Should your business keep you fit?

Press, 14 May 1987, Page 17

Should your business keep you fit?

By

JAMES HOMES

Persuading Christchurch business organisations that their executives would be better mentally as well as physically by following regular fitness programmes is a task that has been taken up by exNavy man Garry Pettis. Forty-three-year- old Garry, who is the coach of the Converse Canterbury basketball team, is marketing manager with the Canterbury Institute of Sport and Corporate Health. “Most business executives who are around 35 to 45 will tell you they are fit,” Garry says. “Maybe they play squash once a week, jog every day or have a round of golf at the week-end. “Because their exercise is sporadic, they are really doing nothing to get fit and stay fit. And the enthusiasts who jog tens of miles each week could be risking long-lasting injuries.

“Sportsmen and women know the benefits that come from being fit. Now we want to convince those who spend their working days sitting at desks, with all sorts of pressures and stresses, that they can benefit too.” Garry says that New Zealand is a long way behind other countries in promoting corporate health. “Companies in the United States have known for a long time that keeping their executives fit keeps their organisations running more smoothly. “An executive who is feeling fit is going to work better and have a better output. Managers in the United States know this. “They know that less time is taken off for sickness, and those organisations covering staff with sickness insurance have to make fewer claims.” Garry says that a fit executive does not have to

work long hours, but makes better use of working within the regular hours. He is an enthusiast for the work of Kenneth Cooper, the American doctor who developed the now-famous aerobic exercises programmes. “Dr Cooper has written about the joys of fitness on the job and is urging Americans to work on programmes to bring their bodies into balance. “Many organisations are encouraging their staff into such programmes — subsidising them with time and money to exercise regularly. “These organisations are not being altruistic. They see the big advantages in having fit, energetic staff, who are not forever calling in sick. “I am sure that we will see companies here doing the same.”