Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

Before, we discussed how a negative attitude can adversely affect a person’s health.  Luckily, experts say you can change your ways regardless of how long you have been in a negative thinking slump. 

You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking (don't miss part 1). They say the process is simple, but it does take time and practice —after all, you’re creating a new habit!

In my personal experience, when someone around me is being negative, I find that it really affects my mood.  How so?  Here is an example. 

My husband is a third shift worker and when he is just getting off of work, I am heading to work.  This means we are on opposite schedules 90% of the time.  Think of your regular work day.  Everything that went on at work, usually sticks with you till the end of the day when you can finally talk to someone about it.  If my husband had a rough night at work that resulted in a bad attitude, it typically spills over into our conversation.  Let me tell you, the last thing I want to hear at the start of my day is how bad his day was.  Sometimes, because of his bad night, it affects his thinking and before you know it the whole conversation is negatively affected and I’m annoyed by the time I’m off the phone.

Because of our schedules, I have had to adjust my way of thinking and create new habits when it comes to our morning conversations.  I can’t hold it against him for being in a bad mood, but sometimes I ask him a couple questions to try to bring what happened into perspective.  Sometimes this works, while other times it doesn’t and I have to be the one who changes my way of thinking and let him be in a negative mood while I remind myself this doesn’t have to affect the rest of my day. 

What works for me when trying to think positive?  

When service is slow at a restaurant: I often try to remind myself what it must be like to work in a place where what other people do affects how quickly you can get your job done.  For example: getting upset at the waitress when really something in the kitchen is what held up your food.

When someone is tailgating you while driving:  Instead of being that person who taps my breaks or purposely slows down to make that person more aggravated, I get into the other lane or wave them around me when the road is clear.  They must have somewhere to be that’s very important, right?!

When I am sore or do not feel the greatest: I think to myself that there are far more people that have bigger things going on.  My back hurts? What about the person who can’t walk because of back problems?  I’m tired?  Put on a smiling face and maybe that will make it easier to wake up and get through the day.  In my opinion, it’s better not to pout.  And like I said before “fake it till you make it”.

If you find it hard to find the other side of a story or think that there is no way you can be wrong, there are also questions that you can ask yourself to help you get on the path to positive thinking.  Carthage Buckley is an experienced learning and development professional who specializes in mentoring, coaching, and providing people with motivational skills.  He has had great success in giving people the ability to empower themselves to make the positive changes they are looking for.   On his website, Carthage listed “14 Questions to help you overcome your negative thinking”.   Listed below are great questions for everyone to ask themselves.  

1. Is this fact or just my opinion?
2. Could I be wrong?
3. Why am I so certain of the conclusion I have reached? 
4. What assumptions am I making?
5. What evidence is there to support/dispute my thinking? 
6. Who says things should be this way?
7. When I felt like this before, what did I do to change my viewpoint?

My Challenge to you:  For the next 5 days, try to take a sour situation and put a positive spin on it.  Just today, I read this quote on a friend’s social media account, author unknown “Be selective in your battles for sometimes peace is better than being right.”  Meaning you ask?  When I have a conversation with someone that has a negative tone, it seems like that person is battling the other possibility, the other side of the story.  When I try to show light or perspective on the other side, I am told why I am wrong.  Pick your battles, believe it or not, you will find you’re more calm and comfortable when you’re not constantly upset about something.  Put any frustration into your workout and visit your corporate  or senior fitness center for some exercise!

“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." - Abraham Lincoln

I don’t know how many conversations I have had with people about their health and exercise routines that often turn into conversations about why they cannot participate in a certain activity.  When I try to put a positive spin on the situation, the response I get is “You are young, you don’t understand.”  I realize I am younger than the folks I work with and do not totally understand what it means to get older with a body that wants to do the opposite of what I want to do.  But, I shouldn’t be totally disregarded, as I do have an idea of how difficult it can be.  After all, I have worked with people with ailments since I was old enough to have a paying job.  Plus, I have experienced the unfortunate event of orthopedic surgeries and physical therapies to get back on my feet.

I have been told multiple times that I smile a lot and they wonder why I am in such a good mood so early in the morning.  My answer is typically “Why not?”  I am lucky that I have been given the “upbeat” predisposition.   Whether it’s through helping someone with their exercise routine or stopping to have a conversation that strikes their interest, I will do what works to help a person’s day go a little better.  Too often do people walk through the halls to their apartment with their head down or worse, responding to a “good morning” with “oh is it?”  There really is a term that works, which is “fake it till you make it”.  Which means do what you have to do to make yourself believe it really is a good day.    

So what does this have to do with anything health and wellness related, you ask?  Well, there have been numerous observances and studies focusing on how a positive or negative attitude affects a person’s health and recovery. 

The Mayo Clinic has given us a list of health benefits that come with positive thinking. 

Researchers continue to explore effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. The benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

• Increased life span
• Lower rates of depression
• Lower levels of distress
• Greater resistance to the common cold
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

It's unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body. It's also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get more physical activity and follow a healthier diet.”

Think of the most negative thinker you know… Now, take into consideration the list above.  When I think of the negative thinkers in my life, once something “bad” has happened, they are immediately ranting about it, even long after the situation is over.   The more they talk about it, the more intense the story tends to get.  When they dwell on it, it seems as though they become distressed over the situation.  Sometimes it seems like the same thing tends to happen to them and they become depressed saying “why me?”  If depression becomes a factor, then as time goes on, depression starts affecting our health.  It’s easy to think negatively about most situations, which causes stress because you are upset about it, that can cause the person to have high blood pressure, high blood pressure results in heart conditions, which is detrimental to your overall health.

Basically, negative thinking can have a snowball effect.  Once one part of your life is affected, multiple parts may fall into the same pattern.  Before you know it, it has caused much more trouble than you ever thought it would with your personal health and worksite wellness. 

After reading this, do you think you are negative or positive thinker?  Do you agree with the affects a negative attitude has on your body?  Stay tuned for part two, where we will offer questions to ask yourself to help determine if you are negative thinker and what to try to turn your mindset around.  Until then, stay positive! 

When it comes to the holidays, everyone seems to be short on everything: time, money, patience, you name it. We are, however, enjoying longer lines and longer wait times! With all of this in mind, fitness can easily be put on the back burner. There are parties to attend, various people to shop for, and light shows to see, so it’s safe to say that spending hours at the gym is not something most people are doing this time of year. Now come January, that’s a different story!

Putting a Fitness Spin on a Holiday Tradition

Our staff have found various ways of putting a fitness spin on an old holiday tradition. It’s a program called the 12 Days of Fitness, and it works really well to get people moving during this busy season. When you think of 12 days, it doesn’t seem like a long time—and frankly, that’s exactly the point! Yet, 12 days of burning calories, educating people, and having some fun can have a positive impact for the participants.

We’ve had several sites record a 100% completion rate for this program, and we think the key to success is making each day count with simple but impactful activities and including something that is truly encouraging for the participants.

12 Tips for Creating a Holiday Fitness Program

 Below are our 12 best tips for how you can create your own fun and effective 12 Days of Fitness program.

1.  Offer quick yet challenging workouts since time is of the essence during the holidays. Short 10 to 20-minute classes or challenges will get people in and out. Tis the season to be efficient and effective!

2. Let’s face it: prizes both pull people in and keep them coming back. Have a daily drawing or a daily competition where one prize is offered on each day of the program. Keep the prizes health and fitness related to further emphasize a healthy outlook.

3. Hosting lunchtime classes or activities gives associates an alternative to those not-so-healthy holiday luncheons or parties. The potential for binging is everywhere; why not create your 12 Days of Fitness as a respite for employees looking for a healthier escape? 

4. Get creative with classes or activities that you offer. Provide the participants with exercises they can easily do at home, or offer new and exciting ones to keep them out of an exercise rut. You might try dance-style classes or incorporate an exercise scavenger hunt in your facility.

5. Use the program as a learning experience. Show participants healthy recipes or even host a healthy holiday party offering samples of modified or low-calorie snacks, appetizers, main dishes, and drinks.

6. Make participants accountable. Post the exercise or activity of the day and require that the staff sign off when it has been completed. 

7. Encourage associates who work at home to participate. Send them emails with exercise pictures or video demonstrations. It’s important for people to know they always have time to squeeze some activity into their day no matter where they are located.

8. If you’re focused on getting employees into your corporate fitness center, require that some of the exercises and activities be performed in the facility. This also gives you a chance to see and speak with the participants.

9. Incorporate stress reduction and relaxation into the program. You can do this by offering educational materials on these topics, or more interactive things like hosting a free yoga class or 10-minute chair massages.

10. Add a personal touch. Send out emails or make phone calls to check in with participants who have missed a day or one of the required activities or exercises.

11. Incorporate teamwork into the program. Similar to our Maintain Not Gain program, working with a partner can increase the chances of success. You can do this in the classes you offer; you can require a partner for certain exercises, or even add a referral component where participants encourage nonmembers to join and participate.

12. Celebrate their accomplishment! Being successful is key, but everyone can feel a sense of accomplishment if managed correctly. Besides the daily drawings, offer all successful participants something at the end of the program. This can be a prize, but it can also be wrapping the successful participants’ names around some lights and words of encouragement for all to see. Make your participants feel proud of sticking to a healthy routine during the holidays. They’ll surely thank you later, and might even ask for more programs like

If you’re not offering a holiday program, this just might be your key to keeping participation numbers up and the pounds and stress levels down. Use some of the above ideas for developing your own 12 Days of Fitness and see what kind of difference you can make this season.  Or, if it's the wrong time of year for this type of program, grab our quick read outlining how you can build a more successful corporate fitness center.

Getting enough sleep is important to all areas of your health. According to a study from Harvard Medical School, “Chronic sleep loss can contribute to health problems such as weight gain, high blood pressure, and a decrease in the immune system’s power.” I know, if I don’t get enough sleep, it affects my mood and performance level.

Working at a senior living community, I am asked by residents, “how can you get the necessary sleep you need when you toss and turn and just don’t sleep well?” Some of the biggest concerns from seniors I hear about not sleeping well involve muscle cramps that wake them up, not being able to clear their minds to stay asleep and frequent trips to the restroom.  I believe there are 5 key ways to get a more restful night’s sleep. I’ve shared these with my residents and I hope they can work for you as well.

1. Drink Water Throughout the Day. When I am busy, I find I rarely get enough water throughout my day. By the time night comes, I am super thirsty. It is hard to get enough water close to bed. Not only that, if I drink a lot before bed, I find myself waking up to use the restroom, which interrupts my restful sleep. Another negative side effect to not drinking enough water is muscle cramps. Dehydration can increase the likelihood of muscle cramps while sleeping.
2. Take a Warm Bath or Shower. I have heard this is because the warmth of the water increases your body temperature and when you sleep, your body temperature decreases. This may be true, but for me the reason a warm shower works is it relaxes my tight, tired muscles. The warmth releases tension and helps ease my aches and pains from daily activities and exercise.
3. Stretch. This goes hand-in-hand with the warm shower. You can get a better night’s sleep when your muscles aren’t tight and painful. I have found light stretching in my bed before I close my eyes gets my body ready for sleep. I concentrate on lower body, hip, and back stretches. I hold each stretch for at least 30-60 seconds. I close my eyes, take long and deep breaths, and focus on relaxing the muscles as I stretch them.
4. Breathe. This is very important while stretching, but deep breathing throughout the day also helps reduce stress. When I am frustrated or upset, taking three-four deep belly breaths helps me calm down and refocus. At night this deep breathing is good because it helps clear my mind. After I finish my stretching routine, I lie flat on my back with my eyes closed and focus on breathing. In yoga, this is called savasana or corpse pose. It is beneficial because it helps your memory, reduces heart rate and blood pressure, increases oxygen levels in your blood, reduces headaches, and helps improve your focus.
5. Reduce the Distractions in your Bedroom. This is by far the hardest thing for me to practice. Turning off the TV, putting the book away, and not sleeping with my smart phone next to my bed have helped me go to sleep faster. Picking up my cell phone to check email, the weather, and social media means I stay awake longer than I need to. The noises and distractions can also interrupt restful sleep, so put them away.

Tonight, may you sleep soundly after a day of drinking water, taking a warm bath or shower, stretching, breathing, and relaxing without any distractions; Sweet Dreams!

If you can't answer these questions about your community fitness program, it's time to consider doing something more with the data you're gathering to create a more effective offering for your residents:

1. Do you know how many classes you offered last month and which residents attended compared to the preceding month?
2. Do you know how many appointments were conducted in the fitness center last year compared to this year?
3. Does your tracking for fitness center or class attendance allow you to see individual participation trends by resident?

In many communities with which we work, there is often some type of sign in practice in place, but typically little to nothing is done with that information once the resident signs his name on the way into the fitness center. Consistent participation tracking is even less common in the group fitness classes; it's more common to simply estimate headcounts.

Tracking resident participation in all of your offerings is central to highlighting the value of your fitness program and continuing to evolve what you are doing.  Read on to discover three key ways participation data can help you provide more effective programming in your senior living community fitness center.

1. Create Visit Goals for the Residents

By keeping record of how many total visits you have to your fitness center, pool, and group fitness offerings, you can determine the ebbs and flows in participation through the year. As the busy holiday season approaches and exercise routines get pushed to the back burner, set a community goal for your residents to accumulate more visits in December of this year as opposed to last year. We’ve seen firsthand how residents LOVE to rally together as a team for goals like this. Providing them with weekly updates on their standings has helped us reach visit goals and prevented lulls in participation. You won’t know what a reasonable goal is, however, if you don’t have historical data to evaluate.

[Related Content: Increasing Participation in Senior Living Fitness Programs]

2. Reach Out to Individuals

Your tracking system should allow you to see how many times any given resident participates in part(s) of the program. If someone comes to a particular exercise class six times a month and the fitness center nine times a month, you should have that information at your fingertips through proper tracking procedures. Then you can recognize their efforts through recognition programs such as a monthly “Fit 15” listing. Similarly, if you have a resident who joined the program but stopped coming, you’ll have that important information at your fingertips. Personally contacting a resident and letting them know that their participation is missed and inviting them back to an old favorite or a fresh new opportunity can be a great tool for improving exercise adherence.

Let's be clear: We’re talking about tracking attendance by resident; that’s the only way this will work. Taking simple headcounts for total visits in your program will not allow you to consistently evaluate the specific members who make up your participation and create those avenues for personal connection and recognition.

3. Demonstrate Value

Having participation data that shows you monthly totals for your different offerings will allow you to evaluate what is effective, what is gaining or losing momentum, and what might be ready for a change. By sticking with a group fitness class on the calendar that has only two or three consistent participants, you might be limiting resources that could go toward a fresh new offering that would cater to the needs and interests of more individuals. Residents will be much more able to embrace change when you can show them the data and well-thought-out intentions behind it.

Similarly, if you feel your program cannot expand further without additional resources, let the data demonstrate the value in your current offerings. If an exercise class is busting at the seams, have a few months worth of data to show the growth and articulate the need for another class on the schedule. If your fitness center participation is increasing, use the monthly visit and appointment data to demonstrate the need for additional staffing support or more equipment.

[Related Content: Benefits of Tracking Participation Data]

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Don’t shy away from data. It can support important decisions about the future of your fitness program. Start small with a simple list of all the residents in the community and invite them to start checking in. From there, you can build basic spreadsheets to create a tracking tool that will help you determine what parts of your community’s fitness program need the most attention. Or, reach out to us for NIFS consulting services - we'll provide you with the tools to get off the ground quickly with improvements to your fitness program that boost your senior living community.  

If smiling is contagious and laughter is infectious, then why don’t more of us do it? When people laugh together, it brings them closer, and creates happiness and intimacy. Laughter not only does these few things, but it also causes physical changes within the body. 

Laughter is powerful and priceless (I mean, who doesn’t like a bargain?!). Oh, and it’s fun! Humor and laughter have the ability to:

• Boost Your Immune System: Laughing decreases the stress hormones and increases the immune cells and anti-bodies, improving your body’s resistance to infections and diseases.
• Trigger the Release of Endorphins: That natural feel-good chemical rush you get can improve your overall feeling, decrease pain, and fight off stress.
• Relax the Whole Body: It relieves tension and stress, allowing your muscles to stay relaxed for up to 45 minutes after that obnoxiously good belly-laugh you just had.
• Protect the Heart: Laughter increases blood by improving the function of blood vessels, aiding in the protection against cardiovascular problems.

Humor can keep one optimistic and even one little smile can turn someone’s day around. A good laugh can bring your body back into balance. I think it is hard to resist a good laugh or smile when the person next to you is laughing in an absolute hysterical manner. A shared laugh can keep relationships fresh and exciting and build strong bonds too!

You can learn to develop or improve your sense of humor by:

• Learning to laugh at yourself
• Laughing at a situation, rather than getting upset over it
• Keeping things in perspective
• Surrounding yourself with reminders to lighten up a little

In life, remember not to take yourself too seriously. Yes, some events are sad and not the right occasion for laughter, but learn to look at the positive side of the event. Laughter is priceless, fun, and easy to use! If you need a good laugh, I am sure one of our Corporate Fitness staff members could crack a joke or two! Laugh on, my friend - it’s good for the soul.

The holidays are right around the corner and what better way to spread holiday cheer than to volunteer!  Fall sports are starting to wind down with the winter rolling in, big projects at work are wrapping up, and schedules start to open up for new activities to fill in.  The holidays are the perfect time to sign the family up for a volunteer day to share some of your good wealth. 

4 Tips for Giving during the Holiday Season:

1. Helping out in your community- The joy of winter means cold weather and most likely a good amount of snow.  Show someone you care by offering to shovel their driveway or sidewalk.  Or, invite your neighbors over for a warm meal and not only share a meal, but share conversation.
2. Serve from home- With all of the do-it-yourself projects out there, there’s plenty of ways to get creative in your home!  Organize a volunteer group to create holiday bags for a local shelter or senior living community or even your neighborhood. 
3. Visit a local animal shelter- Animals need attention during the holidays as well.  Colder weather makes it harder to take animals outside to play; why not visit your local animal shelter and offer to donate your time playing with animals or helping out around the office?  If you have the resources, consider fostering an animal in need.
4. Give back to veterans and military families-  If you know a family, offer to bring over a meal or snacks over the weekend.  Offer to give the family a break and carpool to school or invite the family over for some fun at your house.

Places like the Salvation Army, local homeless shelters, and the American Red Cross are always searching for help around the holidays and year round.  Never volunteered before?  Try one of the 4 ways above and go from there!  All it takes is one small act of kindness to change someone’s day!

Other ways you can do good and initiate a great family tradition is to let the kids choose an angel from a giving tree, donate to your local coats for kids, or work in a soup kitchen.  There are many ways to do good during the season.  Share with us how your family spreads joy to others, comment below and tell us your family traditions during the season of giving.

Most senior living communities have a variety of group fitness classes on their calendars focused on balance, muscular strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular health, and the clients we work with are no different. But we’ve landed on a program tied in with our group fitness classes for seniors that has become wildly popular with the residents. It turns out, it’s been a great way to draw more participants into the exercise program, too.

The Popularity of Brain Activities

At one of our client’s communities we have many of the typical activities to stimulate the mind: card games, lectures, forums, resident committees, etc. And at one point we offered a “Memory” workshop series. This was so popular that we added a word of the day and the TriBond® game to our daily information board in the fitness center, along with including puzzles in our newsletter.

Over time, we noticed that more and more people started coming to the fitness center to learn the word of the day, to get the TriBond® puzzle, and to ask questions about the puzzle in the newsletter. It was obvious that our residents were craving ways to challenge their minds, and we were eager to respond in ways that would help them keep their minds strong or increase their abilities.

So we added a brain fitness class to our group fitness schedule, and that class is thriving each week! In the weekly offering, our residents have a wonderful time challenging their minds. They learn new games like Sudoku, and play old games like Memory™. They also engage in history trivia questions and challenges. One of our residents recently named all 44 presidents, in order, off the top of her head!

How to Start Brain Fitness Classes at Your CCRC

We’ve started offering this type of class at our other senior living client sites with similar popularity. Here’s some advice on how you can get it started in your community:

• Hold an event such as a brain fitness fair for your residents to see how fun and important it is to continue to work on the mind.
• During the event, pay attention to what the residents like and don’t like. This will help you build a class structure that works for them.
• Do not always make the class what they like. In order to strengthen the mind we need to challenge it. Typically the things that we do not like are the things that we find challenging.
• Begin putting puzzles in your weekly or monthly newsletters.
• ADVERTISE EVERYWHERE!

Brain Class Structure

For the structure of the class, consider the following ideas:

• Begin with a task that can be done while waiting for everyone to come in and sign in. (Example: Write your name with your non-dominant hand or with both hands at the same time.)
• Have classical music playing in the background. Some studies show this increases the brainwaves that stimulate thought process.
• Come prepared with four to five activities. Make it a variety of word games, long-term memory/short term memory, and deductive reasoning. Here are some sites that might provide some ideas: MazestoPrint.com, Activityconnection.com, BrainBashers.com, and ThinkablePuzzles.com.
• Leave time for discussion in small groups and then time with you for answers.
• Have the answers for all activities to share with the participants. (The residents will be angry if you don’t!)
• If you do not finish all activities, consider giving “homework.”

Learn more about physical exercises that help improve cognition here.

Let us know how your brain fitness program works in your setting! We’d love to keep sharing these kinds of ideas to improve the health of the residents we work with. 

October brings the awareness… It has gained a lot of attention over the past few years and helped to raise women’s awareness of this aspect of health they should not take lightly. I wanted to take this time to fully educate and extend the awareness on the topic of breast cancer by exposing a few myths about this disease and remind people to be aware year round. The following information is provided courtesy of National Cancer Institute:

The Breast Cancer Myth

Finding a lump in your breast means you have breast cancer.

The Truth

Only a small percentage of breast lumps turn out to be cancer.  But if you discover a persistent lump in your breast or notice any changes in breast tissue, it should never be ignored. It is very important that you see a physician for a clinical breast exam. He or she may possibly order breast imaging studies to determine if this lump is of concern or not. 

Take charge of your health by performing routine breast self-exams, establishing ongoing communication with your doctor, getting an annual clinical breast exam, and scheduling your routine screening mammograms.

The Breast Cancer Myth

Men do not get breast cancer; it affects women only.

The Truth

Quite the contrary, each year it is estimated that approximately 2,190 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 410 will die. While this percentage is still small, men should also check themselves periodically by doing a breast self-exam while in the shower and reporting any changes to their physicians. 

Breast cancer in men is usually detected as a hard lump underneath the nipple and areola.  Men carry a higher mortality than women do, primarily because awareness among men is less and they are less likely to assume a lump is breast cancer, which can cause a delay in seeking treatment.

The Breast Cancer Myth

A mammogram can cause breast cancer to spread.

The Truth

A mammogram, or x-ray of the breast, currently remains the gold standard for the early detection of breast cancer. Breast compression while getting a mammogram cannot cause cancer to spread. According to the National Cancer Institute, “The benefits of mammography, however, nearly always outweigh the potential harm from the radiation exposure. Mammograms require very small doses of radiation. The risk of harm from this radiation exposure is extremely low.”

The standard recommendation is an annual mammographic screening for women beginning at age 40. Base your decision on your physician's recommendation and be sure to discuss any remaining questions or concerns you may have with your physician.

The Breast Cancer Myth

If you have a family history of breast cancer, you are likely to develop breast cancer, too.

The Truth

While women who have a family history of breast cancer are in a higher risk group, most women who have breast cancer have no family history. Statistically only about 10% of individuals diagnosed with breast cancer have a family history of this disease.  

If you have a first degree relative with breast cancer: If you have a mother, daughter, or sister who developed breast cancer below the age of 50, you should consider some form of regular diagnostic breast imaging starting 10 years before the age of your relative’s diagnosis. 

If you have a second degree relative with breast cancer: If you have had a grandmother or aunt who was diagnosed with breast cancer, your risk increases slightly, but it is not in the same risk category as those who have a first degree relative with breast cancer. 

If you have multiple generations diagnosed with breast cancer on the same side of the family, or if there are several individuals who are first degree relatives to one another, or several family members diagnosed under age 50, the probability increases that there is a breast cancer gene contributing to the cause of this familial history.

The Breast Cancer Myth

Breast cancer is contagious.

The Truth

You cannot catch breast cancer or transfer it to someone else's body. Breast cancer is the result of uncontrolled cell growth of mutated cells that begin to spread into other tissues within the breast. However, you can reduce your risk by practicing a healthy lifestyle, being aware of the risk factors, and following an early detection plan so that you will be diagnosed early if breast cancer were to occur.

The Breast Cancer Myth

If the gene mutation BRCA1 or BRCA2 is detected in your DNA, you will definitely develop breast cancer.

The Truth

According to the National Cancer Institute, regarding families who are known to carry BRCA1 or BRCA2, “not every woman in such families carries a harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, and not every cancer in such families is linked to a harmful mutation in one of these genes. Furthermore, not every woman who has a harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation will develop breast and/or ovarian cancer. But, a woman who has inherited a harmful mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 is about five times more likely to develop breast cancer than a woman who does not have such a mutation.” For people who discover they have the harmful mutation, there are various proactive measures that can be done to reduce risk. These include taking a hormonal therapy called Tamoxifen or deciding to take a surgical prevention approach which is to have bilateral prophylactic mastectomies, usually done with reconstruction.  Most women will also have ovaries and fallopian tubes removed as well since there is no reliable screening test for the early stages of developing ovarian cancer.

The Breast Cancer Myth

Antiperspirants and deodorants cause breast cancer.

The Truth

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) are not aware of any conclusive evidence linking the use of underarm antiperspirants or deodorants and the subsequent development of breast cancer.

To throw in a little corporate fitness your way, exercise boosts the immune system and helps you to keep your weight in check. With as little as three hours of exercise per week, or about 30 minutes a day, a woman can start to lower her risk of breast cancer. This doesn’t mean you need a gym membership to start. Power walking is more than sufficient!

Click here for more information about this topic or to continuing supporting the cause year round.

When our members talk, we listen.  Sometimes we get good old fashioned direct, face-to-face feedback about what’s working and what isn’t, and sometimes they tell us what’s working by their participation.  Such was the case with a recent squat challenge we ran at one of our corporate sites.  In fact, the simple challenge was so effective, we’ve proceeded to design more programming around the same concept. 

Here’s a little of the history and data on the original corporate fitness center program:

The 30 Day Squat Challenge was designed to help our members get up from their desks and choose to be active during the long and busy work days in August.  The challenge ran the duration of August and we established a set number of daily squats the participants needed to complete, with every third day being a rest day. The participants could do the squats where ever they wanted (though we love when they come to the fitness center to do them) and they had all day to complete them, but they had to log their efforts at the Wellness Center.

On the first day of the challenge, the expectation was for participants to complete 50 squats, and by the end of the challenge, successful participants completed 250 squats!  We would never advocate performing 250 squats in a row (or even 50 in a row, for that matter), so allowing participants all day to complete the squats was a must.

I loved hearing the stories about when and where participants were squatting and who they were convincing to participate with them. A lot of members got their kids and spouses involved, making it a family affair. We had a bulletin board in the fitness center with squat variations and modifications for members to follow and we integrated the squats into our group fitness classes to keep the participants motivated.  It was really fun seeing everyone squatting in the fitness center; it really turned out to be a group effort.

When we mapped out this program, we set three goals we hoped to achieve by running the Squat Challenge:

1. We wanted to increase visits to the fitness center by three percent compared to August 2013.  This is a tough month for us to draw our members in because many of the employees are sneaking in final summer vacation time before their kids head off to school.
2. For those members who participated in the challenge, we wanted them to increase their total time spent being active through the day by 10 minutes each day.  We know how important even short, 10 minute bouts of physical activity can be for an individual’s health and we wanted to see if this program provided a means of stimulating more movement in our employee population.
3. Finally, we set a goal to achieve a 50% completion rate.  We’re constantly trying to determine what’s most effective at helping our members stick with a program, and we hoped to learn a little more about how small exercise goals might influence success rates.

The Squat Challenge was very successful with 50% completion rate.  We also met our fitness center visit goal (increased by three percent) for August, 2014, and half of the program participants reported that that increased their total active minutes per day by at least 10 minutes.  On top of the great numbers we also fielded some positive feedback.  One member said, “Loved this Challenge!  [It] made my legs so much stronger, [I] love when you can honestly feel results in a short amount of time.”  Another program participant said, “I started Roller Derby and if I hadn't done the squat challenge, I seriously would not have made it thru the 1^st practice. So thank you Squat Challenge!” 

Up next is an Ab Challenge.  We can’t wait to see how the members do and what we can achieve for participation and completion goals. 

If you’d like to learn more about NIFS best in class programming for corporate fitness centers, sign up for our best practice series.