One of the biggest risks to health in the UAE is sedentary living and now, more and more companies are realising the benefits of movement and on-site exercise for their employees. The risks of being sedentary go far and beyond health and fitness and extend into productivity and worker costs. If someone’s in pain or unhappy, then they’re not going to be able to perform at their highest ability, and that can really start to affect their output and results.

Today, we’re going to explore some of the benefits that health and fitness programs can have for both the workers and their employers in Dubai, Abu Dhabi & Sharjah. Programs can include some workplace personal training in the UAE or simply just education so workers are more informed about the impact of their health as well as what to do about it.

Exercise & Fitness Motivation In The UAE

Motivation is needed in physical training to keep you going and inspire your spirit. If you can’t imagine it then you can’t do it, it’s as simple as that. The benefit of using home based (mobile) Personal trainers in the UAE is that they have just you to attend to, at a given time.

Their job is to make sure you succeed, which also tells in their CV. They drive you to complete your exercise rounds and make sure you exceed your limits. Gym training has its benefits of course but might not be right for you if you’re just starting out in physical training.

There is less motivation to go to the gym, which is why most of the people that choose this option are those who have been in physical training for some time or those that are highly motivated.

Why Health and Fitness is Important in the Corporate World of the UAE

Both employers and employees can benefit from health and fitness improvements.

Firstly, workplace personal training in Dubai or Abu Dhabi can provide a social opportunity for your team through engaging in a challenging workout together.

This can help with their ability to work together as a group, increasing both their output and productivity as a unit. A positive environment for employees is vital for success in the corporate world.

Secondly, UAE workers will be under less stress, thus allowing them to handle more and work at a higher rate.

Fitness regimes provide a welcome release for many of the stressors that come from day to day life. It can also help improve their sleep which has a dramatic impact on the mood and is frequently skipped out on by those with a stressful job.

Next, health and fitness also boosts the immune system, another factor that contributes to a cloudy or tired mind.

Health and fitness goes above and beyond that of weight loss and looking good, it’s the mental benefits that really count.

Alongside all of these, other benefits to corporate exercise plans in the UAE include:

• Reduced workplace injuries
• Reduced presentism i.e. employees working whilst sick which can reduce productivity and cause further problems for other workers
• Improved overall staff wellbeing
• Increased job satisfaction
• Increased retention rates
• In turn, all of these reduce the time that employees aren’t working and increase the productivity of the times that they are working

Emirates LNG – Corporate Wellness Client Of Advantage Sports UAE

Emirates LNG would like to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you to you and your team’ for supporting the Health Week. The Workshops and PT sessions were very useful and informative to all staff. Looking forward to working with Advantage Sports UAE for EmiratesLNG Health Week 2016 and continued partnership.

Examples of Workplace Personal Training in Dubai & Abu Dhabi

There are a variety of ways to incorporate personal training into your business in the UAE. As the workplace health and fitness regimes can take place on site, it also limits the cost as well as the time spent away from working.

Some examples of workplace personal training include:

• Fitness challenges
• Walking programs
• Group jogging
• On site personal training (individual or groups)
• On site exercise classes
• Group information classes
• Group Yoga for posture and stress relief
• Group weight loss

Due to the fluidity of health and fitness, there’s always a way to fit a structured program, fitness classes, training or teaching sessions into your workplace to provide a better lifestyle for your workers.

Some Important Statistics

If you’re not yet convinced by the benefits, then maybe some shocking statistics will be enough to get through.

A comparative study. In 2005-2006, the Australian Safety and Compensation Council found the direct and indirect cost of work-related injuries and illnesses on employers, workers and the community to total $57.5 billion (5.9% of GDP) with the cost to employers equated to around $10.2 billion.

Alongside this, a report by Future Work at the same time found the effect of productivity loss due to ill health came out to $34.8 billion per year. Stress-related absenteeism came out to cost $14.8 billion per year alone.

A study by Medibank Private found that generally unhealthy employees take 9 times more days off than healthy employees.

Just to show how much of an impact various unhealthy activities can have upon work-place productivity, this is how much productivity falls in relation:

1. Lack of sleep – 30%
2. Neck and back pain – 20%
3. Stress – 13%
4. Smoking – 10%
5. Inactivity – 7%
   
   

Interestingly, companies who managed to effectively run corporate wellness programs experienced a 2.5x increase on employee performance, 8 x increases for employee engagement, and 3.5 x increases on creativity and innovation.

Although these figures are not for the UAE direct they are used as a comparison to give you an idea of how corporate fitness improvement can help your business and its employees in the UAE.

ArcelorMittal – Corporate Wellness Client Of Advantage Sports UAE

Thank you to Advantage Sports UAE, all participants were happy & enjoyed the sessions.

We will do some more sessions next year. Once again, thanks for your cooperation and arrangements.

Final Thoughts

It’s clear to see that the benefits really do outweigh the costs in this discussion, not only in terms of overall profit from your business, but in terms of individual worker satisfaction and wellbeing, too.

At the end of the day, time is money and that’s what this boils down to. Improving the health of workers in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah is a sure fire way to expand your business with a long-term gain from a short-term cost.

If you’re not incorporating some form of health and fitness into your business, then you can be missing out from sick days and unproductive work, wasting both time and resources.