More than 110 of them - about 20% of total staff numbers - have joined inter-departmental teams and are participating in the institutions's first structured fitness and food programme.
Over 10 weeks, staff were being encouraged to increase their exercise, drink at least two litres of water daily and eat more fruit and vegetables, co-organiser Terry Buckingham said.
That included teams organising their own activities to try to score the most exercise points.
As well as more conventional exercise options such as walking, one team completed an eight-hour cycle race recently, while another team competed in an inter-business rowing race on the Otago Harbour on Saturday.
Group exercise offered included aerobics classes, led by institute of sport and adventure students, and Tuesday lunchtime walks led by Mr Buckingham, who is both a nurse and the polytechnic's health and safety adviser.
A series of health talks have been organised and school of hospitality chefs would be demonstrating cooking healthy meals.
All participants were given a thorough health check at the start of the programme and those checks would be repeated at the end to enable changes to be logged, Mr Buckingham said.
As well as helping to organise the programme, Jocelyn O'Connor will assess it and log individuals' measurable health improvements.
If successful, the polytechnic might package the programme for sale to other businesses, Mr Buckingham said.
A healthier lifestyle meant different things to different people, he said.
"We've got some people for who walking to work once a week or going for a walk at lunchtime is a big change, while some of the staff in our institute of sport and adventure aren't happy unless they have cycled 500km in a week. It is about individuals bringing their own wellness levels up without worrying they might be expected to climb Mt Everest."
