Healthy nutrition and fitness at Westermann Radialbesen

Westermann Radialbesen from Meppen offers special programmes for employees. A nutritionist and an in-house gym help employees to stay healthy and fit.

Many employees find it difficult to eat healthily at work and to get enough exercise while working at the computer. Westermann Radialbesen from Meppen therefore offers its employees a great programme: healthy eating and a gym included.

Healthy eating at the workplace

Over the past four weeks, the employees of Westermann Radialbesen, the cleaning specialist from Meppen, have received a meal package with breakfast, lunch and dinner every day from a caterer in the region. The nutritional concept, drawn up by a nutritionist, stipulated that employees should consume 1,200 to 1,400 calories from Monday to Friday. They were then allowed to eat "normally" again at the weekend. "The programme was voluntary for everyone. Around two thirds of our workforce took part," explains Ansgar Jacobs, Sales Manager at Westermann. Other companies from the neighbourhood were also brought on board. The employees were supervised by a nutritionist from the region, who put together the meals. At the beginning, everyone taking part in the programme met once and the concept was introduced and explained. The programme started with a kind of detox to get the body used to the new situation. There were a total of three meals a day. For example, breakfast included quark with fruit and nuts, fish with spinach and rice for lunch and a salad in the evening. There is currently a break due to the holidays, but the programme is due to start again in a fortnight' time. "The community helps tremendously to stay on the ball. However, it's up to each individual to decide whether they achieve anything with the change in diet. Sport also helps, of course," says Jacobs.

The company's own gym

The company has had its own gym on the company premises at Schützenhof 23 since 2012, where a personal trainer comes in as required to cater to the individual needs of employees and work out with them or create a training plan for them. The initiative came from company founder Alfons Westermann. From a certain age, back pain can occur more frequently, which can lead to more serious damage such as slipped discs. With an eight-hour office day, this is not to be taken lightly. Early prevention is therefore the best medicine. Employees can use the equipment before, during or after work. And the results are impressive: One colleague had already lost nine kilos in the first two weeks alone thanks to the change in diet and the gym. Using the gym together with colleagues is also good for team building. "You can talk about the weekend while doing sport, but also about work topics that you might not otherwise get round to in everyday working life," explains Ansgar Jacobs.

SV Meppen uses Westermann's fitness centre

It's not just Westermann Radialbesen employees who can use the in-house gym, but also sports teams from the surrounding area. Among others, the youth teams of SV Meppen and the women's team, which has just been promoted to the national league, regularly come by to train.