| A Life in the day: | ||||
|
||||
Improving Business through fitness |
||||
Story : Jon Bradshaw |
||||
|
It is 5am, a time when most of us are still in bed, but Daniel is working in his studio in Ploenchit, Bangkok, with three clients on their fitness programme. He exudes good health and energy and talks with passion about what he has created at Fitcorp Asia. At 6am three times a week he can be found running a ‘Boot Camp’ at Queen Sirikit Park – an intensive programme developing strength, speed and agility training, attended mainly by executives who need their body to be as active as their brain and who know the value of a sound mind in a sound body. These men and women understand that to be successful requires them to push their limits. By 9am he has usually snatched something to eat before he starts his working day in earnest. In 2003 Daniel started Fitcorp Asia. The focus was on corporate health and wellness to increase productivity. He saw it as a niche concept where professionals and business-people could learn how to achieve more in less time. He knew from the research that employees who look after themselves were more loyal, had fewer sick days and were better communicators. Likewise, he also knew that companies who made a health and fitness investment in their staff were able to attract and retain better employees. In other words, companies could save a considerable amount of money. “The return on investment for companies looking after the health and fitness of their staff can be as high as 1:6. This means for every 100,000 baht invested a company can expect a return of 600,000 baht because of the higher productivity rates, reduced absenteeism and so on. Furthermore, on any given day some 50-70 percent of employees are suffering from stress which negatively affects their performance. We teach stress management in workshops using yoga, plates and fit balls to enhance core fitness, reduce poor posture and eliminate tension.” From 9am to 1pm Daniel can be found in the office training trainers, meeting with multinational corporations and consulting on the health needs of businesses. He grabs a sandwich ‘on the go’ to refuel because he knows he cannot perform without his food. On a typical afternoon he can be found educating personal trainers on how to use kinesis equipment for various gyms and later he is back to personal clients needing help with their golf swing or rehabilitation after surgery. By 8.30pm his day is over - unless he has a workshop to host on fitness, nutrition, corporate health and wellness or golf fitness and conditioning - in which case his working day finishes around 10pm. Relaxation comes on his Sunday day off - unless there is a special request for his services!
He might have a long day and a long week but Daniel’s life is centered upon making a difference in people’s lives. Fitcorp Asia exists to help, train, educate and change individuals and companies to produce more, study and work more effectively and efficiently, excel at their chosen work and to live longer, healthier lives - and of course, to save their employers a lot of money.
|
Daniel Remon, founder of Fitcorp Asia, is not a member of the lycra brigade. Neither does he seem interested in the hard-sell tactics, noise and hype of most of Bangkok’s fitness centres. He’s too busy saving companies’ money and individualizing programmes for his clients.
Daniel’s day looks punishing but there always seems to be a part of him looking ahead and planning. “I am organizing a programme for HR Directors at the moment to wow them of the benefits to their company of our services. These people can then influence the CEO of the real advantages of running a business with a healthy staff. We are growing as a company because our people have the passion and drive – despite the early starts and late finishes. They, like me, have dedicated themselves to be much more than a physical training company, but to be a health, fitness and lifestyle education company”.|
Tropical Living: September 2007, Volume 7 Issue 4 |
|
|
|
|
