Physical Activity — Encouraging Everyone to Prioritize Health and Be More Active
By Jamie Carlson, DPT, LAT, CES
While trying to balance work and family obligations, it can be difficult to prioritize our own health. Common barriers to physical activity include having limited time, motivation, convenient access to a gym or equipment, and dealing with previous or current injuries.
Finding time to exercise can be a challenge. However, making time to prioritize YOU is the first step. Setting aside a specific day and time (or setting an electronic calendar reminder) to workout can help. Exercise and activity can also be broken into smaller chunks of time throughout the day. Do you lack motivation? Having a good support system or a workout buddy can help you stay on track and be held accountable. Setting realistic, attainable goals and having a specific workout plan are good ways to stay goal-oriented and motivated.
If going to the gym is not an option, try using household items (water bottles, soup cans or laundry detergent bottles) as hand weights. Use the stairs in your home or even step stools for leg exercises. Get creative! You may be surprised at what you can use to increase physical strength, without investing in expensive exercise equipment.
Whether you work remotely or at a workplace, there are simple ways to incorporate physical activity into your day. If injuries prevent you from activity, please consult with your primary care provider or seek a referral to a physical therapist. These medical professionals can help address any physical challenges you might be facing.
Regular physical activity is known to improve both physical and mental health, especially during these stressful times. Here are some easy ways to be more conscious of your daily movement at home:
- Walk around your house or up/down the stairs
- Do squats or “sit-to-stand” exercises from a sturdy chair
- Try doing wall push ups
- Do lunges or single leg step-ups on stairs
- Get up during TV commercials and take a lap around the house or do an active chore
- Find an exercise video you enjoy (strength training, Yoga/meditation, stretching)
- Dig into gardening and lawn work
- Get outside for a walk or a bike ride – take along a friend or your dog!
- Dance around to your favorite music
Here are some ways to be more conscious of daily movement in a work setting:
- Park in a distant parking spot or away from your normal entrance
- Take the stairs, not the elevator
- Use a further bathroom, water cooler, or printer
- Stand periodically and stretch at your desk or work station
- Invite a coworker to take a walk inside or outside during lunch
- Keep a small set of weights or water bottles nearby for upper body exercises during breaks
How can employers motivate employees to increase physical activity?
Worksite efforts that promote physical activity can help create a healthier workforce, resulting on lower health care costs for both employers and employees. Employer-based programs can:
- Increase employee productivity
- Reduce absenteeism
- Increase employee morale
- Help attract and keep high-quality employees
As a health care leader, Advocate Aurora Health offers its own employees (and their spouses) incentives such as gym membership reimbursement and opportunities to win prizes and earn money. Employees enrolled in Advocate Aurora’s medical plan can earn a monetary reward for completing a healthy living screening, if their body mass index (BMI) falls within the recommended range. Employees having a BMI outside of the recommended range can complete additional healthy living activities to earn the same incentive. Additionally, a monthly gym membership reimbursement is available to employees who participate in Advocate Aurora’s medical plan. To motivate its workforce, Advocate Aurora offers additional activity challenges to encourage employees and spouses to earn points toward sweepstake rewards.
The bottom line: Employers of any size can encourage their employees to increase physical activity by offering management support, access to facilities and other incentives. Regardless of the size or type of your workforce, there are many creative ways to help employees become more physically active.
Advocate Aurora Employer Solutions offers a wide range of customizable employee health programs and solutions to help you and your employees live well and work well.
To access free downloadable and sharable healthy weight resources for your organization and employees visit go-employersolutions.aah.org/weight-management-resources. Resources include recorded webinars and how-to-get-started educational toolkits on nutrition, physical activity, behavioral therapy, weight loss medication and bariatric surgery.
Additionally, you can request to schedule an appointment with one of our expert team members to discuss how we can implement and customize healthy weight services for your organization. Together, we can help your employees live well and work well.
Jamie Carlson, DPT, LAT, CES, specializes in Sports Health & Physical Therapy at Aurora Medical Center, Grafton
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