Get active at work
| Published: 1st April 2008 11:11 |
Modern lifestyles have encouraged the nation to be far more sedentary than ever before. You probably sit behind a desk all day at work, then take the bus, the train or the car. When you get home, you feel too tired to go to the gym and relax on the sofa instead. The results can prove increasingly hazardous to your health and your career.
A recent poll by Sport England identified that half the population of England don't do any sport or active recreation. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) warns that such inactivity puts people at twice the risk of developing coronary heart disease compared with active people.
In order to keep the heart, body and mind healthy, the BHF recommends 30 minutes of moderate physical activity five days a week, yet only one in five adults does the recommended 30 minutes of exercise even three times a week.
Being more active can make a difference to the quality of life you have and bring benefits such as more energy to help cope with daily routine, better maintenance of a healthy weight and improvements to your physical and mental wellbeing.
One of the BHF biggest objectives in its latest Think Fit! Be Active! campaign is to encourage the nation's workforce to be more active, especially as most adults spend the majority of their waking day at work.
As well as keeping the body fit and healthy, leading an active lifestyle can provide many extra benefits in the workplace. Activity boosts levels of energy and enthusiasm and lifts your mood, helping to stimulate the production of endorphins, the happy hormones that make you feel good. Stress levels are managed more efficiently and, as a result of healthier bodies and minds, physically active employees take 27 per cent fewer days of sick leave.
Leading an active lifestyle also enhances levels of concentration and self-esteem, which are both essential for a successful career.
The good news is that there are many ways to get your daily dose of activity, even if your job involves sitting down all day, says the BHF.
"You don't need any equipment and you can work out in your work gear. So don't put off doing your daily activity until you've finished work. Energise your day with bursts of activity whenever you can."
"Reducing the time spent sitting can be the first important step in achieving the recommended healthy goal of 30 minutes activity a day. Choosing activity during breaks, or active travel to and from work, can also make a big difference to energy levels and working efficiency."
You can find plenty of inspiration to be more active in the workplace through the campaign's website, www.bhf.org.uk/thinkfit/. There are suggestions for personal goals and ways to challenge your colleagues, such as organising an office Olympics. You can also order a free Think Fit! pack to help you and your colleagues to become more active at work.
Picture caption: Driving a desk - office workers are being warned that they need to take more exercise.
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