The UK’s annual Active Sitting Survey® found 47 per cent of office workers spent nearly their whole working day sedentary – up more than a quarter pre-pandemic.
With many planning a return to the office – and others still working remotely – we asked a health lead, a coach, a travel expert and massage therapist how South Yorkshire employers and employees can tackle the problem.
Andrew Picken, NHS Workforce Health and Wellbeing Lead
The annual Active Sitting Survey® run in the UK found that 47% of office workers surveyed spent nearly their whole working day (7+ hours) sedentary, up from 26% pre-pandemic. Two thirds of respondents also indicated that their workday sitting time had increased during lockdown. That’s the equivalent of a flight to New York from the UK. Everyday.
Active Working have been carrying out the annual survey of over 1,000 participants since 2015. The survey also looked specifically at prolonged sedentary time, finding that 51% of public sector staff said they spend at least 90 minutes at a time seated each day compared to 39% of private sector colleagues.
“If exercise were a pill, it would be one of the most cost-effective drugs ever invented,” said Dr Nick Cavill, health promotion consultant (NHS).
Research shows that physical activity can also boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reducing your risk of stress, depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Find creative ways to move
Aim for 3 x 10 minutes of speedy walking a day – this has been found to have more benefit than 10,000 steps a day (approx. 90 minutes of walking).
- Building movement into everyday life is key. If you are desk-based walk over to your colleague’s desk instead of using instant messenger or the phone. If working from home, and it is safe to do so, take a walking phone call. Prioritise active breaks – these aid work performance and aren't a ‘skive’.
- Use the toilet on the above or below floor if working in a building with a few storeys. Stair climbing burns more calories per minute than jogging. If working from home, jog on the spot or squat whilst the kettle boils for example. Tag some movement onto a purpose/routine activity (tea break or accepting a parcel delivery for example).
Stair climbing benefits
- Climbing just eight flights of stairs a day lowers average early mortality risk by 33%.
- Seven minutes stair climbing a day can halve the risk of heart attack over 10 years.
- Just two minutes extra stair climbing a day is enough to stop average middle age weight gain.
By raising our heart rate, stair climbing helps protect against high blood pressure, weight gain and clogged arteries. This lowers the risk of developing chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, vascular dementia and even some cancers. WFH can be ‘workout from home’ too – be creative and aim to move more.
Holly Crosby, Health & Wellbeing Coach & Trainer, Think:me
Working from home became the norm for many of us at the start of the pandemic, yet it has not been without its challenges. One which is just starting to emerge is the amount of time we are sitting in a day.
Being in a physical office space brought about more movement by very nature of the set up. A walk to ask a colleague a question, nipping to the photocopier, or a walk to make a coffee. Yet now our full set up is confined to one small space. All we need is now within reaching distance, so the little trips are redundant. The rise of the flask of coffee to keep it warm over back to back zoom meetings means less trips to the kitchen! Even for those still working in the office, movement around the building is limited to help manage the risk.
A large part of our working day now involves the use of Zoom and Teams. Whilst they’ve been instrumental in keeping businesses going, it does mean we are encouraged to stay sat and join yet another video call.
Lots of individuals are reporting their workload has increased quite significantly which can mean working through breaks to ‘catch up’ instead. I’m also hearing that staff want to be seen to be working, which is difficult to do at home. This means there’s an urge to answer that call when it comes or respond to that ‘ping’ straight away. This presents a bigger question of trust – do employers have it and do employees feel that they are trusted?
I also don’t think we believe the benefits of small movement throughout the day and often think that a workout will offset a day sat at a desk. It doesn’t. There’s lots of research out there to show it’s hugely important to both physical and mental health. Yet sometimes that’s still not enough to motivate us to take those breaks and to generally be more active because we are navigating all of the above and more.
To add more movement in to your day it’s important to find what will work for you best. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:
Can you hold any of your calls over the phone and walk whilst having them?
If trust is a barrier, leave a message on your platform (Teams, Jabber etc) whilst on a break to let your colleagues know when you’ll be back. You might even encourage others to do the same!
Diarise breaks/lunch like you would a meeting and leave the room you are working in for it.
Richard Pilgrim, Marketing Manager, SYPTE
The headlines from Active Working’s latest Annual Sitting Survey should act as a real wake-up call to us all, whatever working situation we find ourselves in. The survey reported that levels of dangerous sitting time almost doubled during the past year.
In 2020, 26% of survey respondents said they sat for a length of time that could be considered dangerous to their health and wellbeing. By 2021, 47% claimed they were typically seated for their entire working day. Dangerous sitting levels are identified as periods of around seven hours or longer and the long-term harm that can be caused by sitting for long periods is well documented.
During the past year, many of us shifted to remote working as the pandemic took hold and we adapted our place of work from the office to the home office, living room or kitchen. This presented a number of challenges, but also gave us back some of that precious commuting time. Pre-pandemic we typically commuted for around 50 minutes each day in our region. Getting back this ‘lost’ time should have been a positive. At the same time, many people were actually losing activity time that they were undertaking as part of their commute.
Walking always played an important role in our team’s work, with our focus on active and sustainable travel. Between October 2018 and March 2020, we delivered over 70 walks as part of a weekly lunchtime walk programme for staff across our workplace. It was a great way to get some activity into the day, whilst also serving as a way to get people connecting from across the workplace. No topic seemed to be off limits when you were on a walk.
Whilst the weekly sessions came to a sudden halt in March 2020, we tried a number of other ways to keep that ‘active’ connection going, such as meeting ‘virtually’ whilst walking in our respective local areas. And whenever there has been an opportunity to piggy-back on a local, regional or national event to get some steps in we’ve jumped at the chance. It’s even better when there’s a bit of a team challenge involved!
Bradley Rodger, Owner and therapist, B Well Therapy
Over the last year, we’ve all had to make major adjustments to our daily lives. A large proportion of us have had no choice but to work from home and adapt very quickly to a different way of working.
While companies have struggled to carry out proper risk assessments of their employee workspaces, employees have spent more time sat down at their desks than ever before. In fact, the Annual Sitting Survey reports that sitting time has doubled during lockdown.
Take a moment to let that sink in, in a time where before lockdown we were already struggling to fit in 10,000 steps, we’re now sitting down for double the time as we were before.
So, why is it important for employers to wake up and pay attention to the wellbeing deficit? As well as the physical harm associated with a lack of movement and exercise, such as commonly reported musculoskeletal and lower back pains, the benefit to emotional and mental wellness can also be positively impacted by moving more and taking some well-earned time away from your desk.
In my practice in Sheffield the volume of clients I see who are seated at work on a daily basis with chronic shoulder, back and neck pain is quite frightening. Over 90 per cent of my clients also reported that their reason for having a treatment was work related stress and anxiety as a result of working from home and feeling isolated.
Stress is an epidemic, and seated massage is among the best ways to limit its effects. This cost-effective treatment has become an increasingly popular way of supporting wellbeing and minimising stress in workplaces up and down the country, and all over the world. Not only does a seated massage offer some relaxing solitude for the individual (and a break from those back-to-back meetings), a ten-minute treatment offers countless benefits including: alleviates stress, increased energy levels, pain relief, enhancement of the immune system, increased blood flow circulation, reduced feelings of anxiety, confusion, and promotion of calm and balance within the body.
Although massage isn’t the answer to every ailment, adding seated massage to your wellbeing offering can bring a multitude of benefits as well as helping you stand out as an employer of choice. As the treatment is non-invasive, fully clothed and doesn’t involve the use of oils, up to 25 people per therapist per day can be treated.
B Well Therapy is your local Sheffield-based seated massage service, ready to support you with your return to work plans. Our promise to you is that you’re in safe hands.
For more information please contact me on info@bwelltherapy.co.uk
See you all on the chair.
