THE POWER OF KEEPING ACTIVE AT WORK
TLDR: Regular movement during the workday - short walks, standing desks, walking meetings or small desk exercises - boosts health, focus and productivity. One hour of exercise won’t undo eight hours of sitting; prolonged inactivity raises risks like diabetes, digestion issues, stress and some cancers. Make small, active changes to reduce risks and feel better.
Ok, we know exercise is important and how much it benefits our health. So, we are not here to tell you to exercise, to only eat things green and never touch a glass of alcohol again, because where is the fun in that?
However, it might be useful to give you a little insight into why just keeping simply active at work is SO important and often completely overlooked. I mean, let’s face it, if you’ve already been to an exercise class that morning, you can be forgiven for not ‘getting your steps in’ around your desk.
I thought as long as I’m walking into work, I’m good. Think again! Whilst high intensity training is brilliant for your health and you should still include it, you still need to keep active whilst at work. Yes, even if you’ve got a mammoth gym session that evening.
One hour of exercise is not going to counteract 8 hours of sitting.
Keeping active, even if it is just small movements or taking a walk during your lunch break, can MASSIVELY improve things like;
· Health
· Concentration
· Productivity
Think about it, how much better do you feel after your break? Our bodies are not meant to sit in an upright position for 8 hours or more a day. And we often move from our desks, to the car/ tube, to the dinner table, to the sofa! We need to make time to take a small break to leave our desks and get moving!
The health hazards of being inactive during the day are overwhelming, and whilst we don’t want to scare you, it is important to be aware that it can lead to problems such as;
· Diabetes
· Digestion problems
· Rise in stress levels
· Increased chance of cancer
It’s crazy that sitting down for too long can cause all of this and more. So why not take that new standing-up desk no one wanted, or try sitting on an exercise ball (sounds like fun to me), or change your meetings to walking ones? These small things can make a massive difference. And if you fancy changing all your work social events to active ones too, getting away from the bar, you can enquire about our scavenger hunts that will do just the trick.