Published: Tuesday, July 3, 2012 1:09 AM CDT

Some businesses and agencies in Yankton have gotten aboard the growing national trend that allows employees to exercise while at work.

Recently, the Yankton Police Department began allowing its 911 dispatchers and core services employees to sit on yoga balls as office chairs, as well as have cycle pedals for use while employees sit at their desks.

In addition, the First National Bank Service Center in Yankton allows its call-center employees to use treadmills while manning the phones.

The police department first got its exercise equipment a few months ago, with 911 dispatcher Jennifer Palsma leading the effort.

She thought of the idea after overhearing one of her supervisors talking about an insurance agency that allows call center employees to work out while on the job. That inspired her to do some research before eventually making the proposal.

“When you’re stuck in the same spot for a 10-hour shift, there is not a whole lot of time for working out during, or after, the job,” Palsma said.

Research has shown that employees who exercise at work often exhibit better time management, mental performance and mental ability on those days. There is also a strong positive mood effect that goes along with exercise. It can also reduce health care costs for companies and cut down the number of sick days that employees use.

She sent out her research findings to Chief Brian Paulsen on the benefits of simply allowing desk-workers to use a yoga ball as their office chair.

The benefits include improved spinal health, better blood flow, strengthening of the abdominal and back muscles, improved balance, weight loss, and better focus and alertness for employees.

She noted that a dispatcher is usually stuck to his or her desk due to the need to consistently monitor the phones and cameras. Because of this, Palsma proposed the yoga balls to promote better health, more activity and stimulation in what is  normally a limiting environment.

“The job is usually completely sedentary,” Palsma said. “As a dispatcher, you’re stuck in the same spot for your 10-hour shift, with not a lot of physical movement.”

She added that, once she proposed the idea, the process took a few months, with equipment arriving earlier this spring.

“When I first proposed the idea, others laughed at me,” Palsma said. “Chief Paulsen got on board with the idea pretty quickly, though.”

The First National Bank Service Center began allowing its employees to utilize treadmills after renovations took place this past spring.

Operations Director Twyla Andrus said the main reason why the treadmills were brought in is because employees asked for an exercise room as part of the renovations.

“In this type of office and call-center setting, employees are sitting at a desk for a majority of their eight-hour shift,” Andrus said. “They wanted to have an avenue to get up from their desk to stretch and move around.”

The center added two walking treadmill stations to their facility after renovations were complete.

“Today about half of our employees have gone through training on these stations,” she said. “Each trained employee can sign up to walk on the stations for 30 minutes each day.”

The treadmills only have a few speeds, and nothing faster than a brisk walk is offered because employees are also speaking on the phone and operating a computer while walking.

“So far, we have had a very positive response to the equipment from our employees in the collections and customer care departments,” Andrus added.

“I used to get headaches all the time when I worked,” Palsma said. “Since the equipment came in, I never get headaches anymore at work.”

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