{"id":12157,"date":"2025-05-09T10:21:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T09:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/?p=12157"},"modified":"2025-06-09T13:08:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T12:08:37","slug":"how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"How to create a fitness-focused community in your workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.22.1&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.22.1&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.22.1&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.22.1&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]This year, Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 centres around the theme of community\u2014a timely opportunity for organisations to reflect on how workplace culture influences employee wellbeing. One powerful way to make an impact? Build a fitness-focused community that supports both mental and physical health.<\/p>\n<h2>When is Mental Health Awareness Week 2025?<\/h2>\n<p>Running from 12 to 18 May 2025, this year&#8217;s Mental Health Awareness Week, led by the Mental Health Foundation, highlights the importance of strong, supportive communities. The workplace is one of the most influential communities in an adult\u2019s life\u2014so how we connect, support, and engage at work directly affects how we feel. In the fitness world, the idea of community is already recognised for driving participation and improving outcomes. The same can apply in your workplace.<\/p>\n<h2>Why Mental Health Matters to Business<\/h2>\n<p>The business case for supporting mental wellbeing has never been clearer. According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hse.gov.uk\/statistics\/dayslost.htm\" class=\"cta\">Health and Safety Executive (HSE)<\/a>, stress, depression, and anxiety accounted for 49% of all work-related sickness absence last year.<\/p>\n<p>More data drives the point home:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.england.nhs.uk\/mental-health\/adults\/\" class=\"cta\">NHS England<\/a> reports that 1 in 4 adults experience a diagnosable mental health issue each year.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mhfaengland.org\/mhfa-centre\/blog\/Key-workplace-mental-health-statistics-for-2024\/\" class=\"cta\">MHFA England<\/a> states that 25% of UK workers feel unable to cope with stress, and 63% now show signs of burnout.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deloitte.com\/content\/dam\/assets-zone2\/uk\/en\/docs\/industries\/energy-resources-industrials\/2023\/deloitte-uk-mental-health-report-2022.pdf\" class=\"cta\">Deloitte<\/a> found that 61% of people leaving their jobs cited poor mental health as a key reason.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These figures represent more than human cost\u2014they hit productivity, retention, recruitment, and reputation. The effects are wide-reaching.<\/p>\n<h2>5 Mental Wellbeing Challenges Facing Employees<\/h2>\n<p>Understanding the landscape is the first step towards change. Here are some key challenges:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Chronic stress and burnout:<\/strong> As the lines between work and home blur, many employees struggle to switch off\u2014especially those working remotely.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Isolation and loneliness:<\/strong> Technology may keep us connected, but it doesn\u2019t replace real social interaction\u2014particularly in hybrid or remote settings.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Financial worries:<\/strong> Rising costs place huge pressure on employees, affecting day-to-day wellbeing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sedentary routines:<\/strong> Lack of movement links directly to both physical health issues and higher rates of anxiety and depression.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Job insecurity:<\/strong> Economic changes, AI disruption and fast-moving markets all contribute to workplace stress and long-term uncertainty.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What Can Employers Do?<\/h2>\n<p>Creating a mentally healthy workplace takes more than good intentions. From open conversations to well-trained managers, wellbeing should be part of the culture\u2014not an afterthought. It&#8217;s also worth reviewing your benefits to ensure employees have real access to tools that support both body and mind.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s where workplace fitness communities come in. They offer more  than exercise; they build connection, routine, and resilience.<\/p>\n<h2>Why Build a Fitness Community at Work?<\/h2>\n<p>This year\u2019s focus on community is a reminder of the importance of belonging. Fitness communities give employees the chance to move together, connect meaningfully, and benefit from the mental boost that exercise provides.<\/p>\n<p>The benefits of combining fitness with community are well proven:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Belonging:<\/strong> Team workouts or group challenges help employees feel more connected to each other and the company.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reduced isolation:<\/strong> Regular group activities provide space to engage with people across departments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lower stress:<\/strong> Physical activity naturally reduces cortisol levels\u2014and when done socially, the effect can be even stronger.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Boosted mood:<\/strong> Group fitness can raise morale and support job satisfaction.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Greater resilience:<\/strong> Employees who move regularly are better equipped to manage stress and stay motivated.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How to Make It Work<\/h2>\n<p>It takes more than a gym membership or a one-off event to build a fitness culture. Here\u2019s how to create a lasting impact:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Offer flexibility:<\/strong> Employees have different needs. Provide a variety of ways to get active\u2014online, in-person, high-intensity, or low-impact.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make it social:<\/strong> Encourage peer interaction. Build chat groups, host challenges, and celebrate milestones together.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lead by example:<\/strong> When leaders take part, it shows that wellbeing matters at every level of the organisation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Remove obstacles:<\/strong> Time and access are the biggest blockers. Flexible working, subsidised gym passes, and local options all make a difference.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why Flexible Fitness Benefits Work<\/h2>\n<p>This Mental Health Awareness Week reminds us that supporting employees is about more than providing resources\u2014it\u2019s about connection. Fitness communities support both individual health and collective culture. And when employees have flexible, accessible options, they\u2019re more likely to take part.<\/p>\n<p>When fitness becomes a shared value, you\u2019re not just building a healthier team\u2014you\u2019re strengthening your workplace community. In a world where mental health challenges are on the rise, it\u2019s one of the most meaningful habits a company can promote.<\/p>\n<p>Hussle makes it easy to build a thriving fitness community at your workplace. With access to thousands of gyms, pools, and fitness spaces across the UK, our flexible corporate fitness benefits help you meet your people where they are\u2014supporting mental wellbeing through movement and community. Talk to our team today to explore what\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/employers\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2.png\" width=\"11520\" height=\"3456\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12075 alignnone size-full\" \/><\/a>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This year, Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 centres around the theme of community\u2014a timely opportunity for organisations to reflect on how workplace culture influences employee wellbeing. One powerful way to make an impact? Build a fitness-focused community that supports both mental and physical health. When is Mental Health Awareness Week 2025? Running from 12 to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":12162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[224,106,3],"tags":[],"acf":[],"infloai":null,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to create a fitness-focused community in your workplace | The Hussle Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to create a fitness-focused community in your workplace - Find out more about the benefits of fitness for your employees through Hussle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to create a fitness-focused community in your workplace | The Hussle Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How to create a fitness-focused community in your workplace - Find out more about the benefits of fitness for your employees through Hussle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Hussle Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-09T09:21:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-09T12:08:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Hussle-755-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Oladele\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Oladele\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to create a fitness-focused community in your workplace | The Hussle Blog","description":"How to create a fitness-focused community in your workplace - Find out more about the benefits of fitness for your employees through Hussle","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to create a fitness-focused community in your workplace | The Hussle Blog","og_description":"How to create a fitness-focused community in your workplace - Find out more about the benefits of fitness for your employees through Hussle","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/","og_site_name":"The Hussle Blog","article_published_time":"2025-05-09T09:21:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-09T12:08:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Hussle-755-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Michael Oladele","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael Oladele","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael Oladele","@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/958de65736d1d09b31cef4083a0c6916"},"headline":"How to create a fitness-focused community in your workplace","datePublished":"2025-05-09T09:21:02+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-09T12:08:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/"},"wordCount":862,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Employee Benefits","Exercises","Fitness"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/","name":"How to create a fitness-focused community in your workplace | The Hussle Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-05-09T09:21:02+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-09T12:08:37+00:00","description":"How to create a fitness-focused community in your workplace - Find out more about the benefits of fitness for your employees through Hussle","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-fitness-focused-community-in-your-workplace\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to create a fitness-focused community in your workplace"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/","name":"The Hussle Blog","description":"All things fitness","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Hussle","url":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Logomark-3-copy.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Logomark-3-copy.png","width":318,"height":356,"caption":"Hussle"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/958de65736d1d09b31cef4083a0c6916","name":"Michael Oladele","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1be7a636623c0f62ecce46ba89ce711e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1be7a636623c0f62ecce46ba89ce711e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Michael Oladele"},"description":"Michael Oladele is a Content Marketing Manager with an interest in healthy living and a focus on both physical and mental wellbeing. With years of marketing experience, Michael creates content that empowers companies to invest in healthier, happier teams, combining his professional expertise with a personal commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles. An advocate for active living, Michael enjoys daily walks, exploring healthy lifestyles, and highlighting the intersection of mental and physical wellbeing.","url":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/author\/michaeloladele\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Hussle-755-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12157"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12258,"href":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12157\/revisions\/12258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hussle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}