Workplace-wellness programs, rightly, place a lot of emphasis on diet and exercise. What do most programs miss from their exercise plans? Answer, fun, focus, and accomplishment.

It’s common for employers to negotiate gym memberships for employees. I’ve been a beneficiary of these programs.  I’ve lumbered on the treadmill for what seems like eternity. I’ve swum up and down swimming-pool lanes like an aquatic rat.  I’ve  stuffed my ears with earplugs while on the exercise bike so as to drown out the inane big-screen TV in front of me.  Most gyms are neurotically distracting.  The ski-machine experience is nothing like being out in the quiet of the back country. But the solitude and demands of the  great outdoors are impractical in the fast-paced world of work.

Get it over with

The gym is a place of noise, isolation, and stress. No wonder the enthusiastic January Effect, is followed by the realistic and apathetic February Effect, where most give up.  The gym can be a lonely place.  Someone plugged into her audio player is sending a message— leave me alone. Even if you take aerobics classes you don’t get to interact with others.  There is rarely laughter, which, in my view, is a barometer of connection and health.

When bad is good

So what is it that American employers don’t know yet? Answer: Badminton. No, not that backyard game. Badminton is probably the fastest growing phenomenon on the West Coast. It’s the most egalitarian and social sport.  Whether you’re 5 or 75 you can enjoy badminton.  Beginners can benefit from immediate exercise and fun on the court, yet it is a highly-skilled game for those who wish to play regularly and fine-tune their motor skills.  Playing regular Badminton can boost energy, flexibility, lower blood pressure, reduce weight, and increase well-being.  Those who want to go beyond the beginner level will discover an increase in mental agility as the game relies on strategic action.

Rapid growth

Badminton clubs are catching on fast in the San Francisco Bay Area. Compared with tennis, squash, and other racket sports, badminton clubs are inexpensive. A big appeal of badminton is the social element. Singles is demanding, but most social players play doubles. This allows the players to work together as a team against their competition. There is an atmosphere of belonging and collegiality which gyms simply can’t match.

Short-attention span is a problem for employers

Unlike the gym, where distraction is the norm,  badminton focuses your mind on the moment.  Many in the knowledge economy must develop the skill to concentrate for long periods of time. There are those who successfully practice meditation, but this is not easy. There is a paradox here: meditation demands self-discipline, but you need self-discipline in order to meditate.

An example

I play at lunchtimes with employees of local companies. These people are from enlightened businesses that allow their employees the time to de-stress and  re-energize in the middle of the day.  Employees from one of these companies play  at the same three lunchtimes a week as I do.  What they appear to share is a liking for each other. They are clearly having a good time.  There’s a sense of inclusiveness, laughing, and good humor.

Badminton is a way of engaging the whole person. It’s a way of connecting with others that goes beyond the confines of business talk. I don’t think you can laugh and be stressed at the same time.  Genuine laughter is the litmus test.

Here’s what American employers don’t know, that four-letter word ‘play’ is the secret ingredient to connection, sustainability, and productivity.

Many of us have lofty goals, not just for us, but for our employees. We will eat less. We will exercise more. We start out with great enthusiasm. We imagine our future selves as energetic, alert, and able to cope with the everyday stresses the workplace brings.

We have little trouble knowing what to do. It’s the actual doing it that makes things tricky. Workplace wellness programs offer rewards for good behavior. Nutritional and exercise information is important. But long-term habits don’t change overnight by simply having information presented to us.  Don’t you agree?

Workplace environment

I’m sure we can agree that a healthier workplace environment makes sense.

At one time the publishing industry was said to run on alcohol. Of course, three-martini lunches and smoking are long gone from the workplace. But at the time, few saw smoking at work as worth complaining about. It was normal, just like sitting in a chair all day at meetings, or in front of a computer.

Can you imagine a caffeine-free workplace? Yes, it’s hard to imagine. Yet caffeine is a powerful stimulant, along with its inevitable let down. If caffeine addiction wasn’t so widespread it wouldn’t be seen as normal. I want to point out here that your writer doesn’t abstain but is a moderate user.

Employers welcomed such a stimulant. It gave the illusion of promoting productivity, and in a sense it did ─ compared to how things used to be. In the days of the Industrial Revolution, the drink of choice at work was beer. Imagine! The point is that workplace orthodoxy changes over time.

Even small changes can lead in the right direction. How easy would it be for the office canteen to  cook with less salt? Can that vending machine sell healthy snacks?

Peer pressure

Our biology was not designed for us to sit at computers all day. We need to move about. Does the workplace environment encourage movement, or look at it as an aberration? Is there space to stretch? Is there any way of allowing employees some physical vigor during the work day? If no one previously exercised at work, then those that do will seem eccentric. Workplace wellness professionals must advocate for physical movement because peer pressure matters.

Fortunately, there are exercises designed for computer users. The University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey and the University of Oklahoma (OU) have licensed Easy Desktop Yoga, a workplace-wellness product, allowing employees to workout at their desks. OU ran a pilot  before expanding the program.

Exercise is gaining acceptance in the workplace. It hasn’t replaced caffeine yet, but this, like all changes, will happen gradually. The advantage to Easy Desktop Yoga is that it is easy. Making a small change is far more likely to lead to long-term habit change than grandiose plans.
Let’s make it easy.

You get involved in a task. The next thing you know, your back hurts and your wrists ache. We forget we have bodies. The problem is we tend to live in our heads. In fact, the only time most of us notice our bodies is when they hurt. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Enter the ergonomist

Get an ergonomic specialist to assess what your employees need. Without expert help, buying what you think is an ergonomic solution can cost you more.

Each person is different. Some will be more in tune with their bodies than others. People come in different sizes. Well, you knew that, didn’t you?

Providing top-of-the-line equipment to people who don’t have a sense of their own body mechanics is likely to be an exercise in futility. Training is important.

Posture please

Good posture makes all the difference.  Even if there is little budget for creating an injury-free workplace, body awareness, taking breaks, and stretching frequently don’t have to cost much (if anything).

Trial and error

If you can’t locate an ergonomic specialist, then you’ll be (like me) subject to trial and error.   I’ve spent a fair amount of time working on my own set up. I probably would have saved money by hiring and an ergonomist in the first place. I spent a long time doing the research.

Don’t just sit there!

We humans weren’t designed to sit in chairs for long periods. When I sat at a computer all day my energy sagged. For me, standing up at my computer gives me more energy. I have an Anthro Ajusta cart which allows me the options of sitting or standing. I do both. I can raise or lower the keyboard portion of the desk in an instant.

I have a Salli MultiAdjuster saddle chair (mine is designed for the male anatomy) which took some getting used to, but it allows my back to be straight. I don’t suffer from lower-back pain. The tendency for all of us is to collapse over time. The shoulders round, the head protrudes. This is not good. Recognizing when you are tired is important because collapsing into a poor posture stretches and distorts muscles; this in turn leads to even poorer posture. There is evidence that posture has an emotional component to it. Collapse doesn’t feel good.

Flex that monitor

My two monitors are on 7Flex monitor arms. This allows them to be easily maneuvered into just about any position I want. Adjusting your position throughout the day is recommended by ergonomists.  Most of the literature says you should position your monitor(s) about 2 -3 inches above your eye line. Think comfort.

Ouch! Straight keyboard

The right keyboard is essential. I used a Microsoft Natural Keyboard for many years. Why they made the keyboard with a slope making your wrist bend, I shall never know. The newer models avoid this problem. Nevertheless, I have moved to a Kinesis Freestyle Solo split keyboard and, so far in my experience, it allows for better individual hand positioning.  This is a strange looking device and like all new tools you have to spend some time with them.

Point and click

I recently retired my Kensington trackball. In many ways I liked it, but similar to the Microsoft Natural Keyboard version I was using, the trackball  had a slope that made my wrist bend awkwardly. I find the Evoluent Vertical Mouse a better design. The forearm is more in the natural position.

See what you’re doing

Get a desk lamp. Good lighting reduces eyestrain.

Why type at all?

Ideally, voice recognition software would be a replacement for typing.  It’s still only a partial solution. I bought a copy of Dragon Speaking Naturally but didn’t have much luck installing it.  I am still training my Microsoft Office 2003 (XP) to help out. Right now, I can type as fast. It’s worthwhile spending the time to teach the software to recognize your voice. Accuracy improves the more you train it. It’s an investment in productivity.

Getting the right equipment for your employees might seem like a cost, but think of the consequences of chronic contorting ourselves into painful shapes.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSI) reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have dramatically increased in the years since the introduction of the personal computer. In the United States, more workers are injured using a computer keyboard than operating any other tool.

Use technology, don’t be enslaved by it.

Should employers cut workplace-wellness programs during the current economic downturn?

Clearly some employers are axing programs, according to Laura Pickering, executive director of the New York Business Group on Health.

Under stress most organisms revert to type. In business, this means short-term thinking. The hunkered-down defensive position is about survival. Anything that looks like a cost and can be cut, will be cut.

The downturn won’t last forever

However, enlightened management will have made provision for naturally occurring economic cycles. It’s at times like these that organizations demonstrate their commitment to employee well-being. The value in almost all companies today is the people who work there. The downturn won’t last forever. Sooner or later employees will have greater choices of where they want to work.

The living organization

We think of employees as being healthy or not, but the organization itself is a living entity. It has a predictable growth and decay pattern. New growth is more likely to happen when the organization is agile, flexible, and open to change.

Employee health is a long-term project. If workplace-wellness professionals can’t convince management that sick, poorly nourished, exhausted employees are not only unproductive, but are more likely to be a financial burden on the company, then it’s not the program that is at fault.

Consequences

What are the consequences of eliminating programs? Is this elimination permanent or temporary? Is the program costly in terms of money or time? This is an important distinction. When bosses want to eliminate a program what do they think they are saving? Would they be open to a program that costs time and not money?

Something is better than nothing

During a causal conversation I was told of a company whose employees would stretch in the hall for ten minutes twice a day. How expensive is that? It gave the employees a sense of community, fun, and well-being. Employees received a stamp in their wellness passport. At a certain number of stamps they were rewarded.

Those employers who demonstrate their commitment to employee health and well-being will be the places of choice for the best talent.

The University of Oklahoma recently completed a pilot program using low-cost Easy Desktop Yoga for a number of employees who work at their computers all day. Even in these economic times  OU just expanded their program by purchasing a second set of licenses.

Those companies eliminating programs are operating in emergency mode. Chronic emergency is harmful to  individual and organizational health.

Wouldn’t it make sense if leaders in the workplace wellness domain led by example? It would be encouraging to see leaders show their commitment to disciplined personal fitness, diet, and rest.

Few of us work as hard, or have the dynamism and drive of President Obama. Yet even with such a demanding job he watches what he eats, regularly plays basketball, and works out in the gym. Here is more on his routine.