A recent survey by ParticipACTION—the national not-for-profit organization dedicated to encouraging Canadians to embrace physical activity—found that while 88% of employed Canadians use their free time at work for personal activities such as checking Facebook, making personal calls or chatting with colleagues, just 17% take a physical activity break during the workday.
“If you can fit in a coffee break, you probably have time to sneak in physical activity, too,” says Kelly Murumets, president and CEO of ParticipACTION, the national voice of physical activity and sport participation. “A short activity break can actually count toward the recommended level of physical activity per week adults require for health benefits.”
According to the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines, adults need 150 minutes of heart-pumping activity per week, but this does not have to be done all at once. Research shows that even tiny bouts of physical activity—as little as 10 minutes at a time—are associated with increased fitness.
According to the survey, the main reason Canadian employees are not taking a physically active break during work hours is because they do not have the time; however, 34% said they would like to do so.
“We know only 15% of Canadian adults are getting enough physical activity and that everyone is busy, but fitting physical activity into your workday can be easier than you think,” says Murumets. “If you cannot get to the gym, think of other simple ways to get active at work, like starting a lunchtime walking group or booking a conference room to do a power yoga session.”
To help encourage Canadians to move more at work and in general, ParticipACTION has launched Sneak It In Week, April 9 to 13, to encourage Canadians to sneak in short amounts of physical activity during the day.
The organization is encouraging Canadians to wear sneakers to work as much as possible during this week to facilitate physical activity. Following are a few ways to add 10 minutes of physical activity into the workday:
• get coffee or lunch a few extra blocks away;
• have a walking meeting with colleagues;
• park 10 minutes from the building entrance; and/or
• go “power shopping” to get active while running errands.