Ready, set, walk: 5 step-based activities to get your staff moving
From walk ‘n’ talk meetings to movement bingo cards, find out how you can get your employees involved in activity-based challenges.
Key takeaways:
- While physical activity can be crucial for supporting wellbeing, sedentary routines remain a growing challenge
- VitalityHealth polling found that the average Brit spends around seven hours sitting on a typical weekday[1]
- Read five ways to encourage employees to get active throughout the day – from around-the-world step challenges to photo scavenger hunts.
Whether it’s commuting to work on foot or playing sports, encouraging staff to engage in physical activity can be crucial for supporting their mental and physical wellbeing.
Yet, despite the benefits of exercise, research has found that sedentary routines remain a growing challenge.
According to VitalityHealth polling, the average Brit spends around seven hours sitting on a typical weekday, with one in five clocking up ten hours or more (20%)[1].
Across the week, this sedentary time is adding up, with Brits spending 35 hours sitting still[1].
Perhaps unsurprisingly, much of this time accumulates during work hours, with those working from home among the worst affected; almost half say they go from bed to desk to sofa (43%) without any movement breaks[1].
As businesses continue to navigate the shift to hybrid and remote working, encouraging employees to get active and supporting them to make healthy lifestyle choices may be crucial for employers.
The good news is that small changes can make a meaningful difference. To help your workforce move more throughout the day and to bring colleagues together, we share five step-based activity ideas below.
1. Movement bingo cards
Swap ‘Clickety Click’ and ‘Two Little Ducks’ for movement bingo cards that suggest physical activities that your staff can cross off as they work towards increasing their step count.
From taking the stairs to going for a lunchtime walk and joining a local parkrun, brainstorm a variety of activities, both big and small, to populate your digital bingo card.
To get staff involved, ask employees to submit their own ideas to help ensure the activities are accessible to everyone and encourage participation.
parkrun: Dr Hussain shares the bountiful benefits of walking
Last year, Dr Hussain headed down to his local parkrun to walk. In this video, we hear about some of the benefits that walking can do for your health.
Watch the full video below:
2. Walk 'n' talk meetings
For many employees, meetings are an inevitable part of the daily grind. So, why not switch things up a bit and encourage meetings on the move?
Unless colleagues are required to join a meeting from a desk, for reasons such as screen sharing or confidentiality, it can be a great opportunity to get a change of scenery and some steps in at the same time.
Swapping virtual meetings for meetings on the move or holding walking 1-2-1s near the office are just two examples – but you can weave walking into the working day wherever feels appropriate.
3. Around-the-world steps challenges
Whether it’s a cross-department step contest or a company-wide push to reach a shared goal, set a collective walking distance for employees to cover together.
Whether it’s walking the distance of Route 66 (depending on the size of your organisation, that might be ambitious!) or ‘climbing’ to Everest Base Camp by collectively tracking the equivalent distance, there’s an opportunity to get creative.
Alternatively, you could take inspiration from seasonal events and map out walking routes that spell out words or phrases.
This is what Geolytix, a location planning consultancy firm previously did, combining mapping skills with physical activity days to encourage staff participation. For example, one Easter, the team wrote out ‘Happy Easter’ by marking walking routes on Strava.
4. Buddy system
Why not pair employees with a walking buddy and encourage them to keep one another motivated throughout the challenge?
Whether it's a lunchtime stroll, a shared step goal or a regular check-in, having a buddy can help create accountability while making movement more sociable and enjoyable.
For hybrid teams, colleagues can share progress remotely, celebrate milestones and encourage one another to stay on track.
As well as helping employees clock up more steps, it can also encourage stronger relationships and camaraderie among colleagues.
How active are Vitality members?
The VitalityLife Claims and Shared Value Report 2026 shed light on the physical activity levels of Vitality members. In 2025, Vitality health and life members completed:
- 1.7 trillion steps
- 388,000 Parkruns
- 620,000 Peloton sessions
- 21.9 million workouts
- 6.6 million gym visits.
5. Photo scavenger hunt
Create a treasure hunt with a twist that prompts staff to get moving, asking them to photograph a range of low- and high-ticket items as they build up their step count.
From nearby, easy to spot items such as a lamp post or post-box to destinations that require a little more walking such as town halls or local landmarks, compile a list of photos that employees can take to demonstrate completion of the challenge while working towards their step goals.
The above tips might act as a useful springboard for your own walking initiatives or step-based activity challenges but there are plenty of others you can roll out to help your employees stay active both now and in future.
[1] Research was conducted by Opinium, on behalf of Vitality, of 2,000 people aged 18+ and based in the UK, in February 2026.
[2] VitalityLife Claims and Shared Value Report 2026, Vitality
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