Ways to Sneak Exercise into your Work Day

What better way to exercise than to do it in a way you barely notice?? The World Health Organisation recommends that we should be active for 30 minutes daily or 150 minutes per week.  For those who, like me, are sitting at desks or even spending a lot of time on the road, numbers like these can feel very difficult to achieve.  Plus as we all know its not as simple as just going out and being active just like that. For some people, they need to travel to find an area to walk or run in comfort, which not everyone has the extra time for in their busy lives. 

For the purpose of this blog and Workplace Wellbeing Day which is happening on March 31^st, I’m going to share some ideas with you that involve getting those extra few minutes or steps in during your working day. 

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1.  Don’t get on/off at the stop closest to your workplace or home: Take a few extra minutes in the evening by not getting off at the most convenient stop. If you drive to work, park further away from the entrance. That is if you’re not running late!

2.   Take the stairs: A great habit to get into. Much like parking as close to the door as possible, we always pick the easier option, foregoing the healthier choice if an easier alternative is presented.

3.   Deliver messages personally: Instead of emailing someone to tell them you have received their post, take a walk over to their desk or office. It will help you get your steps in, provide you with additional opportunities to communicate with your colleagues, and give you a much needed break from your office chair.

4.   Walking meetings: If there are only a few of you that need to meet and there is not a necessity for laptops or equipment, why not take a walking meeting? Get some fresh air, grab a takeaway tea or coffee.

5.   Walking Phonecalls: Spend a lot of time on the phone for work? If you can walk around while on the phone, brilliant. Even pacing around your office is better than remaining seated. If your call lasts 15 minutes, that’s a 15 minute walk that you’ve just taken.

6.  Take standing, walking and/or stretching breaks: This can be vital to your posture, as well as motivation and mindset.

7.   If you’re a bit more used to physical activity and need something more challenging: There are exercises that you can do while sitting at your desk if you are finding it hard to get away, however I think that it is always beneficial to get an occasional standing or walking break to completely separate yourself from your desk.

• Flex or tighten your abs and hold for 30 seconds. Release, and repeat 10 times.
• Squeeze your glutes and hold for 30 seconds. Release, and repeat 10 times.
• Buy a hand gripper and use it at your desk to work out your forearms and hands.

Most smartphones have a pedometer already installed within their health app. Use this to track your progress and see how much you can fit in to your day. Challenge yourself! At the beginning it might only be about taking 5,000 steps. You can build towards your workplace activity goals by starting small and seeing what you can manage.

We are turning Workplace Wellbeing Day into Workplace Wellbeing Week at Full Health Medical! For all of this week, we are offering FREE CONSULTATIONS to employers and HR managers who want to improve the health status of their workforce. Email us on wellness@fullhealthmedical.com and one of our experts will arrange a virtual meeting a time which is convenient for you!

National Workplace Wellbeing Day – 31st of March 2017

We are very excited about Workplace Wellbeing Day 2017!  This is the third year of the event. It is a day which encompasses much of what our ethos at Full Health Medical is about, which is keeping all employees healthy in and out of the workplace.

Keep reading below to see how Full Health Medical are turning Workplace Wellness Day into a Workplace Wellness Week!

FDI (Food and Drink Ireland) run a number of campaigns on the day. The Lunchtime Mile, some discounts thanks to a partnership with Ireland Active and an awards ceremony recognising the health accomplishments of businesses of all sizes. Large and small companies across the country are encouraged to participate in the event, which aims to improve employee health through promoting better nutrition and physical activity.

Many employees spend a third of their day 5 days per week at work, making it an excellent opportunity and location to promote healthy behaviours.  Not only is it beneficial for employees who can be facilitated within their work day, it is advantageous for employers who can gain a healthier, more alert workforce.

The European Network for Workplace Health Promotion has defined workplace health promotion as the ''combined efforts of employers, employees and society to improve the health and well-being of people at work''.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are many benefits of workforce health promotion to the employee and the organisation .

Benefits of Workforce Health Promotion

To the organisation	To the employee
A well managed health and safety programme	A safe and healthy work environment
A positive and caring image	Enhanced self-esteem
Improved staff morale	Reduced stress
Reduced staff turnover	Improved morale
Reduced absenteeism	Increased job satisfaction
Increased productivity	Increased skills for health protection
Reduced health care/insurance costs	Improved health
Reduced risk of fines and litigation	Improved sense of well-being

Source:  World Health Organisation

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There are many simple ways in which workplaces can become healthier, as long as it is relevant to that particular workforce. Workplace health initiatives can be as simple as banning biscuits or making sure everyone has taken a sufficient break. They can be as sophisticated as establishing wellness champions within the workforce and running events and competitions. The first thing to do when planning a workplace health initiative is to conduct some form of a needs assessment. If your office only contains 10 people, this can be done in a group discussion or sending an email to look for suggestions. A larger organisation could use a survey, asking employees about their current feelings on their health and what suggestions they may have to improve employee health.

Health checks can determine the physical and mental wellbeing of employees in a professional medical setting, with individual reports giving employees the reigns to their own health and aggregated group reports giving the employer a detailed overview of their workforce.  Basing workplace health promotion initiatives on  solid data plus the input of employees is a strategy for success. After that, it’s about finding what works for you!

This week, in the spirit of Workplace Wellbeing Day, we will be pushing out some information on the blog of our website www.fullhealthmedical.com on how you can keep yourself and/or your colleagues healthy. We will be outlining some once off events and some smaller lifestyle changes which we hope you will develop into healthy habits.  Keep an eye on our blog and social media to gain some helpful health information!

If you need some help deciding on what kind of workplace health promoting initiatives are right for you and your organisation, contact Full Health Medical to talk to one of our support team.

We are turning Workplace Wellbeing Day into Workplace Wellbeing Week at Full Health Medical! For all of this week, we are offering FREE CONSULTATIONS to employers and HR managers who want to improve the health status of their workforce. Email us on wellness@fullhealthmedical.com and one of our experts will arrange a virtual meeting a time which is convenient for you!

World Salt Awareness Week : “The Forgotten Killer”

With the consumption of processed foods at an all time high,  most of us surpass the RDA of salt before even adding it to our food.

The theme for this year’s awareness week which is running from March 20th to 26th is “Salt: The Forgotten Killer”, which is a striking but appropriate title. WASH (World Action on Salt and Health) runs World Salt Awareness Week every year, and receives widespread support from countries all around the world. This important week serves to highlight the importance of reducing salt intake in all populations throughout the world, and all countries are invited to participate; be it holding an event, creating media interest or generating awareness within local communities.

The most severe consequence of consuming too much salt is high blood pressure as this can eventually lead to strokes,  heart attacks and heart failures. Considering that these are some of the leading causes of death globally and how our eating habits have developed, salt does not appear to be weighted an appropriate amount of caution. Food manufacturers do not add salt sparingly, and we all know at least one person who adds salt to their food before they even taste it.

Our tastebuds have grown so accustomed to the taste of salt, that we often don’t realise how high the salt content of our food is. Just yesterday, I was drinking a bottle of soda water and just happened to look at the nutritional information. I  had added some lemon and lime wedges to the one litre bottle, and was feeling very smug about my healthy tasty alternative to plain water. The 1 litre bottle in fact contained 8% of my recommended daily allowance of salt. The total RDA for salt is a mere teaspoon at 6g, however most people assume it is much more.

3 simple ways to reduce salt in your diet:

1. Check all food labels: Salt can hide in the most inconspicuous of places, such as bread, breakfast cereals and sweet treats.
2. Don’t add salt to your food: Obvious, however as many are oblivious to the amount of salt their food already contains, they don’t think twice about topping up with a sprinkle of salt.
3. Find other ways to flavour food: Herbs, spices, black pepper and chilli to name a few. Life without salt does not have to be bland!

Checking labels is probably one of the most effective yet underused methods of disease prevention and adapting to a healthy lifestyle. The information is all there, however non communicable diseases which can be heavily influenced by diet are still rampant.

There is no quicker way of determining a food’s nutritional value than reading a label. Should the packaging not display this information,  search engines on the internet are quick to answer any food related questions we may ask. With healthy eating becoming such a hot topic, there is no end to the information available to us. Therefore, there are no excuses.

Also, although it requires more work, it is advisable to read EVERY label.  How many articles have you see on Hidden Salt, Hidden Fats, Hidden Calories or Hidden Sugars? These are not hidden, they are ignored.  Everything you put into your shopping basket you are putting into your body. You deserve better than to be secretly destroying your health! Next time you go shopping,  take the time to read every label. You will be surprised at what you find!

We want to keep your employees healthy, no matter what challenges they may face. 

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Otherwise, send us an email on info@fullhealthmedical.com or call us on +353 (01) 5549795 to speak to one of our team.