How to Stay Healthy at Work

Work is a massive part of our lives – either in the amount of time or the amount of energy it requires. With work related-stress and illness on the increase, it’s important to take steps and learn how to stay healthy at work.

I have always worked in health and fitness. As a rule, fitness professionals are more aware of what is required for better health, so the typical lunch of a personal trainer wouldn’t look like the Tesco meal deal you see in offices up and down the country. There are no chocolate or smoking breaks – well, not in any gym I have ever been in anyway!

Most of the personal trainers I know take their lunch to work with them, or make allowances in their day to pick up healthy food.

1. If you don’t have healthy options to hand, bring your own. No healthy option is a weak excuse. In the days of supermarkets and high street deli’s food isn’t exactly sparse. Make sensible choices and stay healthy as a result.
2. Water is the best form of hydration. Don’t down cup after cup of coffee or tea. Either use the water fountain (ideal as it makes you move) or bring your own 2 litre bottle of water with you.
3. Soup isn’t a starter – a home made or good quality bought soup is a meal on it’s own. And no, you don’t NEED bread with it, especially if you make your own and give it a chunky texture. Try this one or this one. 
4. Stretch. Being sat down for long periods of time leaves the hip flexors in a contracted state. Additionally, being sat down means posterior chain muscles are not doing anything so are becoming weaker. Finally, most desk working positions mean we are in a state of internal rotation at the shoulders. Stretch your chest to prevent back and shoulder injuries.
5. Leave the office whenever you can. Artificial light, staring at a computer screen, inane gossip, high stress, lots of noise. Not a pleasant environment. Get out of there when you can – go for a walk, get some fresh air. We aren’t designed to sit and stare at screens all day so stay healthy by getting outside! If you can work outside, do – this is my set up when it’s sunny outside
6. Work stress is a killer. Get the most important things you need to do done early and the rest of the day is that much easier. Stress-related illness caused by work is the number 1 reason for sickness absence in office-based jobs, so stay healthy by reducing your stress by being productive.
7. Plan your travel schedule in advance. I am on the road a lot so am no stranger to a traffic jam. I plan routes to avoid traffic and base my training schedules around the times of day when I know traffic is bad. Traffic causes lateness, which in turn causes stress, so think ahead!
8. Get there early. Following from the previous tweet, getting into work early is a great way to get things done without distraction, avoid the rush hour traffic and arrive to work in a calm, focussed state. More importantly, if you at work early and are being productive, you are less likely to need to take work home with you or stay later.
9. Stand. If you are on the phone or have a place to stand whilst working, do so. You don’t have to stand all day, but breaking the monotony of sitting down all day with periods of standing will help posture and reduce the risk of muscle tightness which leads to lack of mobility and increased injury risk. Try one of these VARIDESK Pro as a great way to enjoy an adjustable working position.

These simple tips are a few great ways to stay healthy at work. Given work can have a massive negative impact on our health, it makes total sense to take steps to make sure we stay healthy at work.

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HoylesFitness

Owner of www.hoylesfitness.com. Personal Trainer, Father and fitness copy writer. Working hard making the world fitter and healthier! View all posts by HoylesFitness