Staffers on Capitol Hill are spiking their heart rates for an annual fitness challenge pitting congressional offices against one another.
For the next three weeks, staffers will be closely monitoring a leader board that spans 21 teams in both the House and Senate. The goal? Racking up the most points using a smart watch that measures the activity levels of each participant.
The Congressional Physical Activity Challenge, which began May 1 and runs through the end of the month, is open to all interns and staff and has even drawn the interest of some lawmakers, with Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) among those who regularly participate.
The competition has become synonymous with the red watches aides have been sporting on Capitol Hill, but staffers in district offices can also use their Apple or Android devices to compete. The challenge is a group sport, with the points tallied across each office, but there is an award for the most active participant as well.
The challenge has attracted teams from both Democratic and Republican offices. Notable participants include the leadership staff of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and the personal office of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), according to a leader board reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
Democratic offices include those of Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Maxine Waters (D-CA).
There is even a rivalry on the House Oversight Committee, with the majority and minority staff participating. To account for different team sizes, points are scored in two ways – average and total – with a winner declared for each.
As of Friday afternoon, Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) office is leading the challenge for average points, threatening the title Lummis’s office earned last year. Her team won in total points in both 2023 and 2024, and today also leads on that metric.
Lummis herself is protective of that accolade, telling the Washington Examiner she looks “forward to seeing who comes in second this year.”
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“Our office is filled with cutthroat competitors who go all in on any challenge,” she said in a statement. “I enjoy joining them in this challenge every year, improving our health, and creating stronger office camaraderie.”
“Good luck to all!” Lummis added.
The Scott team has 3,636 average points as of Friday, followed by the Lummis team at 3,289 points and Johnson’s team at 2,548.
Last year, the Lummis and Johnson offices placed first and second for average points, while staffers for Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) came in third.
Similar to Orange Theory, the challenge relies on an app that buckets heart rates into five different intensity zones, with red awarded the most. The competition is put on by the Physical Activity Alliance in partnership with Myzone, a company that provides the watches for the duration of the competition.
Each year, the challenge is timed to celebrate National Physical Fitness and Sport Month. This marks the 5th competition, launched in 2021 as a way “to raise awareness about the importance of physical activity to overall health and disease prevention.”
“It’s inspiring to see our nation’s leaders unite across party lines to model what it means to prioritize health through movement,” Michael Stack, the Physical Activity Alliance president, told the Washington Examiner.
“The Congressional Physical Activity Challenge is more than a friendly competition – it’s a powerful bipartisan statement about the essential role physical activity plays in improving both physical and mental well-being,” he added.
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As the competition progresses, participants can see how they compare within and outside of their office and even share their individual workouts on the app. To assess a person’s resting heart rate, the app requests basic information such as height, age, and weight.
The watch comes with a standard red wristband, but the tracking unit can be detached for customization. One staffer reported purchasing three olive green bands on Amazon (black was sold out) for their office.
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In last year’s competition, two Lummis staffers ran a half marathon on a treadmill to run up their score. Lummis also described the annual Cherry Blossom 10-miler as a “little training mission” for her office in a promotional video encouraging other members to participate.
In terms of individual accolades, a staffer in Scott’s office won the title of top scorer in 2024.
