As part of Living Streets National Walking Month, Andrew Watson, Project Manager of the National Workplace Challenge spoke to Living Streets about how to fit more activity into the working day.
Many of us are spending up to 60% of our waking hours at work, reducing the time available to exercise and stay healthy.
Advances in technology are creating shortcuts to daily tasks in the workplace, rather than visiting a colleague in the next room; we’re choosing to send an email or a direct message, cutting down valuable opportunities for us to get moving and to build effective communication and working relationships.
Recent statistics published by NHS Digital revealed that 26% of all adults in England are doing less than 30 minutes of physical activity a week, classing them as inactive, a worrying statistic, which is on the rise.
Our research revealed that time is the biggest barrier to getting active, so here are our five tips to making the most of the minutes in your working day. Andrew Watson, Project Manager, National Workplace Challenge
- ACTIVE TRAVEL
It may seem like a no-brainer, but why not swop the bus or the car and try walking to work this month? Too far to walk the whole way? Try getting off the bus one stop early or parking up slightly further away from work.
- WALKING MEETINGS
Challenge your colleagues to swop the dreary meeting room for a walking meeting. The change of scenery, fresh air and walk will help get the blood pumping to your brain, ready to provide solutions to the trickiest of problems!
- SET A PERSONAL CHALLENGE
When you sign up to Workplace Challenge you can create personal targets to achieve each day e.g. 10,000 steps. Log your activity and track your progress on the move by using our mobile app or by connecting your Fitbit to your Workplace Challenge account.
- NO MORE LUNCH ‘AL-DESCO’
Choose a location away from the office to have your lunch. It’s a great way to explore your local area and get your steps in!
- CHALLENGE YOUR COLLEAGUES
Our research revealed that friendly competition is a great motivator to get active. In your Workplace Challenge profile you can create a circle of your colleagues and see what activity they are logging. Why not create a circle and challenge your colleagues to complete a distance target each week?
BONUS POINTS
Just small changes can make a big difference. Swap the lift for the stairs or why not take a look at your office layout, could you move the printer further away so it encourages you and your colleagues to take a few extra steps each day!
Living Streets have a number of tips on how else you can incorporate more walking into your daily routine as part of National Walking Month. OUR #TRY20 TIPS
Workplace Challenge
For more information on how to join more than 64,000 employees who have taken action to add activity into and around their working day with Workplace Challenge visit the website or contact awatson@cspnetwork.org.
Workplace Challenge is a unique combination of online tools and offline support provided by local County Sports Partnerships.
