Discount Fitness Club Network

This toolkit provides guidance on identifying and establishing a relationship with a nationwide discount fitness club network (DFCN) for employees of multi-site organizations. It is based on Healthier Worksite Initiative’s (HWI) experience with implementing such a service, as a strategy to increase employee access to fitness centers at all CDC locations.

Health Challenge

The Guide to Community Preventive Services* recommends increasing access to places to be physically active (combined with informational outreach) as a way to increase the public’s level of physical activity. Increasing access to places to be physically active at work can be accomplished in numerous ways, including making stairways inviting to encourage stair use, opening safe walking and biking trails, and improving community and work site walkability.

“People will become more physically active in response to the creation of or improved access to places for physical activity, combined with distribution of information. On the basis of strong evidence of effectiveness, the Task Force recommends implementing such efforts.”
- The Community Guide*

Many work sites provide fitness centers for employees, but not all work sites are able to offer sufficient facilities. In addition, not all employees choose to exercise at work; some prefer a fitness club closer to home.

CDC’s DCFN Project Implementation

While CDC's headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia, the agency also has field stations located in several states across the nation. For more than 20 years, as statutorily permitted, CDC has offered a broad range of special benefits to employees and contractors, including lifestyle activities like exercise, fitness testing, weight management, and other programs. Availability and access to these services varies by geographic location, especially considering some employees do not work at a CDC headquarter work site but are instead assigned to work in various health agencies and offices.

To respond to the needs of such a diverse and extensive work force, HWI implemented a discount fitness club service that is designed to complement the internal lifestyle program and gives CDC employees access to a network of more than 1,600 fitness centers nationwide.

Toolkit Components

The content of this toolkit is most relevant to federal employers, although other government employers, such as states, might have similar procurement regulations. Employers in the private sector may find that they have fewer restrictions; however, the principles of program development hold true. The toolkit describes the following project phases:

Additionally, you can read about the lessons CDC learned in creating and operating its own DFCN in CDC's DFCN Example.

Note: this toolkit is simply an example of what we did at CDC. The examples and guidance provided should not be a substitute for working with your own internal policy and legal staff to develop appropriate guidelines and procedures for running a discount fitness club network. Additionally, CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) are in no way responsible or liable for guaranteeing the success of a discount fitness club network established as a result of this toolkit.

Please note: Some of these publications are available for download only as *.pdf files. These files require Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to be viewed. Please review the information on downloading and using Acrobat Reader software.

* Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links.

Page last reviewed: May 22, 2007
Page last updated: May 22, 2007
Content Source: Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion