Corporate Fitness: A Practical Solution

Introduction

It’s no secret that improving our health and wellbeing has become more prominent in recent years. This is true for both individuals and companies alike. Providing healthcare and fitness outlets to employees is becoming a primary concern for many companies worldwide. In fact, many companies are investing in workplace health programs for their employees. Whilst these programs do have value and show promise in many areas, they are varied, can become complex, and may be expensive for some well-intending companies.

As a business, the return on investment (ROI) and bottom line play a major factor in what a company may choose to do. If you are thinking about some type of workplace health program, it will be important to ask yourself, “What type of workplace health program is best for my business?

Insight

One variation used for workplace programs is termed Corporate Wellness. These programs come in many sizes and shapes and can be either in-house or online (Tchir & Szafron, 2020). Corporate Wellness programs often include multiple holistic channels of service including (Mattke et al., 2013; Song & Baicker):

Health Screening Activities

• Health risk assessments and questionnaires (e.g., exercise habits, bodyweight/body mass index (BMI), etc.)

• Clinical assessments (blood pressure, glucose level, etc.),

Lifestyle Management

• Exercise

• Nutrition / weight control

• Stress management

• Alcohol, drugs, smoking cessation

• Health education

Chronic Disease Management

• Diabetes

• Obesity

• Coronary heart disease (CHD)

• Heart failure

• Depression / anxiety

• Cancer

• Back / musculoskeletal pain

Having multiple components to a Corporate Wellness program makes for a more comprehensive workplace health program and is shown to have a positive impact on the workplace environment (Mattke et al., 2013; Moreira-Silva et al., 2016; van Vilsteren et al., 2015; Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2020). However, whilst there is nothing wrong with these types of workplace programs, their return on investment has been questioned (Reif et al., 2020; Song & Baicker, 2019). There can also be a lot of moving parts to implement and manage, which can make things troublesome for many companies.

Alternative

If you are thinking about helping your employees with their health habits to benefit them personally as well as enhance overall workplace performance, you have the right idea! Another way to make this happen without being overly complex is by starting simple and more practical. The best way to build a culture and develop habits is by taking small, manageable steps. Small changes lead to longer lasting results.

What does all of this mean? Well, if you’re not sure where to begin or just want to get your feet wet, why not start with a simple, practical workplace health initiative. One that is known and proven in research to address mental, emotional, and physical health most effectively, medically and financially.

Corporate Fitness

Corporate Fitness is the use of strength training for enhancing employee health and performance. Strength training has been consistently and repeatedly shown to address all of the Lifestyle Management and Chronic Disease Management bullet points above and more. For example, research has shown that strength training provides the following outcomes:

• Diabetes: improves metabolic health in type 2 diabetes (Gordon et al., 2009; Terauchi et al., 2021; Giovannucci et al., 2021)

• Obesity: decreases risk of becoming obese by 20%-30% (Brellenthin et al., 2021) and training consistently over time decreases fat mass (Magalhães et al., 2022; Giovannucci et al., 2021)

• CHD: improves cardiovascular risk factors (Brellenthin et al., 2022; Fan et al., 2021; Giovannucci et al., 2021)

• High Blood Pressure: significantly reduces blood pressure in healthy and those with hypertension (MacDonald et al., 2016)

• Depression & Anxiety: significantly reduces depressive and anxiety symptoms in healthy and those with physical and mental illness (Carneiro et al., 2020; Gordon et al., 2018; Gordon et al., 2017)

• Cancer: significantly decreases risk of cancers (Rezende et al., 2020) and mortality from cancer (Giovannucci et al., 2021)

• Musculoskeletal Pain: significantly decreases pain in neck, shoulders, and low back (Moreira-Silva et al., 2016; Tjøsvoll et al., 2020) and performing supervised group-based exercise at work is more effective than exercising alone at home (Jakobsen et al., 2018)

• Improved Immunity: has a significant cumulative effect on immune function by i) strengthening the response to bacterial and viral infection, and ii) potentially delaying the ageing process of the immune system (Campbell et al., 2018)

*For a more comprehensive overview, feel free to view these other Eleiko Resources:

Beyond all of these scientifically validated findings that strength training improves all aspects of health and wellbeing, there are two important studies that you should be aware of specific to the practical application of Corporate Fitness.

The first is a recent study summarising 15 research studies conducted in Denmark on workplace exercise (Corporate Fitness) (Sjøgaard et al, 2016). It included approximately 3,500 participants across numerous occupations such as office and computer workers, dentists, industrial technicians, cleaning personnel, health care workers, construction workers, and fighter/helicopter pilots. The results showed significant health improvements across all job groups, and workplace productivity increased with improved muscle strength and decreased body mass index (BMI). It was further shown that, “Cost effectiveness estimates indicate acceptable cost relative to savings on health expenses and lost productivity” (Sjøgaard et al, 2016).

The second was mentioned above regarding musculoskeletal pain (Jakobsen et al., 2018). In this study it was shown that pain threshold and pain intensity both improved more in the workplace training environment than home-based training. What’s also interesting to point out is that both of these studies showed that the use of a qualified strength training professional also made an impact on the outcomes. This points to the importance of having a practically educated strength training professional trained in the areas of Weightlifting, Powerlifting, Functional Training, and/or even Tactical Training (the integration of mental and physical training) as seen in the Elekio education offerings.

Where to Start

Whether you are new to the concept of Corporate Fitness or already have some form of workplace health program and are looking to add it into your existing program, here are a couple of helpful tips to consider.

Equipment

Many companies are allocating space in their facilities for exercise. Outfitting this space with a variety of versatile equipment such as a strength stations consisting of a rack with a pull-up bar, barbell(s), weight plates, adjustable bench, dumbbells, kettlebells, and more provides employers with the necessities to begin or sustain a workplace Corporate Fitness / strength training program for the employees. Having an onsite training facility can be a value-add benefit for employees as they would not have to pay for a gym membership and would save valuable time by training at work.

Personnel

Having a person available to monitor the training sessions has already been shown to be a valuable asset to a Corporate Fitness program. However, if that doesn’t fit into your budget just yet there may be people within the company who are already fitness enthusiasts. Providing education and resources for these people could be a fantastic way to show your appreciation to them and develop in-house ‘staff’ to help supervise training sessions.

Other Resources

Eleiko provides an ongoing assortment of free resources through the website. These resources can help provide valuable and helpful insight for your strength training journey.

Summary

Workplace health is a growing commodity within many companies worldwide. It provides employees with an opportunity to increase their health and productivity, which benefits the business overall. Some workplace health programs can be very comprehensive, but their ROI has been questioned.

The use of simpler forms of workplace health programs, such as focusing on Corporate Fitness, are scientifically sound and have shown a great deal of promise both from a productivity standpoint as well as financially. A Corporate Fitness program can also provide a huge value-add to employees by saving them time and money.

Eleiko is here to help you with your Corporate Fitness program. Let us assist you with your equipment, facility design and layout, educational needs, and resources to get you on your way to a healthier and happier workplace environment. As our CEO says,