How to start an office workout plan

If you are contemplating starting an office workout plan, you need to get everyone at the office on-board. It's time to teach each of them that exercise is not just for the people that are overweight or for the ones that are already slim and in shape. People that have an established exercise routine are more likely to avoid depression and avoid being placed in a rest home in their old age.

When you start an office workout plan, hold a staff meeting and talk to everyone about the importance of managing weight. Talk to your staff members about the importance of consuming a nutritious diet and consuming those foods in moderation. Develop a company cookbook filled with ideas on hundreds of healthy recipes. Teach people the importance of following the serving size and only to eat when they are hungry. Talk about fad diets and different fitness gadgets that don't work. Give them a book that is filled with not only recipes but some exercises they can do at their desk.

Encourage your employees to form exercise groups. If some employees are worried about groups, assign them to a group, this way no one is left out. It is much easier to exercise if you have someone to workout with. Hire an instructor to come in and teach yoga and Pilates classes during work hours. Hold a morning class and an afternoon class, this way everyone at the office will be able to participate in at least one of the classes each day for at least 30 minutes. Put in a walking trail or find some walking trails around your building. Encourage your employees to use the trails each day for at least 30 minutes. If you build a company gym out of a spare room, make sure you have each employee sign a waiver so that you are legally covered in case someone has an accident.

It is easy to get people motivated about exercising if they know they will get something out of it. Just having good health isn't enough for some people so you may need to include some incentives. For the team that drops the most weight, you can give them a half-day off work or you can even give them a cash reward for losing the weight.

Remind people of the office workout plan by placing bulletin boards up around the office. Place reminders of the office workout plan in the break room, the bathrooms, and the kitchen. You want people stop and read the banners that discuss the office workout plan. Another way to get people on-board is to inspire them to eat healthier foods. Remove all the junk food from the office and replace it with healthy alternatives like fruits and vegetables.

Have a company marathon in a few months. Ask the employees to involve their families in the marathon. When people know they can bring their family members along, many of them are willing to get into shape to participate in the event. Even doing a 5K walk for a charity can be a great company party and a wonderful way to inspire staff members to get in shape.

Give your staff members exercise balls for their desk and booklets with stretches they can do while at their desk. Using an exercise ball inspires good posture and it actually strengthens the legs. Try to move the employees further away from the common areas in the office like the copy room or the mail room. This will force them to walk to these areas. If people can take more than 3,000 steps a day, they will be getting at least a mile and a half of walking in each day.

Rating: 0/5 (0 votes cast)

---

Categories: Exercise,

Help others find this article:
Socializer, Digg, del.icio.us, reddit, StumbleUpon

Favorites: Add to favorites
Tags: