Fitness as a requirement for work?

[Tom Yum]

Would you support a fitness regimen required as part of workday attendance?

Let's say there are several options.

Option A - 30 minutes of taiji instruction in the morning, 3-days per week.

Option B - 30 minutes of yoga instruction in the afternoon, 3-days per week.

Option C - 60 minutes of calisthenics + general aerobic excercises, 3-days per week.

Option D - 60 minutes of Resistance training 3 days per week + 60 minutes of cardiovascular excercise, 2-days per week.

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Option A and B are geared more towards those who may be injury prone, older, have more family responsibilities and less free time.

Option C would be geared towards an individual who wants to maintain a good fitness base.

Option D would be geared towards those who are invovled in athletic activities and could get a scheme designed for those sports.

Comments? Critiques?

[GQchris]

anything that makes some of these corporate whales sweat profusely and raise their heart rate, golf doesn't count...

too many obese men/women out there...

[bigred389]

anything that makes some of these corporate whales sweat profusely and raise their heart rate, golf doesn't count...

too many obese men/women out there...

Golf does count compared to how little some people do. It's like walking a few extra miles a day, and even better if you carry your own clubs. Oh...you gotta walk though.

And a friend of mine lost a lot of weight just by working as a caddy for a summer. His work consists of computer programming...so simply walking around a few miles a day was a HUGE step up for him.

[Broadsword2004]

If you mean have it be a requirement for the job that people do some fitness each day, then no, I wouldn't support it, UNLESS the job required it and even then, it depends. True, it would probably aid most people, but for hardcore folk, it would be a complete waste of time. Also, we ain't the Soviet Union or China, where it was a mandatory requirement to drop and do 20 pushups at a certain part of each day, or have required martial art training in the colleges and universities (China). Some people just hate exercise, if they want to be a fat-@$$, that's their choice.

Now if you mean like police or firemen, if it was foudn that fit police men and women do a lot better with mandatory fitness training each day, then yeah, I'd make it a requirement maybe, but otherwise, I'd just leave them to work out on their own.

You could take an intellectual who says all people should have certain knowledge requirements to improve society (like everyone at least understand basic calculus, everyone have a decent reading level, etc....) if everyone had these, we'd be a much stronger society I am sure, but many people HATE these subjects, so they have every right to not study them if they don't want to.

Now if I was in charge of military training, I would raise the fitness standards, but then too many people wouldn't join. I'd have the fitness standards: at least 4 pullups for men and women from a dead-hang, at least 40 pushups in 2minutes for men and women, at least a 15 minute 2 mile run for men and women, etc....these are actually lousy fitness standards really, what's really pathetic is if you held everyone in the Army to these standards (the young folk!), people would be dropping from heart attacks left and right, the lazies.

[EmptyneSs]

i would pick option D.

you can get in awesome shape working out for 1 hour 3 times a week if you workout right.

i have been working/lifting weights for like 5 or 6 years now, and i can tell you from experience 1 hour, 3 times a week of resistance/weight training is all you need to get into awesome shape, unless you are obese and need to shed many pounds before you can even think of resistance/weight training. however, even if you are overwight, resistance/weight training can still strengthen your cardiovascular system and burn fat as well. you dont need to be in the gym all day long to reap the great benefits of resistance/weight training, or gain a substantial amount of natural muscle.

and not only do you not need to workout that much to get in awesme shape, you only need to do a few exercises.

pushing type motion for chest - bench press/seated press
pulling type motion for back- pullups, seated rows
squat machine for legs
pushing upward motion for shoulders/traps - shoulder/military press

that right there^ has your entire body covered except for calves and abbs wich u can add. this here is like as simple as it can be^ you can do it all in one workout if you want. shit, you can hit your entire body hard as hell in like 30 min if you really wanted to. 30 min out of you day to have a decent body and get in shape. i dont understand why people dont do it, its so easy. just a couple of exercises done properly with decent intensity is all it takes. our country is so outta shape it aint rocket sceince.

[Tom Yum]

If you mean have it be a requirement for the job that people do some fitness each day, then no, I wouldn't support it, UNLESS the job required it and even then, it depends. True, it would probably aid most people, but for hardcore folk, it would be a complete waste of time. Also, we ain't the Soviet Union or China, where it was a mandatory requirement to drop and do 20 pushups at a certain part of each day, or have required martial art training in the colleges and universities (China). Some people just hate exercise, if they want to be a fat-@$$, that's their choice..

Good points, Broadsword.

I don't see this as a national or even state level requirement at all, rather an idea that could be used as an experiment in one organization and studied for a 6-month trial. The organization itself will determine whether its a good idea or not according to their own needs and interests.

Now if you mean like police or firemen, if it was foudn that fit police men and women do a lot better with mandatory fitness training each day, then yeah, I'd make it a requirement maybe, but otherwise, I'd just leave them to work out on their own.

You could take an intellectual who says all people should have certain knowledge requirements to improve society (like everyone at least understand basic calculus, everyone have a decent reading level, etc....) if everyone had these, we'd be a much stronger society I am sure, but many people HATE these subjects, so they have every right to not study them if they don't want to..

Society as a whole doesn't need basic calculus, but a decent level of reading comprehension would certainly be helpful. This is a broader topic, though. We do live in a free society and can choose to do our own activities. The point of such a physical fitness program would really be to improve individual worker satisfaction and indirectly improve productivity and perhaps team work.

Now if I was in charge of military training, I would raise the fitness standards, but then too many people wouldn't join. I'd have the fitness standards: at least 4 pullups for men and women from a dead-hang, at least 40 pushups in 2minutes for men and women, at least a 15 minute 2 mile run for men and women, etc....these are actually lousy fitness standards really, what's really pathetic is if you held everyone in the Army to these standards (the young folk!), people would be dropping from heart attacks left and right, the lazies.

I read an article from military.com about some new enlistees not being too physically fit. I think I posted it in the tactical section. Do you think this is a societal trend? If so, what are the key causes for thist trend?

[bigred389]

I read an article from military.com about some new enlistees not being too physically fit. I think I posted it in the tactical section. Do you think this is a societal trend? If so, what are the key causes for thist trend?

All enlistees do have to make standards eventually, and those who are in the service have to maintain standards or they get kicked out. If they fail, they get put on remedial fitness programs.

As for the enlistees, it reflects greater America. I think the same "type" of people still want to serve, unfortunately, America as a whole is in worse physical shape.

As for causes, I'd say there are really too many to list.
Nutrition, a de-emphasis on fitness in general, atrophy of fitness knowledge, etc.
I mean you've got people guzzling down "nuts" as "healthy fats" as a means of "dieting." And they expect it to work.

In my opinion, fitness is learned, it's not natural. If you weren't brought up with healthy habits, you won't even know where to start.