ON-SITE FITNESS CENTER

Prepared by Eric Garcia

College of DuPage Student

Report Distributed on July 19, 2019

Prepared for Writing in the Workplace

English 1105
MEMO
To: John Smith
From: Eric Garcia
Sent: July 7th, 2019
Subject: Benefits, Risks, and Costs

Dear Mr. Smith,

The following document that you will find attached is a report of building an onsite fitness
center. This is the solution, that I have agreed on, to take to help us lower our cost of health care
cost, after seeing an increase from last year’s costs.
The report will contain specific topics on building a fitness center, such as the benefits, risks,
cost, and the design of the fitness center. This will also give some informational visuals, which
should help explain some of these topics as well.
If you any concerns or any questions, please feel free to contact me at my email,
ericgarcia@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Eric Garcia

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract .........................................................................................................................................................................4
Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................................................5
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................6
Benefits ..........................................................................................................................................................................7
Risks ...............................................................................................................................................................................9
Costs ............................................................................................................................................................................10
Design of Fitness Center ..............................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion and Recommendations………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..13

References ...................................................................................................................................................................14

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ABSTRACT

Health care cost have been increasing immensely, and the most helpful and only solution is to
establish an onsite fitness center for the employees to use. With the implementation of the fitness
center, they can live a healthier life. This can help reduce the cost of health care cost, due to the
lower risk of illnesses or stress from the process of exercising that employees will be involved in.
The following report will cover the aspects of a fitness center such as the benefits, risks, cost,
and the overall design of the fitness center, including some blueprints that can be looked at for
reference.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

As you may already know, the cost for health care for employees has increased drastically. But
there has been a simple solution that was brought up that can easily lower the cost for health
care. Having a fitness center built on company ground can help the employees to get into better
shape. With the fitness center, with complementary memberships for employees and being close
in distance, will help encourage the employees to use it, and we can also implement a program
that will teach the employees the basic procedure of exercising.

The main benefit of building a fitness center is that this will help employees to live healthier
lives, which can help lower healthcare cost, and it can also increase employee productivity, since
there have been studies that exercise can help lower stress. Another benefit of opening a fitness
center, is that we can open the fitness center to the public, and charge non-employees a monthly
membership, so the company can have an increased revenue.

The main concern with a fitness center is that the employee can face the risk of injury. To
counter this problem, we can offer lectures for proper exercising, stretching, and healthy diets.
Offering these lectures will then ensure that we offered as much help as possible for the
employees.

This project will need an extensive budget, but as I mentioned before, we can compensate the
costs of labor, employees (for the fitness center), and maintenance by opening up the fitness
center to the public. It may take some time to regain the money that will be spent on the fitness
center, but it will be cheaper than paying the current health care cost for employees.

The following report contains further information on the concept of how the fitness center will
look like. The blueprints showcase the weight room, cardio room, a spin studio, and the layout of
the locker rooms.

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INTRODUCTION

The modern work environment has been seeing a lot of decrease in physical activity, as most
jobs are designed to be in an office space. The issue with this is that the employees are more
vulnerable to becoming ill and/or stressed. According to Julie Corliss, an executive editor at the
Harvard Heart Letter, there appears to be a higher rate in deaths in sedentary people, related to
diabetes and cancer. Employees need to stay healthy so they can work efficiently in the
workplace, and this can also help relive the company of health care cost.

Recently, there has been an increasing number of new employees joining the company. The main
concern that has been arising is that the cost of health care for an employee has been increasing
at an alarming rate. In the previous year, the health care cost was $6,500 per employee. This
year’s cost has risen to $13,000, which is double from last year. With the implementation of a
fitness center, we should see a positive change within our staff and company.

This report will cover the overall concept of the fitness center, including:

 Benefits
 Risks
 Costs
 Design of Fitness Center

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BENEFITS

If the company were to implement a

fitness center, the benefits that we
can see is efficient employees and
lower health care cost. Referring to
Figure 1, you can see that 76%
percent of workers are not in a
healthy wellbeing, and that 52% of
the workers are either overweight or
obese. So, to refrain from this
happening to our own staff, the
fitness center will encourage them to
live a healthier lifestyle.

As we know, the main benefits for

exercising are losing weight, and
becoming leaner. Most of don’t
know that exercise can help us
mentally. According to Heidi
Godman, executive editor for the
Harvard Heart Letter, she stated
that, “Exercise helps memory and
thinking through both direct and
indirect means. The benefits of
exercise come directly from its
ability to reduce insulin resistance,
reduce inflammation, and stimulate Figure 1 Statistics on workers
the release of growth factors—
chemicals in the brain that affect the health of brain cells, the growth of new blood vessels in the
brain, and even the abundance and survival of new brain cells.”(Godman 1) Not only will this be
beneficial for the employees, as it would make them more efficient workers, but rather it would
help the company out as more work will be able to get done. And since the employees will be
healthier, there can then be more opportunities to look at lowering down the health care cost per
employee.

Not only can we see a decrease in health care cost, but we can also see an increased revenue.
This increased revenue will come from the fitness center. This revenue can come from charging
non-employees for a monthly membership, if they wish to use our fitness center. According to
Hayley Muth, who is part of the Partnerships Organization at ClassPass, stated some ways to
increase revenue. First one being that, “Teacher training, private instruction or specialized
workshops also help you target your high-value, loyal clients” (Muth). This will fall under the
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category of hiring personal trainers for the patrons, or perhaps offering a spin class. And if it
ends up that the patrons enjoy our fitness center, then we can implement, “a small batch of t-
shirts or reusable/tote bags with your
logo will delight your regulars, who
will sport your swag proudly”
(Muth), said by Muth (Refer to figure
2). But of course, this fitness center
will have its own branding, instead of
having the same branding as the
company, as we would want the
fitness center to gain attraction,
instead of the company.

Figure 2 Examples of Merchandise that can be made

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 RISKS

The fitness center can greatly help the employees, but there are some concerns that can arise,
mainly running the risk of injury. This is something that needs attention, as we don’t want the
employees to be hurt, which could possibly even raise healthcare cost.

According to Dr. Berkson, an instructor in orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School and
director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Sports Performance Center, he lists the most
common injuries include the following (Berkson):

 sprains—injuries to ligaments, the tissues that connect bones to one another

 muscle strains—injuries to muscles or tendons, the tissues that connect muscles to bones

 tendinitis—inflammation of a tendon, often due to overuse

 ACL and meniscus tears of the knee—a rip in one of the ligaments that helps stabilize the
knee or cartilage that cushions the knee joint

 rotator cuff tears—rips in the group of muscles and their tendons that hold the arm in the
shoulder socket.

If one of our employees were to suffer from any of

these injuries, it would put our work behind and
more importantly, that employee will be out of the
workplace with an injury.

To prevent the employees from being injured, we

can start a program for the employees, which would
teach them the basic procedure of exercising. This
program would cover topics such as stretching
(Refer to figure 3), eating healthy, proper
exercising, and recovery from minor injuries.

Figure 3 Tips for Stretching

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COSTS

In order to determine costs, the best option is to look at other companies who implemented
fitness centers into their own companies. Below would be an example that we can follow.

“Honeywell's 7,273-square-foot wellness center in Tempe and its 10,000-square-foot wellness

center in Phoenix include free weights and weight-training equipment, cardiovascular machines,
locker rooms, towel service and a studio for exercise classes. Employees and their spouses each
pay $15 dollars a month for wellness services, with billing performed through payroll
deductions. About 30 percent of the company's corporate population, or 2,600 employees, are
members of the facilities. A recent survey conducted by Johnson & Johnson found that 92
percent of the members were satisfied with the services” (Huddleston). This information was
gathered by Elizabeth Huddleston, an associate for Athletic Business.

The initial cost to open a 7,500 sq. ft would be $500,000, and then we would have to consider the
cost of the employees, equipment, and professional trainers. But to make further revenue, we can
open up the fitness center to the public, where non-employees would be charged $30 a month.

But instead of following the concept of charging the employee and their spouses for $15 a
month, the employee will receive a complementary membership and if he wants to add another
membership for another person in the family, it will then be $15 a month for that person. This
will encourage the employee to use the fitness center, as it would be available for them for free.

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DESIGN OF FITNESS CENTER

Below is the visual layout of the fitness center, which includes a cardio section, weights section,
a spin studio and a front desk, where patrons will be able to check in:

Figure 4 Layout of Fitness Center

 Changes
o The spin studio will be open for any member to use, but there will also be classes
held there as well.
o The weight room will be bigger than the one that is presented in the design layout,
with more free weights to use.

Of course, with every fitness center comes with a locker room, so patrons can keep their
belongings secured in a locker. This will also come in handy for when the employee or patron
needs to change outfits before or after using the fitness center.

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Below is a layout of the locker rooms, which include shower stalls, toilets, urinals, sinks, and
lockers. And if our budget allows us, we can also install the saunas that are presented in the
blueprint:

Figure 5 Layout of Locker Rooms

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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Ultimately, with the installation of fitness center, it can bring great improvement to the overall
health of our employees, and it can also help us with the concern of expensive health care cost
for the employees. Although, this fitness center can be expensive, we can compensate the costs
by giving access to non-employees, for a cost. And we can also sell merchandise that represents
the fitness center, for our loyal patrons. And we even saw that there are many benefits from the
fitness center project. This fitness center can help relive us the cost of health care and improve
the overall health and performance of our employees to my belief.

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 REFERENCES

Corliss, Julie. “Too Much Sitting Linked to Heart Disease, Diabetes, Premature Death.” Harvard
Health Blog, 22 Jan. 2015, www.health.harvard.edu/blog/much-sitting-linked-heart-
disease-diabetes-premature-death-201501227618.

Godman, Heidi. “Regular Exercise Changes the Brain to Improve Memory, Thinking Skills.”
Harvard Health Blog, 5 Apr. 2018, www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-
changes-brain-improve-memory-thinking-skills-201404097110.

Gray, Shannon E, and Caroline F Finch. “The Causes of Injuries Sustained at Fitness Facilities
Presenting to Victorian Emergency Departments - Identifying the Main Culprits.” Injury
Epidemiology, Springer International Publishing, Dec. 2015,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5005555/.

Harvard Health Publishing. “10 Tips to Prevent Injuries When You Exercise.” Harvard Health,
www.health.harvard.edu/pain/10-tips-to-prevent-injuries-when-you-exercise.

Muth, Hayley. “Key Ways to Add More Revenue at Your Studio or Gym.” After Class, 3 Feb.
2017, afterclass.classpass.com/key-ways-to-add-more-revenue-at-your-studio-or-gym/.

Staff, AB. “On-Site Corporate Fitness Facilities Give Companies Competitive Edge.” Athletic
Business, www.athleticbusiness.com/Fitness-Training/on-site-corporate-fitness-facilities-
give-companies-competitive-edge.html.

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