Making Time to Exercise in your Workplace!

• 2018 Active Workplace Challenge launches January 8^th
• Campaign aims to tackle inactivity amongst England's working population
• Get involved and track your activity online

Are you finding you don't get time to exercise in a busy working week? Often stuck at the desk over lunch? Do you go long hours without even standing up? A new campaign seeks to tackle inactivity amongst workplaces across England – and this is your chance to get involved.

Alarming statistics show the average Brit sits down for 8.9 hours every day¹ and one in four of us do fewer than 30 minutes of physical activity a week² – contributing to around 131 million working days lost to sickness in England each year³.

Now Workplace Challenge, which brings together 30 County Sports Partnerships from across England to support and promote physical activity in and around the workplace, is tackling the issue head on with the launch of its latest campaign designed to break down the culture of a desk-bound lunch. It is designed to help address and break down the barriers we all face in fitting physical activity into busy work/life schedules.

The 2018 Active Workplace Challenge will include a series of initiatives, events, inspiration and advice provided by County Sports Partnerships across England over an eight-week period, starting January 8^th.

Sign up to the campaign and you can track physical activity online, easily comparing activity levels to other participating individuals and organisations.

The focus this year will be on bitesize chunks of activity, encouraging workers to step away from their desks and out of the office during the lightest and brightest part of the day. The campaign has set a target for everyone to walk, jog, run or cycle one mile each day during the eight week period.

Lee Mason, Chief Executive of the County Sports Partnership Network, which runs Workplace Challenge, said: "This is about tackling mental health, as well as physical health. Too many of us eat lunch at the desk, without stepping away from the work, but this can be both unhealthy and unproductive.

"Regular physical exercise can help to manage and prevent more than 20 chronic conditions and diseases⁴, whilst NHS guidelines state that getting plenty of regular exercise, particularly outdoors and in daylight, can help to improve symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

"We want employees, with the support of their employers, to take on the challenge and show us what they can achieve over the eight week period. It's a fantastic opportunity to break the habit and introduce some quick and effective ways of exercising in and around your working day."

Find out how you and your workplace can get involved in the 2018 Active Workplace Challenge and make every minute count.

Source: (Workplace Challenge, 2018)