Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

You’re busy, we publish at least a couple blogs a week, and there’s a good chance ours isn’t the only blog you read.  I get it – it’s tough to stay on top of all of that reading.  So I thought I’d help you get your “read more” resolution kicked off on the right foot by compiling a “best of” list for NIFS Corporate Fitness and Active Aging blog in 2013. 

Check out the list below and let us know if we missed one of your favs. 

Most Viewed Blog:  Employee Health and Nutrition:  The Pros and Cons of Organic Foods

We must have hit a hot topic on this one.  It’s a quick read covering basic the pros and cons of helping to improve your employee’s health by offering organic food options at work. 

Most Controversial Blog:  Corporate Wellness:  Is Obesity Really a Disease

In 2013, the American Medical Association declared obesity a disease.  We couldn’t help ourselves – we had to write about their declaration.  It has significant, as yet not dealt with, implications.  This blog series generated a lot of buzz in the social sphere.

Most Practical/Useful Blog:  3 Must-Dos During a Senior Living Fitness Center Renovation

This two part blog was written with much love and direct experience.  Melissa, one of NIFS managers who just lived through a fitness center renovation at the community where she works, puts forward some very practical advice on how to help both your fitness staff and your residents survive the dreaded change. 

Best Vlog Series:  Free Workout Fridays

In May, 2013, we launched a weekly Free Workout Friday series.  It’s been a great outlet for our creative staff to share a variety of simple workouts you can do with limited (or no) equipment.  The most popular video we posted was on how to use a circular resistance band for an effective workout.  Check out NIFS Corporate Fitness Youtube channel for more Free Workout Friday options.

Best “Tell It Like It Is” Blog:  Top Five Reasons Your Residents Don’t Engage in Wellness

I’m nothing if not direct.  In this blog, I outline the five most common reasons I see that residents don’t participate in wellness in your community.  If wellness has floundered in your organization and if you can’t seem to get staff or resident buy in, you might want to review these reasons to see if any of them ring true. 

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I am a recovering perfectionist. It’s an ongoing struggle, but every day I get more comfortable with not being the best at everything. And every day, I feel a little happier because of this attitude. Here are my thoughts as to why.

From an early age, we are taught that 100 percent is the best. Those three numbers represent the perfect indication of success. We are encouraged to give 100 percent of our efforts and to be the best we can possibly be. Some people (myself included) misconstrue this message to  mean anything less than 100 percent is unacceptable.

All-or-Nothing Thinking Can Derail Your Health

As a wellness coach, I often see clients mirror these perfectionist tendencies. For example, some may think their diet is ruined because they ate a donut for breakfast and therefore make poor eating choices for their other meals. Others feel it is pointless to lace up their running shoes unless they have time for a 5-mile run, and stay in and watch TV instead of going for a 2-mile run.

Cognitive-behavioral therapists call this type of thinking an all-or-nothing cognitive distortion. It’s an unhealthy perspective for one simple reason: No one achieves 100 percent of their goals 100 percent of the time. No one.

For perfectionists who struggle to make healthy lifestyle choices (whether it be avoiding the vending machine at work or exercising a certain number of times per week), not achieving 100 percent of a goal can be discouraging, if not downright depressing. This is unfortunate because many people fail to give themselves credit for the healthy choices they do make.

The 65–85 Rule as It Applies to Fitness

My road to recovering from my all-or-nothing thinking patterns began with a simple rule:

          Aim to be successful 65 to 85 percent of the time.

I can just imagine the looks of disbelief from my fellow perfectionists. Give me a moment to explain why the 65–85 percent successful rule is such a beautiful thing.

• It takes away the pressure. True perfectionists understand the crushing pressure of attempting to achieve that 100 percent mark all the time. Eliminating that pressure can actually make working toward the goal enjoyable.
• It allows for life to happen. Kids get sick. You become injured. We must overcome any number of hurdles on a daily basis to eat healthy and exercise. Unfortunately, some hurdles are bigger and longer, and require more time and effort to overcome. By aiming to be 65–85% successful, you have a built-in cushion to accommodate life’s curve balls.
• It is a good indication your goal is not too easy or not too hard. If you are 65–85 percent successful at your goal, I believe this means your goal is challenging enough to promote healthy behavior changes without being too difficult.

Personally, I believe adopting this 65–85 percent attitude has been one of best decisions of my life. I don’t beat myself up if I occasionally eat too much chocolate because I know I eat pretty darn healthy most of the time. If I only have time to run 3 miles instead of 6 because I feel unusually tired, I congratulate myself for getting out the door in the first place.

I’ve found that I’ve actually become healthier (and most importantly, happier) by letting go of my perfectionist thinking. I hope reading my thoughts will persuade you to try to do the same!

First and foremost, let’s make some things clear about resolutions. When you make a resolution, you have to remember that it is not just a commitment for January 1; it is for 365 days. Make sure from the beginning it is something that is a long-term goal and a change you want to see. If it is something you have repeatedly tried to do each year, it may be time to reevaluate and come up with a different strategy this year. Otherwise, you will set yourself up to fail.

Don’t be the object of the new year’s resolution jokes. Come into the new year with the mindset that resolutions are achievable if you set yourself up for success. Here are some ways that you can do this.

Make Your Resolutions SMART Goals

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time bound:

• Specific: Make resolutions clear, concise, and well-defined.
• Measurable: Make sure you have a way to measure your progress and success. Goals should have time frames, dates, amounts, and other quantifiable numbers.
• Attainable/realistic: Your goal should be something that is manageable, and something you believe you can succeed in reaching.
• Time bound: Have a starting point and an end point. Resolutions that will take place over the entire year should be broken down into short-term and longer-term goals.

Choose the Right Resolutions

If you decide to do something, it has to be something that you want to do. Pick something that has meaning behind it for you personally. Oftentimes resolutions come from outside sources and pressures. If the idea originates with you, you’re more likely to commit.

Stick Your Resolutions with Existing Habits

The easier you make the habit, the more likely you are to stick to it. If your resolution is to take a vitamin every day, put the vitamin container next to your toothbrush that you use each morning. Make the new habit part of an existing one.

Give Yourself a Trial Run

Try your resolution for at least 21 days (it takes at least this long to create a habit). Give yourself these days as a trial period. This will give you some room to make mistakes and tweak your goal to make it more realistic.

Measure Your Progress

Many of us get frustrated and give up on resolutions because we have tunnel vision to the end result, which may take all 365 days to achieve. If your resolutions and goals are smart, it should be easy to track the progress you are making, which will help keep you motivated. 

The holidays are in full swing and everyone is singing about jingling bells, and Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen,  Comet and Cupid, Donner and Blizten, and Rudolph of course.  Another reoccurring song or tradition that has become a part of our culture in various ways is the 12 Days of Christmas.  We see it on TV with 12 Days of Giveaways, our staff did 12 Days of Fitness via Instagram, and all over Facebook there have been 12 days of something or another where companies thank you for supporting them by offering contests throughout the 12 days. 

This got me thinking about how we jump on that wagon, easy enough… we are going to offer the 12 Days of Wellness.  So I set out to ask around the office, when do the 12 Days of Christmas occur?  Most people, including myself thought “around the 13^th or 14^th?”, 12 days out from Christmas.   Doh, I’ll just google it. Here I thought I’d engage people, because that’s what we are good at, engaging your residents in your senior living communities or your corporate wellness members and strike up a conversation.   I could have gotten the answer right away if I just Googled it. 

If you haven’t Googled it yourself, in general you would find that the 12 Days of Christmas actually begins on Christmas and carries on for 12 days ending on January 5.  If you need a more detailed explanation, I recommend you Google it for yourself as it does vary between beliefs.

Back to me jumping on the band wagon to celebrate 12 days…  Join us via our Facebook page or Twitter for the 12 Days of Wellness starting tomorrow.  As we head into the New Year and establish those dreadful resolutions, take into account more than just the typical exercise more, lose 10 pounds, eat better.  There are more aspects to your overall wellness that will help you lead a healthier life.  Subscribe to our blog, we have some new authors from our staff in 2014 along with some great programs to share with you in our NIFS Best Practices series where we will feature some of our most successful programs in both Corporate Fitness settings and Active Aging communities.

Enjoy the holiday season and our 12 Days of Wellness!

With parties in full swing and family gatherings next week, the last thing you want to be is SICK!  Tis’ the season for sneezing and wheezing.  When you aren’t feeling 100% and you cough or sneeze, those germs float into the air and spread to the next person.  Take these steps to help prevent the sharing of germs so you can share gifts instead!

• Cover your mouth when sneezing or coughing, if you can’t get a tissue in time cough into your elbow instead of your hands!

• Avoid touching your mouth, nose or eyes where germs invade your system! 

• Wash your hands often; your best option is with warm water and soap.  The most effective way to prevent the spread of germs is by washing your hands to kill those germs.

Hand washing 101... be smart about washing your hands.  Here are a few tips for when it’s important to be sure you are thoroughly scrubbing those hands between your fingers, backs of hands and your wrists!

Wash Hands Before:

Eating and preparing meals

When caring for an injured or sick person

Inserting or removing contact lenses

Wash Hands After:

Preparing food, especially raw meat

Changing diapers or using the bathroom

Taking care of animals

Handling garbage and cleaners

Use of Alcohol Based Hand Sanitizer:

Choose those that contain 60% alcohol

Apply enough to cover hands completely

Rub hands together until dry

Have your family adopt these simple hand washing habits to help limit the transfer of bacteria and viruses to lessen your chances of being sick this holiday season!  

What’s happening in corporate wellness programs right now could be characterized as something of a revolt. Well, revolt might be a little dramatic (don’t think Arab Spring), but perhaps it’s more appropriate to say that those who are the target of carrot/stick employee wellness strategies are pushing back.

They’re pushing back on what has been conventional wisdom for a while: that health-risk assessments and biometric screenings are central (dare I say foundational?) to a sound, data-driven corporate wellness initiative. Employees are pushing back on penalties for not playing, and they’re pushing back on programs that brand failure for anyone who doesn’t achieve arbitrarily selected thresholds for biometric markers. They’re growing intolerant of workplace cultural norms that scream hypocrisy in the face of company wellness policies.  

As someone involved in the world of corporate health, you’d think I would land squarely on the side of gathering the data and using it to capture ROI. But I don’t; it’s just not that black and white.

Why All the Numbers All of the Time?

What I’m seeing in the industry is that corporate wellness providers bow to the number-focus of the CFO or the CEO and communicate in ROI-speak that uses words and phrases like engagement and human capital. To the untrained eye, you’d think “engagement” and “human capital” would have something to do with…well, humans. But it turns out, most of the time they have more to do with participation quotas, biometric thresholds, and productivity benchmarks than with the actual people who need tools, resources, and support to make healthier choices.

Wellness vendors position and market themselves by spouting figures and “facts” (and I use that word loosely), quoting studies and experts (should I use that word loosely, too?). They put into print ridiculous statistics that have ridiculous consequences—all in the name of numbers, data, and ROI.

Raise Your Hand If You Launched a Career in Corporate Wellness to Calculate ROI.

Accountants are passionate about numbers. Fitness specialists are passionate about people. Seriously, most of us got into this business because we were passionate about forming relationships with people so that they would trust we had their best interest in mind when we suggested resources that would help them make healthier choices. As an industry, we’ve largely forgotten our roots, which grew from wanting to help people.

So who’s to blame? Maybe this isn’t the CEO’s fault; maybe it’s just the way of the world. Maybe it’s the almighty dollar we should be blaming. (I predict a comment that blames the government.) Who knows, maybe it’s my fault. I don’t know where the blame goes, but I don’t think it really matters at this point. We’ve simply swung the pendulum too far onto the numbers side of the equation and we forgot about the people.

You know, the people—the individuals who have complicated, busy, overwhelming and typically unhealthy lives. Like the 56-year-old woman with high blood pressure and back pain who is raising her grandchildren and who has no time to take care of herself. Or the single working parent who works by day, goes to school by night, and who is doing everything he can to ensure his daughter has a better life. He struggles to find time to grocery shop, not to mention cook a meal. And then there’s the hourly call center employee who feels hovered-over by her supervisor, who smokes (though she wants to quit but isn’t sure where to start), and who is pregnant with her first child.

These Employees Need Our Help.

They need a relationship with a wellness professional who cares more about the individual accomplishments of the few than the participation quota of the company. They need someone to stand up and say, “I care about you, and I am here to listen to you, to help you find the tools and resources you need. I’m here to help you celebrate your successes and pick you up when you falter on your path to better health.”

Because at the end of the day, if we don’t move the needle on the health of the individuals, then the corporate strategy means nothing. If the only behavior we incentivize is for people to go get their wellness forms signed so they can “get cash for doing it,” we’ve missed an opportunity.

If you are a super shopper and out and about shopping all day getting the best Christmas gifts, you are burning some calories as you walk store to store carrying all those shopping bags.  If you are an online shopper, you’re missing out.  Set up a standing ordering station with your computer so you are at least up on your feet!!!  If you prefer to stay at home whether it’s to online shop or simply stay in due to weather here are a few exercises that could help you get that workout in without leaving the comfort of your home! 

Don’t forget, you don’t want to work a cold muscle.  You can warm up simply by marching in place for a few minutes to get your blood pumping and then find some space to complete the following:

25 Jumping Jacks – piece of cake you’ve done these since you were 5.  Don’t cheat yourself and make sure you fully extend your arms over head.

15 Squats – your body weight helps provide resistance.  Be sure to sit your hips back and keep your chest up as you lower into the squat.  As you stand up, drive through your feet and
make sure your knees never go past your toes.

Drop and give me 10 (20 if you are advanced) – strive for 10 pushups; if you need to do a modified push up on your knees get to it! Keep your body in a straight line and lower your upper body toward the floor making sure the hips stay down maintaining that line. Push through your hands, chest and shouldersto push yourself up.

20 Alternating Lunges (10 on each side – cake!) – with hands on hips, step forward with your right foot and lower your body straight down bending both knees keeping your chest and head up making sure to not lean over that front leg.  Keeping your right knee in line with the ankle, push through your foot standing back up in the starting position.  Repeat by stepping forward with your left foot.  If alternating is difficult, do 10 lunges on the right and then switch to the left.

PLANK! – hold the plank position on your forearms or up on your hands like a push up for 30 seconds (strive for more if you can).  Engage your core and maintain that straight line.  Don’t forget to breathe; you never want to hold your breath when performing exercises. 

Repeat these five exercises 3-4 times and then grab that wrapping paper and get busy, I suggest standing at your kitchen table to burn a few extra calories! 

Fact:

Generating reliable and accurate ROI on a corporate wellness program (I mean the whole thing--biometric screenings, absenteeism, presenteeism, HRA, wellness programming/activities, EAP, etc.) is really, really, really challenging. It requires lots of money, and lots of really smart people who’ve done that kind of work more than once or twice.

Fact:

Piecing out the impact of your corporate fitness center as a standalone element and then determining reliable and accurate ROI from that single piece of your overall strategy is, well, about as likely as spotting a unicorn.

You may be thinking to yourself, “But wait…I just saw an article on ROI for corporate fitness and that said 3:1 or 5:1 or 7:1 returns were possible. What’s with the unicorns and the impossibility of calculating ROI for corporate fitness?” It’s true that there is a continuous stream of articles about wellness ROI, and I suspect that there are business development teams for corporate wellness vendors who are armed to the gills with literature that “proves” why their service/product generates the best ROI for said client.

You see, there’s a lot of posturing in the corporate wellness market. The industry boasts some very powerful vendors--some of whom have the money and smarts to do the work required in order to generate reliable and accurate ROI. The industry also has a lot of other vendors who don’t have those tools, but who are still competing against those who do. Of this second group, there are two types: the vendor who reports ROI that is neither reliable nor accurate (unicorn anyone?), and the vendor who doesn’t report ROI.

Honestly, it’s time for employers to stop beating the ROI drum. (And I’m not the only one who thinks so. Read this article, or this one, or this one.)

ROI is hard to capture because corporate wellness is complex. There are a lot of moving parts, and to date, the industry has not been able to come together on metrics that are consistent. While this is true for most of the agreed-upon elements of a corporate wellness strategy, let’s just pull out corporate fitness to get a sense of the level of complexity we’re dealing with overall.

There are a variety of data points that can be captured for corporate fitness programs:

Membership:

Any vendor worth its salt will have some kind of prescreening process in place that, once completed, will allow the employee to join the fitness center. (Don’t just take my word for it; check out the standards provided by the American College of Sports Medicine in its Health/Fitness Facility Standards and Guidelines text.) Some vendors skip this process and everyone is instantly a member because they are employees. So the organization with this process instantly reports higher membership (100%!) than the vendor who requires a responsible process be completed prior to gaining membership.

Fitness assessments:

Field tests to assess the fitness level of a participant are highly variable and the chosen tests can sway the results depending on the population. It’s the nature of a field test; they aren’t as accurate as in the lab.

Visit data:

By now, software to track utilization is widely available at fairly minimal cost. However, if the business isn’t willing to pay for the software, fitness staff are left to track visit data with a manual tally. In either case, software or sign-in sheets, there are issues that can result in significant errors in data collection. Even if we forgive those errors or find a way to account for them, vendors count visit groups differently. “Frequent visitors” might be represented by members with at least one visit per month for vendor A, but vendor B may determine that at least one visit per week is required to achieve “frequent visitor” status.

Mixing those variables quickly creates a lot of inconsistency from one program to the next, making it exceptionally hard to compare apples to apples. Then you have other related data to consider—like gym membership subsidy and how to count employee-users of that benefit against or with your corporate fitness center users. Similarly, how do you capture the value, health benefits, and cost of employees who never step foot in the corporate fitness center but maintain their own exercise regimen at home?

So if your CFO isn’t going to sniff out ROI on your corporate wellness strategy or any of the individual elements like your worksite fitness center, what should you be looking to for data and outcomes you can believe? Rest assured, I’m not suggesting we revert back to all fluff and feel-good for employee wellness. As an alternative to traditional ROI, consider shifting your thinking toward value. To find out more about what I mean, check a two-part blog I wrote about a year ago where I outlined some ways to think about value from your corporate fitness center. You can read part one here and part two here.

If you're looking for how to build the very best corporate fitness center you can for your employees, consider our short webinar series:  The Guide to Successful Corporate Fitness Centers.

Happy Thanksgiving!!  Some of you have already been active by participating in a Turkey Trot or Drumstick Dash, others may be enjoying some morning coffee while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, or on the road traveling to see family, and those extra special individuals are busy cooking today’s feast.  We all celebrate differently and have family traditions and things are thankful for.  We are thankful for our amazing staff and the hard work they put in year round.  We asked them to share what they are thankful for, what their favorite Thanksgiving dishes are, and about their family traditions.

Thanksgiving has always been an important holiday for the entire family to get together. When I married my husband at first we had to split Thanksgiving between the two families. After the first two years of doing this, my husband and I asked to hold the entire day’s events at our place and invite all family from both sides. We also invited family friends. This was turned into a wonderful tradition that allowed everyone to get together and not run from one place to another throughout the day. This leads to my thing I am most thankful for, which is my WHOLE family and that we do not have a division of "my family" or "your family."  -Cathy Hampe

We have some competitive people in the family, and they do a lot of “trash talking”.  We usually have some sort of dodge ball, kickball, or bball game….which is hilarious in itself because not all of us are athletic! I have one aunt that brings board games every year and no one ever wants to play, so that’s usually another funny episode because she’s trying to talk anyone and everyone into playing with her.  -Lisa Larkin

This probably started when we were teenagers, but my brothers and I would set a plastic trash can a certain distance from the throwing line. Then we would throw a football at the trash can to try to hit it. If we hit it, the trash can was moved farther away. If you missed, you were out. Very simple, but always a good time with my bro’s.   -Michael Boyle

My favorite part is introducing healthy options to my boyfriend’s family.  This is the 3^rd year I will be cooking with his mom, it’s really fun to watch them devour the healthier options that they would have never imagined liking. I’m also thankful for the loving family I have supporting me, near and far.  –Sarah Johnson

My dad’s entire family started the family reunion type Thanksgiving back in the 1980’s with my grandfather having seven siblings. We used to rent out an old farmhouse and since have moved to various churches. The entire meal is a pot luck and having family coming from all over the world there is an amazing selection of food... Greek breads, German desserts, Asian salads, the best part of this meal is the homemade ice cream!  -Amy Briggs

My favorite part of the holiday is just getting to spend the day with my family.  It is so nice to be able to relax, enjoy each other’s company and be thankful for one other.  I am most thankful for my children, family, friends and health!  -Shawna Kendrick

I am thankful that a have the most amazing family, a wonderful job, my house, and my two awesome dogs!  After dinner, our entire family crowds into the living room to watch the Dallas Cowboys play football.  -Diana Price

My oldest son served in Iraq and missed Thanksgiving with our family for 4 years in a row.  Thanksgiving is so important to us because we feel so thankful that he is home and is able to spend Thanksgiving with us again! He has been home for the last 5 Thanksgivings, but I never forget the importance of being blessed when I look across the table and see him among us!  -Ruth Reyna

I enjoy waking up Thanksgiving morning to do a local 5k Turkey Trot with my family- no better way to start the day than with some exercise!  My favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal is pie, pie, and more pie. Did I mention pie?  -Stephanie Parsons

This isn't really a tradition, and it only happened last year. But my wife and I were trimming our turkey in one of those disposable tin foil turkey pans. Our dog was right under foot waiting for something to drop. After about 5 minutes we look down to see our dog's head soaking wet. Apparently the pan sprung a leak and the turkey grease was running off the counter right into our dog's mouth in what I can only imagine was pure bliss. Surprisingly not a drop touched the floor and I'm sure this goes down as one of the greatest days of our dog's life. So from now on, we'll probably give our dog some turkey grease with her food. (the turkey was good too!)  -Doug Trefun

My favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal is the dressing.  I only eat dressing once or twice a year and I ask my mom to make it.  She uses my grandmother’s recipe that I loved so much as a child.  -Matt Reeves

Our family tradition is getting in circle all holding hands telling what we are thankful for, toasting to them and then we do a gobble off. Whomever has the best turkey gobble gets to take the traveling turkey home for the year. For some reason the turkey has never made it to my home.  -Sheila Heavin

What is your favorite non-food related way you spend this holiday with your family? Every year we do a “Turkey Bowl”. My dad’s family gets together at the local college and plays flag football on the field. Last year we had over 50 people play from ages 4-65. We do a traditional tailgate in the parking lot after the game. It is a great way for us to get together before we go our separate ways to other relatives houses for thanksgiving dinner. It’s also a great way to be active before all the holiday treats.  -Mistie Hayhow

I’m thankful for our healthy girls and to not be pregnant and nauseous this Thanksgiving.  –Emily Davenport

My personal fav is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. But my grandmas pumpkin pie always has a strong family presence.  -Bethany Garrity

My family always participates in the Galloping Gobbler, which is a 4 mile race back in my hometown. My entire family dreads it but we all do it because it is something that my mother loves to do! She gets so excited every year, that she wakes us all up around 6 am to the Rocky Theme Song blaring!! It’s an interesting way to start Thanksgiving! -Margaret Allgeier

I am thankful for family.  -Christy Monday

My immediate family gets up at the crack of dawn and drives to Ohio where my great aunt and extended family gather for Thanksgiving lunch.  Afterwards, we take a walk around the farm to get in some activity after the big meal.  The rest of the visit is spent catching up with family, watching the Macy’s Day Parade and football.   -Melissa Cusick

What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving traditions?

In part one we discussed ways to keep your members active throughout the renovation
project.  Now it is finally here, the moment you and your members have been waiting for (drum roll please…) The Fitness Center is reopened!  People are excited, expectations are high and there are lots of questions.  How do you use this new machine?  What settings are correct for me?  Etcetera, etcetera!  Your next steps are imperative for ensuring that members know how to use the new machines safely and are satisfied that their wait was worth it!  Breaking down the process into three sections will set you and your fitness center up for success.  Start off with general information about the new equipment and gradually get more specific by offering the following:

1. New Equipment Orientations

Begin by offering new equipment orientations to small groups.  The goal of the New Equipment Orientation phase is to provide a general overview of the new equipment to the small group by indicating where adjustments can be made, how to modify the amount of weight, safety features along with any other bells and whistles that apply.  Offering an overview of the new machines with specifics on how to use them can be a great resource for members that are interested in trying out the machines independently after gaining preliminary information.  The New Equipment Orientations could be paired nicely with an informational presentation where members have the opportunity to engage in a Q and A session. This is still the general information phase.  Residents wanting individualized instruction can register for a one on one appointment in which the machines can be adjusted specifically for them.

2. One on One Appointments

It is time to make the sessions personal by going one on one.  Begin by taking a member around to each new piece of equipment and adjusting the setting and weight resistance correctly for that individual.  Record the settings onto a program card that the member can then access each time he/she visits the Fitness Center.  Keep in mind that you could be reviewing a lot of information at one time…and this could become overwhelming to the member.  If this is the case then offer to meet with the member again in the near future to review the machines again.  Between the follow up sessions to review the new equipment and the member having access to his/her program card to practice setting the new equipment independently, each member’s comfort level with the new equipment should significantly improve.

3. Exercise Prescriptions:

Now comes the fun part: Add variety.  As the member becomes more comfortable with the new equipment, now is the time to fuse the new pieces with the old.  Create an Exercise Prescription Routine based on the member’s goals that include a variety of machines, bands, dumbbells, body weight exercises…having fun yet?  Well your member’s should be!  Follow up with the member every so often to ask about their exercise routine and be prepared to present a new and fun challenge.

Now your members are familiar with the new equipment and can take ownership of their fitness routines.  They can touch base with Health Fitness Specialists as needed and can move forward into the great services that your fitness center provides.  Before you know it the renovations will be a thing of the past.

Are you considering renovations in your Fitness Center or have you already been through this process?  What worked for you?