5 Fold begins April fitness challenge

It’s hard to be healthy in an office environment. Snacks are close by, we’re always down for some lunch, and some of us inhale coffee like it’s air. There’s nothing wrong with any of those things, but it’s still good to get out of the chair for some exercise now and then. That’s why April is the first month of our office fitness challenge.

The rules

A lot of office fitness challenges encourage competition amongst individuals to see who can lose the most weight, or run the farthest. That’s just not us. We’re a tight-knit group, and most of us have families, making predictable workout scheduling difficult. Instead, we made our fitness goal team-based.

For our first month, our aim is to average 20 workouts per month between us. This way, not everyone has to go every day, and others can pick up the slack for one person if they suddenly have a busy week and they can’t make it to the gym.

For it to count as a workout, we have to exercise for at least 30 minutes. You know, at least break a sweat.  

Life comes first

One of the temptations in an office environment (well, besides the donuts we occasionally bring in) is to focus on work exclusively. We do work pretty hard around here, but one of the core values at 5 Fold is that life comes first. We don’t think that any of us should prioritize our work over our health. The fitness challenge fits perfectly with that belief.

What if we can’t make it to the gym at work?

Part of that “life comes first” value is that we aren’t always going to be able to make it to the gym here at work. Sometimes, you just have to head home. Luckily, 5 Fold social media manager Katharine has some advice:

“If you can’t make it to the gym on certain days, this website is great for workouts at home. It’s completely free. You can choose your area of focus, how many calories you want to burn, or how much time you have. I do these at home all the time!”

Fitness challenge tips

Want to join us in our fitness challenge? Follow along with our progress on our social media platforms. If you’re having trouble getting motivated to get into the gym, here’s some tips from our very own Happiness Director (and official fitness challenge organizer) Brittany:

1. Pack your gym clothes the night before and put them in the car.
2. Schedule “Gym Time” into your calendar.
3. Make a gym playlist of your favorite songs that will keep you motivated.
4. Ask someone to keep you accountable! If you have a close friend or family member who can call or text you at a certain time during the day, have them send you a motivational reminder to work out!

We’ll keep you posted on our progress as we hit the treadmill and lift those weights. Let us know what your workplace is doing to get some exercise this spring.