Effects Of A16-Week Employee-Based Walking Program On Selected Physical Fitness Components

Abstract

Work place health promotion and educational programs have been implemented by employers in hopes to reduce costs by increasing positive lifestyle behavior changes among their employees. Health improvements have been reported when sedentary individuals increase physical activity to reflect more of a moderately active lifestyle. It is imperative to promote physical activity programs as more and more people in the U.S. are becoming more physically inactive. The purpose of this study was to track and evaluate the effectiveness of a four-month employee-based walking program on selected measures of physical fitness. Twenty-four female (M ± SD age = 47.17 ± 9.45 yrs; mass = 73.38 ± 17.00 kg; height = 161.62 ± 7.11 cm; BMI = 28.02 ± 5.90 kg/m2) and 5 male employees (M ± SD age = 44.80 ± 7.80 yrs; mass = 79.22 ± 12.61 kg; height = 169.10 ± 3.91 cm; BMI = 27.72 ± 4.31 kg/m2) volunteered for the study. Height and weight, body mass index (BMI), girth measurements, upper body bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), Rockport one-mile walking test were assessed initially and every four weeks thereafter. Daily step frequency (SF) was used to determine baseline activity level by averaging seven consecutive days of pedometer data. The subjects then followed a ramping protocol designed to increase SF weekly by 1,000 steps until they reached a goal of a weekly average of 10,000 steps/day. Subjects maintained 10,000 steps/day for four weeks with some self-selecting to ramp to a weekly average of 12,500 steps/day. Over the course of the walking program daily SF was tracked using a pedometer. SF data were reported weekly. Repeated measures ANOVA and descriptive statistics (Table 1) were used to analyze the data. Subjects experienced significant decreases in mass (p = .02), BMI (p = .01), and girth percent body fat (p = .01). There was also a significant increase in aerobic capacity estimated via the Rockport one-mile walk (p < .01). BIA percent body fat (p = .06) showed a non-significant downward trend. The results of this study suggest the use of an employer-based pedometer walking program can positively impact components of physical fitness in employees. The use of a pedometer walking program to increase physical activity was successful in improving aerobic capacity, decreasing body mass, BMI and body fat percentage in participants. Participation in worksite physical activity promotional programs has been shown to improve health benefits of employees. Employers that offer these programs may improve health-related components of physical fitness of their employees. In addition, these programs may result in decreased medical and/or treatment costs associated with chronic diseases related to physical inactivity.