Corporate Wellness has become an important topic with the rise in health insurance costs, uncertainty in the US legislature, increase in at-risk employees and corporate profit squeezes.
What is workplace Wellness? An organized, employer-sponsored program that is designed to support employees (and, sometimes, their families) as they adopt and sustain behaviors that reduce health risks, improve quality of life, enhance personal effectiveness, and benefit the organization’s bottom line. (Harvard Business Review)
No longer can you afford to view employee wellness programs as "nice extras". If implemented properly, the ROI on well run employee programs can exceed 6 to 1.
Exerbotics understands that employees are expensive however they are also a company's most valuable resourse. When an employee is sick, unhealthy or in poor physical condition, everyone suffers. Lost time on the job, more doctor's visits and a higher risk of on-the-job injuries, stress related conditions, etc. costs companies millions.
"An individual’s lifestyle choices-smoking, nutrition, weight, exercise and stress management-are responsible for approximately 40% of one’s health status and 87.5% of health care claim costs. Clearly an opportunity exists to reduce health care spending by motivating healthier behaviors and lifestyle choices.” (S.A. Schroeder in the NE Journal of Medicine and the IPFW Study of 2006)."
A 2009 study by Dr. Ronald Loeppke and colleagues of absenteeism and presenteeism among 50,000 workers at 10 employers showed that lost productivity costs are 2.3 times higher than medical and pharmacy costs.
Can a company realize immediate, short term benefits from investing in the general fitness of their employees? The evidence is overwhelming if done properly.
Lower Costs: The savings on health care costs alone make for an impressive ROI
Greater Productivity: Participants in wellness programs are absent less often and perform better at work than their non participant counterparts
Higher Morale: Employee price, trust and commitment increase, contributing to a vigorous organization with significantly lower employee turnover rates.
Although we believe cardiovascular activity is important, the greatest ROI in time, money and health for physical wellness is strength training.
Objections to strength training in a corporate setting:
It is dangerous, especially if your employees don't know what they are doing!
While it is true that, if done without proper safety precautions and training, strength training can expose the participant and those observing to potential injury causing accidents, there is an alternative. The objective is to stimulate the central nervous system and elicit change in the most economical way.
Exerbotics uses scientifically proven methods to safely and properly exercise the user without ever applying a gravitational load, requiring the user to lift weights or expecting a participant to control a weight that is too heavy.
Our Iso-Velocity Technology measures a participant's force output based on their personal capabilities while controlling the speed, range of motion and exercise goals. If a user is uncomfortable, they can simply stop exercising. The computer based protocols with visual targets allows users to exercise under minimal supervision in a safe, effective environment.
The liability is too high. We can't afford to put our employees at risk!
Strength training is THE activity you can't afford to miss out on. As we age, we lose approximately 1/2 lb. of muscle every year from as early as age 25. "If you don't do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose, you'll increase the percentage of fat in your body," says Dr. Edward Laskowski, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
The Mayo Clinic outlines these reasons for resistance training:
- Develop strong bones
- Control your weight
- Reduce your risk of injury
- Boost your stamina
- Manage chronic conditions
- Sharpen your focus
To hear it straight from Mayo, click here.
It takes up too much room!
The key to Exerbotics is EFFICIENCY. It was invented for training efficiency and designed for space efficiency. Our objective is to be able to train the entire body in 20 minutes within 300 square feet. The Iso-Velocity Technology allows us to build opposing movements in nearly all of our products. With four machines a facility can exercise all the primary functional muscle groups with variations of seven exercises.
It requires a highly educated staff at all times!
Traditionally proper, effective strength training requires a knowledgeable staff with in-depth knowledge of every participant's capabilities to allow each person to get the benefits out of their time invested.
Exerbotics takes some of the pain out of this. Although we recommend an educated trainer or coach, utilizing our Iso-Velocity Technology will provide a platform for a more effective, safe training environment than traditional weight lifting. Our technology allows the facility to perform strength assessments and prescribe workouts based on the computer document performance. When a participant is ready to exercise, they enter their personal pin number on each machine. The machine will then show the user how much effort to put forth and how many repetitions to perform.
It is intimidating. Nobody wants to lift weights with the meat heads!
On-site fitness centers are sometimes criticized for attracting people who would exercise anyway. Studies have shown that employees at companies who have them love them and employees at other companies who don't have them want them. "You see coworker working out every day. That makes me realize I can do it, too." That is positive peer pressure.