By Marshall Staton, Director of Human Resources at Aeroflow Healthcare
May is Global Employee Health & Fitness Month, and while it’s always an important month to observe, it’s absolutely crucial this year. Like so many other organizations coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, many of Aeroflow’s employees are currently working remotely, often while caring for young children. Sleep schedules have been disrupted, social connection is more difficult to come by, and physical fitness takes a backseat to more immediate concerns. Most gyms and workout facilities are closed and it can be difficult to find ways to stay active while still adhering to social distancing and safety guidelines. During this challenging time, it’s critical that we prioritize employee physical and mental health. I wanted to provide some tips and resources (as well as a couple of team challenges) that will hopefully make this all a bit easier!
At-Home Fitness Tips
- Do what feels good. Take this time to focus on YOU and what type of movement makes your body feel better, not worse. For example, you may not be able to run for 30 minutes if your body hates that. But maybe take a short walk around the neighborhood and come back inside and lay down on the floor and stretch.
- Reach out to your HR team to see what resources are available. For example, if your company works with local gyms to provide discounted memberships or other perks, check with those gyms to see if they have online programs available. At Aeroflow, our HR team has worked hard to make sure we’re available to employees who have questions and concerns.
- Keep a log for yourself! It is so rewarding to look back and see that you’ve done physical activity 10+ days in a row (hopefully 30!)
- Set a goal, whatever that may be for you; running, planking, push ups, to touch your toes…ANYTHING, this is all about you!
- Start a collaborative playlist with friends or coworkers to encourage each other to keep moving. Check out the Active Aeroflow playlist for inspiration!
Free Online Wellness Resources
- Gold’s Gym is offering free access to their library of online workouts as well as their app that has over 600 audio and video workouts. Just visit the website to find out more or go here and enter the code FIT60.
- Peloton is offering access to their App for free for 90 days. You don’t have to have their equipment to use it.
- 30 Days of Yoga Series is streaming on Youtube.
- OrangeTheory has launched an at-home series.
- Planet Fitness is hosting “Home Work-Ins,” free classes that are streamed live on their Facebook page daily at 7 p.m. EST.
- 24 Hour Fitness has made some home fitness routines available for free now to help you stay fit and healthy at home.
- YMCA has launched Your Y At Home, a collection of online activities from YMCAs across the US to help maintain a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
- CorePower Yoga is streaming live yoga classes for free on YouTube.
30 for 30 Challenge
What better way to encourage some healthy competition than a team fitness challenge! This year, we’re asking employees to participate in 30 minutes of physical activity, every day, for 30 days. Each team must track what they do each day, either by taking a photo or writing down what activity they completed. Our fitness challenge is totally voluntary, just something to help employees feel more connected to one another and motivated to keep active. If it’s not in the company budget to include a prize, competing for bragging rights is always fun too!
Photo Challenge
This month, our photo competition is all about health and wellness. We’ve asked employees to share a picture of how they are focusing on physical or mental health for a chance to win a prize.
Work From Home Survival Guide
Finally, I wanted to share a handy image with some tried-and-true tips for staying sane while working from home.
Information provided on the Aeroflow Healthcare blog is not intended as a substitute to medical advice or care. Aeroflow Healthcare recommends consulting a doctor if you are experiencing medical issues or concerns.
