Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

I recently shared insight on why there is a strong need for corporate fitness and wellness resources for employees while they work remotely during COVID-19 closures and extended work-at-home models for many employers. After all, working from home was already a growing trend before the pandemic. The way organizations support a culture of well-being needs a broader reach now more than ever to help employees live well. While options to extend that reach may feel limited, there are a variety of creative and impactful ways to meet those needs.

One service solution NIFS launched for our corporate clients this summer was NIFS’ Personal Fitness Quest (PFQ). Employees signed up for this virtual program to connect weekly with their fitness specialist for complimentary personal training and coaching. Participants complete a pre- and post-assessment along with goal-setting as part of the program. When we asked our staff what their members want to achieve during their PFQ sessions, overwhelmingly employees were asking for accountability. Others had goals for easing back in after surgery and looking for more variety in their routine, but most people praised the program for the accountability it provided them.

Here’s what our fitness specialists are hearing:

“People are struggling with consistency in their routines, or lack thereof. They want someone to hold them accountable. Once engaged, the members have been thankful for the support.”   

—Matthew, NIFS Manager, Indiana

“Our participants have struggled the most with prioritizing their workout and they’ve been lacking the motivation to get back on track with a fitness routine. Our participants really like having those weekly calls because that’s what keeps them accountable and they’re able to stay motivated.” 

—Aislinn, NIFS Manager, Indiana

“The feedback for PFQ has been very positive. Members enjoy being able to connect with a fitness specialist weekly to keep them accountable and answer questions.” 

—Jordan, NIFS Manager Pennsylvania

Here’s what our members are saying about their experience:

“PFQ is fantastic to be able to schedule a guided workout at a time that works with my schedule, and to have one-on-one direction and encouragement. It helps keep me motivated to work out and be ‘ready' for the next week. You did a great job of targeting the workout to what I wanted to improve.”

—PFQ Participant, Indiana

“I think you’re doing an awesome job virtually training! The process we have works really well for me, especially since you taught me some quick warm-ups in the first session outside. I only have positive feedback to share. Thanks for being flexible and creative to stay effective!”

—PFQ Participant, Indiana

The PFQ is one of many programs under NIFS’ virtual service model, HealthYou. HealthYou helps us provide a range of fitness and wellness services to employees of client locations without an onsite fitness center, or with a large demographic of employees who work remotely and have difficulty taking advantage of their fitness center. Group fitness classes, wellness programs like PFQ, and Healthy Lifestyle sessions from NIFS’ Registered Dietitian are all accessible with NIFS’ web-based tools; so while it may feel difficult to make an impact, NIFS helps you broaden your organization’s reach and connect your employees with the resources they need to live well.

This blog was written by Emily Davenport. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

While many may have feelings of uncertainty come to mind with everything we’ve endured thus far in 2020, we’ve also experienced inspiration from the dedication of our healthcare workers and educators and witnessed innovation in how many industries are adapting to remote workforces and revised service models.The corporate fitness industry included and that is why NIFS has adapted our HealthYou programming to accommodate our clients’ needs while their fitness centers remain closed and their employees are at home.  

We have long stated that it's our amazing staff that makes our business-model thrive and our hiring practices help us recruit some of the best professionals in the industry. The relationships our staff build with their members are key to our successful corporate fitness centers. One thing the current pandemic has taught us is those relationships don’t need to be nurtured within the four walls of a fitness center. As our clients’ workforces were sent home and access to typical fitness amenities became limited, our staff got to work finding opportunities to support their members’ health and wellness needs to maintain engagement.

Here are a few examples of how our staff is keeping our clients’ workforce connected to healthy lifestyle resources utilizing their customized HealthYou portals and our licensed exercise software integrated with Zoom:

• Virtual Health Coaching: if you have tried to purchase fitness equipment in the last several months, you’ve likely experienced home-based cardio equipment on backorder, dumbbell racks empty in the stores, and the basics for building your home gym difficult to come by. Our staff have been routinely connecting with their members via phone calls and email and finding innovative ways to support their members’ evolving needs. For some, it may have been relaxation techniques while kids were home with distance learning, for others it may have been working through a new exercise program within the scope of what equipment and space a member has available at home. The gratitude and thanks our staff have heard from their members in maintaining that connection has been inspiring.
  
  
• Group Fitness: we’ve been host morning, noon, and night virtual group fitness classes since the pandemic started and it’s amazing to hear just how much our members love to see THEIR fitness staff and still workout with them. They’ve also enjoyed getting to experience classes with other NIFS staff across the country for variety. Not only do they have live classes available but they have a video library of recorded classes at their fingertips which have 1,000’s of views.
  
  
• Programming: let’s face it, those early weeks of the pandemic, in particular, were rough. Stress and anxiety levels were high and many fell into the groove of day-long snacking followed by evening binge-watching of our favorite shows. Wellness programming like NIFS Commit 21, Fitness Bingo, and NIFS Stress Relief Calendar has helped employees establish personal goals and self-care routines to get back on track.
  
  
• Nutrition Services: NIFS Registered Dietitian has been hosting Healthy Lifestyle sessions on Zoom each week where everything from weight loss, to pre-and-post workout nutrition, to family meal planning, is discussed. There is also a Facebook group in which healthy recipes are shared and some great discussion continues throughout the week! As the frequency of cooking at home has increased, these nutrition resources have been a great option to break out of those menu ruts and explore new healthy choices.

We are already hearing requests and interest for our HealthYou resources to remain available to our members once fitness centers reopen. The landscape of many industries post-pandemic will likely look different and we are glad that members are inviting more options to exercise onsite when their fitness centers reopen as well as requesting the continued accessibility of virtual resources.

NIFS HealthYou programming is a great solution for organizations looking to broaden their employee wellness offerings. Whether you have an onsite fitness center or your employee-base works remotely, our amazing staff and virtual tools can connect them to the resources they need to live well. Contact us today for a complimentary consultation to explore opportunities for your employees.