As Canada enters our second summer of battling COVID and coping with pandemic restrictions, we are all growing tired, frustrated and fatigued. While physical activity opportunities are limited or unavailable, we know that being active helps significantly with managing stress and depression. This year especially we want to highlight the ways people can get active and how important activity is for physical and mental health.
National Health & Fitness Day is June 5, 2021. To help Canadians be more active and stay safe, LIV North’s Fitness Management team is launching outdoor, audio guided workouts on their virtual platform – Optimal by LIV North.
These audio guided tracks include:
Walk/run tracks (great for beginners and advanced runners alike);
Mindful walks (combining mindfulness and activity, ideal for a break or at lunch) and;
Outdoor workouts (take your fitness class outside with the instructor in your ear).
From June 5th to 11th, LIV North is letting everyone try audio guided workouts!CLICK HERE to learn more and to try some of the audio tracks out in celebration of National Health & Fitness Day!
LIV North Fitness Management division has always included elements of wellness into our programming. With COVID raising concerns about mental wellness, stress management and employee burnout, a few of our LIV North Account Managers set out to address these concerns.
In the Spring of 2020, a few of our facilities took part in a virtual health fair that received great reviews from the participants and our clients. Now that we are 16 months into this pandemic the need for wellness has increased dramatically, hence the idea for a Wellness Week was born.
Wellness Week 2021 is a virtual event that takes place from Monday, June 7 to Friday, June 11th and includes 5 daily live sessions and activities. This service is available on the Optimal by LIV North platform as well as through several of our management projects that are hosting the event.
Below are some details about the 2021 event.
If your organization is interested in taking part and having access to the live sessions, you can reach out to us at virtual@livnorth.com.
LIV North Fitness Management division prides itself in offering engaging and motivating programs to our managed facilities and their members. However, there is always a greater purpose than having a lot of members participate.
When a challenge or program is planned, all aspects of wellness, as well as health indicators, such as sleep and stress management, are included.
Take for example the Amazing Race challenge that finished on May 3, 2021. Over 4 weeks, 126 competitors from 9 LIV North managed facilities competed in a virtual race across Canada for prizes. Sounds fun and motivating, right?
Having been involved in the wellness sector for over 45 years, LIV North staff know that small increases in daily activity have huge benefits at the organizational level. Some of these benefits include:
Increased productivity – employees that move more in their day tend to be more focused, productive and sleep better at night
Reduced stress levels – being in nature has been shown to greatly decrease stress levels
More positive outlook – feeling supported, building connections and finding a sense of accomplishment go a long way in improving corporate culture, employee longevity and overall satisfaction at work.
Along the way, strategic activities were plotted out that focused specifically on the points above. Taking a mindful walk in nature to reduce stress and trying new activities such as theme based recipes were among those tasks. Activity levels were slowly increased as the challenge progressed to ensure all abilities and fitness levels could succeed was key to creating a sense of accomplishment.
For a more detailed look at the outcome results of the Amazing Race challenge, take a look at the infographic below.
Click here to find out more about the LIV North Amazing Race challenge. If your organization could benefit from programming and results like this, be sure to contact us at virtual@livnorth.com
When COVID-19 hit, the fitness world was turned upside down. Facilities were closed, staff were sent home, and LIV North adjusted to the challenge and dove head first into the virtual world!
As we celebrate 1 year of being in the virtual market, here is a quick reflection on how we adjusted and what was born from our efforts.
Prior to COVID
While the pandemic threw the world for a loop, LIV North was already actively making plans to offer more virtual programming and services. There were already increasing levels of people working from home (growth of 10% 2015 to 18% of population by 2019) and there were fewer people going into the office on a regular basis.
Noticing this trend, we introduced our cloud based LIVx club management software in early 2018 and began offering on demand fitness classes to our club members that were accessible 24/7 through their member portal and app. In late 2019, some of our projects had also begun to offer live streaming fitness classes to meet the changing needs of our clients.
Friday, March 13, 2020
This day stands out in all of our minds. It was the day that Canada declared COVID-19 a pandemic and we all held our breath waiting to find out what it meant for the fitness industry.
Sunday, March 15, 2020
In response to the pandemic announcement and not wanting to waste anytime, we immediately pivoted and launched our first series of live streamed classes on Instagram live and Facebook live. Shortly thereafter, we transitioned to delivering most of our online services through our LIVx member portal.
As we continued through the early pandemic months, we developed a framework of planning that broke down into two primary phases:
Phase 1
Phase 1 focused heavily on virtual program expansion and enhancement. This included:
Small group training and PT services
Expanded group exercise classes
Lunch n’ learn series
Family fitness & wellness activities
Corporate challenges
Nutrition & wellness information
Phase 2
As we entered into June and with our virtual offerings running well at our projects, our efforts shifted to reopening plans. To preparing re-opening a post-COVID operating plans we worked very closely with our clients to prepare robust reopening plans that included:
Space reallocation
Member communication plans
Onsite signage
Health and safety protocols
Welcome back videos
We also continued to refine and define virtual programming during this time.
LIV North Virtual Services
Our virtual services were developed and designed to provide organizations, corporations and multi-tenant residential properties a comprehensive fitness and wellness virtual program. These services are:
Branded to organizations or property
Follow a High Tech – High Touch approach
Include a full program plan created to support a person’s physical and mental well-being
Programs to help build community and social connection
Designed to incorporate the realities of the current agile work environment
LIV North’s quick response to the pandemic set us apart. We were the first fitness management company in Canada to offer a virtual fitness solution to corporations. In fact, we are happy to say that because of this action, 95% of our clients moved to our virtual program plan and are still with us today. We continue to develop our virtual offerings based on client and member input.
Thus, Optimal – Your Corporate Gym Online – was created. Today, Optimal delivers a very wide range of services to over 150 000 people across the country, including:
Live Streamed Classes
On Demand Classes
Employee Challenges
Personal Training
Small Group Personal Training
Corporate Meeting Stretch Breaks and more!
Exploring the Future Post-COVID
While we navigated the challenges and rose to the opportunities presented of the past year, we continued to keep our ear to the ground and to watch the trends emerging across the country. For example, our 30% of Canadians will continue to work from home Post-Pandemic
Experience the LIV North Difference
If your organization has become more agile and traditional employee wellness programs will not work for you, let’s chat! We are happy to offer any organization a 2 week trial of our Optimal platform and prepare a proposal as to how LIV North can compliment your organization’s vision and goals. You can reach us at Virtual@livnorth.com and we will be in touch shortly.
With COVID numbers rising across the country, the LIV North Fitness Management team set out to plan a fun, engaging and completely virtual challenge. Understanding the effects of lockdowns and working remotely helped the team to plan a challenge that was not only fun but would also help participants lower stress levels, increase physical activity, and improve productivity. Being that Spring was arriving, the team also planned for many outdoor options.
A registration fee was charged to enter the race – ½ of which was used for prizes and the other ½ was slated for donation to the winning teams charity of choice (which was selected at registration).
One essential part to the planning was gamification – the process of applying game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts. We add these elements to any challenge or program we run as this makes the entire event more motivating, engaging and successful!
Following the guiding principles of the Amazing Race television show, participants were provided with one ‘envelope’ at a time with the details about that leg of the race. Starting in Vancouver, BC, they completed area based challenges, with time sensitive detours and roadblocks thrown their way. After Vancouver, our teams headed to Edmonton AB, Toronto, ON and Halifax, NS. Along the way each team member completed over 115 km in distance as well as a variety of mindfulness, healthy eating and plain old fun activities, submitting proof and trying to climb the standings with each leg.
When all was said and done, 63 teams from 9 different LIV North managed facilities across the country ended their adventure in Halifax, NS.
Overall, 126 people made a positive impact on their health and wellbeing over the 4 week challenge. The Breast Cancer Society of Canada will be receiving a donation on behalf of the winning team, helping to positively impact even more lives.
To celebrate the following video was put together to highlight some of the challenges and fun the participants had along the way.
Would a motivating challenge such as the Amazing Race benefit your organization? Contact us at Virtual@livnorth.com.
