Working out can be a rewarding experience, but modern routines can often discourage a healthy lifestyle. In fact, clinical psychologist Sara Linke reports that 50% of people who start an exercise routine will quit before 6 months. It’s extremely easy to find yourself “too busy” to work out, or to feel demotivated due to less than stellar results. However, there are a couple of tricks you can use to keep pushing for a better, healthier lifestyle.

Making Sitting Breaks a Habit

Working from home has become the new normal. And while we expect to save a lot of time by not having to commute to work, it feels like we’re still working harder than ever. As a result, the number of hours we spend sitting down in front of a computer screen has multiplied.

Being focused on work means you may forget things like the hot cup of tea waiting for you. In order to remember to take your sitting breaks, we at Tour de Office recommend setting an alarm for breaks. You may not want to at first, especially if you want to stay focused and on tasked. However, you can always use the opportunity to take a walk, reflect on work, and come up with even better ideas.

Letting Health Rewards Keep You Motivated

Starting an exercise routine definitely isn’t as glamorous as it seems. Beginner attempts at exercise might end up with you straining a muscle, or the realization that you’re wearing the wrong clothes. But this awkwardness is only temporary.

Experts at Liverpool John Moores University say that the first results could appear as soon as three weeks after starting to exercise. You may feel that it’s easier to run up and down the stairs, or that you don’t get exhausted as easily as before. This is the exact moment exercise becomes rewarding by itself. So making an additional effort during the first couple of weeks and keeping consistent is the best way to achieve a self-sustained stage of fitness.

Start Slow but Aim High

Most people start working out to achieve a specific physical and health ideal. As a result, they tend to follow different exercise routines that haven’t been adapted to their needs. Consequently, most beginners end up feeling too exhausted to repeat any attempts.

The truth is that no athlete started running tens of miles or lifting enormous weights on the first day. Instead, the most effective way to turn exercise workouts into a habit is by starting very slow. According to The Nation’s Health, low-impact exercises offer many of the same benefits as high-impact ones, and may even be better for you in the long run.

Having the Right Mindset

There’s no better feeling than when you finally achieve your fitness goals. You feel lighter, stronger, and your mood improves considerably. For many people though, this will be a fleeting experience, and it’s all too easy to return to harmful habits.

When people interrupt their workout routine, they tend to respond by indulging themselves in self-pity or agonizing over things that they can’t control. Amy Morin’s book 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do explains how these destructive habits are what ultimately prevents us from achieving our goals. The book discusses how she explores different ways to break these habits, based on her years of experience as a psychotherapist.

Small Steps for Big Results

In order to build your body, you first have to train your mind. Beginners may disregard the importance of these statements, but for those who have successfully overcome numerous routine interruptions, it’s a hard-earned lesson. By following simple steps like starting slow and learning how to break disruptive habits, you can gather the mental strength you need to become healthier and happier, and see results that are worth all the effort.

Article was specially written for www.tourdeoffice.com by Allison Campbell

2020 has disrupted many of our corporate traditions. Office birthday celebrations, team building events and end of year parties will all look very different this year. So what will corporate gifting look like as the holiday season approaches? Can you expect to see those gift hampers start arriving from December 1st? You know the ones. The baskets of varying sizes, teaming with chocolate coated almonds, wine as well as jellies and jams made from a curious combination of seasonal fruits. Not the healthiest or the most original of gifts… 

As your healthy workplaces partner, we’d like to suggest a few alternatives to this corporate tradition in 2020: 

Charitable Giving

Consider donating to a charity that is important to your client. You might even consider donating to Healthy Workplaces; the charity that brings you Tour de Office and aims to raise awareness about the negative health impacts of inactivity! 

Health and Wellbeing

Initiatives like Tour de Office and Step Forward can engage your clients in a fun, positive and inclusive workplace activity! 

Healthy Hamper

If you can’t let go of the hamper, why not pack it with items that support the wellbeing of your client? These could include anything from yoga passes and resistance bands, to healthy snacks seasonal produce.

We look forward to seeing how organisations tweak their gifting this season to ensure they are helping, not hampering, workplace wellbeing. 

According to the Department of Health, nearly 70% of Australian adults (i.e. almost 12 million adults) are sedentary or have low levels of physical activity.

“Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.” Dr James Levine

The cost of chronic illness to Australia is more than $15 billion each year. The occurrence of chronic diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes is rapidly growing; 280 Australians diagnosed with this preventable illness every day. Research demonstrates that prolonged sitting is thought to slow the metabolism, which affects the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, blood pressure and break down body fat. Remaining seated for too long is bad for your health, regardless of how much exercise you do.

Studies have linked excessive sitting with being overweight and obese, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, and premature death. 

The human body was designed to move… and to keep on moving. The only way to reduce the risk of chronic diseases is to break up the amount of time we spend sitting each day with exercise.

The Simple Ways to Increase Activity While Working

• Park a block further away from the office
• Hop off the bus/ train a stop early
• Take the stairs or exit the lift early
• Regularly stand up and stretch
• Take phone calls while standing – walk around if possible
• Walk across the hall to speak with a colleague rather than sending an email
• Use an exercise ball as a seat. Balancing will engage your core and work those abs!
• Take your lunch for a walk- enjoy it in the fresh air
• Engage in ‘walking meetings’
• Switch to a standing working station 
• Increasing Wellness at Work

The modern workplace is seeing increased employee flexibility, healthier work environments and improvements in technology to support wellness. From ergonomic office furniture, stand up desks, in-house gyms to healthy snacks in the kitchen or vending machines and apps to track and remind users about mobility – there are many ways to encourage us all to be healthier.

Corporate wellness programs are designed to support employees in understanding health risks and choosing healthy behaviour at work to improve their overall fitness and reduce their health care expenditure. These programs can reduce the cost of hospitalisation, emergency room visits, specialist visits, and surgeries. Moreover, corporate wellness programs result in a decrease in absenteeism, increase in productivity, and improvement in the quality of life of employees.

If you are looking for more ways to get your staff active and healthy at work and would like to participate in Tour de Office, we are delivering more flexible, custom event options designed to suit your organisation’s size, culture and budget – find out more and GET INVOLVED!

More Resources

Australia’s Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines

25 Best Fitness Apps for 2017

Forbes – The Ten Best Exercises to do at your desk

Deskercise – 33 smart ways to exercise at work