BE Offices invites clients to start the year off right by signing up to the “Stick To It” Step Challenge!
With community at the heart of all we do, we’ve invited our clients to sign up to a 3-week community challenge to help ease into healthy habits as we step into the new year. By setting a goal of achieving 100,000 steps a week for 3 weeks, we hope that this will motivate and encourage clients to “stick to it” and extend the challenge to become a regular routine in their daily lives.
We all love walking. It’s free, it fits around busy schedules, you don’t need special equipment, it helps protect the environment and you can do it almost anywhere!
Even a short walk can benefit our physical and mental health. It can help to reduce the risk of a range of health conditions including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, obesity and some cancers, as well as helping to strengthen our bones and muscles, and improve sleep. A walk can also help to clear the head and has been proven to have a positive effect on our mental health, especially if we get out into green spaces. Walking can increase feelings of self-esteem, improve mood, and reduce stress, anxiety and depression. A walk with colleagues, friends or family is great for our social health and connecting with other people too.
A community step challenge can induce a healthy work culture by helping employees get out of the sedentary routine. It creates healthy competition and is a great way to encourage teams to walk towards a healthy mind and body.
The best way to take on such a challenge is to make walking a habit and think of ways to include it in your daily routine. Walk as part of your journey to work, walk to the shops, use stairs instead of the lift, leave the car behind for short journeys, walk the kids to school, or arrange to meet friends/family for a social walk. Walking while listening to music or a podcast can take your mind off the effort and your stresses, and can also get you into a rhythm and help you walk faster. You’ll be surprised at how fast time goes when you’re walking to your favourite tunes or an interesting podcast.
The challenge will run from Monday 10th January until Sunday 30th January, and every participant who manages to reach the set goal at the end of the three weeks will be rewarded with a mystery prize!
What are you waiting for?
On your marks, get set, go!
Posted by Michelle Winton, Community & Event Manager
Image courtesy of noPonPat via Shutterstock
