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Some 45 percent of 211 companies polled offered discounts or corporate memberships to health clubs for their employees, compared to 22 percent who provided exercise facilities on company grounds, according to a survey conducted by the American Management Association.

Wellness Program Management Advisor asked Jeff Bergholtz, president of Takes2Fitness (T2F) centers in the Nashville, Tenn., area, what to look for in an off-site fitness center. The T2F corporate fitness centers emphasize personal training as their business model. "This makes us particularly appealing to businesses, since most fitness centers offer personal coaching as an additional service to employees rather than as part of the program."

Bergholtz said he places a high priority on the educational background of the owner and staff. "You need to be careful. It is not unusual for entrepreneurs with a business background, but little understanding of the anatomy and physiology of fitness, to buy franchise centers. To make matters worse, there are often only one or two fitness professionals on staff with the necessary training and certifications. Support personnel are typically enthusiastic kids with little or no background in exercise science."

In addition to being both a former Mr. Tennessee and Mr. Kentucky body-building champion, Bergholtz himself is an exercise physiologist with many years of personal training experience. He requires all 18 T2F trainers to be certified in some type of personal trainer exercise science. In addition to being certified, his "Level 1" trainers have one to two years experience and "Level 2" trainers have a degree and more than two years experience.

Beyond a strong educational background, Bergholtz recommends a thorough review of the center’s programs and services. For instance:

• Is there a personalized assessment for every member entering the program?
• To what extent does the center hold itself accountable in monitoring and reporting clients’ progress?
• Besides exercise science certifications, are staff member CPR certified?
• Is there a staff monitoring process to ensure continuing education requirements are met to maintain certification?
• What type of liability insurance does the center carry?
• Is the fitness facility itself certified with a recognized governing agent, such as the American College of Sports Medicine?
• Does the center have a cardiovascular area with a good selection of treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, etc.?
• Is there a resistance training area for all populations? Does it include free-weights and an open training area with exercise balls, thera-bands and special needs equipment?

While not essential, Bergholtz feels there are benefits to a fitness center offering online services for its clients. "The popularity of online coaching has declined over the last few years. However, when you blend an online presence with the personal touch of a face-to-face interaction with a coach, you have ahigher success rate due to the increased accountability."

To get the most of their investment, Bergholtz encourages employers to maintain strong lines of communication between the company and the fitness center. "The fitness center will do a better job if there is a company liaison who keeps close tabs on what is going on. It is just human nature to go the extra mile when you are held accountable for your work. When a company’s responsibility stops after signing up their employees … the employees will get left behind."

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee (BCBST) is T2F’s largest corporate client and epitomizes the ideal relationship. BCBST covers all membership costs, but in return, employees are expected to go to the center at least eight times a month.

To validate their participation, T2F regularly sends employee sign-in sheets to the company. BCBST identifies a corporate wellness representative to interface with the fitness center staff and develop other support strategies to improve employee health.

BCBST has been providing employees with gym memberships around the state for at least a decade, said Mary Thompson, a spokesperson for the health plan.

The program is so popular that BCBST had to limit enrollment. "We have such a large workforce, and the wellness program is so popular, we had to create a waiting list of employees wanting to access this benefit," she said.

"Consequently, we are not going to just throw a membership card at them and say ‘you are own your own now.’ In order to allow others on the list to access the program, failure to meet the eight sessions per month standard results in a warning and dis-enrollment after a second failure," Thompson said.

The popular program is definitely paying off. In addition to such benefits as lowered cholesterol and percent body fat among BCBST employees, Thompson has seen reduced stress levels among participants.

While only one of T2F’s corporate clients has a membership cost-sharing arrangement with employees, Bergholtz acknowledges, "When employees don’t have a sweat-equity investment in the program, they tend to be less motivated. On the other hand, while there may be better compliance, there is often less overall participation when employees are asked to contribute to membership costs. A good scenario is to require employee cost-sharing upon enrollment and then provide a rebate when they reach a certain level of involvement."

For all its obvious benefits, it is important to remember that fitness club memberships are merely an adjunct to the worksite wellness program …. not the entire solution. The company needs to put a quality program in place to address the entire spectrum of wellness issues affecting their employees.

And, finally, Bergholtz cautions, "There is no magic bullet here. Fitness centers can provide the necessary expertise and resources, but the employees still have to provide the hard work."

Addresses: Takes2Fitness, Tower Two, 3102 West End Avenue, Suite 775, Nashville, TN 37203; (615) 727-0012, www.takes2fitness.com. American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019; (212) 586-8100, www.amanet.org. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, 801 Pine Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402; (423) 535-7694, www.bcbst.com.