Step Up Your Employee Wellness Program: Corporate Walking Challenges That Work

Key Takeaways

• Corporate walking challenges are one of the most effective and inclusive employee wellness activities, especially for hybrid and remote teams.
• Step challenges provide structure, motivation, and measurable goals, helping employees increase daily activity with low barriers to entry.
• Walking at least 4,000–10,000 steps per day is associated with improved cardiovascular health, reduced stress, and better mood.
• Creative challenge formats — such as virtual global treks or team-based competitions — significantly improve participation and engagement.
• Wellness platforms like CoreHealth make it easy to administer corporate walking programs, track steps, motivate employees, and scale across the organization.

Walking is one of the simplest and most accessible ways to improve employee health — which is why corporate walking challenges have long been the most popular wellness activities for organizations of all sizes. Whether you’re looking for walking challenge ideas, building your first step challenge for employee wellness, or enhancing your existing wellness program, walking initiatives offer an easy, inclusive way to boost movement across your workforce.

Research from Johns Hopkins and the University of Lodz shows that walking as few as 5,000 steps per day lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease — and the benefits increase with every additional step. Employees who get closer to 8,000–10,000 steps per day experience even greater improvements in mood, energy, and overall well-being.

Walking challenges are powerful because they meet employees where they are. They’re achievable for most fitness levels, easy to implement, cost-effective, and ideal for both in-office and remote teams. With the right structure, they can spark friendly competition, strengthen connection, and transform your culture of wellness.

Below, you’ll find proven strategies and step challenge ideas to help you launch an engaging and effective corporate walking program.

Creative Ways to Encourage Corporate Walking Challenges at Work

Walking can become part of your workplace culture no matter your budget or employees’ current fitness level. These strategies easily add more activity to your employees’ workday routines:

• Walk during video calls
  Inspire movement by leading the way. Take video calls while walking, whether outdoors when appropriate or on a walking pad. Leadership involvement is key — when managers walk during calls, it sets an example and encourages employees to follow suit.

• Provide info on local walking paths
  Empower employees to stay active by providing details on nearby walking paths. Consider creating a workplace walking trail with clear signage or encourage remote employees to find paths near their homes using resources like AllTrails.
• Make it a game
  Make walking fun and engaging through friendly competition. Award points for reaching daily step goals or organize team challenges with prizes for the most steps. Incentives like premium parking spots, healthy lunches or a spot on a “Wall of Fame” are simple yet effective ways to keep motivation high.
• Take the stairs
  Promote stair use with creative initiatives. Making stairwells appealing, clean, and aesthetically pleasing can go a long way to encourage employees to use them. Placing inspiring posters or hanging artwork created by employees’ children along stairwell routes to make taking the stairs a more pleasant experience. Small touches can make a big impact in daily activity levels.
• Host walking challenges at work
  Foster camaraderie and healthy habits with walking challenges. Whether aiming for 10,000 daily steps or engaging in a virtual adventure, these activities strengthen relationships, boost morale, and improve fitness in a fun, inclusive way.

Why Step Challenges Get People Moving

Walking challenges work because they combine simplicity, structure, and motivation. They’re accessible to nearly everyone and require very little planning.

The Simplicity of Walking

Walking is one of the easiest ways to get more exercise and improve overall health. Research from the Mayo Clinic shows that regular walking can lower the risk of heart disease, reduce stress, and boost mood. Adding just a 20-minute daily walk can help employees meet the CDC’s recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, leading to significant health benefits.

Step Goals Create Momentum

Clear daily or weekly targets make the challenge feel achievable.
Most teams aim for 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day, roughly 4–5 miles. Everyday movement — walking to meetings, around the office, or running errands — contributes more steps than many people realize.

Healthy Competition Feeds Engagement

Simple rewards like recognition in a newsletter, first pick of parking, or choosing the next wellness challenge can be powerful motivators. It’s less about the prize and more about the encouragement.

Wearable Tech Enhances Participation

Fitness trackers, pedometers, and apps make it easy for employees to stay aware of their progress. When connected through a wellness platform like CoreHealth, it becomes even easier to track participation and maintain long-term engagement.

Ready-to-Use Corporate Walking Challenges

Standard step goals are a great starting point, but keeping employees engaged over time requires variety and creativity. CoreHealth’s ready-to-use virtual challenges combine step tracking with unique themes to maintain interest and drive behavior change. Try these fun virtual walking challenges:

• Around the World: Embark on a virtual journey exploring landmarks across the globe.
• Amazing America: Experience the beauty of the United States in an engaging walking challenge.
• Mystery Fitness Challenge: Solve a mystery by tracking steps and uncovering clues in a virtual London adventure.
• Route 66: Take a 2,100-mile trek from Chicago to Santa Monica, exploring iconic stops along the way.
• Lost City Trek: Navigate the jungles of South America on a journey to the Ciudad Perdida.
• Tour de France: Follow the iconic race route while tracking your daily activity.
• The Night Before Christmas: Explore how different countries celebrate the winter holidays while walking Santa’s route.

These challenges are not just about steps — they’re about fostering engagement, building connections, and encouraging a healthier lifestyle in an inclusive, fun, and global context.

By integrating these creative walking challenges into a comprehensive wellness program, your organization can foster a culture of health and well-being while maintaining high participation and enthusiasm year after year.

Encourage Employee Wellness with CoreHealth

There are lots of fun ways to engage your team (including remote, hybrid, and in-person employees) in activity challenges that are easy to implement and track, with the help of a comprehensive wellness platform. If you’re looking to boost the physical activity of your workforce, contact us to learn how our wellness platform gives you full control to design, deliver, and administer all your well-being programs — including challenges for nutrition, physical activity, mental health, financial wellness, and more.

About CoreHealth Technologies

FAQ: Corporate Walking Challenges

1. How do corporate walking challenges work?

Corporate walking challenges encourage employees to track their daily steps—individually or as teams—and work toward a shared goal. Employees use a fitness tracker, pedometer, or a wellness platform like CoreHealth to log progress, unlock milestones, and stay motivated.

2. How many steps should employees aim for in a walking challenge?

Most challenges set daily goals between 8,000 and 10,000 steps, which is roughly 4–5 miles. However, you can adapt goals for different fitness levels by offering tiered targets or focusing on consistency over total steps.

3. What makes a wellness challenge effective?

Successful walking challenges are:

• easy to join
• fun and social
• supported by simple tracking tools
• reinforced with reminders, updates, and encouragement
• flexible enough for remote, hybrid, and on-site teams

Themes, rewards, or virtual destinations make participation even more engaging.

4. Do step challenges really help improve employee wellness?

Yes. Research shows that increasing daily steps can improve heart health, boost mood, and reduce stress. Walking is also one of the most accessible activities, making step challenges an effective way to increase movement across your entire workforce.

5. How long should a workplace walking challenge last?

Most companies run step challenges for 2–6 weeks. Shorter challenges drive quick excitement, while longer ones help build lasting habits. Seasonal or themed challenges can be repeated throughout the year.

6. Do employees need a wearable device to participate?

Not necessarily. While fitness trackers make participation seamless, many corporate walking programs allow manual step entry or syncing with smartphone health apps. The goal is to make it easy for everyone to join.

7. What rewards work best for step challenges?

Many organizations use simple incentives like recognition, small prizes, company-branded gear, or the chance to choose the next challenge. Rewards don’t have to be expensive—consistency and encouragement matter most.