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The positive effects of exercise are abundant, with increased productivity, energy and happiness, to name but a few.
Despite this, 43% of adults spend less than ten minutes a day walking, which accumulates to nearly half of the UK having a 60% higher risk of premature death compared with those who exercise regularly.
With the vast amount of jobs requiring eight hours of sedentary work at a computer, the opportunities for even minimal movement are small.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Just one hour of exercise a day can offset the detriment that a stationary workday can have on our health.
It’s possible for management to foster a healthier, energised and a more productive environment for employees with just a few tweaks.
Here are three ways to start…
1)Find an in-house gym buddy
Most workplaces have an in-house cycling or running fanatic. So why not utilise their enthusiasm to get the workforce up and running?
For example, hosting a daily lunch time or after-work class can be a practical and sociable solution to a lack of exercise in the office. It may require some encouragement from leadership to get the fitness momentum going, but with some initial guidance you could find group jogs or yoga classes held in empty spaces can combat the usual lazy lunch.
2) Promote wellbeing
If you work in an organisation which offers health club discounts, advertising these benefits more effectively can encourage a healthier workforce.
The cost of gym membership or attending fitness classes could be a big reason putting staff off, simultaneously, if you are providing these benefits for staff, they’re useless if they not being used.
Instead, find a way to better promote your benefits to make fitness an easier and more accessible option.
3) Monitor progress
Anyone who has taken part in a fitness programme knows the feeling of joy when they’ve move a step forward in reaching their goal. Setting targets and monitoring progress is one way to encourage us to get out of our chairs.
For example, the recommended amount of steps humans should walk per day is 10,000, but most adults walk somewhere between 3000 and 4000. To increase this number, companies could host a step challenge.
Pedometers are low in cost, and purchasing these for staff or encouraging them to partake in the challenge is a great way to increase step awareness. Whilst a business competition isn’t a long-term method of improving fitness, it will advance an overall consciousness of the amount of movement needed to reach a daily exercise target.
Want to read more on workplace wellbeing? Visit our blog here.
About Resource Management: we provide a comprehensive range of services throughout the UK and Europe and specialise in the provision of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and Manager Service Provider (MSP) programmes. We have been trading for almost 20 years, providing resourcing solutions to a range of blue chip clients from SME to FTSE 100 constituents.
