Did you know that more than half of Flemish employees do not move enough?
Stretching your legs between work hours gives you more energy and productivity. Have you heard of alternating work positions? No?! No worries, you’ll read about it below.
What is alternating work positions?
Alternating work positions originated from Flemish Institute for Healthy Living and aims to motivate employees to limit prolonged sitting and to stand up regularly.
The benefits of sufficient movement
Standing up every half hour has a positive impact on physical health: fat burning will speed up, the body is protected against cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, and back complaints occur less quickly. Additionally, mental energy will increase, leading to better concentration and more productive working hours.
If you sit still for a long time, your body’s metabolism will slow down. You can best compare it to when you sleep and your body is at rest.
Research has shown that 79% of employees who have tried alternating work positions find it feasible to apply in the workplace.
Tips to move more
We give you a series of simple tips to introduce more movement into your daily routine:
- Set a timer to remind you to stand up every 30 minutes.
- Is your phone ringing? Stand up for a moment and walk around while you’re on the call.
- Need to print something? Choose a printer located at the far end of the office.
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Limit the number of emails and visit your colleagues more often.
- Do some small exercises in between: 10 squats, 10 lunges…
- Hold short meetings standing up.
- Work standing at a standing desk at certain times.
Make sure to find balance: alternate sitting enough with moving, but definitely don’t stand exclusively. If you do, you will start to slump, increasing the chance of back and neck complaints.
Join in!
Convince your colleagues, be the person who promotes alternating work positions in the workplace! The following video clip from the Flemish Institute for Healthy Living will help you persuade your colleagues. Good luck!
Are you joining in?