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The Fitness Disruption Podcast with Dr. Ted Vickey
The Disruptive Fitness Podcast is a podcast for personal trainers who want to grow their business and work smarter, not harder, by using technology.
The guests will be my industry friends from my White House days, the people you need to know.
The Fitness Disruption Podcast with Dr. Ted Vickey
Modern Workplace Wellness: Trends and Innovations - Tips From Debbie Bellinger
Unlock the future of corporate wellness with insights from Debbie Bellinger, the innovative mind behind DB Fitness and Wellness Solutions. We explore how artificial intelligence revolutionizes the wellness industry, from optimizing wellness programs to reshaping corporate fitness models.
Debbie shares her expert perspective on the decline of on-site gym usage and the rise of fitness amenities in property management spaces, emphasizing the critical need for adaptation in today’s wellness landscape. Discover how embracing advanced technology can redefine health initiatives, making them more efficient and impactful for employees everywhere.
In our next segment, we discuss the powerful role of technology in enhancing corporate health. We discuss the importance of wellness professionals staying within their scope of practice while continually advancing their education to better support lifestyle changes and chronic conditions. Debbie introduces us to the concept of "movement snacks" and how these short, frequent physical activities can dramatically improve posture and circulation for employees.
We also discuss integrating sleep technology within corporate wellness programs, personal experiences with CPAP devices, and emerging trends in sleep-tracking innovations. This conversation wraps up with a look into the psychological effects of health metrics and the exciting potential of new health technologies.
Don’t miss out on these valuable takeaways that can elevate any corporate wellness initiative.
DebbieBellenger.com
https://www.linked2in.com/in/debbie-bellenger/
Welcome to the Fitness Disruption Podcast with Dr Ted Vicki. From presidential push-ups to wearable wonders and award-winning academics, he's been called the most connected man in fitness. We will explore the intersection of fitness and technology, from cutting-edge apps to the latest in powerful prompts. This is your go-to source for staying ahead of the fitness tech curve. Spend just 30 minutes with us and we guarantee you'll learn something new, no matter if you're a new personal trainer or an established fitness brand. Ted and his guests have insights and tips for you to use today. Ready to be disruptive, it's time for the Fitness Disruption Podcast. Here's your host, dr Ted Vicki.
Speaker 2:Hi, dr Ted Vicki here with a very special guest for this session for the Fitness Disruption Podcast Debbie Bellinger. I've known Debbie for a number of years and if you have been to any Idea conferences lately, you might have attended one of her sessions. Debbie is the owner of DB Fitness and Wellness Solutions and she provides services to corporate employers and wellness a boutique fitness club. She, as I mentioned, is a sought-after speaker at many national conferences. I mentioned Idea. She's a TRX master and educator. Debbie, thanks for taking time to chat with us on the Fitness Disruption Podcast.
Speaker 3:Thanks, ted. I'm happy to be here. It's nice to join you, thanks.
Speaker 2:There's a question that I ask every person that comes on the podcast, and that is if you think back in your career in the fitness industry, is there a piece of technology or something that you wish technology could do to help fitness professionals? What would it be?
Speaker 3:I believe it's going to be AI, ted, and this is so out of my scope of practice, right, but I do try to keep up and it's interesting we're meeting today versus sometime last week, because I just had a most interesting call about the role of AI in wellness, particularly corporate wellness, and I just learned a ton. So the little bit that I've seen the webinars I've attended, following you on LinkedIn, a couple of guest speakers in my wellness academy I do think AI is going to help tremendously. I think it's us learning how to use it to our advantage and not being maybe this isn't the right term, but not being fearful of using it. I think it's just taking the step, finding the right mentor and understanding how it can make our businesses and the work we do more efficient. Probably, better contact over time is what I'm seeing. So that, top of mind, that's my answer for today.
Speaker 2:At the Idea ACSM conference back in March of this year, I stood up on stage and I said that 70% of the job tasks that you do as a fitness professional or wellness professional can be replaced and done better by AI. And I stopped and the audience was better by AI and I stopped and the audience was just dumbfounded but I said think about it. That gives you a lot more time to be able to spend on doing exactly what you got in this industry to do, and that is to help others.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Let's let the technology do what it's good at and allow us to do what we're good at. I'm interested to hear your thoughts. Debbie, you know I come from corporate fitness and I think I had a conversation with my former intern who now runs the White House Athletic Center. When I left, there were about 800 members and now it's down to 115.
Speaker 3:Oh no.
Speaker 2:So I'm wondering are you seeing that type of decrease in corporate wellness, or is it going the other way and the YS just an outlier?
Speaker 3:Well, let me start with definition of corporate wellness, because there's a couple of definitions floating in our industry, right, as you know, and I have the corporate wellness background as well, a little bit different than yours, but similar. So for some, corporate wellness means an on-site gym at an employer site. That's corporate wellness. Corporate wellness can also mean so that would be number of memberships and percentage of employees utilizing this wonderful benefit, so forth and so on, which is what you just referenced. Corporate wellness can also mean that, plus the wellness programs, health programs, chronic condition programs that an employer offers, that might include an on-site gym. It may or may not, though it might be subsidized gym passes to various gyms in the city and access to a health coach, discounted places to buy sneakers, these kinds of things. So it just depends on the context. Relative to the question you just asked, yes, we have lost a lot of momentum, ted, in the on-site gym space for employers.
Speaker 3:What I'm seeing, I do see a resurgence. It's very slow, though. A lot of these larger companies that provide management of these on-site gyms and I'm not going to say any particular management companies, but there are several in the industry starting to reboot that and prioritize it, because many of those clubs. Those gyms were closed down when all the employees went home to work and the contracts were discontinued, and that's still in a rebuild phase, so it's fairly weak. That's still in a rebuild phase, so it's fairly weak. Where I'm seeing some major growth beyond what we're seeing in those gyms that were ghosted is in the property management space. Interesting to me for property management companies to want to reboot the space that they had dedicated to very tiny gym space, ted, like an unsupervised at that.
Speaker 3:So a thousand square foot in a three tower building where there's all kinds of different employers that are leasing space. There's an agreement between property management and the employers. They want those gyms, those tiny boutique spaces, to be revitalized to incentivize employees to come back to work. So I'm seeing some of that and this convergence of different disciplines and businesses starting to work together to understand the benefit. So we'll see. It's a slow go, it would seem, in the corporate wellness space, where it's an on-site gym, as we know it.
Speaker 2:I think if I were still doing corporate fitness, I would definitely have to change my business model. We were always paid on the number of members that we had, and being able to sustain a staff of 100 members is just hard to think of. And I was consulting with another government agency built them a brand new fitness center. It was fantastic. Covid hits and still two, three years later, the workforce isn't coming into DC anymore, they're just staying at home. So this trend of finding ways to provide corporate wellness to a diverse workforce diverse meaning anywhere in the world is a challenge, but it's also an opportunity, like you were talking about, in using AI and some of the stuff that's out there now to help a corporation. And what is the goal these days? Is it to decrease healthcare costs? Is it to increase employee morale? What is it that these corporations are looking for from a person like you?
Speaker 3:Oh, wow, that's a beautiful question, ted. So that also has changed. Post-pandemic, ted, so that also has changed. Post-pandemic. I will say to you the contracts that I held as Director of Wellness for Caramont Regional Medical, which was a half million dollars of revenues. It was very much to get employees moving, happy, provide education, lifestyle education around exercise, nutrition, tobacco cessation, stress management. Today I will share that it has really shifted. All of those remain as part of the solution and expectation, but what I see now, the metrics that are of more concern and interest for return on investment are employee engagement, employee satisfaction, employee retention and employee recruitment and some team building, because hybrid work is very challenging to bring people together Out of sight, out of mind. No team building and team building on Zoom is thankless. It's really hard. So companies are wearing masks, like we're seeing in the fitness industry, where you just referenced, trying to get the workforce back into bricks and mortar.
Speaker 3:In corporate America. Employees are job shopping like crazy, especially those who've worked from home for a couple of years. They don't want to have anything to do with going back, driving into the city, paying parking mileage, gas time all of the things that have shifted. If you're partnering with employers, it's as important as a fitness and health wellness professional to understand your metrics relative to improving health outcomes as it is understanding human resources, pain points and what they need these programs to be and do for the workforce.
Speaker 2:So it is a total change in real you know we would be hired by the medical department or facility management or HR. So it sounds like a lot more of the focus on HR. Now for you know, to bring someone to want them to come to work, to want them to take the travel day, you know, in the morning, the commute, and have that fitness center there that they can use.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:You know you mentioned something a little bit ago and I'm wondering, if I'm, that some of some of the listeners have this question. But let's, let's look at a fitness professional, you know, working on their own. I hear about this, this health coaching option and this. They want to get into the corporate world. What is your take on on health coaching and how can somebody like a fitness professional that wants to get into the corporate world, world kind of start doing some health coaching for corporations?
Speaker 3:That's another great question. So, coming out of pandemic and a couple of years out almost, health coaching is definitely on the rise. So if you follow any of the job boards, all of them have a lot more health coaching roles and positions. Health coaching certifications are now available to us, which there was not a lot of that prior to. There were a couple of organizations, but there's a lot more now and, honestly, health coaching, I think, is a great way to set the foot into corporate wellness as a starter.
Speaker 3:I think it's that and mini movement breaks those two things to get in the door, to effectively meet employees, make friends with them, to have change, get the engagement piece, because you can offer all the corporate wellness programs you want. If employees don't engage, you'll never have outcomes to prove your value. So if an employer hires you, we need to get all that cleared out. So we're very clear that there are solid outcomes, right. But I do think health coaching is the ticket, ted, I really do. I think it's going to be the next up and coming role that will open a lot of doors for fit pros as we know it.
Speaker 2:You mentioned that there is this onslaught of new certifications when it comes to health coaching. I know some of the established ACE has a health coaching certification. I'm sure some of the other ones do. Some of the established ACE has a health coaching certification. I'm sure some of the other ones do. Is there confusion with these new certifications? Do I need to be certified or do I need a license to be a health coach? Or is a certification all that I need?
Speaker 3:That's a great question At this point in my career. Here's how I would answer that question and, based on my experience of what we offer in our various roles whether you're a fitness instructor or personal trainer, you do both or you have a health coaching certificate I do not believe you necessarily have to have a health coaching certification to be able to provide health coaching. I do believe, however, though and this is really important two things One, we need to always work within our scope of practice and at top of license, Don't color outside of the lines. And two, if we are not, if we do not have a specialty in a health coach certificate and or certification, I believe just understanding scope of practice is the bumper guard to liability to protect fitness professionals. So, yes, you can coach as a personal trainer or fitness instructor. You simply cannot diagnose and prescribe, as you well know, right. So that would be the only thing I would say.
Speaker 3:I would also encourage for fitness professionals wanting to take that path, versus attaining a new certification or certificate-based program, that you place emphasis in your career on getting advanced education and training in lifestyle education and chronic conditions, Because, effectively, that's the tsunami that's in front of us as the professionals. America is very sick and if we don't learn something about diabetes, hypertension, GLP-1s, metabolic syndrome, our efficacy is going to be significantly reduced. So I'm all about education. I know you are. So I'm always about every year, take a little bit more education, like go to World Idea and take some sessions. That's a great start, yeah.
Speaker 2:You mentioned something a little earlier many movements. What is that? That's a new term to me. It sounds quite interesting. You were talking about doing many movements with the employers.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah. So I fondly call that movement snacks, movement snacks and basically it is very short duration 5, 10 minutes, maybe 12 minutes, depending on the employer of opportunity to get employees up out of their chairs anything at all and it might be in the chair, it could be core Pilates or chair yoga, but effectively for a workforce that sits a lot and I know you and I both do with our own businesses, so it's not just them in corporate, it's us too to get up and get some release of tech neck to realign our postures, to stretch out hip flexors, to get back to neutral alignment and posture. So I call it movement snacks because it's very short durations of movement at the work site, whether it's via Zoom or in person, it can be gold because we surely know that five, eight minutes of movement to enhance circulation, change your thoughts, exercises medicine. So even these short durations are gold. They're gold nuggets, basically, and you can charge for it.
Speaker 2:I was one of the last companies I was working with. This was 2005. We were trying to figure out a way to make screensavers come on. You know every in increments. So just a, it's a reminder time to get up and do your movement. But I don't know if you're like me, but you know my Apple watch goes off and it says time to stand. Yes, and we do, and it's it's. It's funny how technology is like that. You've seen this water bottle I've been carrying around for years now and this is a smart water bottle. This will actually turn on and blink if I haven't been drinking enough water. And it's silly for a person with a PhD supposedly relies on a blinking light to drink water. But I just don't. I don't think about it and that that that technology is quite interesting. But there's another technology, another avenue. I love your your input on that. It's sleep. Yes, anything with a corporate fitness world when it comes to sleep.
Speaker 3:I know there's a great deal of research going on. I I can't honestly say I can cite any current research to share efficacy of that, but it's getting a lot more interest and I do know that employers are more interested in that. I'm not sure if a couple of the sleep companies have yet partnered with employers to track that piece of health, but I would love to see that. I would love to see. I'm not going to name any brands or products, but we know what's out there to say let the employees try something, something I do believe.
Speaker 3:Ted, I saw something on LinkedIn, yeah, around, and I do believe it's a health and wellness company where the CEO, as part of a health benefit, provided the sleep technology tool. Again, I'm not going to reference brands to get some information. I think I saw that it was a benefit. I think that's very wise and I think it was because he is the CEO, had used it and it was showing incredible health correlation that he wanted to know about. So that's that's. I think that's going to be leading edge stuff that we're going to see in corporate wellness groups.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm pretty open on these podcasts and I've suggested before. I was born with a cleft lip. So no matter what body type, no matter how much I weigh, I'm always going to have sleep problems. And I was born with a cleft lip. So, no matter what body type, no matter how much I weigh, I'm always going to have sleep problems. And I was wondering. I've worn a CPAP for years and I had the implant put in the new Inspire that hasn't been activated yet. But I thought back and those of you that have a CPAP chime in and put a comment on the site, but no one had ever checked my pressures to make sure that I was at the right pressure. And I thought how interesting now, with technology and there's a new ring out and I'm not going to name names either, but that I've seen, it's fantastic and I've been testing it.
Speaker 2:Even the nights that I wear my CPAP, my scores are higher than if I don't wear my CPAP. So then the question becomes well, why am I wearing my CPAP? It's not the most conducive thing to wear. But I also think and I hope I'm an outlier. But I get depressed when I see my numbers and it's not where I want it to be. So I think it could be a combination of different things.
Speaker 2:I tried one, uh, yesterday on um, the hertz waves. You know the different thing. I'm like oh, this can't be true. I turned it on, I fell asleep for three hours and it was it was. So I do it. Last night again, and I had one of the better night sleeps with the lowest score I've had, um the best score I've had. So it's interesting that that is something that, um, I think corporations can definitely get a benefit from. There is a caution, though, and I think this is where you as a provider can do, that is, I know a lot of employees don't want to share the data with their employer when it comes to how much I'm sleeping, how much I'm being active, so is that one of the reasons why a company would hire someone like you?
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah, there has to be that firewall, right, and, in actuality, hr. What you said is the absolute truth. They do not want to see individual health data of any sort what you're eating, what your sleep looks like, how many. They don't. They don't want to, they absolutely don't. And so the firewall is to have a third party wellness partner right, and that's the magic and that's the sweet, sweet spot of getting employees engaged in their health. But, honestly, this call that I just had before before you and me getting on here, this group and this is someone that reached out to me on LinkedIn, and I just love LinkedIn for that has created an AI partner for corporate wellness, effectively, where it's secure texting, and it will bring in all of the biometric data, hra data, annual well visit data and it will send reminders to employees. So HR is not anywhere involved, which is magic. Hey, ted, you're due for your annual well visit. You've got four weeks notice. You're coming up on your annual well visit. Have you scheduled?
Speaker 2:And you can respond.
Speaker 3:Ted, do you need support in booking the appointment with your physician? We can take care of that for you. And wherever the secure texting drops off, where the AI that they've built to date and it's improving very rapidly, apparently a human person will get involved. This is brilliant. I mean, it was only a 40-minute conversation and my mind was blown, ted. Again, I'm not an expert in AI, but I know what the pain points were when I was working in it, and this is brilliant.
Speaker 2:It even sounds like something that physicians could use. I did a study once I was interested in I was trying to prove that using fitness technology is not a bad thing, so I always wondered what percent of people don't take their prescribed medication, and I was shocked by how many people don't take a blood pressure pill or take whatever. I'm not talking about chemo, that's different. I'm talking about the things your doctor prescribes during your physical and actually pretty similar the use of tools like a Fitbit or Apple Watch or something like that, and not taking the medication. And I kind of, after I saw that, thought you know, there's something about this fitness technology that I think could be really, really powerful. I know you've had a pretty dynamic career. What are you working on now when you're not doing corporate wellness? Is there another passion that you have?
Speaker 3:Yes, my passion is to and therein lies all the speaking and a little bit of writing and presenting is to elevate the fitness industry to become a wellness industry. Ted, I am on a mission. I'm on a mission. We if anyone's heard me speak, I apologize. I know you've heard me say it, but I believe it to be true. If anyone's heard me speak, I apologize. I know you've heard me say it, but I believe it to be true.
Speaker 3:We, as fitness, health and wellness professionals, are so much more than sets and reps. Yes, it's the formative stage of our career. We start out with exercise, physiology and learning how to create personal training programs and group X classes. I still teach group X classes. Yes, it's at the core of me.
Speaker 3:But for us to be effective as an industry, we're going to need to seriously step up to health coaching, lifestyle education, adding that into our toolbox to support the nation and being healthy, because healthcare is not the solution. I just read let me find the number in Becker's healthcare today, ted, it was 703 hospitals risk closure. Right, that's just then. That's just a step. Steward hospital system lays off 1200 employees today. So we know that health care in America is really sick care, but even at that, at least it's something for an individual if they go to their annual well visit and, like you said, noncompliance is very high today, both in annual well visits.
Speaker 3:We have many Americans who cannot afford co-pays true statement so they don't go. They might have prescriptions prescribed, but if there's a co-pay they can't afford them. We're seeing with the GLP-1s. All the research is showing that individuals who are taking those medicines who are not being followed by a physician or an allied health professional, their compliance drops off at two months. This is a problem, right? So we need us, as fitness professionals, to help along in that. I say lifestyle coaching as a generic term, but I think you know the listeners understand what it is I'm saying. So, yes, so much work for us to do and fill the gaps basically. So, yes, so much work for us to do and fill the gaps basically.
Speaker 2:So you're trying to redefine the word fitness into wellness, and I totally agree.
Speaker 2:Yes, Because, when you think of the word fitness, it's going to a gym and fitness is not going to a gym. I did the numbers. How many times do you see a personal trainer? You might see your trainer once a week for an hour, and people expect to have this tremendous change in their lives. It's just working for an hour, so it's more than that and I think you're right. We as an industry need to start to adopt that and to get away from just being known as the gym people and being known as the wellness community leaders, the experts, and to know exactly what our clients need, and it's not always exercise Correct. It could be sleep, it could be smoking cessation, like you were mentioning earlier. I also know that you have some webinars and you have some courses that you teach. How can people find out more about you and learn from you?
Speaker 3:Yes, so probably the best thing is to go to my website, wwwdebbiebellingercom. I have created two masterclasses One is on corporate wellness how to get into that market as a health, wellness, fitness professional and my wellness academy, which is a passion project 12 weeks of education and Dr Ted has been a guest and that's my very subtle way of bringing education to the masses via Zoom, so you can join in from anywhere, thursdays at 1 PM. But I do keep my website up to date and any talks that I'm doing I'm presenting at Fitness Business Association next week and CanFit Pro this Friday. A fitness business association next week and CanFit Pro this Friday, as I know you are. So yeah, and follow me on LinkedIn. I will always respond to messages. I'm here to help.
Speaker 2:I think LinkedIn is one of those tools that we need to take more advantage of and I remember someone saying nobody knows you need help unless you ask. I know you're one that I've reached out to before and I've asked for something and you're always willing and wanting to help and I appreciate that and I want to thank you for your friendship and what you do in the industry and thanks for being on the Fitness Disruption Podcast. You can go to debbiebellingercom. You can find her on LinkedIn. If you can't find her on LinkedIn, come to me and I'll show you where she is. Thanks for being with us, debbie.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Well, that's a wrap for this episode of the Fitness Disruption Podcast with Dr Ted Vicki. Don't forget to connect with Ted on X, Instagram and LinkedIn. If you love the mix of fitness and tech as much as we do, make sure to subscribe, write us a review and spread the word. Got a topic you want us to cover or a guest you'd love to hear? Let us know. Stay tuned for our next podcast for more tips, tricks and trends. Be disruptive, stay innovative and, most importantly, keep making waves.