Last week we posted an article about obesity in the workplace. Moral of the story is the boss is going to eventually take action regarding your fat rump.

One option employers might consider to battle the back fat is organized sporting events for the entire office. Not only does it promote physical activity but team building and cooperation among people who normally hate each other nine hours of the day. One sticking point to the idea is that most offices aren’t usually filled with softball studs or WNBA hopefuls. This means the typical sports that involve coordination and athletic ability are out.

So what are the other options?

Here are five sports that the whole office will find at least entertaining;

1. Kickball- Just enough athletic competition for the office jocks while just easy enough for the coworkers who can’t run in a straight line without falling on their face (let them play catcher). The rules are simple and, unless they grew up in a communist state, everyone has played kickball at least once in their life. Couple of safety suggestions: don’t let the unathletic people pitch or play a base (line drive or throw to the face WILL occur) and set up two first base bags (one for the first basemen and one for the runner). Collisions are only funny to the people watching and all of YouTube.

2. Bowling- This is the wonderfully odd thing about bowling: anyone can be good. Sometimes athletic people are terrible and uncoordinated slugs are exceptional. It’s the Lord’s equalizer in the world of sports. While not the most physically taxing, it’s at least better than everyone meeting in the conference room for a pot luck lunch of Baked Ziti and donuts. Also, try and keep everyone away from the bar.

3. Ultimate (also know as Ultimate Frisbee) – The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone. Think soccer with a frisbee. Here is the hardest part; getting people to stop running when they HAVE the frisbee. Set up a tourney with a few games going on at a time so that there is no standing around bitching about the boss making people run around chasing a disc.

4. Capture the flag- For those that don’t know, capture the flag is two teams, each have a flag(or other marker) and the objective is to capture the other team’s flag, located at the team’s “base”, and bring it safely back to their own base. It’s basically organized running and hiding.  Set up teams and make sure to break up friends to get people mingling with other coworkers. Even if you don’t have a large field or park, this could be just as much fun in an office building. Bonus points for getting other companies in the complex involved.

5. Group runs/walks- Alright it’s not the most exciting option but it’s at least exercise to keep coworkers Cinnabon’d butts in motion. For those who look like they will fall over and sweat mayo if they had to run any long distance, let them walk the event in a small support group. Make sure everyone keeps a record of their time as a goal for the next outing. Put down the plate of Beefaroni! No carb loading.

Here are some suggestions to organizers to ensure mass participation;

1) Schedule the event during work- No one wants to hang out after hours. It seems forced. Do it later in a work day so everyone can go home when it’s done.
2) Prizes- don’t kill the budget buying gifts to give away. Get off cheap with “2 hour lunch” passes or an extra personal or vacation day.
3) Let them choose- send out an email saying “these are the options, please vote on which you’d like the best” so at least they feel they have a say.
4) Make sure it remains fun and not competitive- Keep the nut job sports freaks at bay.

Got any other ideas? Leave them in the comment section.

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