We have all heard about the benefits of exercise for improving our health. But with long work days and busy family lives and personal obligations, setting aside time every day to exercise 30-60 minutes can be challenging. What if you could find ways to get exercise where you work? It is likely that improved health and increased exercise actually make you more productive while you're at work, so you might have added incentive. What steps can you take that could improve your physical fitness, your health and wellness, and even increase your work productivity?

• Use the stairs instead of elevators. If you have to go up several floors in your building during the day, you might as well exercise while doing it.
• Park toward the back of the parking lot and walk into and out of work. Don't circle the lot for minutes looking for a spot close to the front door. Park at the back of the lot and walk to the entrance. That extra 100 yards adds up if done every day.
• Start a walking club or fitness class with your colleagues. Running, walking, yoga, aerobics, and other forms of exercise with others will improve collegiality among coworkers. Meeting to do it together will provide motivation by making it less likely that you will skip the exercise sessions.
• Replace your office chair with a stability ball. It is not exercise, per se, but you can improve your core strength by using a Swiss ball as your office desk chair.
• Wear running shoes to work. Wear your dress shoes only when necessary. Not only will the running shoes help with walking longer distances from the parking lot or during breaks at the office, but they will also serve as a reminder to use them if you see them throughout the day.
• Break up exercise into small periods during breaks. While 30-60 minutes of walking is ideal, several 10-15 minute sessions can be effective as well. Look for breaks in your schedule and use them to perform some of your fitness activities.
• Keep some dumbbells or resistance bands at your desk. Similar to walking, weights and other forms of resistance training require little space or preparation time. A few exercises in each small break can add up to a complete workout.
• Replace email and the phone as a means of communication. Rather than pushing emails back and forth to coworkers, get up and walk to their desks. Talk in person. You might be surprised that you actually accomplish more in less time, and you will burn a few calories each time too!

Do you have any other ideas to stay active at your job? Share them here!

 If there is a magic marketing scheme or program to induce greater levels of physical activity for all children and adolescents, it will likely be found in the same location as the fountain of youth.  More likely, we will increase physical activity levels through the convergence of several messages and signals about the importance of exercise.  Those messages may come from a variety of sources, including parents, siblings, friends, television, the internet, etc.

Activity habits begin at an early age, so the messages from parents can be critical.  Active parents = active kids.  But how to get busy working parents more active when they already feel strapped for time?

On September 13th, I had the opportunity to attend an event that holds great promise for increasing physical activity rates among employees and, in turn, changing the message that the children of employees are receiving from their parents about the importance of physical activity.

The CEO Pledge, a key component of the country’s first-ever National Physical Activity Plan, was launched at the HERO Forum in Phoenix, Arizona—the annual conference of the Health Enhancement Research Organization that draws a large audience of professionals committed to the improvement of employee health management. Chief Executive Officers who take the pledge will vow to improve employee health and wellness by producing opportunities and resources for physical activity before, during, or after the workday.

“The National Physical Activity Plan is inspiring action by leaders from multiple disciplines, creating an historic movement to increase physical activity among all Americans,” said Dave Pickering, a strategy leader for the Plan and CEO of Preventure. “Today, the CEOs of America’s businesses—both large and small—were asked to pledge their commitment to the betterment of their companies and employees, and to become part of the solution to our nation’s health care challenges.”

The text of the pledge reads:
For the betterment of my company, our employees, their families, and our country, I pledge to improve employee health and wellness by providing opportunities and resources for physical activity before, during or after the workday.

CEOs who take the pledge will be encouraged to share best practices to help create a national culture of physical activity supported by worksites.

Notably, the launch of the CEO Pledge occurred on the heels of research by Church et al. asserting that Americans are now far less active at the worksite than in previous decades.  Proponents of the Pledge are quick to point to the business benefits of a more physically active workforce. 

The CEO Pledge is also good for families.  We know that physically active moms and dads can have a heavy influence on the activity levels of their kids.  And we know that physically active kids can influence their parents, creating a wonderfully reinforcing environment for healthy lifestyles.

Do you know of a CEO that might be willing to sign the CEO Pledge? 

There are many reasons why individuals might not meet the Physical Activity Guidelines, but one major factor is the physical environment that surrounds them. When people don't have the option to make the healthy choice regarding their participation in physical activities, there is no possible way they can do it.

Over the past several decades, our society has engineered physical activity out of our lifestyles. For example, 13% of children five to fourteen years old usually walked or biked to school in 2009, compared with 48% of students in 1969. For a long time, neighborhoods were being built without regard for pedestrians, putting the needs of the driver first. Safe biking lanes, walking paths that connected places where people wanted to go, and a variety of safe outdoor play spaces were all but engineered out of most built environments. Schools were being put in a position where they had to eliminate physical education, whether for budget reasons or to meet academic goals. Offices were built without bike racks, employee changing areas, or easy to use staircases, further enhancing less physical activity instead of more.

Fortunately, things are starting to change. A healthier communities movement is building across the nation. The Y, along with other national organizations, is leading the way. Since 2004, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other corporate and foundation donors, the Y has engaged leaders in 200 communities in working together to implement strategies that provide opportunities for physical activity.

YMCAs engaged in our Healthier Communities Initiative (pioneering Healthier Communities, Statewide Pioneering Healthier Communities and ACHIEVE) are helping families by giving parents peace of mind when they let their kids walk to school. The initiative is focused on creating safer routes, making streets safe for all users whether they are on foot or on wheels. The organizations strive to keep a generation of kids healthier by working with schools to increase physical education and physical activity during the school day, and making recess periods more active. The initiative also encourages employers to build environments that support activity among their employees. These examples are just the beginning.

How healthy is your community? What are examples of your community's efforts to change the built environment so more people engage in physical activity to meet the PA guidelines? How are you helping people see that their own built environment supports or inhibits meeting these guidelines? What barriers are there, and how can you work with other leaders in your community to collaboratively remove those barriers?