I’ve spent my entire career in the fitness industry and I cantell you that, despite long being a staple of many offices, today’son-site fitness centers are much more than“just gyms.”

For starters, they’re becoming an invaluable tool in the ongoing battle for talent. Today’son-site fitness centers address much more than just physical health. Sure, you’ll still findtreadmills, weights and stationary bikes to help withcardiovascular health and strength. But, you’ll alsofind:

• Hula hoop classes to help employees improve coordination,balance, rhythm, strength, and flexibility.

• On-site training led by experts in disciplines like muay thaiboxing, which is similar to regular boxing but with the addition ofkicks, knee and elbow strikes.

• Health coaches, who are trained to help you design holisticwell-being programs to meet your specific wellness goals.

And these additions are turning out to be a huge perk foremployees.

Research backs it up. According to recent reports,75 percent of employees say a personal touch is important in theirhealth, well-being and fitness program. We hear from employees allthe time that they want more access to “live experts.” Credible,engaging people who can lead fitness classes, for example. Or,health experts who can provide one-on-one support and coaching foremployees’ specific well-being needs.

Bottom line: More and more employees are discovering thatcorporate fitness centers can meet these needs.

It’s not just employees who are big fans of corporatefitness centers.

According to our 2017 Survey of HealthFitness, 92 percentof company HR leaders said their on-site fitness centers helpedtheir organization stay competitive.

One HR leader said, “amenities such as our fitness center helpus attract and retain top talent for our organization.” Anothersaid, “our on-site fitness center is an attractive employee perk.”So, employers see corporate fitness centers as tools to help themattract the very best talent.

Why is the corporate on-site fitness center enjoying thisrenaissance?

A few factors are at play. Perhaps most importantly, convenienceis driving this trend. Recent research we conducted found that40-45 percent of employees who are offered on-site fitness facilityaccess choose to participate largely due to their convenience,inviting environment and low- or no-cost membership. With today’semployee juggling kids’ activities, work, family commitments andother hobbies, this probably isn’t a big surprise. After all,getting to the gym is often the toughest part aboutkeeping a regular workout schedule. But, if the gym is just twofloors down, that’s a whole lot easier than a 20-minutecommute.

Second, on-site fitness centers give employees a more productiveway to manage their stress. And, employee stress is a BIG deal. TheWorld Health Organization (WHO) recently called stress the healthepidemic of the 21st century. And, it’s costing employerssignificantly. One recent study found that work-related stress costs U.S.businesses $30 billion a year in lost workdays (some estimate it at$300 billion). On-site fitness centers can not only help employeesbetter manage stress with a host of programs but they can also helpemployers make a dent in those lost productivity costs.

Finally, the modern on-site fitness center is meeting employees’expanded views of “fitness.” The traditional definition of fitnesshas historically focused on physical health. But today, employersare increasingly looking at employee health from a whole-personview, recognizing its physical, social, emotional, financial andenvironmental dimensions. Modern on-site fitness centers haveevolved to address more of these dimensions, including more classesto meet the social dimensions of employee health and more access tohealth coaches to help with the emotional and physicaldimensions.

There’s no doubt corporate on-site fitness centers are in themidst of a rebirth. And, I expect to see more employers introducingthem in the years ahead as employee demand for this key benefitcontinues to surge.