally blind participant sign up for the challenge! Not only did she compete in and complete the Challenge, but she totally ROCKED it!

So if you’re concerned that maybe you will hold back your team or embarrass yourself, rest assured that it’s never the case. At the end of the day, you’re all in it together and there for one another.

4 – It can help your career more than you know!

There’s no shame in being a little (or very) career-oriented and driven. If you’re the kind that’s super-focused on where your career will be a couple years down the line, then a team wellness event can definitely offer you a couple of benefits you might not have considered.

For one, by participating in the event, you can lead by example. If you’re a team lead or a manager, there’s no better way than to take the lead for your team than being the first to sign up and getting your colleagues to come on out too.

Team challenges are also a great place for networking. If your company has a decent turnout for its training sessions leading up to the event, you’ll likely be meeting and training alongside members of your company you might not encounter on a regular basis.

Plus, feeling healthier also impacts your productivity. That sensation of being energized after a workout can carry over to your office, keeping you productive, attentive and happy.

3 – The team that sweats together, stays together.

There’s a lot of activities that can help teams bond and get to know each other better. Company-sponsored lunches, happy hours around the corner, and conferences all contribute to a feeling of togetherness, but not quite at the same level that sweating it out together does!

The first time you all show up in your workout clothes for a training session might make things seem initially out of place or awkward – but trust us, that goes away real fast! Before you know it, you’ll all be focusing on the workout routine and having fun and all those initial worries will disappear.

Exercising for your team challenge typically becomes a kind of social event as well. By the time you’ve made it through a couple of training sessions, you’ll likely see a lot of barriers being broken down and witness your colleagues really open up.

2 – Oh, snap! What about your health?

Let’s not forget one of the key benefits of team wellness – good health!

Typically, participants find themselves in one of two places while training:

The first, they already use off-work time to focus on their health and this naturally complements what they’ve already got going.

The second, they feel that they don’t have time or energy to work on becoming healthier, but definitely want to get there!

In the case of the first, the best team wellness challenges act as a double-whammy boosting your already ongoing efforts. For the latter, well you’ve just found a way to focus on what you’ve been wishing for all along. You’ll probably be amazed too how after just a few sessions you’ll start wanting more and find it way easier to stay motivated in your pursuit of a healthier lifestyle.

Remember that no matter what you do to prepare for your wellness event, it will always push you towards enjoying health benefits, and not the opposite.

1 – Your happiness

The number one reason might come as a bit of a surprise – but that’s probably only because you’ve never participated in a wellness challenge yet!

Honestly, this is one of the ones that people mention to us more than anything else – just how happy and accomplished they feel after completing a challenge (including our own). This happiness isn’t the kind that quickly goes away either, but the kind that carries over back to the office and gets passed around too!

When fitness events are team-focused, it means everyone is getting the same benefits as you. It’s not gonna be uncommon to find people doing high-fives at the office, chatting at the water cooler, and generally feeling all around more comfortable and close to their colleagues.

Feeling happy also translates itself from the field to your work. It’s a lot easier to get work done when you’re feeling elated than when you’re feeling down.

In Summary

Team wellness events are not only the perfect kind of event to help you de-stress and get back on top of things, but they’re also incredibly open. All those worries you’ve had about whether it’s right for you or if you’ll even remember it once it’s done can be simply laid to rest.

Don’t hesitate. You’ve done enough of that already. Take the dive and consider signing up for your very first team wellness challenge!

Yours in wellness,

The FC Squad