Fall into fitness: Refreshing your employees’ wellness routines this season

As summer winds down and families prepare for the back-to-school season, August can be a busy time for working parents. It’s also an ideal opportunity to refresh fitness habits and build healthy routines before fall schedules become more demanding.

With cooler temperatures and shorter days on the horizon, now is the perfect time to take advantage of outdoor activities and stay active before colder weather arrives.

Popular fall exercises

Fall may be the ideal time to work out outdoors since it’s not as cold as winter, as hot as summer, or as rainy as spring. Here are just a few outdoor fall-themed workouts:

• Scenic trail and park running
• Hiking
• Rucking (hiking or walking with a weighted backpack)
• Rock climbing
• Outdoor fall yoga
• Seasonal-themed ‘harvest’ workouts, like apple picking and raking leaves

These activities deliver more than a seasonal change of scenery. Trail running and brisk hiking support cardiovascular health and endurance, with the CDC recommending 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week to reduce risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. These activities can also improve sleep, mood, and overall well-being.

Rucking, rock climbing, and raking leaves add strength and resistance-training benefits. Outdoor yoga can support flexibility, balance, stress management, and recovery and build balance that strengthens stabilizer muscles, improves coordination, and reduces injury risk. Yoga also helps protect joints through the colder months ahead.

While fall is a great time to exercise outdoors, encourage your employees to have an indoor backup plan for inclement weather, such as functional fitness workouts like Peloton, CrossFit, and HYROX.

The importance of refreshing exercise routines

Planning and preparing for a new season of exercises can help your employees avoid burnout, maintain a healthy wellness track, and stave off boredom from doing the same workouts.

A refreshed wellness routine can also boost workout motivation, especially when it includes activities they genuinely enjoy.

Share these three tips with your employees to help them achieve their wellness goals this season.

 

Three fall wellness tips

Tip #1: The 3-3-3 rule

Practice three new healthy habits daily for three minutes each for three weeks. For example, do three minutes of yoga or stretching after waking up, drink eight ounces of water before meals, and practice three minutes of meditation before bedtime.

These habits may seem small, but they support a broader wellness strategy that extends beyond exercise. Daily mobility work can improve flexibility and movement quality, hydration supports physical performance and recovery, and mindfulness practices can help manage stress and promote better sleep.

Together, these habits create a strong foundation for healthier choices throughout the day.

Tip #2: 3-2-1 rule 

Aim for three cardio sessions, two strength sessions, and one recovery session weekly. This structure aligns with the CDC’s physical activity guidelines, which recommend both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days per week.

For example, a weekly workout routine might include 30 minutes of swimming, biking, or brisk walking on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to cover the CDC guidelines and directly support cardiovascular health and disease prevention. Two 20-minute total body resistance-band training sessions on Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday will help build and maintain muscle.

Saturday serves as a recovery day. Note that recovery isn’t passive rest but active restoration through activities such as gentle yoga, stretching, breathwork, and intentional hydration.

For a well-rounded fitness program, encourage employees to include balance-focused movements in their strength or recovery sessions. Examples include single-leg deadlifts, step-ups, split squats, or yoga poses.

These exercises can improve stability, coordination, and functional movement while helping reduce injury risk.

Tip #3: Anchor habits 

Anchor a mini fitness habit or workout to an existing habit. For example, do five minutes of calisthenics or stretching immediately after enjoying your morning coffee.

Incorporate single-leg movements such as single-leg deadlifts or step-ups to build unilateral strength that supports balance and reduces fall-related injury risk.

Anchor habits can also complement the recovery component of the 3-2-1 rule. Hydration, mobility work, and meditation can all be incorporated into recovery days to support muscle recovery, reduce stress, and help employees return to their next workout feeling refreshed rather than fatigued.

Encourage your employees not to stress, do their best

If your employees are worried that the above tips sound like too much to balance with work, home duties, and driving kids back and forth to school activities and sports, encourage them to consider workouts that combine resistance training and cardio, such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and circuit training.

There are many circuit training methods and workouts they can do in their home. For example, they can choose 10 strength training exercises (bodyweight, dumbbells, resistance bands) with 10 cardio moves (burpees, jumping jacks, skaters). After warming up for 2-3 minutes, alternate strength and cardio exercises, performing each for 60 seconds with short rest intervals in between (15-30 seconds).

Encourage them to end their workout with a cool down and stretch to help with recovery.

Wellness extends beyond workouts

Sustainable health relies on more than just exercise. Encourage your employees to complement their fall fitness plan with these four pillars:

1. Nutrition

Fuel activity with whole foods rich in protein and complex carbohydrates to support muscle repair and sustained energy.

2. Mindfulness and stress management

Even three minutes of daily meditation (as practiced in the 3-3-3 rule) lowers cortisol, improves sleep quality, and enhances workout recovery.

3. Recovery

Prioritize sleep, stretching, and active rest. The recovery session in the 3-2-1 rule is where physical adaptation actually happens.

4. Daily habits

Steps taken outside the gym like scheduling walking meetings, taking the stairs, or walking around in the grocery store or while you mow the lawn can accumulate into the 150 weekly minutes the CDC identifies as the threshold for meaningful disease risk reduction.