Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

This blog was written by Mechelle Meadows. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

Do your corporate wellness clients know how many calories they are eating when they go out for lunch? A new law from the FDA will start requiring restaurants to post calorie listings and provide more detailed nutritional information upon request.

New Law Makes Calorie Information Easier to Find

While you can already find many restaurants’ caloric content online through a simple search, making this information more visible inside restaurants or on menus is a reasonable thing to ask. You don’t go into a restaurant and order a meal without knowing the price, so why blindly order an item that might exceed your entire calorie budget for the day?

Extending Calorie Count Transparency to Corporate Cafeterias

Let’s take this one step further for worksite health promotion. Many corporations have an onsite cafeteria whose management most likely has access to the nutritional content of their offerings.

At my site, we have partnered with our cafeteria vendor to advertise the calorie breakdown of its staple items as well as daily specials. This information is displayed visually in the cafeteria via posters and brochures and is also available online. Further, our cafeteria vendor has a “sticker system” where color-coded stickers mark the items that are low-fat, low-calorie, and low-carb.

Keep in mind as you set out to partner with a cafeteria vendor or a restaurant that they are businesses and therefore must make a profit .While their managers may be open to introducing healthier selections, they will keep their top-selling items, whether they have 200 calories or 1,200.

Here is where you can suggest to your corporate wellness clients the concept of moderation on their lunch break. Indulging every now and then is okay, but staying informed is the key to sustainable health.

This blog was written by Bethany Garrity. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

There's been some hubbub lately about whether employers can find their employees' monetary sweet spots when it comes to losing weight. Various articles such as this one tell of efforts to use money as a corporate reward to motivate overweight employees to shed pounds.

But let's face it: If losing weight were really that simple, most people would successfully lose (and keep off) weight without having to be paid to do so. The truth is that weight loss is incredibly complex and most people make the mistake of trying to manage their weight without engaging in regular exercise. The science proves that effective long-term strategies for weight management include dietary balance as well as regular exercise.

If you want your employees to have a healthy body weight, you have to help them focus on exercise. Throwing money at them won't fix it, but revamping workplace policies, establishing a health culture directed by your leadership, and creating opportunities for exercise at work will get them moving in the right direction. NIFS offers a variety of exciting programs that can help.

The benefits of a healthy workforce go far beyond the ability to control healthcare costs and improve absenteeism. Employees who feel better are simply able to do their jobs better.

This blog was written by Bethany Garrity. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

All too often, those of us working in corporate fitness find ourselves catering to the 15 percent of employees who would work out anyway—whether or not we, the stellar management staff, were onsite to assist and train them. That often leads me to ponder how we might creatively capture the attention of the other 85 percent.

Gimmicks and Creative Employee Health Promotions

I think the answer to that question depends significantly on the demographic and the corporate culture in which we’re working. But by and large, it seems that gimmicks (sadly) go a long way, as does making fitness fun. Those who might dabble in offerings at their worksite fitness center (a.k.a. fence sitters) could be nudged into regular participation with a desirable prize (a.k.a. money) or if we fitness professionals (a.k.a. magicians) could convince them it was fun.

I can say with confidence that NIFS staff member continue to generate unique, creative, and inviting opportunities for their audiences all over the country. Their enthusiasm for reaching that 85 percent never seems to wane. They are the experts!

Why Is It So Hard to Motivate Employees to Be Healthy?

I am left to wonder, though, what is it about human beings that makes changing behavior (particularly health behavior) so hard? We’re capable of being tricked into choosing better health, but we seldom do it without a nudge (intrinsic or extrinsic).

If you’re working to improve employee health (in a corporate fitness center, or from the human resources office), what works for your audience?

The numerous benefits of strength training for the musculoskeletal system are well documented, but could it provide additional benefits? Besides leading to increased strength and muscle endurance, better balance, and improved health of the muscles and connective tissue, what effect could it have on cognitive function, if any? Researchers in Canada recently set out to determine just that.

Strength Training Sharpens the Mind 

While we all could use a little more brain power, it is crucial for older adults to maintain a high level of cognitive functioning to keep their independence. Regular strength training can help them do this from a physical standpoint, but maintaining their cognitive abilities is equally important. Interestingly enough, a loss in cognitive abilities is a risk factor for falls.

Fortunately, though, the “Brain Power Study” found that progressive resistance training improved executive cognitive functioning (which is needed to maintain independent living) in women ages 65 to 75. And even one year later, the benefits were still notable. This makes for just one more reason for grandma and grandpa to hit the weights!

Take Advantage of Senior Wellness Programs

Many retirement communities now have a fitness center available, complete with onsite fitness center management specializing in senior fitness classes, senior wellness programs, and senior fitness management. Balance classes, strength classes, and aqua aerobics classes are just a few of the many ways to get in regular physical activity during the golden years.

It might be a little intimidating at first, but encourage the loved ones in your life who are getting older to begin a regular fitness routine that works for them. It will not only help maintain their physical health, but evidence is emerging that it can do just as much for their cognitive health.

What are some of the other ways you or your loved ones have found to keep moving, even as time goes on?

This blog was written by Bethany Garrity. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

Are your employees spending too many hours per week at work and not enough hours being active through the week because it's hard to find time to exercise? If your answer is a resounding yes, consider using their "too much time at work" to your employee health advantage. 

It's well known that adults in the U.S. do not get enough exercise daily. But that’s even more likely to be the case for adults with children at home under 18. Throw a 50+-hour-per-week job into the mix and getting regular exercise can seem all but impossible.

You can't do much to change the dizzying schedule of working parents, but you can make it easier for your captive audience (aka your employees) to choose to be an active audience when they are at work.

Building an onsite corporate fitness center might be the way to go. But if that seems expensive, intense, or impossible, think about offering a corporate fitness program that includes group classes (such as these offered by NIFS), walking groups, or incentives for running or cycling commuters. Start an "exercise with the execs" program where employees can join the C-suite folks for a walk and a chance to chat about how the company is doing, where it’s headed, and so on. 

With the right mix of creativity, hard work, and resource support, you can turn your captive audience into an active audience--and help improve their work-life balance.

This blog was written by Bethany Garrity. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

A recently released Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report noted that obesity rates in the U.S. were steady last year compared with 2008 rates. This is good news because once we stop the health decline, we can start to make improvements.

Even better news from this report is that more Americans report being physically active--up to 34.7 percent compared with 31.9 percent in 2008. This is also good news; moving more can’t be bad. Regular exercise is a key to successful weight loss and weight management. If that doesn’t motivate overweight employees to move more, note some of the many other scientifically proven benefits of engaging in regular exercise.

We're cautiously optimistic. Health professionals across the country are doing great work to help address the obesity epidemic. Workplaces are driving much of that meaningful work in their communities with onsite corporate fitness centers, corporate fitness programs, wellness-focused benefits, healthy food options in cafeterias, and health cultures and policies that support good choices.

More work needs to be done. What are you doing to build a healthy workforce and help overweight employees lose pounds?

This blog was written by Kara Shipman. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

We’ve all heard the staggering facts: One in three children is overweight or obese. This rate is three times higher than it was 30 years ago. If these trends continue, nearly 50 percent of the child population could be obese in a matter of years. 

Why Is Childhood Obesity a Problem for Employers?

But why does childhood obesity matter to employers? Does childhood obesity even come to mind when employers think of worksite wellness? It should. Why? Because employers’ health insurance covers every member of the family up to a certain age—and that includes kids. And obese kids are at risk for a variety of complications and serious illnesses.

Making Kids Part of the Health Culture

I know it can be difficult to target programs toward children, especially if you have age restrictions at your onsite fitness center. One of the things NIFS did recently was put on a Kids' Camp, offering summer-camp–style workout sessions for children. Parents got to drop off the kids and work out at the facility while the kids had fun getting their recommended daily 60 minutes of physical activity.

When employers show that they care about the health of the entire family, they’ll appeal to the parents. This, in turn, may lead to more involvement in the corporate wellness program. Meanwhile, making kids and parents healthier helps control healthcare costs.

How do you incorporate families in your worksite wellness offerings?

This blog was written by Bethany Garrity. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

According to Playreport, an international project focused on children, families and play, children in a recent study overwhelmingly preferred to play with their parents versus watching TV or getting on the Internet. Sadly, 25 percent of parents interviewed reported feeling too stressed to play with their children. Further, 45 percent of parents don't feel like they have enough time to play with their kids.

Maybe parents have forgotten how to play. Maybe our work-life balance is so poor that we work too hard, sleep too little, or sit too long to remember what it's like to have fun playing games. Or maybe we just need a little reminder.

Remember recess? What if your employees engaged in occasional recess at work? What if you took the concept of worksite wellness or corporate fitness programs to a whole new level and invited everyone to get crazy with a game of kickball in the parking lot. What if you hosted a Wii tournament in the cafeteria? Even better, what if you had a hula-hoop challenge or a treadmill marathon to raise money for a corporate-sponsored charity?

Maybe, just maybe, if employees remembered how to have fun being active, they could engage more at work and at home.

Have you incorporated play at work yet?  What are you waiting for?

This blog was written by Mechelle Meadows. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

CNN recently reported on an experiment by Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition, who attempted to prove that weight loss is dependent only on calorie restriction. To test his theory, for 10 weeks he followed a diet of two-thirds “convenience store” foods (mostly Twinkies, but also Doritos, Oreos, etc.) and one-third vegetables and protein. He restricted himself to 1,800 calories per day and dropped 27 pounds, lost a significant body fat percentage, and improved his cholesterol levels.

Will the Twinkie Diet Work for You?

Many people fall into the trap of thinking that because they eat healthy foods—including fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains—they are healthy. In reality, these people may still be overeating and thus gaining weight because they never find the balance between calories in versus calories out.

Haub lost his weight because although his past diet consisted of healthier foods, it was simply too much food for his body. However, he admits that he would not recommend this diet to anyone and is “not geared to say this is a good thing to do.”

Calories Matter—But So Do Nutrients

This article presents a great reinforcement that calories do matter. But before you load up your grocery cart with Hostess and Little Debbie goodies, consider your overall quality of life beyond the pounds. Many of these foods contain trans fats, which are notorious for clogging arteries and increasing bad cholesterol (LDL). These snacks are also low in fiber and protein, two nutrients that keep the stomach fuller longer, discouraging overeating.

So the fact remains: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

This blog was written by Lisa Larkin. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

Sleep and exercise can be a vicious cycle. The more tired you are, the less motivation you have to exercise. Working in a corporate fitness program, I see a lot of tired and stressed people. The onsite fitness facility seems to help improve their moods.

When I’m tired, the last thing I feel like doing is exercising. But then I feel worse because I didn’t exercise. Even getting up and going for a 15-minute walk can help to improve your mood, stress level, confidence, and sleep patterns. Most people will tell you they feel better after exercise. 

Physical activity can help to clear your mind and concentrate better at work, which will help you sleep better at night, too.

Even though sleep is important for health and daily functioning, the average person doesn’t get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep a night. So, why not get up and start exercising now to help you sleep longer and better tonight?