Thousands of women are quite literally walking the walk and putting their best foot forwards as they lead the way in helping their workplaces to be active. Since 2014 over 32,000 women have taken park in the Workplace Challenge with walking the most popular activity logged as part of the programme from County Sports Partnership Network which engages workplaces in sport and physical activity. Women make up around 60% of the total participants involved in the programme showing that women are leading the way in creating active workplaces.
Whilst walking is helping women to fit more active minutes into the working day, Workplace Challenge is about helping women to find the right activity for them. The programme includes a range of fun inter workplace Competition Programme and Business Games events that 4,700 women have taken part in to date. The events range from netball to kayaking and trampolining to golf.
Women are also championing workplace physical activity with 75% (525) of the Workplace Challenge Champion trained being females. Champions are working with their County Sports Partnerships and the British Heart
This September workplaces were invited to take part in the Shake Up September Challenge and once again women have risen to the challenge with over 60% of participants as females.
The statistics in relation to women’s participation are certainly impressive with over 1 million activities tracked on the leaderboards, over 2 million miles travelled and 121 years of activity logged! The top activites logged by women include walking, running, cycling, gym and swimming. Other popular activities include yoga, aerobics and pilates.
Top 10 activities logged by women on Workplace Challenge:
|
Activity |
Number of times logged |
1 |
Walking |
434902 |
2 |
Running |
131522 |
3 |
Cycling |
116102 |
4 |
Gym |
70368 |
5 |
Swimming |
41595 |
6 |
Circuit Training |
22757 |
7 |
Press ups, pull ups, sit ups, squats etc. |
20164 |
8 |
Yoga |
19095 |
9 |
Aerobics |
17400 |
10 |
Pilates |
15177 |
The Workplace Challenge helps to get Nicky’s heart racing:
Nicky already walks a lot for her job and swims when she can but she realised she wasn't doing anything to really get her heart racing. Someone in the team recommended the NHS podcasts for their Couch to 5k programme. Nicky had never run in her life but she listened to the first podcast and thought she'd give it a go.
Nicky stated "The first day I gasped after ‘running' 90 seconds but I persevered and I can't believe what I've managed to achieve".
Nicky set her own Workplace Challenge goal of running her first 5k by her 57th Birthday.
Nicky said "Recording activity on the Workplace Challenge each day and the camaraderie in the office among participants has really encouraged me to keep going . And then the rush you get after a run is quite addictive. I NEVER thought I would hear myself say, ‘Ireally enjoyed that run. Can’t wait for the next’. The fun of seeing your activity come up on the website also encourages you to sign on every day and the graph is further encouragement. It has certainly ensured that I am getting some exercise every day, rather than having couch potato days ".
On her 57th birthday she ventured down to her local parkrun in Margate and completed her first 5k in 42 mins 45 secs. She then went back the next Saturday and managed to run it in 40 mins 29 secs.
Nicky stated " I will never be a fast, lithe runner but I can keep on improving and ‘jogging’ a little faster every week. The Workplace Challenge and my colleagues have definitely helped me achieve my goals so Thank You!".
Why not help women in your workplace to be active too – find out more and sign up for free today at www.workplacechallenge.org.uk