Workout For Tension

Presented to
The Dallas Chamber of Commerce

Presented by
Victoria Cheng, Kian Hidari, Sandy Pachicano, Bilal Sarwar, Emma Wallbrown

April 24, 2017

Table of Contents
Introduction..3

1
 Hypertension in Dallas.........3
Effects of Hypertension........3
Lifetime...3
Proposal Outcomes...4
Proposal Summary....4
Background...4
People affected worldwide......4
Age, gender, race, and family history........4
Stress, alcohol and drug usage, and sodium....5
The problem in Dallas...6
Goals....6
The Proposal.........7
Past success story..8
Timeline......9
Staffing..10
Budget...10
Rental Equipment........10
Venue.11
Food and Drink....11
Advertising....11
Employee Wages..11
Budget Summary.....11
Total Budget Needed..11
Conclusion...12
Future Plans..12
References..........13

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Introduction

Hypertension in Dallas
Currently, Dallas is one of the most unhealthiest cities in the United States (Dallas News, 2014).
Hypertension, otherwise known as abnormally high blood pressure, has become a leading health
risk in Dallas (D Magazine, 2009). As a result of improper diet, lack of exercise, stress, obesity,
and genetics hypertension has increasingly become one of the most prominent underlying issues
in this area and can be linked to death.

Effects of Hypertension
Hypertension is slowly causing our community members quality of life to decrease. Being a top
health risk in Dallas, hypertension has its effects on the community. Many community members
suffering from hypertension have undergone dizziness, nausea, confusion, and coronary disease,
the highest cause of death in the United States (D Magazine, 2009). With the effects from
hypertension, leaving this issue unresolved could make our city the unhealthiest in the United
States.

Life Time
Life Time Fitness is a national chain fitness of gyms established in 1990. As a company, Life
Time has worked to provide a facility for Americans to help them with their fitness goals and
personalize a fitness experience catering to each individual. Life Time works to provide options
for busy individuals to take care of all of their fitness needs in one place. Specializing in sports,
training, and child care facilities to help families, Life Time provides numerous amount of
services to help individuals and families exercise in the right environment. Our mission is to
provide an
Entertaining,
Educational,
Friendly and inviting,
Functional and innovative
experience of uncompromising quality that meets the health and fitness needs of the entire
family. Our vision is to help organizations, communities, and individuals achieve their:
Total health objectives
Athletic aspirations and
Fitness goals
By doing what they love to do. We provide the best:
Places
Performers and
Programs
That changes lives positively every day.

Proposal Outcomes
Life Time would like to work with the Dallas Chamber of Commerce to put a stop towards the
rapid increase of hypertension in Dallas. If Life Time and the Dallas Chamber of Commerce are

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able to work together, hypertension awareness will be spread across the city of Dallas and people
already suffering will be assisted towards recovery. Community members will know the causes
of this disease and how to prevent it. Community members already suffering will have more
incentive to work towards recovery. This increased incentive comes from Life Time informing
community members about the harmful effects. Life Times trainers will also give community
members the extra motivation they need to get in the gym and battle hypertension.

Proposal Summary
To increase awareness of hypertension, Life Time will be hosting its own Workout for Tension
event every other Saturday morning for six months. There will be workout stations for
community members to get active, information booths to spread hypertension awareness, and a
Kids Zone for parents to drop their kids off. Workout for Tension will get many community
members to come out and participate to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Background

People Affected Worldwide

According to the World Heart Federation
(2017), 970 million people are affected by
hypertension. It is predicted that by 2025,
1.56 billion adults will be living with high
blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or over.
Normal blood pressure ranges from 120/80
mmHg, so being within the range of 140/90
mmHg or higher indicates Stage 1 of
Hypertension (American Heart Association).

Age, Gender, Race, and Family History

Depending upon age, gender, and race, hypertension affects people at different times of their
lives. Blood pressure rises with age, but prehypertension can occur at an early age, especially for
overweight individuals (WebMD, 2017). Prehypertension occurs when blood pressure between
120/80 mmHg and 139/89 mmHg and indicates the risk of hypertension (American Heart
Association).
Based upon gender, men are more likely to develop hypertension before the age of 55. After the
age of 55, women are more likely than men to develop high blood pressure (National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute, 2015). Hypertension varies on its prevalence in race; it is more
commonly seen in African-Americans than other races. Not only can ones race affect the
chances of being hypertensive, but family history as well. Having high blood pressure in the
family line increases the risk of developing hypertension (National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute, 2015).

Stress, Smoking, Drinking, and Sodium

Health is generally considered a state of well-being. However, many elements of hypertension
contribute to the deterioration of this state.

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Stress is triggered by many hormones, in particular, one called cortisol. When this hormone is
activated for long periods of time, it can cause a persons immune system to weaken (Reason,
2010). As a leading factor of hypertension, stress can increase the amount of artery plaque which
causes heart attacks (Reason, 2010).

Summary of Dallas demographics as it relates to risk factors of hypertension (Institute for Health Metrics and
Evaluation, 2015).

Smoking is found to increase the systolic readings of the blood pressure, while heavy smoking
actually decreases it; although, this is due to a loss of body weight (Rodriguez, 2009). Long-term
smoking, can obstruct blood vessels and lead to other serious issues such as a stroke, heart
disease, and heart attack (Rodriguez, 2009). In addition, excessive drinking can also increase
systolic readings. However, having only one or two drinks can lower this reading. Identifying
alcohol and tobacco addiction could potentially save a life.

Although salt is not directly linked to obesity, it is certainly an influential factor. Elevated
sodium levels found in fatty foods can cause the body to retain water in order to dilute the
amount of sodium. The increase of water and blood then creates pressure on the blood vessels
(Harvard T.H. Chan, 2016). Like smoking, this can also lead to strokes and heart attacks.

The Problem in Dallas

According to Benning (2014), 80 percent of the almost 21,000 people who are insured in the city
of Dallas are considered to be medically obese. Considering that obesity is a major contributing
factor to hypertension, Life Time believes that improved exercise habits will also help tackle the
obesity problem that is occurring in Dallas today (WebMD 2017).

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Bernardo, R. (2016, March 21).

As for hypertension specifically, there is no question that, as a nation, this is something that we
need to tackle. Hypertension, however, hits a little closer to home. As a city, Dallas has a 40
percent higher hypertension rate than other cities like it across America (Benning 2014).
Because hypertension is much worse in Dallas than most other cities, Life Time believes it is a
priority to address this issue in Dallas now, rather than focus on other cities where Life Time is
also based.

Goals
Life Time, with the support of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, would like to help begin to
tackle the problem that Dallas has with hypertension. With this program Life Times goals are
the following:

1. To decrease the amount of people in the city of Dallas affected by hypertension over
time.

2. To raise awareness of the dangers and risk factors that are associated with hypertension.

3. To mitigate the negative effects experienced by hypertension by encouraging early

detection of the disease.

The Proposal

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We find it our social responsibility to give back to the Dallas community by addressing one of
the most problematic issues, hypertension. Every other Saturday at Klyde Warren Park we will
be hosting a free event called Workout For Tension from 9a.m. to 12p.m.. This event will
consist of three different stations: zumba, yoga, and cycling. Because we understand that
everyone is busy, we have allowed for a three hour time slot for the community to come out and
enjoy the various activities that we have to offer. Each course is taught by a trained professional
to guarantee our participants the best experience possible.

We will set up a childrens center for those who wish to bring their children as this is part of our
preventative goal for hypertension. Only children from ages 3-12 will be able to attend the
childrens center for safety reasons. At the childrens center, each staff member will be assigned
a maximum of 10 children. An organized field day with inflatable obstacle courses will be set
up for children ages 6-12, while children ages 3-5 will be placed in a daycare area. Any child
over the age of 12 must be accompanied by a parent at all times and may participate in any of the
three adult stations.

Life Time supplies our own methods of transportation via semi trucks, so it would be feasible for
us to bring equipment such as the cycling machines, inflatables, and other supplies to the park.
We will also be providing audio systems for individuals to clearly hear instructors at the park
without causing excessive noise pollution. Snacks and water will be available upon request. Our
main goal by hosting this event is to provide an enhanced experience for our participants, so that
we can encourage daily exercise and promote a healthy lifestyle in order to reduce the number of
hypertension cases in the Dallas community.

Map of Klyde Warren Park in Downtown Dallas.

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This general map of Klyde Warren park clearly shows the park's amenities and characteristics.
The Workout for Tension event will solely be held at the Pearl Lawn as this area of the park is
used for free events allowing Life Time to avoid a reservation fee and saving time and money.
The Pearl Lawn section is numbered on the map as section 15 and is located on the right side of
the park map. Zumba will be held at the northern point of the Pearl Lawn, followed by cycling
on the west point, and yoga at the southern point. The children's center will be located in the
middle of the park in order to allow parents a 360 degree supervision angle. Alongside the
childrens center will be a Life Time booth, which is where participants will be encouraged to
sign up with Life Time as well as where the food and drinks will be disbursed.

We will be able to measure if the program is successful by distributing surveys to participants at

the end of each of the events. We will ask them questions pertaining to our goals. The questions
will ask how the event impacted their lifestyle after becoming informed about hypertension, its
causes and effects, preventative habits, and seek suggestions from attendees for further
improvement to our program.

Past Success Stories

Based on looking at similar plans in the past that have taken action against other diseases across
America, we have determined that Life Time has a high chance for success. According to an
article about community-based approaches of prevention and management, programs similar to
ours done in the past showed a decrease in risk factors for cardiovascular disease after the
programs were implemented. This study pooled data from programs funded by the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and found evidence of a positive impact on lifestyle and
obesity in the disadvantaged populations (Ferdinand 2012). With the evidence of past success
Life Time Fitness believes that a program like ours will help decrease the amount and severity of
hypertension in Dallas.

Timeline
Once our proposal is approved, it will take six months to set up the entire plan. Below is a chart
illustrating when our tasks are being completed. In the initial two months of our plan, our main
task is to request a permit from the city of Dallas in order to hold a public event for 200-400
people. During June and July, we will be staffing for the event and getting volunteers from
various schools. Surveys will play an important part during the month of July, because they will
give us an idea of how many people are interested in attending the event. In the month of August,
our target is to advertise for the event. Towards the end of August, we will start handing out
brochures at various food courts, malls, clinics and schools. Enrollment for participating in the
event will begin during the first week of August and end on September 16th. September is when
we start executing our plan; we will begin sending out volunteers forms for volunteers and
liability forms for attendees. For those who werent able sign up for the event ahead of time can
just show up and sign waivers to participate on the day of the event.

April 1st Apply for permit for Klyde Warren Park

April 20th Print brochures to target hypertension or prehypertension.

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 May 1st Set up workout plans for the stations
June 3rd Start hiring staff for the event
June 20th Start asking for student volunteers from University of Dallas at
Texas
July 2nd Start conducting surveys
August 6th Start passing out brochures at various food courts, malls, clinics
and schools
August 7th Enrollment begins
September Notify staff and volunteers
1st
September Enrollments ends
16th
September Parents will turn in liability forms for kids
30th

Staffing
Life Time will provide their employees to run each event. There will be three managers, five
trainers, and twenty child center employees teaming up to put a stop to hypertension in Dallas.

Managers: We will be having three managers from three different local Life Time Fitness
locations at the events. Two managers will be making sure the stations operations are running
smoothly while interacting and engaging with the crowd. One manager will be overlooking the
kids zone and managing child center employees.

Trainers: Three trainers will be instructing the three different classes. Each class will give
community members the opportunity to get active and practice a healthy lifestyle. two trainers
will be at the hypertension awareness booth spreading the word to community members about
hypertension prevention methods as well as battling methods for hypertension.

Child center employees: Twenty child center employees will be actively participating with about
200 community members children, throughout the day, at the kids zone. We anticipate that no
more than 60 to 80 children will be there at once leaving only three to four children per
employee. We expect that staffing our kids center with this many employees will insure
maximum safety and fun for all kids involved. Being active with the children and conducting an
inflatable obstacle course for the kids, will provide the children with a few hours of healthy
activity.

Budget

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We know that there are many worthy causes in Dallas, so in order to help make sure all of them
get the attention they need, Lifetime has kept the costs of this one to a minimum.

Rental Equipment
The good news is for this project, the budget will not have to include money for the workout
equipment. Life Time Fitness will be provide all equipment for the work out stations and
transportation to the venue. The equipment that this portion of the budget will cover will be for
the Kids Zone.

Venue
This portion of the budget will cover the small $50 application fee to reserve the park for the day
of our event. This application fee will allow us to have an event for 200-400 people.

Food and Drink

This portion of the budget will allow us to provide healthy meal option to keep the participant
properly fueled for their activities. We hope to provide all of the participants, volunteers, and
workers with food and drinks while they are at the event.

Advertising
For advertising, we will need funds to cover flyers to get the word out for our event. We also
plan to provide brochures to help inform people about hypertension and ways people can help
prevent it.

Employee Wages
For the employees that Life Time will provide for the event, we will ask that the Dallas Chamber
of Commerce to provide us with funds to help us cover any extra hours spent at the event by our
hourly workers. These workers will be the people who work the Kids Zone.

Budget Summary
Item Amount Needed

Rental Equipment $500

Venue $50

Food and Drink $1,500

Advertising (Pamphlets & Brochures) $500

Employee Wages $1,000

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 Total for one event $3,550

Total Budget Needed

Life Time is asking the Dallas Chamber of Commerce to sponsor six months of the event. This
will cover the program for three months. After the three month period, our goal is to step back
and assess how the program is doing and retailer it to better fit the needs of the dallas
community.

Conclusion
Through this proposal, it is clear that hypertension is an issue in Dallas. Life Time will be able to
educate the community about the seriousness of hypertension. Professional trainers will be
teaching the attendees what they can do to prevent hypertension on both a physical and dietary
level. Life Time Fitness will be providing all the equipment necessary to hold a successful event
and raise awareness to the community of Dallas. All of the staff we hire for the event consists of
professionals trainers, staff, and volunteers. This is a great chance for volunteers to get their
community service hours. The total cost of this project will be $3,500 and rest will be covered by
Life Time Fitness. We have strived to make this project the most affordable and likewise the
most attractive proposal. We are asking that the Dallas Chamber of Commerce only pay $3,500
in order to help the community of Dallas fight hypertension.

Future Plans
Based upon the rate of attendance, we are planning on expanding to other parks in the Dallas
area such as White Rock Lake and Robert E. Lee Park. Given the feedback from our attendees at
the Klyde Warren Park event, we will consider the suggestions our attendees give us over
location, procedural advice, and workout revisions. Not only are we planning to expand, we are
also wanting to develop an educational program partnered with American Heart Association. The
American Heart Association currently has a program called Jump Rope for Heart, that teaches
students about the heart and keeping the heart healthy. Physical education instructors and
teachers register their school for this event and Jump Rope for Heart comes to the school during
their scheduled time to teach students how to keep their heart healthy and engage the students in
heart-healthy related activities. In relation to Life Times educational purposes, we are wanting
to develop an educational program that is similar to Jump Rope for Heart or add a hypertension
informative section into the Jump Rope for Heart event and partner with American Heart
Association to inform students about hypertension and the seriousness of hypertension as
students get older.

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References

American Heart Association. (2017, January 12). Understanding blood pressure

readings. Retrieved February 15, 2017, from

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/AboutHighBloodPres

sure/Understanding-Blood-Pressure-

Readings_UCM_301764_Article.jsp#.WKS9i28rLRZ

Benning, T. (2014, April 19). City of Dallas working to cut obesity among its workers.

Retrieved February 08, 2017, from

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/news/2014/04/18/city-of-dallas-working-to-cut-

obesity-among-its-workers

Bernardo, R. (2016, March 21). 2016's fattest cities in America. Retrieved February 14,

2017, from https://wallethub.com/edu/fattest-cities-in-america/10532/

D Magazine. (2009). The top health risks in Dallas. Retrieved February 08, 2017, from

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directory/the-top-health-risks-in-dallas/

Ferdinand, K. C., Patterson, K. P., Taylor, C., Fergus, I. V., Nasser, S. A., & Ferdinand,

D. P. (2012, April 18). Communitybased approaches to prevention and management of

hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Retrieved April 19, 2017, from

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 meres/

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (2016, July 06). Health risks and disease

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https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/salt-and-sodium/sodium-health-

risks-and-disease/

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. (2015). County profile: Dallas County,

Texas.Seattle,WA:http://www.healthdata.org/sites/default/files/files/county_prof

iles/US/County_Report_Dallas_County_Texas.pdf.

Life Time (n.d.). About Life Time. Retrieved February 08, 2017, from

http://news.lifetimefitness.com/

MacGill, M. (2016, September 12). Hypertension: Causes, symptoms and treatments.

Retrieved February 08, 2017, from

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150109.php

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2015, September 10). Risk factors for high

blood pressure. Retrieved February 15, 2017, from

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/hbp/atrisk

Rodriguez, D. (2009, November 18). Alcohol and cigarettes: Hypertension risk factors

to avoid. Retrieved February 14, 2017, from

http://www.everydayhealth.com/hypertension/preventing/controllable-risk-fact ors.aspx

Schuler, L. (2017, January 09). The 5 best gyms to join now. Retrieved February 08,

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WebMD. (2017). Hypertension (high blood pressure) health center - WebMD. Retrieved

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http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/guide/prehypertension-are-

you-at-risk#1

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