The Fitness Group, a leading fitness education training provider, has teamed up with Myzone to introduce a daily “active hour” where employees can dedicate time to the movement of their choice during the workday.

Taking on the responsibility as a business to help facilitate time for its employees, The Fitness Group has embraced this commitment to prioritising its team’s wellbeing with an ambitious 2025 wellness plan.

The “active hour”, a paid hour during the workday, is designed to help improve employees’ focus, reduce errors, and support better mental wellbeing overall. Activity is tracked using Myzone devices. It comes off the back of research which revealed that 18 million workdays in the UK are lost every year due to poor mental health.

Myzone’s wearable technology and app helps businesses track their teams’ workouts and encourages movement. Users can choose from different wearable devices and straps designed to help them achieve their health goals. With the Myzone app, you can track your workouts anywhere, whether in the gym, at home, in a swimming pool, or outdoors.

Users earn Myzone Effort Points (MEPs) for every minute of physical activity they perform. Myzone uses colour-coded heart rate zones to track effort and assign MEPs, with each zone corresponding to a percentage of an individual’s maximum heart rate.

The Fitness Group has chosen to split its staff into two teams, fostering friendly competition to see who can earn the most MEPs each month. A prize is awarded to the leading team. This gamification of fitness has created a dynamic, supportive environment that values effort and encourages physical activity.

Steven Dick, Co-Founder and Director at The Fitness Group, said: “This not only helps our team stay active but also embodies our core values as a leading health and fitness education provider. By fostering a culture of wellness, we’re demonstrating the same principles we teach to our students.

“Employees are empowered to use this hour however they like, whether it’s a high-intensity workout, a walk in nature, or yoga at home. What’s more, we’ve partnered with Myzone to bring an innovative and engaging dimension to this initiative.”

Research suggests that the gamification of physical activity can be a powerful motivator to help tackle sedentary behaviours. In one study, a systematic review and meta-analyses of Randomised Controlled Trials, researchers concluded that gamified interventions are a promising intervention for promoting physical activity in various populations and that the effect persists after the follow-up period, suggesting that it is not just a novelty effect.