More companies find fitness programs raise productivity

By Davis Bushnell, Globe Correspondent, 2/6/05

Globe Photo/Robert E. Klein Tammy Doherty of Weymouth works out in the fitness center at WearGuard-Crest corporate headquarters in Norwell.

An increasing number of companies are taking to heart the fact that programs aimed at making their employees more physically fit are an excellent investment in disease prevention and workforce productivity.

These wellness and fitness programs "just make good sense today for everyone involved," said Rick Fisher, human resources vice president for Cambridge drug developer Biogen Idec Inc.

Like a number of companies in Greater Boston, Biogen Idec has its own fitness facility, open 24 hours, seven days a week.

Others offer employees discounted memberships in fitness and sports clubs.

Corporate fitness regimens are being played out against a backdrop of rising healthcare costs and new federal prescriptions for wellness and fitness.

These federal guidelines call for a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise daily, instead of 30 minutes most days of the week, as was suggested in 2000.

Although it's usually only the larger businesses that have the wherewithal to roll out fitness centers with a variety of exercise equipment, "the enlightened companies" of any size are trying to do something in "the health promotion area," said David Hunnicutt, president of the Wellness Councils of America, based in Omaha.

Also, some employees are seeking personal trainers outside the workplace to bolster their conditioning and overall health.

All this heightened interest in fitness is in contrast to little or no corporate involvement some years ago, according to fitness specialists like Mike Parent, senior vice president of Fitcorp of Boston.

"When we opened in 1979, physical activity was not part of the corporate culture," Parent recalled.

"The first people we saw joined on their own. And many of them persuaded their companies to become involved."

Fitcorp now has 33 facilities and 175 corporate clients in Massachusetts, Southern New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, Parent said.

Some 17,000 employees of these clients are enrolled in wellness and fitness programs managed by Fitcorp, he noted.

Among his company's clients, he said, are Biogen Idec, Gillette, Raytheon, and the Boston law firm Bingham McCutchen.

One of the first companies in the Boston area to open a fitness center on its own, in 1987, was WearGuard-Crest of Norwell.

"We were then on the cutting edge" of companies wanting "to do something that promotes healthy lifestyles," said Jason Callaway, vice president of human resources for the uniform manufacturer.

Although there are no data on how many corporate fitness facilities there are across the country, it is clear that most large companies have some sort of "health promotion program in place, whether it's yoga classes or fitness challenge races," said Camille Haltom, a healthcare consultant for Hewitt Associates LLC, a worldwide human resources consulting firm headquartered in Lincolnshire, Ill.

Surveys conducted by Hewitt of more than 500 large US employers show that 93 percent of them are active in promoting health, Haltom said.

And corporate involvement comes as healthcare costs continue to rise.

In 2002, the last year for which data are available, US companies collectively paid $449.1 billion in healthcare costs, up from $211.9 billion in 1990, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute of Washington, D.C.

While it's difficult to track how much effect wellness programs have on paring corporate healthcare costs, there's no doubt that these programs will be catalysts for improved health in the future, said Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

"There is compelling evidence that physical activity will lower incidences of heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and some forms of cancer such as colon and breast," said Manson, who also is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

In the new fitness guidelines recently released by the Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments, it is recommended that everyone exercise a minimum of 30 minutes a day, 60 minutes a day for maximum benefits, to control weight and become more fit.

Manson said that currently, "two-thirds of the US population doesn't get 30 minutes of exercise a day."

Tammy Doherty, 40, a call center supervisor for WearGuard- Crest, said she works out at the company's fitness center four or five times a week for 45 to 50 minutes each.

When not working out at the center, she said she plays racquetball and exercises at a gym in Weymouth, where she lives with husband Joseph, 39, a frequent workout companion.

"I'm improving all the time, concentrating on cardiovascular benefits that I get from using the elliptical and Stairmaster machines and the stationary bike," Doherty said.

Some 450 of the company's 1,200 full-time employees use the fitness center regularly, said Callaway, the human resources vice president, a racquetball player and runner.

For using the center, an employee is charged $2.50 a week, he said, adding that the low fee is an incentive for using the facility.

To promote its fitness facility, opened three years ago, Biogen Idec offered memberships for $25 a month, Fisher said.

So far, 25 percent of its 1,600 Cambridge workers are members, he added.

"We're also helped by the fact that we have a relatively young workforce - the average age is 37 - who are used to working out regularly."

At Bingham McCutchen, 130 employees take advantage of a discounted, $49 a month membership at Fitcorp, said Laura Lemmons, the firm's benefits director.

"We also encourage summer interns to participate actively in one of the fitness programs. So, we keep fitness in the front of everyone's mind."

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