The road to fitness

Work out during duty hours with the Civilian Fitness Program

Bob Reinert/Northwest Guardian

Take three hours off each week and get healthier.

That’s the bottom line of the Civilian Fitness Program, which allows Joint Base Lewis-McChord full-time civilian employees three hours of administrative leave for each 40-hour period over six months to exercise. Dr. Teresa Bruder, director of the Health Promotion and Wellness Service at Madigan Army Medical Center, said the program, whose next session begins March 30, benefits both JBLM and its workforce.

“It helps increase the morale on base,” said Bruder, who oversees the program at Jensen Family Health and Fitness Center. “If you’re exercising, you’re just more mentally alert.”

Research shows that employees who exercise have lower absentee rates, lower reports of stress, and higher productivity.

As Bruder pointed out, the program helps busy employees carve out enough time on weekdays to attend to their health.

“They’re just like everybody else — they’re swamped,” Bruder said. “Most of our civilians coming in just so much appreciate the opportunity to begin to exercise and feel like they can do it during duty time.”

Cindy Petersen, a paralegal on JBLM, enrolled in the program in late January to increase her fitness and lower her stress and cholesterol levels. Petersen is pleased with the early results of her workout regimen.

“I worked out on my own prior to that time,” Petersen said. “It motivates me. My clothes are fitting a little bit looser than they were. I’m feeling better.”

According to Bruder, employees choosing to enter the fitness program must get supervisor approval and complete a health history signed by a physician. They then undergo an initial fitness assessment that includes blood pressure, pulse, body composition and tests to measure cardio-respiratory fitness and flexibility.

“We measure a whole variety of things,” Bruder said. “We do a post assessment six months later to see how they’ve done.”

Program participants must attend three mandatory classes: injury prevention, wellness and one other. Bruder said stress management and nutrition are among the more popular options. Employees then consult with JBLM personal trainers who help to custom design their fitness programs.

Whether they choose from a menu of fitness classes at Jensen or walk, run, bike or swim on their own, participants get the chance to change their lifestyles over the six-month period.

“We made it so they could enter the program all the way from January to November,” Bruder said. “This way, supervisors had some flexibility. They could kind of stagger the workforce, and they could also stagger the hours.

“The supervisors have been great. They’ve been more than willing to have people get involved.”

The program has had its share of success stories. Bruder told of one woman who used the CFP as a springboard to losing 36 pounds.

“That’s a significant amount of weight loss off the heart and off the blood vessels,” Bruder said. “So it’s very exciting.”

The program has become a gateway for civilian employees to the fitness facilities on base. Bruder said she hopes more will pass through it.

“Will we ever reach capacity?” Bruder said. “I don’t think so, because of the fact that it’s an ongoing program, and this is one that we want to keep going forever.”

For more information on the Civilian Fitness Program, call Dr. Teresa Bruder at 967-3875 or e-mail teresa.bruder@amedd.army.mil.