[August 22, 2010] Showing N.C. workers how to incorporate fitness Tweet Aug 22, 2010 (The News and Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- We're fat and lazy in North Carolina -- at least that's what two new studies claim. The Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently ranked the state 10th in the nation in obesity, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just reported that one in four North Carolinians had not exercised in the past month. That translates into a ranking of fourth in the nation for inactivity. Blame the heat, blame air conditioning, blame our move away from agriculture and factory work to cushy sit-on-our-butts office jobs. Blame the office bakers and Southern cooking. You can spend all day blaming and complaining, or you could do something about it. Ben Roberts, owner of Foundation Fitness in Greensboro, decided to do something. He teamed up with Strategic Employee Benefit Services, which provides employee benefits, to issue a workplace fitness challenge, and he offered to bring his fitness regime to 1,000 Tar Heels in the Triad and the Triangle in one week. "I hear 'I don't have time in the morning' and 'I don't have time in the evening,' " Roberts said. "Or they'll get frustrated because they'll go to the gym and don't know what to do. Just because you go to the gym doesn't mean you're going to get a workout in." Taking time at work Roberts spent most of last week on the road between Greensboro and Raleigh. By the end of Wednesday, he had met and exercised with 300 workers. His goal was to show people that in just 15 minutes it's possible to get your heart pumping and start on a path toward a lifestyle change. And that's what he's after: a permanent change toward exercise and healthy eating. The benefits for workers: better health, better sleep, less stress. The benefits for companies: lower absenteeism, higher productivity, less turnover. Larger companies in the Triangle rather famously offer a variety of such health and wellness benefits. Cisco, for example, has a state-of-the art gym for employees. SAS has the gym and a company cafeteria that offers healthy lunches. Others such as IBM offer cash incentives for employees to lose weight or stop smoking. Some smaller and midsize companies may think they don't have the space or money to offer fitness programs for their workers, but Leah Taylor, wellness coordinator for Strategic Employee Benefit Services, said that there are many things smaller employers can do. She works with companies in the Triangle and the Triad and said many of them don't have a budget for fitness but still manage to make it a priority. "We can have nurses come on site and do cholesterol and blood sugar checks," she said. "We have health and wellness newsletters with healthy recipes and fitness tips they can use. A lot of small groups have started walking programs. "My role is to educate and make clients aware of what a wellness program can be," she added. Exercise at your desk Roberts' challenge definitely raised awareness at Catering Works, said general manager James Flynn. The Raleigh company has about 35 employees, and everyone from the top down participated in Roberts' workout last week. Some employees were even joined by family members for 15 minutes of jumping jacks, squats, lunges and the like. Now the company is planning to keep the momentum going. "The rest of the week it's been the topic of conversation," Flynn said. "People are walking through the hallway, and they'll stop and do a squat. Other are saying, 'My muscles still hurt.' " Flynn said company leaders are still discussing what kind of exercise program to offer. It may be as simple as encouraging workers to take a 10-minute break for some warm-ups and jumping jacks or a more formal exercise time at the end of the day. "They taught us exercises that anyone can do anywhere, and that's what was nice about it," he said. "You don't need a gym; you can stand at your desk." Flynn said there was no doubt that the exercising would continue. He pointed out that many of their workers are doing strenuous work, unloading trucks, setting up tables, standing on their feet for hours at a time while carrying large trays. Helping those workers stay fit and healthy should be part of the company's benefits, he said. "One of the best benefits we have is that every day we put out lunch for our employees," he said. "We could have parmesan chicken with sage butter and mashed potatoes on a Monday and the next day salmon or a baked potato bar. ... But with that benefit we realize we need to offer employees a program where they can work the parmesan chicken off." The employees at Trio Clinical Research already are a fairly fit bunch, but a dozen or so showed up for Roberts' workout at their office in Raleigh's Brier Creek. "We had a really good energy. ... It got our heart rates up, and I think that always makes people feel better," said Mary Cunningham, a human resources assistant. Roberts' odyssey Cunningham said some employees use their lunch break to run or hike in nearby Umstead Park. She thinks that Roberts' visit may inspire a few others to stay on the fitness track. Roberts' own story might provide inspiration as well. Four years ago, he weighed 290 pounds with 27 percent body fat. His pants had a 42-inch waist. He would go on diets and lose 20 pounds only to regain 30. A physical was his wake-up call. He went to a boot camp and was told, "If you're just here for six weeks to lose some weight, leave now." His trainer's desire was for campers to make permanent changes in their lifestyle. "Something clicked," he said. He hopes his challenge week will have that affect on others. "In every company I've been to, it's the reluctant ones -- the ones who came because their boss told them to -- who are the ones that ask, 'Hey, when can you come back?'" [email protected] or 919-829-4755 To see more of The News & Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsobserver.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The News and Observer, Raleigh, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544). [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]