Physical inactivity is a major cause of health damage and increases the risk of all-cause mortality. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. Many people consider their level of physical activity during working hours as sufficient or at least contributing to this recommendation. But is this claim justified? While we cannot speak for everyone here, you may be surprised to learn that in most cases, levels of physical activity during work activities are not sufficient to meet the recommendations. In some cases, physical activity during work can even be detrimental to an employee's health. In this blog post, we dive into some research to discuss this statement.
Physical activity is promoted because of its health-promoting benefits for healthy people. People with unhealthy lifestyles are encouraged to take more exercise to counteract the effects of their lifestyle on health outcomes. This mechanism of action of exercise involves reducing inflammation levels, mitigating blood pressure and lipid profile, and improving strength and cardiorespiratory fitness. Higher levels of physical activity are associated with risk reductions of up to 35% for all-cause mortality, 55% for cardiovascular disease and 30% for type 2 diabetes. Many people have active jobs: for example, in construction, cleaning, healthcare, agriculture and industry. They are often on their feet for much of the day, carrying things, walking, going up and down stairs, bending and much more. But this can also include less heavy lifting and less intensive work such as housework and childcare. Despite being very active throughout the day, these workers often face ill health. As the load accumulates during the day and is repeated the next day, there is a short recovery period between the end of the working day and the start of the next one. Unsurprisingly, this can be further affected by poor sleep habits, stress, etc.
Is exercise to blame for poor health? Fortunately, the answer is no. We cannot argue that this risk comes only from high levels of physical work. It should be noted that in many cases, socio-economic variables influence outcomes. Think of people who have less autonomy in their work. Or low-income people, with possible lifestyle factors further contributing to the increased health risks.
Protect your health during physical activity at work. Five strategies have been proposed, as shown below.
- Risk movements due to physical tasks, analyse in advance
- Reducing intensity during the day
- Taking short breaks between high-intensity tasks
- Using technology to avoid high physical stress
- Undergo a training programme to withstand the high work demands
Therefore, even if you already have health issues, being physically active alongside your work remains one of the most important things to remember from this blog post. Remember that we, as physiotherapists, spend a lot of time on our feet, and need to get plenty of exercise in our free time too!
