Free Fitness Consultations Motivate Employees

When she climbed the stairs to her office in Duke Clinic, Gloria Rocha winced at the pain in her knees. She knew losing weight would help alleviate the problem, but her attempts at regular gym workouts petered out time and again.

Last fall, she saw a poster advertising Duke's LIVE FOR LIFE services, and found hope. "I thought maybe talking to someone would help motivate me," said Rocha, administrative coordinator for the Breast Oncology Research Program.

LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke's employee wellness program, offers two free fitness consults per year to benefits-eligible faculty and staff at Duke University and Duke University Health System. Fitness specialists help participants understand how to exercise safely and help create a structured plan to reach goals, based on current fitness level.

During Rocha's first fitness consultation in October, she performed push-ups, curls, stretches and walked to measure her strength, flexibility and endurance. She wanted to drop her weight to 150 pounds to reduce her knee pain. Her fitness specialist, Michelle Weavil, suggested a fitness regimen that included exercises to strengthen her hips and legs and minimize stress on her knees while burning calories.

Rocha was skeptical of some exercises at first, particularly a routine with resistance bands.

"I thought to myself, 'it's just a rubber band for Pete's sake!' " she said. "But Michelle showed me how to use them to do sidesteps, and I can feel my legs getting stronger. My knees aren't as painful, and that is kind of amazing."

Three months later, in January of this year, Rocha met Weavil for a second consult at Wilson Recreation Center, where Rocha has a Duke Fitness Club membership.

"I was really pleased with my results," Rocha said. "I lost 5 pounds over the holidays, I increased my push-ups from three to 10, I did more than 30 curls and I surprised myself by running an entire lap. Best of all, I could tell Michelle that I am taking the steps more often now."

Weavil encouraged Rocha to increase the intensity of her workout to increase weight loss and further strengthen her muscles. Among other exercises, she had Rocha do pushups on an exercise ball against the wall and on the floor. Weavil also demonstrated how to use free weights to make certain moves more challenging. "She just needed examples of how to take her exercise up a notch," Weavil said.

"I'm committed to exercising now. I know I need to do it for myself," said Rocha, who is planning another consult this year.. "But it's been great to have Michelle's support and to have someone to be accountable to."