.jpg)
Health challenges are a fun, innovative way to keep gym members engaged. However, many gym owners have a hard time coming up with creative themes for challenges they host throughout the year. So the next time you need some fitspiration, feel free to try one of the following nine wellness challenges.
Many people are looking to shed a few pounds after the holiday season, which makes New Year’s the perfect time for hosting nutrition challenges. During your challenge, encourage participants to eat clean, avoid alcohol and drink plenty of water for at least six weeks. That should be long enough for most participants to see results.
Get your community to fall in love with your gym all over again! A February heart rate challenge is great for keeping members on track to achieve their fitness goals after New Year’s resolutions wear off. The concept for this challenge is simple. Have participants complete at least 2-3 cardio workouts per week. To take things up a notch, encourage them to track their heart rate with wearable technology. That way, they can get an accurate measure of the effort, heart rate and cardiovascular conditioning throughout the health challenge.
Nothing brings out competition like a 30-day muscle up challenge. And for gym members looking to build upper body strength, participating can be a great way for them to push their limits and improve their performance.
When spring rolls around, it’s crunch time for anyone getting in shape for summer. So during the month of April, run a fitness challenge where members complete one of the following CrossFit ab workouts per day — and make sure they take before and after pictures!
5 sets for time of:
- 20 v-ups
- 15 tuck crunches
- 20-second hollow hold
- 20-second arch hold
10-minute EMOM:
- 20-second L sit hold using rings or parallettes
- 20-second hollow rock
- 20--seconds of sit ups
8-minute EMOM
- 10 hollow rocks
- 10 toes to bar
- 10-second plank
Drinking enough water, exercising regularly and eating nutritious foods are crucial to maintaining physical health. But when it comes to living a well-rounded lifestyle, paying attention to mental health is just as important. So instead of hosting a traditional fitness or nutrition challenge, why not focus on mindfulness?
Meditating — even for a few minutes each day — can reduce stress, improve concentration, increase energy levels and decrease blood pressure. It’s also been shown to improve cardiovascular health, so imagine the impact it could when coupled with heart rate conditioning!
Meditation can be a powerful tool for your members. So for this challenge, encourage participants to meditate for 10 minutes every day for one month. And once the challenge ends, follow up to see how they feel!
Between strolls around the city and long walks on the beach, many people are itching to get out and stretch their legs over the summer. Host a steps challenge to take advantage of it!Not only does a steps challenge encourage your community to move more. By encouraging physical activity outside of the gym, this fun, laid back challenge engages members during a season that’s normally slow.
The return of fall marks a return to routine. As people hop back on the workout wagon, autumn is the perfect opportunity to bring new members into your gym with a back-to-school back squat challenge.
With this challenge, participants will work their way up to completing 250 back squats over the course of 30 days. They can complete this challenge as prescribed or scale as needed. But either way, encourage them to continue squatting at least twice per week when the challenge ends.
By improving flexibility, muscle tone and metabolism, practicing yoga can add balance to a functional fitness routine. So for this challenge, encourage participants to complete at least ten minutes of yoga every day through the fall.
This challenge is awesome for introducing variety into a workout routine, which keeps members motivated to reach their goals. It can also reduce their risk of getting injured and makes it easier to complete other types of exercises.
Keeping members involved during the holidays is one of the hardest parts about running a gym, but a 12-day fitness challenge could be the perfect solution for driving engagement.
This challenge is relatively short, so we recommend holding it during the first two weeks of December. You can pick the workouts to prescribe, but make sure you choose ones that focus on the following areas of fitness:
Day 1: Arms
Day 2: Legs
Day 3: Core
Day 4: Total body
Day 5: Arms and core
Day 6: Legs and core
Day 7: Cardio and core
Day 8: Total body
Day 9: Legs and cardio
Day 10: Arms and cardio
Day 11: Core and cardio
Day 12: Total body
No matter the season, health challenges can help engage your community and attract, gain and retain gym members. The types of challenges you can run are only limited to your imagination — especially when you’re using software like Wodify Rise — so don’t be afraid to get creative!
Need more inspiration to get fit? Read 5 Mixed Martial Arts Moves to Master
