We spoke with Maria about how she keeps herself and FEI employees active

Maria hails from Brazil, where her formative years were shaped from being a freestyle swimmer. Nowadays, she focuses on functional training which she claims keeps her “mentally and physically healthy”. Maria gave up the excuse of “not having enough time” and committed herself to incorporating a routine which allows her to feel her best. She attributes her ingrained habits as the foundation for a healthy lifestyle.

What motivates you to keep active?

My kids motivate me to be healthy. I want to show them that through sports, you can deal better with life’s everyday stressors and can achieve better results. Also, I can’t be my best self when I’m not taking care of myself properly and therefore cannot be a good mom to them (which is not what I want).

How do you find time to train with your professional and personal responsibilities?

The perfect excuse is not having time. However, I needed to find my time, even if it’s only for 20 minutes! I wake up before the rest of my family to allow myself to work out from home. Doing online classes allows me to save time from commuting to a gym. You don’t need much and I’ve realised it’s a matter of prioritising what’s important to you!

What do you believe encourages people to be active?

I’m a true believer that you need to lead by example. Being active is a habit that you build into your lifestyle, just like brushing your teeth 🙂 which becomes second nature and you don’t feel like yourself when you don’t include it in your day. This is my message that I try to convey to others as well as encouraging people to let out any daily stress during a training session.

Which actions have you implemented for the employees of FEI?

As an International Sport Federation, promoting the practice of regular physical activity among our employees is one of our core values. We organise an annual FEI ski outing for our entire staff. Groups are formed based on various levels and this tradition has been in place for over 15 years!

Since 2013, FEI has offered weekly bootcamp and pilates classes to all its employees. When covid hit, we were able to quickly make these classes available online which created a bond between colleagues, seeing one another in virtual sessions.

Providing a framework and making employees understand that they can make time in their busy schedules. We have a fitness studio at our HQ and that can facilitate training sessions. Flexible working hours also help employees to find their time. We can’t impose it, however we encourage employees to take responsibility for their health.

Which Healthy Sports Organisations services have you enjoyed using at FEI?

HSO provided FEI employees with dynamic training sessions, which blended teams of employees across all levels and functions in the IF. This was a fantastic team building exercise for us.

The HSO Survey has been very useful to understand what our employees’ health situation and needs are, and we also realised that the employees appreciated being asked about their approach to health and fitness. It allowed us to demonstrate that the health and wellbeing of our employees is a priority for our organisation. It’s clear they are experts in this field and that is why we use their services.

How does physical activity affect mental health?

It’s science! Endorphins are released during physical activity and it’s proven that it makes you feel better. Although I respect everyone’s personal values and how they want to live their lives, I am invested in encouraging all our employees to find an activity they enjoy.

Why are you keen to promote the 20km de Lausanne and the Lausanne Triathlon among employees?

FEI HQ is based in Lausanne, the Olympic Capital and I believe that every initiative offered by the City of Lausanne should be promoted by our organisation. This is a wonderful opportunity for our employees to show support and be active during fun and sports events in our city, the Olympic Capital! The team relay event at the Lausanne Triathlon and the 20km of Lausanne are always a hit.

«We made a special flashy team FEI t-shirt which says ‘I usually do this on a horse…’ I’m not sure they all like the color, but we can easily spot our team during the race!» Maria Byrne

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Excel

The Excel level is our highest certification level, showing that an organisation has demonstrated excellence in every single one of the five criteria sections of the Healthy Sports Organisations Audit. This level is for organisations that lead and have the highest commitment to the wellbeing and health of their employees.

To obtain Excel the organisation must have at least 90% of the points available in each section of the Audit criteria.

To remain certified at the Excel level, organisations must demonstrate continued alignment with the five criteria sections of the Healthy Sports Organisations Audit over a period of time.

Perform

At the Perform level, the organisation must demonstrate high performance across the 5 criteria sections of the Healthy Sports Organisations Audit. 

At the Perform level, the organisation commits will have implemented or are in the process of implementing an impactful action plan.

To obtain Perform the organisation must have at least 80% of the points available in each section of the Audit criteria.

Achieve

At the Achieve level, the organisation must demonstrate its progress across the 5 criteria sections of the Healthy Sports Organisations Audit. 

The Achieve level is for organisations that are already committed to the health of their employees but still want to improve. 

To obtain Achieve the organisation must have at least 70% of the points available in each section of the Audit criteria.

Certified

Certified is the certification level for organisations who are starting to think about their Health work place strategy. It’s all about recognising commitment to change and providing an organisation with solid baselines and benchmarks to accurately measure progress.

To become Certified the organisation has to have at least 50% of the points available in each section of the Audit criteria.

Certified organisations can re-certify and remain at the Certified level for a maximum of 8 years. To remain Certified after this period, organisations must progress to a higher level of certification.