Useful Exercise
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday May 14, 2003
The point
Even if you can't make it to the gym or the park, there are other ways to work out if you work in an office.
``Exercise is such a dirty word," says Martha Lourey Bird , a lecturer with the University of NSW's School of Public Health and Community Medicine, and a consultant to WeightWatchers.
``Fifty per cent of us do no exercise . We sit in the car, drive to work, park close to the office lift. In fact, healthy employees are a bonus to employers. Research proves that having more active employees leads to decreased absenteeism and increased productivity.
``Exercise enhances mental focus, and getting employees fitter and healthier has a knock-on effect they eat more healthily, get more exercise outside the work environment and are better-rounded employees if employers create opportunities to be active."
But what if you're stuck behind a desk all day? Lourey Bird says some offices have in-house gyms, support corporate sporting teams and invest in fitness campaigns, but it's still largely individuals' responsibility to increase their physical activity. This can be as simple as doing ``incidental activity".
``For example, don't email people in the workplace walk to their desk and deliver the message personally. Take an earlier bus so you have time to get off further from the office. And don't cab it around the city walk to your meetings.
``I also suggest setting up your office to make it as inconvenient as possible. If you need paper on a regular basis, store it away from your desk so you have to walk to it.
``Every 15 paces you take uses five kilojoules of energy. Give yourself the opportunity to walk you should aim for 10,000 steps a day."
Lourey Bird's other recommendation is to drink water. ``We need 1.5 litres a day and if we work in an air-conditioned environment we need more. Apart from making us healthier, it makes us want to use the bathroom more often. Walking there increases activity."
The global financial firm JP Morgan puts theory into practice, hosting the annual JP Morgan Chase Challenge a 5.6-kilometre run that raises money for charity.
``The event promotes many different things, but primarily corporate health," says Graeme Arnott , JP Morgan's business executive for investor services in Australia and New Zealand.
``As we've grown as an organisation, the event has fitted in with our general views on work-life balance and having a healthy team; it's a fun competition, too.
``We encourage everybody to participate, not just runners. It's fine if you don't achieve great times you can walk. What is encouraged is participation.
``And once the event is announced, you see a general increase in sporting activity. JP Morgan staff tend to be pretty healthy, but the event generates a lot of excitement and this extends to business [associates] and promotes a friendly rivalry and competitiveness between companies. The initiative reinforces our existing culture for getting out and having a go."
Such initiatives have the full support of Corey Hinde , who heads up Nutrafit , a team of dietitians, sport scientists, personal trainers and other health professionals. He says companies need to offer more than just subsidised gym memberships; they need to create a culture that supports exercise and healthy living.
``As a measure for a company to increase staff physical activity, giving out gym memberships alone is probably a bad spend. How will the company gauge the outcome of the initiative? Gym participation rates are very low; some gyms offer poor customer service and don't offer any motivational extras."
Hinde, whose firm conducts lunch-hour workouts for office workers in city parks and offers company health initiatives under the banner of Businessfit, suggests corporations consider a holistic health package for staff.
``Off-the-shelf programs can be negative in terms of cost effectiveness. If they are not personalised, you'll have no idea what you're trying to improve. You need to look at the corporate culture, identify what makes people work more effectively, and put systems in place to improve activity levels as well as set goals for staff.
``And before engaging someone's services, check that they have experience dealing with corporates, that they have some sort of a business background so they understand the time constraints and expectations of both management and staff.
``Also, they should have tertiary qualifications in health and fitness so they can adapt programs and provide analysis of the success of a program."
© 2003 Sydney Morning Herald