Who gives an F?

With a new year came a new health insurance plan for Madhouse employees. While these kinds of details don’t normally make for a compelling blog post, this change also came with a new wellness challenge. This particular challenge has to do with steps, and more specifically individuals on the plan can earn money towards their health savings accounts (HSA). What’s that? HSAs? Yeah, the level of fun around here knows no limit!

The challenge is based on three daily goals which are known as F.I.T. (Frequency, Intensity, and Tenacity). It can get complicated, so here’s the breakdown:

F = 500 steps within 7 minutes, 6 times a day, with at least an hour in between
I = 3,000 steps within 30 minutes
T = 10,000 steps throughout your day

Each day, we have the chance to earn up to $3 ($1 per goal) towards our HSA. People at Madhouse love a challenge, so many of us have gone all in. Our team quickly ordered up their device of choice (Fitbits for some, Apple Watches for others), and hit the streets of Uptown Toledo. It’s now very common for someone to yell out, “Who needs an F?” and just like that, we grab our coats and gloves and head out for a walk around the block.

There are tons of studies that show how beneficial it is to move your body throughout the day, but some benefits we maybe didn’t see coming are:

• Mental breaks throughout the day. Space for creativity, perhaps?

• Bonding with co-workers. Nothing brings you together quite like walking against the winter wind with watering eyes.

• Efficient walking meetings. Ever heard of stand-up meetings? This is like the extreme version of that.

• A built-in Uptown Block Watch. Except we’re not just looking out for suspicious behavior, but also admiring the beautiful architecture, new developments, and the bold character (and characters) our neighborhood has to offer.

So yeah, maybe everyone here at Madhouse has turned into a speed-walking mom from the early ’90s, but we’re fully embracing this new challenge and will have the extra money in our HSAs to show for it.

Now let’s go get an F!