Keep employees active & healthy

September 10, 2021

With the Bournemouth Marathon Festival less than a month away, we’ve been thinking about what we do to keep ourselves fit and healthy in the office. Now we can’t all run Marathons like Suzi, or even half marathons like Laura’s mum, but contrary to popular belief, exercise can be fun and it is certainly great for you inside and outside of work.

Our South Coast location hopefully encourages us to be more active than those in other areas of the UK, but it’s important as employers to keep our teams fit and healthy!

Keep your employees active & healthy

Scarily, the BBC have reported today that ‘20 Million Britons are physically inactive’. They found that three-quarters of people in England (76%), when referred for rehabilitation after suffering a heart attack or having heart surgery, are considered physically inactive. (1)
Now, the average hours worked by full-time workers has been on the decline since the beginning of the pandemic. Pre pandemic it was 37.4 hours per week and it’s now sitting at 35.5. (2) But this is still the majority of our time, and with employees spending so much time sitting at their desks, companies need to try to encourage healthy lifestyle as much as possible.

To help staff look after themselves, lots of clichés spring to mind, healthy body, healthy mind!… If you have happy, healthy workers this should support a healthy business and working environment too!

Top Tips to keep employees active & healthy:

Lose the vending machines – or at least have healthy snacks/drinks options instead of the chocolate, crisps and high fat/calorie snacks with low nutritional value
Have a staff fruit bowl
Invite healthy lunch providers onto your premises
Offer gym club memberships and cycle to work schemes
Encourage workers to take a break from their desk – have a 10 minute stroll around the office, or around the area, and go and talk to colleagues instead of emailing them :0)
If you have enough room, invite massage therapists, aerobic or yoga instructors along for lunch time or after work sessions. If you have outdoor space, you have even more options! A few of our clients have been doing morning yoga sessions on the beach!

The Huffington Post reported that, ‘the majority of managers (77%) work for at least an additional hour each day. Over the course of the year, this adds up to a whopping 29 days. The average holiday entitlement for UK employees is just 28 days per year.’ (4)

The BBC report warned:
‘that more than 5 million deaths worldwide can be attributed to physical inactivity, making it one of the top 10 leading causes of death.’

Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Levels of physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour in the UK remain stubbornly high, and, combined, these two risk factors present a substantial threat to our cardiovascular health and risk of early death.

“Evidence shows keeping physically active can reduce the risk of heart and circulatory disease by as much as 35% and risk of early death by as much as 30%.” (5)

Exercise guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64 (6)

How much?

At least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity every week
Strength exercises on two or more days a week that work all the major muscles
Break up long periods of sitting with light activity

What counts as moderate aerobic activity?

Walking fast, water aerobics, riding a bike on level ground or with few hills, doubles tennis, pushing a lawn mower, hiking, skateboarding, rollerblading, volleyball, basketball

What counts as vigorous activity?

Jogging or running, swimming fast, riding a bike fast or on hills, singles tennis, football, rugby, skipping rope, hockey, aerobics, gymnastics, martial arts

What activities strengthen muscles?

Lifting weights, working with resistance bands, doing exercises that use your own body weight, such as push-ups and sit-ups, heavy gardening, such as digging and shovelling, yoga. You could even squeeze in a quick 20 minute Joe Wicks HIIT workout before or after work. If your workplace has showers, perhaps even during lunch!

Some vigorous activities count as both an aerobic activity and a muscle-strengthening activity

Circuit training, aerobics, running, football, rugby, netball, hockey (6)

And since the pandemic has hit, we’ve all had to learn how to get our exercise without the gym or activity clubs. There’s so much available on line, so we really have no excuse! Let’s get active!

Image Credit:

Trainer Academy (https://traineracademy.org/ <http://w1.mslat.net/prod/87de3494-9cb0-416a-90e2-622413e6e3aa/972beab1-1f81-471b-b24b-8569045f6c0c> )

References:

Full credit for the image goes to https://traineracademy.org/

(1,5,6) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39457993

(2) https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/timeseries/ybuy/lms

(3) https://www.wellsteps.com/blog/2017/01/10/employee-wellness-program-ideas/

(4) http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/01/12/working-additional-hours-cancels-out-annual-leave_n_8960520.html