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Get Britain Standing; promoting reduction of prolonged standing

Get Britain Standing

Get Britain Standing are asking businesses throughout the UK to unite against prolonged office sitting by taking on the challenge to get employees on their feet.  So what is On Your Feet Britain all about and is it too late to get involved?

You may not want to sit down whilst reading this. Recent research into health and wellbeing has shown that your daily time spent sitting can be detrimental to your health, regardless of how much exercise you are currently doing.
Commuting, reading, working, eating – a large chunk of our workday is centered on being sedentary. 8.9 hours, this is the average amount of time British people are sitting still for each day. How many hours a day are you sitting still? For office-based staff, this figure is likely to bea lot higher, resulting in greater health risks. Check out your own daily sitting time via the On Your Feet Britain sitting calculator by clicking here.
Sitting too much is not the same as not exercising; it has it’s own set of health issues. Independent on whether you’ve completed your 30mins brisk walking or gym session this morning, it has been shown that sitting for more than 4 hours leads to:

  • Decrease in fat burning enzymes
  • Reduced metabolic rate, meaning reduced calories burned each day
  • Altered blood sugar levels
  • Increased blood pressure
  • Leg muscles switching off

The cost benefit of a healthy workplace can be huge – the average firm of 250 employees loses £4,800 per week due to sickness absence.

Studies show that the more breaks staff take from sitting per day, the more beneficial it is to their blood sugar control, triglyceride levels and waistline. Moving around also increases brain activity, so as well as improving your employees health – their decision making, concentration, and mood also increases the more they move, resulting in a more productive and engaged workforce. A whopping 90% of Microsoft staff reported that their workstation set up affected their productivity.
So get your employees to #MoveMore and #SitLess and take part in ‘On Your Feet Britain’ day on April 29th. From simple strategies such as implementing walking meetings, skipping up the stairs to talk to a colleague rather than emailing, alternate periods of standing and sitting where possible, through to holding lunch time fitness and movement classes, there are a range of ideas available to help turn your workforce from a stationary, sedentary bunch into a vibrant, energetic and healthy workplace.
 

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