An African female shares a laugh with her workout buddy who is seated next to her on an exercise … [+]
It’s hard to believe that this Thursday is Thanksgiving Day and the kickoff of the holiday season. Understandably, given what we’ve all been through, most people will take it easy, and coast through to the new year.
Rather than waiting for 2022 to make your New Year’s resolutions, if you are up for it, start making the changes that you want right now. After sitting around the house for nearly two years, you might have considered getting off the couch and going to the gym.
Business leaders have finally realized that their workers are human. Executives are starting to offer an array of empathetic employee-friendly initiatives to help them deal with their mental health and emotional wellbeing. They’re also concerned about burnout and feelings of isolation from being at home for so long.
Progressive companies are providing for mental health counselors and apps. Gym memberships are offered to help their staff improve their health and feel good about themselves.
ClassPass is a way for people to reach their new year’s resolutions early by getting into shape. The company offers members who subscribe to their service the usage of an array of gyms, fitness classes, exercise studios and wellness providers including workout classes, strength training, yoga, Pilates, boxing and spa treatments such as massage, acupuncture, manicures and more. The company revolutionized the fitness and wellness industry by curating the best classes and experiences into one app. The platform offers the ability for members to visit millions of classes in 30 countries around the world.
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Employers, eager to help their workers, are offering this as a wellness benefit. It’s also a great recruitment and retention tool for businesses to battle the war-for-talent and stem defections with the ‘Great Resignation’ trend going hot and heavy.
Bob Hamer, a spokesperson and Head of Corporate Programs at ClassPass said that “Commuting cardio is back,” and around 57% of professionals are likely to stop by fitness studios on the way home from the office. He points out that 12 p.m. was the most popular workout time. It makes sense. Remote workers aren’t tied to an office and could break away in the middle of the day for a quick workout. Morning and evening workouts have returned too for the same reasons.
In addition to the folks working remotely, white-collar office professionals are making the time to get fit. On the days that they are going into the office, 39% are going to a gym or fitness studios on the way into work. Roughly 57% are stopping by gyms on the way home from the office.
On days hybrid workers are at home, they are twice as likely to try out a new studio or fitness class, especially if they may have relocated during the pandemic. While at home, workers are twice as likely to workout using digital options such as on-demand or livestream classes.
For many professionals, according to a ClassPass survey, fitness has been one of the positive factors keeping stress levels down. Four in five professionals reported that fitness activities are crucial to establishing a new work-from-home routine, and nearly all professionals (96%) say they feel more motivated and less stressed after exercising.
There is a desire to begin socializing again. Companies are concerned that they want to keep a corporate culture. To both assist workers meet new coworkers hired during the outbreak and reconnect with colleagues, online group exercising is a smart option to satisfy both goals.
About 71% of professionals are feeling less connected to coworkers overall, but those who have participated in a team workout say they felt more connected to their colleagues afterwards, and (89%) say they feel more productive during their workday after exercising.
Nicole Wolfe, Head of Corporate Programs at ClassPass, says “Offices are now prominently placed in bedrooms and living rooms, making it tough to close laptops and focus on self-care. We see the need for employers to meet employees where they are both physically and geographically by providing a wide range of virtual and in-person fitness offerings, allowing for times when employees need to destress and find calm through gentle yoga and meditation, as well as those times when a high-impact cardio class is needed to let off some steam. Corporate wellness benefits are no longer nice to have, they are a must have.”
