Springing to Action! Fitness and Health at Two Barrels

We at Two Barrels absolutely love that we get to offer a lot of our team members the opportunity to Work from Anywhere. No rush hour, no paid parking, no unflattering florescent lights. But we also realize that the computer-based tech and marketing work that we do here can lead to a more sedentary lifestyle. And, as we have all been hearing, an overly-sedentary lifestyle can cause serious physical and mental health issues.

In this post, we want to talk about why we prioritize active and healthy habits for our employees and about how we’re focusing on getting everyone up and moving. Because when our people are happy and healthy, we know that their creativity and innovation are limitless.

Why Fitness and Health Matter to Us

We don’t want to sound like a broken record, but employee health and well-being is important to us. Maybe we’re just selfish, but employees who are healthy, motivated, and well-rested create great things and are honestly just more pleasant to be around.

Additionally, it’s simply staggering to find out what a sedentary job can do to the human body and how easy it is to counteract that damage. According to the CDC, just one session of moderate-to-vigorous activity can reduce stress, strengthen your heart muscles, and extend your life. Sitting all day every day, on the other hand, drastically increases your chances for heart disease, diabetes, and chronic anxiety.

Employee health and fitness matter to us because people matter to us. That’s why, over the past months, we have implemented new initiatives to motivate our teams to get active and stay active.

Our Approach in 2024

We’ve made staying healthy into a year-long event in 2024, with spring and summer events kicking off every month so far. We’ve started a series of contests, live streams, and goal-setting strategies that has resulted in more employees moving their bodies and taking their health seriously than ever before. While we do admit to bribing everyone with really cool drawings and prizes for anyone who participates (ranging from FitBits to Kindles to MasterClass subscriptions), we’re committed to keeping our teams consistent and motivated.

Encouraging Doctor Visits

Before getting active and changing your diet, it’s crucial to visit with your primary care physician (or to get one fast if you don’t have one!). This spring and summer, employees who visited their doctor for a physical were awarded bonus PTO hours and entered in a drawing for snazzy prizes—just for taking the first step in heading off health issues before they become a problem.

Posting Progress

We also had drawings for anyone who participated in our spring movement event that asked people to share pictures of themselves getting outdoors, connecting with others, and making healthy meal choices. With each challenge, we emphasized why each activity was a central pillar in creating healthy habits. The best part about this was hearing how small changes, like extra walks or time outside, snowballed in greater benefits and feelings of well-being.

Building Community

The greatest benefit of all of this is that we now have dedicated chat streams where people share progress, congratulate each other, and keep each other accountable. People ask about recommendations for standing desks, walking pads, and fitness trackers. They share their successes and their growth. And, for our people in those warmer states, they commiserate about the endless hot days and share tips for staying cool.

Setting Goals

People who set concrete goals tend to achieve them more often! So we asked employees to share their fitness and health goals and to keep us updated on their fitness journey. And we took it one step further by having employees team up and face fitness challenges together. Meeting challenges together as a team not only helps people stay accountable, it creates a great foundation for colleagues to learn how to work together and build trust across the company.

Healthier Eating

While a lot of our teams work from home (or from wherever they want), we do have a good handful of people who work in our offices in Spokane. We’ve always been proud to provide snacks for those who make the trek downtown. Lately, however, we’ve made conscious effort to have a wider variety of healthy options for our colleagues to munch on, including yogurt, fresh fruit, and string cheese. Endless cereal and chip options are great, but healthy proteins and vitamins make our brains and bodies function far better.

Conclusion

At Two Barrels, staying healthy and active isn’t just an option, it’s a force of nature. We’re always looking for fresh ways to stay fit and active so that small health issues don’t become bigger ones. When it comes to building life-long habits, consistency is key, and community is even better. Going it alone is the hard part—having a whole team of people rooting for you is priceless. In just a few short months, we’ve found our health initiatives to be an invaluable way to bring teams together to achieve the greatest goal: getting moving!