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For many of us it is difficult to find the time to exercise. Between working long hours, family and friends it can be difficult to fit it regular exercise into our schedule.

But have you thought about exercising with your work colleagues a couple of times a week? Corporate fitness is becoming bigger and bigger each year, as companies strive to help the employees with their work life balance. It is a great way to change the dynamic of your office for the better.

Fitness professionals like the team at Push The Tempo PTY LTD are mobile and can come to your workplace so that there is little or no travel time. All you need is a small park or outdoor area close to your office.

Its great if you can find a common goal or goals to help keep you and the team on track and motivated.

Here are some things you can do with your work colleagues that will not only help you improve your health but can build a stronger team environment in your work place.

Event training:-
This is a great way to get started, as there is a start and an end to the training. There are so many events that you and your team can train for, like fun runs of all distances , Corporate Triathlons, and obstacle courses events like Tough Mudder or Spartan races. Most events cater for a variety of fitness levels so even if there is a mix of fitness levels in your work place everyone can join in on the fun. An experienced Fitness professional will also be able to cater the training sessions to suit different fitness levels and each individual’s fitness goals.

Passion Project:-
There is no better way to build a positive influence on a workplace than finding a passion project that everyone can get behind. So why not find a charity or a cause that everyone in the workplace can get behind and support while some (or all) of the staff work towards conquering an event. Senior management of most organisations love to see their staff make a difference and most will get behind the cause as well as be a little flexible to allow participants to train for the event.

Make it fun:-
Corporate fitness like any other type of fitness doesn’t have to a hard slog and it can actually be fun. A good Fitness professional will have a myriad of games and fun activities in his/her arsenal that will have participants laughing, and enjoying themselves so much that they won’t even realise that are working out. Team sports are also a great way to do this, social volleyball, netball, basketball, tennis, etc are a great way to build office morale. If you have a few different departments or offices in your organization why not set up a tournament against each department/office. Training can be catered by your fitness professional to ensure participants are ready from a fitness and health point of view.

Make it competitive:-
Lets face it some workmates can get carried away with their level of competitiveness so why not challenge them and try and wipe that smug smile off their face. This isn’t about who ends up the fittest or the strongest but levels out the competition by measuring the most improved in several categories that measures a percentage improvement rather than who just happens to be the fastest or strongest. Categories like the most improved runner over a given distance, most improved for strength, or most improved for a particular conditioning workout are a great way to set challenge amongst work colleagues. The great thing about having different categories is that participants can focus on what they want to achieve whilst training next to a work colleague that may have a different goal.

It doesn’t have to be hot and sweaty:-
I often hear that training at lunchtime is too hard because by the time you get changed, finish training, have a shower, get dressed etc a couple of hours have passed. I totally get that but exercising doesn’t have to be about sweating. Yoga, Pilates and stretching sessions are a great way to improve your health and fitness and can be done without building up a big sweat. These activities can also be done indoors and are can undo some of the impacts of sitting in an office all day can do. Improving your diet can also help so why not have a nutrition session with a specialist to talk about ways to improve your eating habits.

Fitness Planning sessions:-
If it is just impossible to find the time to train during the work day with your colleagues why not get a Fitness professional in for some sessions to talk about fitness, set plans and goals for you and your work colleagues? Any of the types of training listed above can be developed and tracked so that it can cater for everyone’s work and family schedules but can still be team building. Staff can be held accountable by the fitness professional with regular contact and semi regular evaluations and group meetings so that everyone is still working towards improving their health and fitness.

As you can see there are many ways that you and your workmates can work together to improve your health and fitness and a good fitness professional will find a way to help your team no matter the constraints that may be present. The main goal is to get people moving more, eating more healthily, which will also lead to a better work environment, as well as give staff more energy to get through their day and build a more positive work environment.

Feel free to contact Lino for your corporate fitness needs by going to our contact page.