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How to move more at work without getting side-eyed

Latest evidence

Compared to our hunter gatherer ancestors, the modern humans have become quite sedentary. Sedentary behaviour, defined as any activity done sitting, lying or reclining with low energy expenditure, occurs across the day and across multiple settings, including the workplace. However, this increase in prolonged, uninterrupted sedentary behaviour can have multiple detrimental impacts in both the short and long term, with high levels of sedentary time associated with cardiometabolic disease, earlier deaths due to any cause, cancer, diabetes, obesity, hypertension and more! Given over 80% of Australian workers report sitting for at least some of their workday, effective workplace interventions that break up sedentary time are needed to protect workers against the many health risks of prolonged sedentary time. Are bodyweight resistance exercise breaks the solution? One possible intervention is the use of resistance exercise. Laboratory studies have shown that resistance exercises that can be done at the desk, like calf raises and half squats, can be beneficial for glucose control. Rogers and colleagues took this concept into the workplace in their recent study that investigated the acceptability and feasibility of bodyweight resistance exercise breaks in the work place to reduce sedentary behaviour. The effects of these breaks on perceived sleepiness,…

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Optimising working from home – for you and your employer

Latest evidence

Easy traps to fall into Working from home (WFH) became a necessity during the covid pandemic and has persisted since, being the preferred option for many. Previous research on the effects of work relocation to the home environment has demonstrated an increase in sitting time and reduced physical activity for WFH workers1. WFH workers spend more time sedentary, with more bouts of sedentary behaviour (SB) >30 mins per day, and less steps/day than in-office employees2. It is well established that high levels of SB are associated with increased rates of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and all-cause mortality, as well mental health conditions like depression and anxiety3. Sedentary behaviour, and the mental health effects associated, both indirectly and directly reduce work performance and employee productivity3. Where does BeUpstanding come in? Programs like BeUpstanding aim to support workers to be less sedentary and increase their movement through raising awareness and creating a culture where these behaviours are the norm. Research indicates that for desk-based workplaces, approximately 75% of the working day is spent sitting2. For many, office work constitutes a significant portion of their week, this accumulates to a lot of sedentary time. Studies like the Stand More AT (SMArT) Work…

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Preventing burnout – UQ medical students aiming to expand research on tools at your disposal

Latest evidence

Burnout: a pervasive and damaging condition Burnout is more than a trivial term to describe how you feel on Friday afternoon. In fact, a growing body of research suggests it is a chronic constellation of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced sense of accomplishment1. Importantly, burnout does not discriminate, and can affect people in all professions. Signs and symptoms of burnout: 2,3 Emotional symptoms Physical symptoms Behavioural signs Helplessness Lack of energy / fatigue Feeling negative or critical about your job Cynicism Change in sleep habits Irritability with colleagues or clients Self-doubt Unexplained physical discomfort such as headaches or bowel issues Reduced productivity Reduced satisfaction Change in appetites Using food, drugs or alcohol to cope Detachment Frequent illness Procrastination Loss of motivation Withdrawal or isolation Is it really that big of a problem? Due to multifactorial components and subjectivity of diagnostic criteria, it is difficult to accurately state how common burnout is in the general working population. Some estimates range up to 20%, but this is dependent on the defined cut off for a burnout diagnosis4. A 2020 report found a rate of burnout in medical physicians of around 43% 4. While burnout rates across various healthcare profession and medical…

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Modelling the potential health and economic benefits of reducing population sitting time in Australia

Latest evidence

Strong evidence indicates that excessive time spent sitting (sedentary behaviour) is detrimentally associated with multiple chronic diseases. A paper titled “Modelling the potential health and economic benefits of reducing population sitting time in Australia” has recently been published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity and describes the development of the first Australian sedentary behaviour model that can be used to predict the long term consequences of interventions targeted at reducing sedentary behaviour through reductions in sitting time. The authors report that sedentary behaviour is prevalent among adults in Australia and has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, estimating the potential health benefits and healthcare cost saving associated with reductions in population sitting time, could be useful for the development of public health initiatives. A sedentary behaviour model was developed and incorporated into an existing proportional, multi-state, life table Markov model (ACE-Obesity Policy model). This model simulates the 2019 Australian population (age 18 years and above) and estimates the incidence, prevalence and mortality of five diseases associated with sedentary behaviour (type 2 diabetes, stroke, endometrial, breast and colorectal cancer). According to the model, if all Australian adults sat no more than 4 h per day, this would result in health…

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Can Too Much Sitting be Contributing to Depression?

Bite size facts

A recent blog post titled ‘Can Too much Sitting be Contributing to Depression’ was published by the Sedentary Behaviour Research Network. It looked at the relationship between sitting and depression and reported that the research seems to support the idea that excessive sitting is positively correlated with an increase in depression. It also highlighted two distinct types of sedentary sitting behaviour: mentally passive (ex. Watching television) and mentally active (ex.reading or driving), and that it is the mentally passive sitting that could have deleterious health effects. You can read the full blog here.

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Virtual Workouts You Can Do From Home

Key resources

With social distancing regulations in place and gyms forced to close you are likely finding yourself adjusting to life indoors. But just because you may not be able to do your usual forms of exercise, it doesn’t mean you should stop altogether. Exercise not only has multiple benefits to your physical health but it is also a great stress- reliever. Continuing to maintain some sort of a routine is so important in times likes these where we can feel more stress than usual. We’ve put together a selection of online exercise platforms with on demand fitness content who provide free access to workouts you can do at home that cover a whole range of exercise styles.  You can access the content via a smartphone app, YouTube or live streams on social media and you don’t necessarily need any equipment. All you need to do is find a space and get started. The best thing is no one is watching! Just as you schedule your diary to organise your workload and meetings, you should find time to exercise. Treat exercise with the same priority as a phone call with a client. Blocking out time away from your desk means that you…

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It is a marathon – not a sprint: perspectives from quarantine

BeUpstanding Stories

This personal post is written by guest blogger Meg Grealy – who speaks of her experience of returning from overseas and into quarantine.   Had you asked me in January, or even the beginning of March, what my April days were looking like they would sound achievable, nothing too extreme, just the routine of a twenty-something who had just moved to the UK on a working visa.  I would have said a morning run (so I could make it across the finish line of the 10k I’d signed up to run on May 3rd) a 3-day work week, and an exploratory beer in various pubs across my new city. In hindsight, the only thing I managed to get right is the daily run (although it’s purpose is now to harness endorphins for the day). And yet the daily run is maybe the only thing that has kept me sane and allowed me to stay present in a period where everything is confusing. It seems the only effective strategy of taking control is to muddle through conflicting emotions and anxiety-inducing news cycles. As we started this year during a bushfire crisis, I feel as if there has been a delay in…

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Suddenly Sedentary: How I Learned to Move More in Medical School

The Evidence

A personal story of sitting less and moving more by Connor Soles Before coming to Queensland to study in the Doctor of Medicine program I considered myself an active person. I commuted by bicycle to my then-job as a medical scribe where I followed physicians into consultations and composed hospital charts on a mobile workstation. The hustle and bustle of the Emergency Department meant that I would cherish the rare moments that I would roll to a stop near the physicians alcove, cleverly positioned adjacent to the insta-coffee machine, and slump into a swivel chair to polish my notes. I had never experienced what it was like to be chained to a workstation seated, unmoving, for long periods of time before beginning medical school, and I’d never had to learn how not to be. In my newly (half) furnished apartment (in Brisbane) I found that I could not escape our IKEA table turned desk, which was the only assembled piece of furniture aside from the couch. As a medical student studying now consumed and overwhelmed the majority of my waking hours, that and maintaining my relationship with my fiance who had accompanied me to Australia, left little time for my…

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How You Can Sit Less and Move More When Working From Home

Bite size facts

These days many workplaces have flexible working arrangements that enable staff to work from home (telecommute) one or more days a week. Telecommuting can reduce business expenses significantly and increase employee satisfaction and productivity. The advantages for staff working from home are many: You can wear comfy clothes A custom environment with as little or as much noise as you like It’s easier to make calls No office distractions Zero commuting Save money However, even when you are working from home, the majority of your time is likely to still be spent sitting at a desk or table. Our main reaction to a busy workload is to sit for as long as possible until the task is done. Before you know it, hours have gone by and you have not moved from your chair. Excessive sitting can affect your metabolism, including your blood sugars and fats, putting you at increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Remaining in one posture for hours at a time can also affect the muscles in your back, neck, hip flexors, hamstrings and calves. Here are some tips to sitting less and moving more on your telecommuting days: Take regular breaks during your day to…

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Get the Commonwealth Standing

News and Events

I was perusing the British movement blog Get Britain Standing when I came across their solutions page. Get Britain Standing is a resource for employers much like Australia’s BeUpstanding, which focuses on a healthier Britain by reducing the prolonged hours of sitting that accompany many jobs. Their upcoming nationwide event On Your Feet Britain is set for April 24th 2020 with a reported ~2 million office workers participating. Get Britain Standing accounts that Briton’s working hours contribute ~70% of the daily sedentary health burden. Dr. Stuart Biddle, a professor of Active Living and Public Health is quoted on their website acknowledging the growing body of evidence that to be healthy we must move dynamically throughout the day. Which leads me to what excited me about their Solutions page: the balance board section! The benefit being, as long as you don’t fall off, strengthening your balance and your core muscles at your standing desk. They come in a variety of styles from the simple sea-saw, the log roll, and even the expert level half dome or as I like to call it the danger dome! (see image) Maybe don’t tell HR about the nickname when you bring one to the office.…

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