Employee Wellness Plans : Exercise Programs

Participatory exercise programs must include education on benefits of regular exercise and risks of a sedentary lifestyle, its effect on cardiovascular health and diseases, its relationship with weight control and stress management, and aerobic exercise options. Discussion and practice of safe principles of exercise – warm up, cool down, frequency, intensity, duration, flexibility and strength components. The program follows standard procedures by the American College Of Sports Medicine.

Safety precautions ought to include the following:

• Informed consent prior to implementing exercise with clear and complete written and verbal guidelines of possible risk, purpose of exercise, exercise format to be followed, opportunity for questions, and a signed informed consent with date.
• A screening/assessment of participants to determine if medical care assessment is crucial for exercise such as the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q, see forms).
• Measurements of Blood Pressure and resting heart rate are useful evaluation information to determine exercise readiness.
• Participants who fail screening are medically referred and ought to obtain a written clearance from their physician to exercise.
• The basic content of an aerobic fitness program should include:

Warm up   5 – 10 minutes
Aerobic exercise   20 – 40 minutes
Cool down   5 – 10 minutes

Exercise instructors should have education and training in exercise physiology, physical education, physical therapy or comparable discipline, or possess a current certification by a nationally recognized sports medicine or exercise association, and be CPR certified.