challenges

Step challenge idea: Catch some Z's

blog author
Anna
Jun 17, 2019

Exercise and sleep are critical to health. Don't skimp on one to make room for the other. Learn how to make enough time for both.

Along with nutrition, sleep and exercise hold the keys to a healthy, happy life. However, sometimes it can be a battle to find time for 8 hours of sleep and a full workout. Sleep may be sacrificed for early morning exercise, or a workout might be skipped to get that extra snooze.

We all know why exercise is important, but why is sleep just as important? People who sleep less than 7 hours a night tend to report more health problems including heart attacks, asthma, and depression. Additionally, lack of sleep can cause high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Sleep even impairs your judgement and impacts your ability to work efficiently. That means losing out on sleep can cause you to lose out on productivity at work.*

Ensuring you don't skimp on sleep is critical. An easy way to make enough time for sleep and exercise is through high efficiency workouts. High intensity interval training, otherwise known as HIIT, involves short bursts of all-out effort followed by brief rest periods. An effective workout can be 20 minutes long. The impact? High calorie burn and an increased metabolism that lasts hours after the workout is over. Bonus: during a HIIT recovery, your body taps into extra fat storage to help return the body to its normal resting state.*

Use this challenge to focus on the importance of sleep while incorporating more efficient workouts that help make time for those coveted Z's.

Short and efficient HIIT workouts can drive big results and create more time for quality sleep.

Shorter, more efficient workouts, like a 20 minute HIIT, give users the extra time for quality sleep while maintaining an effective workout routine. Use our Stick to it! challenge mode to reward and encourage participants to set aside 20 minutes per day on a regular basis for a short, but effective workouts.

Challenge Details

Challenge Mode: Stick to it!

Duration: 16 days

Goal: 20 active minutes a day, 10 times

Note: Not all activity trackers pass their minutes data to our app. For example, if a participant is using an iPhone to track steps (not a watch), then we will not receive minutes data. Enable manual activity entry and the activity converter for these types of participants to enter their own minutes data.

Content Strategy

Our content strategy focuses on sleep and exercise. Our suggested content includes articles about sleep benefits, exercise ideas and the importance of both.

Note: Be sure to include a content module in your challenge, then upload and schedule the above articles and videos.

Rewards Strategy

We recommend following a points-based raffle strategy to reward many users for their work, not just the top steppers. For this challenge, award one point to each person who joins the group. At the end of the challenge, users who complete 50% of their total daily goals earn 1 additional point, users who complete 75% of their total daily goals earn 2 additional points and users who complete 100% of their total daily goals earn 3 additional points. Total number of points equals total number of raffle entries. Draw one or more names to pick the winners. See below for a few ideas on HIIT and sleep-themed prizes!

Prize Ideas

Sources:

https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/sleep.htm

https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/5073/8-reasons-hiit-workouts-are-so-effective

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-18648/whats-more-important-exercise-or-sleep.html

https://www.inc.com/john-rampton/the-importance-of-food-sleep-and-exercise-and-how-it-impacts-your-success.html

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