Seven Benefits of Adding a Fitness Room to the Workplace

If you’ve been considering adding a fitness facility to your workplace, what are you waiting for? Work exercise programs make healthy habits convenient for employees. Employers reap the rewards of less stressed, more productive staff members.

Whether you hire outside instructors or invest in equipment — or both — adding a fitness room offers the seven benefits below and much more. It might help you get into better shape, too!

1. It Benefits Everyone
You could encourage staff members to work out in their free time. You can even provide a financial incentive to do so — but let’s keep it real. People with disabilities find outside facilities often lack accessibility options. Plus, providing negative economic consequences for not participating in fitness alienates struggling workers.

A workplace fitness center makes health available to all, from the highest-paid executive to the newcomer in the mailroom. Chair-based exercise programs allow even those in wheelchairs to take part. If an employee finds $20 a month for a gym membership too pricey, they can work out before or after their shifts.

2. It Reduces Costs 
Some chronic health conditions cost a lot to manage. For example, in Alaska, only 53 people drive up care costs for the entire state. Plus, employers who offer insurance to their staff find these prices rise annually.

Regular exercise reduces the risk of various diseases, from cardiovascular problems to diabetes. Depending on the benefits package you select, a healthier employee pool may decrease costs. An at-work fitness center could eventually pay for itself.

3. It Reduces Absenteeism
Absenteeism costs employers more than $225 billion annually. That’s a lot of lost profits and productivity. People who exercise regularly strengthen their immune systems, making them less likely to call out sick with the latest bug going around.

Additionally, exercise alleviates the suffering of chronic pain issues. If an employee with fibromyalgia, for example, is permitted to stand up and perform activities every hour or two, her symptoms often decrease. This exercise lessens the chance she’ll call out due to agony.

4. It Attracts Top Talent
Research shows time and time again that highly talented employees appreciate companies that provide wellness perks such as healthy snack stations, complimentary fitness trackers like Fitbits and, yes, fitness rooms. In fact, according to one study, more than 15 percent of job seekers say a fitness facility factors into their decision when deciding to take a new job. It makes sense that the most high-achieving works would care about improving their wellbeing — it’s difficult to give your work your full attention when you’re dealing with health woes.

Adding an exercise room also helps you keep your current staff. Depending upon their role, it can be quite costly to replace an employee. Plus, you save time otherwise spent training new team members.

5. It Alleviates Stress
Chronic stress is a public health crisis in America. A recent survey indicated that nearly 50 percent of respondents feel work and financial worries contribute to most of their tension.

Exercise helps you relax, whether you jog on a treadmill or take a yoga class. It releases endorphins, natural chemicals in the body that give you a runner’s high. Less stress leads to better health outcomes.

6. It Improves Focus 
Regular exercise reduces insulin resistance and inflammation, both of which can lead to fuzzy thinking. Exercise improves growth factors in the brain, such as increased blood supply. A half-hour on the treadmill also helps strengthen neural connections, elevating your ability to concentrate.

Imaging studies show certain brain areas, like the prefrontal cortex, are larger in people who exercise than those who do not. Having a facility nearby where they can squeeze in a workout encourages employees to take the recommended 150 minutes per week. Over time, this routine can boost cognitive performance.

7. It Bolsters Productivity
Exercise gives you more energy overall, not just in the weight room. When you’re perkier on the clock, you get more done.

Working out triggers your body to release a brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which makes you feel alert. With a fitness center onsite, staff members can hit the weights or ride the elliptical when they’re pulling overtime shifts.

Add a Fitness Room to Your Office Today
Adding a fitness room to your workplace improves employee health and makes them more efficient on the clock. It helps attract top talent and keeps current staff members happy. With so many benefits, why not get started on adding an exercise facility to your organization today?