Whitehorse News - June 2022

Keeping Council “fit” for work

Argell San Jose is Council’s resident health and wellness expert. He works on Whitehorse’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing Team as a Health and Wellbeing Advisor.

“I was a registered nurse back in the Philippines, but switched careers when I came to Australia in 2014,” said Argell.

“I completed a degree in Exercise and Sports Science, worked as a strength and conditioning coach and have been doing a PhD on knee rehabilitation after surgery.”

Argell’s responsibilities at Council include helping staff with injury prevention at work and supporting staff who have been injured to return to work. He also develops and implements health and wellbeing initiatives related to physical activity, mental health, nutrition and smoking and alcohol cessation.

“My days vary,” said Argell. “For example, yesterday I gave a manual handling and injury prevention presentation to staff in our Operations Centre. That was followed by workplace assessment for some staff to optimise their work conditions.

The rest of the day was spent preparing posters and emails to promote our health and wellbeing initiatives for the month of May, liaising with external providers for some of our programs and holding a stretching session for the Civic Centre staff.”

In addition to this busy workload, Argell is helping the community achieve their health and fitness goals as a gym instructor at Aqualink.

“The sessions I run vary based on the needs of the individual. A major part of what I do is trying to counter the movements and postures that my clients take throughout the day at work or playing sport. For example, I might program pulling exercises for someone who spends a lot of time in a slouched position,” said Argell.

“However, I believe that you can’t get wrong getting strong!”

Argell enjoys being able to help people from all walks of life improve their lives through achievable lifestyle changes.

“It always feels rewarding to know that you are contributing to the greater community from the small things you do at work,” he said.

Argell’s advice to those who are trying to improve their health and wellness?

“Start with your why. Why do you want to be healthy? Why do you want to go to the gym? Why do want to quit smoking? Once you have a better understanding of your motivation, identify the smallest changes that you can take and start from there. Keep it simple but do it consistently. Consistency trumps perfection when it comes to improving your health.”

“We only have one life to live. Every day is literally the first day of the rest of your life. Make sure it counts.”