Fattest Cities in America

You can rest easy. Boston Massachusetts is not the fattest city in America. That accolade belongs to Corpus Christi, Texas. Boston is the 52nd fattest city in America according to Men's Health Magazine.

To arrive at their rankings, they calculated the percentage of people who are overweight, the percentage with type 2 diabetes, the percentage who haven't left the couch in a month (CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System); the money spent on junk food (Bureau of Labor Statistics); and finally, the number of people who ate fast food nine or more times in a month (Mediamark Research). What are the top ten "fat cities" behind Corpus Christi Texas? Charleston, W. VA, El Paso, TX, Dallas, TX, Memphis TN, Kansas City, MO, San Antonio, TX, Baltimore, MD, Houston TX and Birmingham, AL.

Next time you are contemplating your ninth meal of the month at McDonalds, think again. You don't want to be responsible for MA rising in the "Fat City" rankings. If you haven't lifted your bottom of the sofa lately or started working out, make today the day you are going to commit to being a better you... healthier, stronger and thinner. Fitcorp is here to help.

Challenge Question Answer

Interval training alternates fast and slow speeds and can be performed on a variety of cardiovascular equipment, including: stairmaster, elliptical, rowing machine or treadmill. A 2005 study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology showed 6 of 8 individuals doubled their endurance with just 2 weeks of interval training. Give it a try! To discuss an interval training program with a Fitcorp Trainer, contact: Sam Berry (sberry@fitcorp.com).

ANSWER: TRUE

Challenge Question Answer

According to a recent study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, people who exercised with partners lost at least 5 percent of their body weight while those who exercised alone lost less than 5 percent. Not only can working out with a friend be fun, help keep you consistent and motivated, it also develops healthy competition, which can help you reach your fitness goals. So grab a gym buddy you already know at Fitcorp, or bring a new workout buddy to Fitcorp so you can reach your goals together!

ANSWER: TRUE

Read more about the study and let us know what you think http://ow.ly/1zkQh

Challenge Question #1 Answer

Although cardiovascular exercise can be a good warm up for strength training, you may consider reversing the order if you are doing a particularly challenging cardio session that day so you don’t deplete all of your energy stores. It takes some experimenting to determine what works best for you based on the intensity and style of the cardio and strength workouts you plan to do. A Fitcorp Trainer can help you determine the best order based on your work-out program, contact: Sam Berry (sberry@fitcorp.com), he can set you up with a trainer that will help you meet your workout goals.

Answer: It’s up to you.

For more information visit: http://ow.ly/1uFbr

3rd Annual Fitcorp Company Challenge

The 3rd Annual Fitcorp Company Challenge was held at the Boston Racquet Club on Saturday, March 20th. With the defending champions, One Beacon St., walking in with the trophy in-hand, teams were geared up and ready to bring the trophy home to their club!

The Company Challenge was born to bring the entire company of Fitcorp together for an evening of food, games and fun. With busy schedules and other center happenings going on all the time, it is difficult to get together and interact with other Fitcorp peers. The Company Challenge boast games such as sumo wrestling, jousting, ping pong, four square, and an obstacle course, among many others.

The competitive side of everyone always shines through at this event to see which team will prevail in the end. The last event of the night is always a “Spirit Competition” where each club performs a skit in front of the owners to be judged. With tight competition throughout the night, the BRC went into the Spirit Competition in first place. After some great laughs and hysterical mannerisms, Longwood came from behind to pull out the overall victory and walk away with the trophy!

In the end, it was a successful night, with great friends and coworkers. It’s days like these that make a person glad he/she works for Fitcorp.

Fitcorp Hosts Seminar for Boston’s Corporate Community on the Economic Benefits of Fitness and Wellness Programs

Last Friday, November 6, 2009 Fitcorp conducted a seminar for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce on the economic benefits of corporate fitness and wellness programs. Over the past 12 months the economic climate has made companies think long and hard about wellness initiatives. What has been interesting to us at Fitcorp is that for the most part, after careful consideration, our clients have opted to continue with the wellness and fitness benefits they provide their employees through Fitcorp. They determined that the up-side far outweighed the financial burdens. It is a proven fact that many of the health problems that are driving up health care costs can be avoided through diet, exercise and other preventive health measures. By promoting exercise, nutrition, smoking cessation and other health promotion programs we can improve the quality of one’s life and dramatically reduce healthcare costs. With the increase of healthcare initiatives in discussion in our legislature, this was a hot topic that we knew would be an interesting topic for many companies.
The seminar consisted of a panel discussion led by Mike Parent, Fitcorp’s Senior Vice President. The panelists were James Blue, President and CEO of The Bostonian Group, Helen Durkin, Director of Government Relations for the International Health, Racquet Assoication, and Tina Wiskow, Sr. Benefits Project Manager, John Hancock Financial Services.

Mr. Blue discussed how companies have seen their health insurance premiums increase by over 80% since 2000. Much of these costs are attributed to illnesses that are preventable. Clearly, there is a need for employers to help their employees establish healthy lifestyles. What money that is invested in preventative healthcare and wellness is paid back exponentially.

Ms. Wiskow described the types of health promotion programs that the John Hancock Financial Services has implemented over the past 10 years. Subsidized health club memberships, health risk appraisals, walking clubs and weight loss programs have been implemented. The result has been a win/win situation for the employee and John Hancock. As a healthier workforce has had a positive impact on the company’s bottom line resulting in lower health care costs, improved productivity, fewer medical claims and reduce absenteeism.

Finally, Ms. Durkin discussed two of the legislative bills that have been proposed on the federal level. The first is the Workforce Health Improvement Program (WHIP) Act. Under current law, employers and employees may be discouraged from offering or using a health benefit of membership to a health club. That's because while employees are not taxed for the benefit of using an in-house workout facility, they are forced to report the benefit of a membership to an off-site fitness facility as additional income. This forces employers to deal with more IRS paperwork and increases employees' taxes for using their benefits. This act would resolve this tax inequity.

The second bill proposed in Washington is the Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act, which will significantly reduce physical fitness costs for the American public, giving them a greater incentive to join a fitness facility or purchase exercise equipment. This will help individual fitness facilities by making fitness facility memberships even more affordable.

The discussion was lively and gave us all pause to consider the real benefits we provide our employees when we bring wellness and fitness into our workplaces

Fitcorp has been helping Boston’s Business Community reduce their health care costs for over 30 years. For more information on how we can help your company call Mike Parent at 617 375-5600 x114.