Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

There are a lot of news releases lately outlining new construction or expansion projects in senior living. Many of those projects include outfitting a brand new or dramatically overhauled community fitness center.

Because the construction projects are typically significant and encompass more space than just a fitness center, it’s easy to get lost in the details about treadmill features when you need to answer questions about flooring, HVAC demands, city permits, and more. And even within the four walls of the senior fitness center, there are several other things to be concerned about beyond simply selecting the equipment.

[Read More: 5 things to avoid when building a fitness center for senior living]

To help you streamline decision making about your community's new fitness center and increase the chances that the purchase decisions you make are the right ones, we've offered some key questions to ask before you buy fitness equipment to outfit your updated space.  The list isn't comprehensive (you should hire a consultant for that), but it will provide a solid starting point to get to the bottom of determining what’s best for your residents.

As you’re working with the reps, make sure you’re clear about the age and ability level of your intended user. The same is true if you want to send out residents to test equipment at a local gym (sales reps may offer this). Make sure you send residents who are a good representation of those you expect will use your updated fitness amenities.

And one last note of clarification before you dive into the questions. NIFS does not sell any exercise equipment, nor do we receive any benefit from equipment manufacturers. These questions are based purely on our years of experience helping clients design and equip their fitness centers for a range of audiences.

Strength Equipment

It comes in a lot of shapes and sizes.

• Pneumatic: An air compressor regulates the amount of pressure against which the user works.
• Selectorized: Plate adjusted, with the user pulling out and reinserting a pin for the desired weight.
• Band technology: Weights are replaced with bands used as pulleys to generate resistance.
• Body resistance: The user works against his or her own body weight (and gravity) to generate a workload.

When it comes to thinking through questions for your sales reps, consider these:

• How is the resistance adjusted by the user?
• What is the starting weight for each piece and can that be lowered in our order if our population needs that?
• Are the seat heights, leg positions, seat backs, etc. adjustable per user? If so, how are they adjusted?
• Is there any other equipment I need to purchase to make your equipment fully functional for us? (Some equipment requires a computer, other equipment requires a compressor, etc.).
• What is the warranty on the equipment?
• (When the equipment comes with a software component…) Do you provide training to our onsite staff to learn how to make the best use of your software? Do you offer technical support?

Cardiovascular Equipment

In general, your fitness facility should have a range of cardiovascular equipment, including treadmills, ellipticals, recumbent cross-trainers (think NuStep or a similar product), and bikes. In some cases, we’ve seen rowing machines included, too. (They provide a great workout; we’re just not sure it’s an ideal piece for most residents.)

Some basic questions are true for each type of cardiovascular equipment:

• What’s the warranty?
• Who is the warranty-certified repair company in our area?
• What are the power needs for this piece?
• Can I see the detailed screen of the computer console? (You’ll want to see how user-friendly it is for your audience.)
• Does it connect with any wearable technology, or can we opt for an interactive console?
• If we don’t elect an interactive console now, can we change them out later?
• Treadmills
  • What’s the step height on your treadmills?
  • What’s the starting speed?

• Does the unit decline or only incline?

Ellipticals

• Is the piece rear- or side-entry?
• What is the clearance threshold or step height to access the piece?
• Does it come with stationary arms?
• Does the elliptical require external power? If not, (1) ask what the starting wattage requirement is, and (2) ask if there is an optional AC adapter. If no adapter is available, note that we’ve found anything requiring a starting wattage higher than about 15W is too difficult for many residents to power.

Bikes

You’ll want to consider traditional upright bikes and recumbent bikes. Matrix offers a hybrid bike that presents an interesting option as well.

• Do you have an upright bike with a pass-through design?
• Does the bike require external power? If not, (1) ask what the starting wattage requirement is, and (2) ask if there is an optional AC adapter. If no adapter is available, note that we’ve found anything requiring a starting wattage higher than about 15W is too difficult for many residents to power.

General Questions

These are general questions to ask any vendor regardless of the type of equipment you’re considering buying.

• What’s the primary market your company serves? (Ask for clarity in sales volume.)
• Can I talk to a practitioner who has used your equipment with an 85+-year-old population?

This last round of questions has nothing to do with the function of the equipment for the residents. It’s really focused on details for your overall fitness program and the role the equipment plays in your fitness center, which should be a hallmark space in the community.

• Can I customize colors on frame and upholstery (for strength equipment) to match our brand?
• Are you able/willing to customize your equipment with our logo?

You’re making a significant investment by building a new fitness center or overhauling your current community fitness space. Make sure you get the right equipment to increase the chances for a vibrant and successful fitness program that will support this generation of residents and the next. These questions will help guide and inform your equipment decisions, but if you want to better understand how to design the fitness center with your resident's needs in mind, consider downloading our quick read below.

#4 –Don’t overlook the value of qualified management for your fitness areas.

#3 – Don’t assume that what you’re planning for today will fit you tomorrow.

#2 – Don’t get swept up by a sales pitch from an equipment vendor. 

#1 – Don’t get tunnel vision on what a quality fitness program (bricks and mortar + management) can do for your residents and the greater community. 

We’re a staffing organization – we provide well-credentialed and passionate fitness professionals to manage senior living fitness centers and corporate fitness programs for our clients.  To say we know a thing or two about interviewing could be, perhaps, an understatement.  Over the last 30+ years, we’ve hired hundreds of staff to fill a variety of fitness-focused positions for a diverse clientele.  We have definitely made some mistakes and we’ve lived to tell about it.

Hiring is a risky proposition and that’s true for any type of opening you have.  But when you’re talking about the health of your residents or your employees, are you prepared to make a hiring decision for a job about which you don’t understand the credentials or the essential duties?  Think of it this way:  You don’t repair your own brakes on your car – that’s what your mechanic is for.  Why would you tackle hiring for a position about which you know nothing?  In the end, you may want to consider pulling in an organization like ours that does this for a living.

But, if you insist on pressing on hiring your own staff, check out our top three lessons learned on interviewing health-focused staff.

Tip #1:  Do a double check on candidate credentials.

Our business IS fitness, so we’ve seen the credentials that are out there.  But if you’re an executive director trying to staff your senior living community fitness center or a human resources executive hiring for your employee wellness program, how do you know that the credentials presented by a candidate are worth their salt?  Don’t take this the wrong way, but…you don’t. 

The sad truth about fitness is that personal trainer certifications are a dime a dozen.  You, dear reader, regardless of your educational background, could jump online tonight and within a short window of time, be a “certified personal trainer”.  So be careful about credentials for the candidates you interview because they don’t always carry a lot of weight.  And until the industry initiates registration or licensure, hiring a fitness instructor who carries a certification that isn’t backed up with a health-related bachelor’s degree is a very employer-beware circumstance.

In order to win an interview with NIFS for a fitness-focused opening, candidates are required to have at least a bachelor’s degree in a health-related field.  This doesn’t guarantee the right fit for the opening, but it’s a good start. 

To that end, there are probably dozens of degree program names for an allied health type of career:  Kinesiology, Exercise Science, Health Promotion, Wellness, etc.  If you’re unsure about if/how the candidate’s degree fits for your opening, you can ask some pointed questions about the coursework the candidate completed, or direct your questions to the types of tasks she performed at another job. 

Case in point:  We had a candidate with a health promotion degree apply for a fitness center manager opening.  When we dug a little deeper into her background in anatomy and physiology, she responded by saying something like, “You know, the ankle bone is connected to the shin bone, and the shin bone is connected to the knee bone.”  I’m not kidding.  You can’t make this stuff up.

Tip #2:  Require the candidate to demonstrate his/her skills.

In a field where your candidate will be working with employees or residents to help individuals improve their health, where there is a lot of hands-on work, it will be imperative that they can demonstrate competency in those practical skills. 

You can ask a candidate about his/her experience teaching group fitness and he/she may impress you by describing the formats she’s taught, the audiences to whom she’s taught, and the feedback she’s received from her participants.  But until you see her in action, his/her words are useless.  Trust me, I know enough about group exercise that I could talk a really good game about my style, my music, the ways I modify classes for participants, and the anecdotes participants in my classes have shared with me.  And it would all be just words.  All you have to do is ask me to teach a five-minute core class and you would quickly see that teaching group exercise is not on my list of gifts. 

Your interview process should include testing on practical skills required for the job.  When candidates interview for a fitness career with NIFS, we require them to prove their competency throughout the interview by offering the following (and more):

• Provide us with copies of print materials they’ve created for other employment or in school.
• Evaluate a health history questionnaire according to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) risk stratification.
• Write and administer an exercise program from a case study.
• Teach a short group exercise class.
• Provide a brief wellness presentation.

Case in point:  Each time we offer an interview to a candidate, they receive an email outlining everything they should be expected to do during the interview.  One time, we had a candidate accept the offer for an interview after receiving a detailed email from us.  When we got to the part in the interview where we require the candidate to evaluate a health history questionnaire according to ACSM risk stratification, she looked at me and asked, “What’s risk stratification?”  Seriously.

Tip #3:  Make sure the candidate understands your audience.

It’s worth noting that today’s graduates are moving through health-related degree programs that require an internship to graduate.  But there was a day (trust me, I would know about this) when degree programs did not require an internship.  Use the required internship that your candidate has under her belt to dig a little deeper into that individual’s preferred clientele. 

Let’s face it, not everyone can hack it in a corporate wellness program based in a manufacturing setting.  Some candidates would be bored in a white-collar office environment, and still, others have no business working with an active aging audience in a senior living setting.  Ask some probing questions to find out whether your candidate really fits your environment and your audience.

Case in point:  On more occasions than I care to admit, I have interviewed candidates who, when talking about the demographic with whom they prefer to work, have indicated that they’re OK working with “older adults”.  When I press what they mean by “older adult”, they say something like, “You know, adults over maybe age 40 or 45.”  And I used all the energy I have left not to laugh out loud.

What to do about your candidate opening.

If this blog has you wondering about your ability to hire your own fitness professional, particularly in a time when so many businesses are struggling to fill open positions with qualified staff, download our quick read on how NIFS finds and retains top professionals in the industry.

NIFS isn't the only agency that provides fitness management expertise to businesses. There are several like us because the market demands it. While many organizations have adopted a DIY attitude about managing their own fitness programs, an additional (and substantial) set of businesses has recognized the value in outsourcing fitness center management for their corporate fitness center or in their senior living community.

We’ve been at this for almost 25 years and I’ve heard a variety of objections to outsourcing fitness staff. I’ve got my own list of objections to those objections...so here we go:

Objection 1: Outsourcing fitness center management is too expensive.

This objection really comes down to a comparison of direct versus indirect employee costs. Working with a partner may be more expensive when you compare wages and benefits you pay your employee with the billing you would get from a partner. The fitness management organization has overhead and a margin they need to earn.

When you look at the cost to hire, train, and supervise an employee, your cost comparison starts to even out. Then throw in the consideration of ongoing training and supervision, potential turnover, and statutory costs related to employees, you may find that partnering with a staffing agency like NIFS provides significant value.

Objection 2: I have no control over the staff person.

I don’t know who you’ve worked with historically, but any organization in this business that doesn’t put service first and foremost is making a gigantic mistake. When you’re working with the right outsourcing partner, that organization should be keenly interested in keeping you, the client, happy. To that end, they should be very interested in your feedback about the strengths and weaknesses of the staff they’re providing at your location.

Objection 3: An outsourced staff person won’t have buy-in from our constituents.

For starters, see objection #2. Keep in mind that the only way a staffing agency stays in business is if they have learned to be nimble and highly adaptive to a variety of environments. You can check on a potential outsourcing partner’s flexibility by talking to a variety of references.

When we go to work in senior living settings, we often pair up staffing services with wellness consulting (at no additional cost) so that we can better support the organization and further understand the culture with that client. This understanding is communicated to our staff on the ground so that we’re all operating from the same educated starting point.

Objection 4: Fitness isn’t rocket science; we’ve got this.

Okay. You’re right. Fitness isn’t rocket science, and you may very well “have it.” There are a host of highly capable, service-minded, passionate health and fitness professionals out there who are ready to work directly for you. But who has their back?

Who provides them with fresh ideas, resources, direction, and support? Your human resources director? Your activities director? Not likely—unless you’ve somehow hit a gold mine of fitness-educated staff at your business, the fitness manager you employ is probably the only one of his or her kind in your four walls. Outsourcing partners (the best ones, anyway) bring a team of resources, professionals, expertise, and support to the staff member they provide your organization.

Maybe you have other objections I can address. If so, leave them in the comments below. On the other hand, if I’ve just addressed your objections and you’re ready to start looking at outsourcing partners, drop me a line, or take a closer look at us through the rest of our blog. If your business has to move through an RFP process, you might want to read what I wrote on my top 10 RFP questions for corporate fitness management.

CORPORATE FITNESS STAFFING ›SENIOR LIVING FITNESS STAFFING ›

My earliest memory of my biggest fear was around age seven or eight. I was playing in my backyard with my childhood best friend on the swing set. We were running around it trying to catch each other when I slipped and fell, cutting my arm. I didn’t even realize I was bleeding until my friend pointed it out to me. Immediately my heart started to race, palms began to sweat, and I quickly lost all the color in my face. The next thing I remember is my Mom and friend standing over me as I lay on the ground after passing out. Every encounter with blood after this episode only amplified this fear, often resulting in avoiding certain situations such as routine blood draws or even jobs that required me to be able to perform a finger stick cholesterol test to fitness center members. Finally, after living with this fear for over twenty years, I finally made up my mind that it was time to face it. What is the one big fear you have in your life? Are you ready to face it? 

4 Tips to Facing Your Fears

1. Start small: Break down your fear and anxiety into smaller, more manageable pieces. I even listed the out in order from 1-10. (10 giving you the highest amount of anxiety and 1 just a small amount) Slowly work your way up the list as your anxiety reduces overtime.

2. Celebrate small victories: Are you afraid of heights and climbed a high amount of stairs, reaching a high elevation? Celebrate that! Have you wanted to take a group fitness class and finally worked up the courage to try one? Way to go! These small victories overtime will help you conquer your fear.

3. Ask for help: When I knew I wanted to overcome my fear, I asked for professional help. I know there are plenty of physiatrists that specialize in overcoming fear and anxiety. There are lots of resources online or by checking with your primary care physician.

4. Take action: Whether you are afraid of heights, spiders, or needles, you must physically face this fear. I overcame my fear of needles and blood with a standard blood draw. I may have looked like the man below, but I did it!  (And didn’t pass out!) 

We all know that fruits and vegetables are good for us, right? We hear it all the time that fruits and vegetables lower the chance of certain cancers, eating your spinach will prevent cataracts, eating fruits leads to longer life and beet juice lowers blood pressure. We also know that fruits and vegetables add color and texture to our dinner plate, they are low in calories and provide fiber, vitamins and minerals for our body. So, if something is good for us, why don’t we embrace it and take it all in? Well, it is not as easy as it sounds. For many, it may be the taste factor and immediate satisfaction of good tasting food, overrides thoughts of long-term health. Were you forced to eat your vegetables when you were younger? Possibly the half eaten peas and carrots that were in your mouth became the new center piece at the dinner table? Bad experiences tend to keep us away from trying it again. So, what are the top 3 reasons to increase fruit and veggie intake? Why would I want to give these foods another try?

1) Fruits and vegetables provide benefits for my overall health.  This requires a change of thinking to actually believe that it will provide long-term health benefits, so the eating choices I make today will affect me in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. Research has spoken and the results have been proven that fruits and veggies are good for us.

2) Maintaining at least half my plate with fruits and vegetables with protein and some small amounts of grains, provide steady blood glucose levels. I do not experience the high spikes of blood sugar that can be caused by eating a lot of foods that are on the high end of the glycemic index.  I feel better and have more energy by following this rule.

3) Eating more fruits and vegetables and eating less sugars and grains provide a healthy body weight. How much sugars and grains do you consume in a day? If you have been trying to lose weight and have had a hard time getting the weight off, you may want to look into what you are eating.

Whatever your experience was like, don’t give up on fruits and veggies. Give it another try. You may find that it is one of the best things you could do for your health. What are your reasons for eating more fruits and veggies? For ideas on how to incorporate fruits and veggies into your meals contact your fitness center staff.