Lack of time and lack of access are two key reasons that adults report when asked why they don’t get enough exercise. You can put a stop to those excuses when you offer group exercise classes at work. While this is a fairly simple service to get started, there are some important steps you want to take to ensure you have a successful and safe group class program for your workforce. Ask yourself the questions below and you’ll be on your way to providing a valued and well-attended wellness offering.
What space do we have available?
Most businesses have some kind of space available to host a group fitness class. You don’t have to have dedicated group exercise space with a suspended hard wood floor to get started. An open conference room can work at your site for both mid-day and after work classes.
Take a look at the space you have to run classes and make some choices based on what you have available. For example, a smaller space might better accommodate a mind/body class like pilates or yoga. A larger room might make it possible to have a cardio-focused or high movement class like cardio kickboxing or bootcamp. Keep in mind that many class formats can be done with little to no equipment.
What am I willing to spend?
While providing group exercise classes onsite won’t be your most expensive wellness initiative, it does require some financial resources. How you spend those resources is up to you. Consider the list below:
- While many class formats can be taught with little to no equipment, you may want to invest in some basics to broaden the offerings available for your employees. For less than $500, you can purchase some stability balls, exercise tubing, a small stereo, and a few exercise mats. Remember that those supplies will occasionally need to be replaced, so plan for some annual supply costs.
- Group exercise instructor fees also need to be considered. We see these costs handled in one of three ways: (1) the employees pay the instructor, (2) the employer and the participants share the cost, or (3) the employer pays the full cost of the instructor. Wages will vary by class format and by geography.
What do my employees want?
Finding out the most popular choices among your workforce can be as simple as offering a quick survey. Consider asking about the following:
- Preferred time(s) of day
- Preferred day(s) of the week
- Preferred format(s)
- Willingness to pay a small fee (and how much)
We also suggest that you start small by testing the waters with short sessions. Popularity for specific instructors, formats, and times of day will give you a clear indication what will work for your site. Once you’ve determined a pattern, you can begin to grow your program.
Lastly, make sure you’ve covered all your legal bases with your risk/legal team before you begin.
NIFS does all this and more for our corporate clients. We're providing group exercise classes for businesses of all types throughout Indianapolis, so if you want to work with a professional team who has more than two decades of experience and more than 100 instructors ready to teach, connect with us today to find out more.
