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Mary Allison: Five messages from my PhD studying the Step Count Challenge
For the past couple of years, Mary Allison has been researching the Step Count Challenge. With her PhD almost complete, Mary has taken some time to share her findings on how you and your team can get the most from the challenge.
1. Set yourself a good goal
People with a clear health goal, whether it was to lose a few pounds, or get back to health after an injury or illness, stuck with the challenge for longer than those who didn’t think much about setting a good goal for themselves.
2. Get out and blow the cobwebs away
One of the main reasons people enjoyed the Step Count Challenge was the chance to get outdoors and clear their head. Family and work pressures all felt better after some time being active outdoors.
3. It’s good to talk and share your stories
Teams who used social media regularly to keep in touch (e.g. WhatsApp, facebook, staff chat functions) had lots of fun sharing stories and photos about their activities. The fun was important and kept them going.
4. Choose a team that meets your needs, especially if you want to compete
Some people love to be in a team that is competing with other teams. Trying to get into the top 200, 100 or top 10 teams on the leader board kept them going and striving for more steps.
5. Encourage your teammates, don’t cause them stress
It was a delicate balance for people to encourage their teammates to meet their step count goals, but not to apply so much pressure that their teammates became stressed and did not want to repeat the challenge again.
