Considering Corporate Personal Training?
Since the inception of Functional For Life in 2016, we have been fortunate enough to work with a range of Corporate Groups. Our service has been providing group personal training and health advice to staff. In this blog we explore the benefits and the realities of running a corporate personal training program. If you are considering a Corporate training program in your business, then this blog is for you!
The Benefits:
The benefits of corporate group training are plentiful. Given that most corporate work is sedentary, having an outlet to train provided by the business can be an excellent starting point for employees to start moving and enhance their health.
Movement:
It is fascinating how little incidental movement we encounter on a daily basis. One of my long term clients works as a lawyer and regularly puts in long hours at work. Recently on our warm up walk we were looking at her Fitbit stats. It was surprising to see how often she amassed less than 4000 steps in a day. This simply comes down to the nature of her work. Sitting most of the day working at a desk or in meetings. It is not a judgement, rather a wake up call to how inactive we can be when we don’t consciously program in exercise. It is for this reason that simply getting out of the chair and moving is one of the greatest benefits of a scheduled in corporate personal training session. There is no requirement for staff to think about it. All they have to do is show and they will be guided through exactly what to do in order to improve their physical and mental health.
Guidance:
Sitting for long periods of time can put you at a disadvantage when it comes to moment and having expert advice on how to build your body up is priceless. Starting with no base and launching into a random high intensity style work out can be very risky and often lead to injury. Building the body up in a manner that will lead to movement competence helps to ensure that risk of injury is minimised and daily movement becomes pain free and efficient. Through corporate personal training, staff will be advised on how to conduct exercises with correct form. Furthermore trainers can progress and regress exercises within the workouts to meet the needs of the varied fitness levels within the group.
Posture:
Sitting for long periods of time can lead to dysfunction. There is no dancing around this fact. As a personal trainer I commonly see the same postural issues time and time again with my clients that are office workers. To put it simply when we sit, our body requires particular muscles to work extremely hard to keep us upright. On the contrary it also requires a lot of muscles to be in a predominantly ‘relaxed’ state. Over time, this constant imbalance between muscle groups can lead to dysfunction that will impact you in every day movement. A skilled personal trainer can address this through release/stretching and strength work. Again fixing these issues help to body to move efficiently and effectively in general.
Team building
Through observing the interactions between staff in sessions it is evident that team building is a positive outcome of corporate PT. Having a group of workmates pushing themselves and competing against each other, whilst simultaneously releasing endorphins leads too bonding that hard to replicate in a traditional workspace. A well structured corporate PT session will record individual results so staff can enjoy being competitive against themselves as well as one another.
Getting out the office
When we are training corporate groups we often hear feedback about how nice it is to simply be outside. We have been fortunate to train our groups in beautiful parks and find that outdoors is a brilliant place to engage in a workout. Of course the weather isn’t always perfect but that is often part of the fun. No matter what the weather is, all the staff are a team and in it together. The encouragement levels often increase dramatically when it’s cold and windy as everyone focuses on staying positive to help one another get through the session.
Considerations:
Is your workplace interested?
It is important to ensure there is a desire within the office to a fitness program. Whilst the benefits of corporate personal training are vast, without buy-in from a core group of the office it is not worth it. It is unlikely you will have interest from every single person on staff. The important thing is you have a high level of commitment and desire from a core group. Our experience is it will generally be the same people coming back to sessions on a regular basis and they are all grateful for the service. If you are thinking about implementing a corporate personal training program, we highly recommend getting feedback from employees as your first step.
Location:
Believe it or not, corporate fitness sessions can be run in a relatively small area. As long as each individual has at least the size of one yoga matt each it is possible to run a very effective session. Of course, more space is ideal and opens up the volume and range of activities that can be implemented. In our experience workplaces will often look to train in a park nearby. However, on days where the weather isn’t great, it is good to have a plan B within the building. Consistency can be very important for people to maintain momentum with their training. Having a back up location for poor weather helps with the success of the entire program.
Trainer experience and expertise:
It is a complex task running a corporate personal training session that caters for the diversity within the group. It is important to understand that there is always a balancing act between, implementing exercises and honouring how an individual moves. For example, if someone was coming off a low base, you would not initially implement high-intensity complex movements to this individual. People should enter group training with eyes wide open and understand that a ‘one size fits all’ model is not an intelligent approach to training. It is this approach that often leads to someone trying to perform an exercise they are not ready for. This is a common source of injury and is the perfect way to turn people away from an exercise program.
Most trainers will offer a free trial. If you decide to go down this path, pay attention to the trainers ability to focus on form and their ability to progress and regress exercises within a session. It is crucial to have these skills in order to successfully run a corporate personal training session.
Where to from here?
Ultimately the benefits of corporate PT are significant from the improved health of individual employees to enhancing team culture. However, for maximum effectiveness, it is important that the right trainer is employed. One that can plan and cater to the different needs of employees. They should also create an environment where staff of all backgrounds feel safe and confident in their workout experience. Fortunately PT business will typically offer a free trial, so we recommend taking advantage of that in order to make the most informed decision possible. If what is written here resonates with you and you would like more information. Please contact us here. Happy training!
