Is your work environment helping or hindering your health and fitness goals?

We spend 40+ hours per week at work so imagine the positive effect a health conscious workplace would have on us! In the US, businesses are jumping on the band wagon of health and fitness, recognising that health care costs their country 15% of its entire output (GDP). Surely prevention is better (and cheaper) than cure. Some of the initiatives companies are doing include;
· Lifestyle coaches
· Seminars
· Health fairs
· Onsite classes
· Weight loss programs
· Sporting events
· Web resources
· Incentives for healthier lifestyles

Some of the biggest challenges in setting up these initiatives are money and cultural differences, but on the whole these programs are welcomed into workplaces. Cost shouldn’t be an issue considering a high risk 45 – 54 year old man costs a company $5813 compared to less than half that amount ($2081) for a low risk man of the same age. This doesn’t even include productivity loss or time off work.

Most health and wellbeing programs cost between $50 and $400 pa per person, highlighting prevention being better than cure. So how can you help to incite a healthy environment at work? Here are some tips:
· Set staff challenges, such as weight watcher 12wk program, global challenge, city to surf team
· Set up sporting groups
· Arrange a corporate gym membership and see what club activities can be arranged for your business
· Organise for fresh fruit to be delivered daily and do away with the biscuits and chocolates
· Speak to your HR department and find out what has worked, what their plans are
· Start with the person sitting next to you, hold each other accountable for your workouts and diet plan

It has been proven that unhealthy people are expensive and less productive than their healthier counterparts, so why are some companies so slow to address health issues at are work?

What does your company do to promote a health and fitness, and is it working?

Source: Michigan Business

The Biggest Loser – A motivator or de-motivator?

With the Australian Finale of The Biggest Loser over, viewers are left to contemplate the journey and incredible transformations of the 18 contestants. What these people achieve in 12 weeks, most of us wouldn’t achieve in a lifetime. Yet many viewers dismiss the program as ‘unrealistic’, ‘setting a poor example of healthy weight loss’, and ‘way too challenging to try.’ With over 10% of the population watching the program it has the ability to significantly affect how people feel about exercise and weight loss. The question remains, however, is the biggest loser a motivator or de-motivator?

When throwing the topic open for discussion, it's evident that there are many who see the show as a de-motivator. In an article from Time, the author was concerned about;

• the program’s focus on rapid weight loss,
• the fact that it paid little attention to the maintenance of their results
• the rumours that drastic losses experienced often came from deliberate dehydration before a weigh in.
• the general public might think that such high weight loss numbers were the norm.
• Other people commented that the pain these contestants went through was too much. If weight loss was going to be that hard, then they weren’t even going to try.

I’d like to challenge these opinions, as I think that overall, the Biggest Loser is a massive motivator. It may be filmed in a 12 week pressure cooker situation leading to some of the above concerns, but I believe that the majority of viewers see that the benefits far outweigh the concerns.

Firstly – The Biggest Loser enlists contestants that we can all relate to: “If they can do it, well so can I...” Take Lance Armstrong for example. Inspiring? Yes. Achieving remarkable results? Absolutely (he did it 7 times!). Can an overweight non exerciser relate to him? Definitely not! He’s been living and breathing exercise all his life, whereas most people struggling with their weight wouldn’t even get on a bike let alone wear the bike shorts! Contestants are real people struggling with the same issues, which connect them to their audience.

Secondly, The Biggest Loser is educational. Honestly how many of you guessed the correct order of high calorie/fat foods in those challenges? I bet you got some great new exercise tips too. I think one of the biggest exercise tips is intensity. These people train hard, and many people are scared of getting injured so they slow down. However lugging an extra 10+ kg around 24/7 will do far more damage to your joints than a little running in your workout. This program teaches the audience, rather than just entertaining them.

Finally, The Biggest Loser is inspiring. The psychology behind their achievements is amazing to witness. You can see the roadblocks that have led to failure in the past and watch as the trainers coach them into a new way of thinking. When you see someone move from a state of unhappiness and disappointment to one of achievement and success, it gives you hope, lights the fire in your belly and reminds you that you are in control of the life you chose to lead. Therefore, despite the critics, I believe the Biggest loser is an effective motivator.

Do you find gyms daunting or inviting?

A government initiative to encourage older adults to exercise in gyms has recently been launched in Australia. It will focus on gyms and the changes they can make to become more attractive to the baby boomer market. This poses an interesting question about the attitude, tone and programs of gyms, health clubs and PCYC's.

If you talk to most gym managers they would vehemently argue that their gym is “age and gender friendly” but could this be a complete furphy? Ask any non-gym goer what they perceive fitness centres to be like and you may not get a pretty picture. However gyms have tried very hard to evolve from the Arnie body builder, Jane Fonda lycra clad stick-insect cliché, so why doesn’t it seem to be working?

What can be done to make gyms more inviting? Is it friendlier front desk staff, classes that cater for entry level fitness, banning of muscle-heads or reduction in the head-banging music often encountered? Or maybe the solution has already been found but not marketed correctly to the baby boomer population. How many over 50's do you know who tried a gym once and will never go back? Maybe there needs to be a mass marketing campaign aimed directly at the baby boomers. If Winnebago can get that many grey nomads to up and move, so can the fitness industry!

What do you think can be done to attract such an important, growing segment of our society into gyms?