Team Spirit Gets You Moving: Results of the Steps Challenge

How do you get people moving? The answer: with team spirit, a dose of competition - and an app.

The Team Heroes Step Challenge at the University of Würzburg motivated over 330 employees to exercise more in autumn 2023. The campaign was initiated by the "Healthy University" steering committee. It was scientifically supported from the outset - under the leadership of Helena Manger from the Chair of Controlling and Internal Management Accounting.

The study, which has now been published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, shows that the average daily step count increased by around 1,700 steps during the six-week challenge - an increase of almost 20 per cent. "We are very pleased about the publication of our study," says Chair Professor Andrea Szczesny. "The challenge was not only a motivating health offer, but also an exciting opportunity to examine incentive systems and behavioural patterns in a university context."

The study shows:

• Managers lead the way
  People with staff responsibility increased their daily step count particularly significantly.
• Team size can play a role
  Medium team sizes (8-10 people) showed slightly stronger effects.
• Men and older participants were particularly motivated
  On average, they increased their step count more than other groups.
• The challenge had an effect regardless of fitness level
  Even less active participants increased their step count significantly.
• Sustainability remains a challenge
  After the challenge, the number of steps fell back to the initial level.

Health Promotion as a Strategic Goal

The step challenge was part of the activities of the University of Würzburg's Healthy University programme. Its aim is to promote the physical, mental and social health of all university members - over and above traditional occupational health and safety.

The Healthy University takes a holistic approach to university health management. It aims to create health-promoting structures and an appreciative organisational culture. Health should be taken into account in all areas of the university as a matter of course - in decisions, processes and measures.

For Katja Beck-Doßler, Head of the Healthy University, the scientific support for projects such as the Team Heroes Challenge is a great benefit: "I am always particularly pleased when we manage to get researchers from our university involved. The interaction between our practice and research is particularly valuable for us."

Results of the Study Publicly Accessible

The challenge ended in 2023 with a celebratory closing event at which the most successful teams were honoured - including "W(u)e Walk", "AK Braunschweig" and "Lucky #7". Together, all participants had collected over 141 million steps - more than twice around the world.

In addition to the award ceremony, the first results of the scientific analysis were also presented. The results are now freely accessible to a wider circle of interested parties as part of a first scientific publication:

"Do leaders walk the extra mile? The contribution of personal and work-related factors on daily step count increase in a university team step challenge".Helena Manger, Katja Beck-Doßler, Olaf Hoos, Andrea Reusch and Andrea Szczesny, 29 September 2025, Open Access: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1648761

Outlook: Focus on Nudging

The scientific monitoring has not yet been completed: A further evaluation will be dedicated to the topic of nudging - the question of how small, motivating push messages in the app during the steps challenge influenced exercise behaviour. The aim is to find out how digital stimuli can be used in a targeted manner to promote long-term changes in behaviour.