Employee Wellness Program Offers Exhilaration

Aug. 4, 2012 - PRLog -- Great American Fitness Adventure (http://www.hesonline.com/gafa) from Health Enhancement Systems takes participants on a virtual journey through 100 spectacular US locations -- with beautiful photos and descriptions to create a feeling of being transported to these national treasures as well as a desire to visit in person.

“Great American Fitness Adventure (http://www.hesonline.com/gafa) was inspired by the runaway success of 2 earlier programs, Get Fit on Route 66 and Walktober,” recalls Dean Witherspoon, President and founder of Health Enhancement Systems. “We took the concept of tracking progress on a virtual trail from Get Fit on Route 66 and combined it with the virtual reward concept of Walktober images. This motivates participants to continue… they want to get to the next exciting outdoor destination.”

According to a recent study to be published in Psychological Science, feeling awe can bring us into the present moment. The resulting impression of having more time can affect decisions and add to a feeling of life satisfaction. Melanie Rudd and Kathleen Vohs of Stanford University, with Jennifer Aaker of the University of Minnesota, developed 3 experiments that demonstrated these results. Great American Fitness Adventure gives participants an opportunity to experience the “awe” factor on this journey to our natural wonders.

“A common remark from Great American Fitness Adventure participants is: ‘I almost forget I’m exercising more than I have in years… I’m so focused on getting to the next destination!’ Needless to say, this kind of reaction from thousands of participants is very gratifying,” states Witherspoon. “In fact, it prompted our R&D folks to research the health benefits of outdoor exercise, leading to our white paper, A Healthy Dose of Nature Is Good for Business.”

This white paper (http://www.hesonline.com/green) explains the advantages of green exercise (exercising and experiencing nature simultaneously) for its calming effect. And Great American Fitness Adventure has an abundance of green exercise activities to benefit participants physically, mentally, and emotionally.