When you spend a lot of time on the job, there are small actions you can take to prepare for keeping your body moving.

Why it matters.

Study after study has shown that exercise is essential for keeping your body and your mind well. What can exercise do?

• Improve mental health and quality of life.
• Fight stress.
• Improve stamina and strength.
• Prevent conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and some cancers.
• Help with weight management.
• Aid bone health.
• Lower the risk of dementia.
• Lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
• Boost your body’s ability to prevent getting sick.

What should I do?

• Stretch, lift and move regularly – schedule it.
• Think about when and where you will be physically active – plan it.
• If you currently do no physical activity, create a movement plan that starts by doing a little and builds up – schedule it.

How should I do it?

Stretch, lift and move regularly – schedule it to start your day, throughout your day and to finish your day. Read more here

• Plan your exercise for the whole day – schedule ‘exercise snacks’ that raise your heart rate and make you breathe deeply. Set reminders in your phone.
• Plan to stretch and walk briskly every break.
• Small purposeful ‘exercise snacks’ add up through the day. When you do enough ‘exercise snacks’, they give your body the benefits of a full workout. Aim for a minimum of 50 minutes of ‘exercise snacks’ across your day.

Think about when and where you will be physically active – plan it at the start of each day.

• Plan to park further away from your destination and walk briskly.
• Plan to down tools at lunch time and take a brisk walk.
• Plan to move or put things away briskly in multiple smaller trips rather than one big load. (Aim for getting as much bending, stretching and safe lifting as you can.)
• Plan to break up long periods of sitting as often as possible.

If you currently do no physical activity, create a movement plan that starts by doing a little and builds up – schedule it.

• Doing any physical activity is better than doing none. If you currently do no physical activity, start by doing something that you can do easily and gradually build up to the recommended amount.
• Check your movement plan with your doctor before you start.
• Be active, even if it just a little, every day of the week.

 

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Disclaimer:

The information provided by OzHelp Foundation Ltd is general information only and does not take into consideration your own personal circumstances. Before acting upon any information provided, please consider if the information is suitable to meet your own objectives and seek health advice specific to your needs, if appropriate.

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