Integrated Wellness Programs Create Fitness Opportunities

With 28% of employers offering workplace fitness competitions and challenges, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2017 Employee Benefits report, corporate wellness programs continue to supply good news for fitness professionals.

Employers are encouraging people to be more active because research has shown that sitting for long periods of time is associated with negative health outcomes like obesity, heart disease and an increased risk of earlier death.

Corporate Fitness Works president and co-founder Brenda Caryn Loube of St. Petersburg, Florida, thinks the shift toward an organizational culture of wellness that attends to emotional, social, career and financial health is a positive trend. She believes this will create more opportunities for fitness professionals who want to support emerging “cultures of health.” Corporate Fitness Works develops wellness programs and provides fitness center management and facility design for corporate clients nationwide; it also hires qualified fitness staff. Loube recommends that fitness professionals who want to work in corporate wellness find a mentor or even a professional business coach to hone their passion and skills.

To read the benefits report, go to http://bit.ly/2NhDLmi. For more on emerging trends in corporate fitness, read “Corporate Fitness Evolves” in the May 2018 issue of Fitness Journal.