Tuesday 3 July 2007

Lucky me!

I realised today that I am extremely lucky in the fact that I get paid to keep fit! I would hate to spend all day sat at a desk and although much of my day is filled with admin time the rest is spent climbing up and down and hanging of poles. If you are in the unlucky position of being in a sedentary job then consider hassling your employer for some time to exercise, if you work for Wrigleys you will not have that problem as they have just introudced free sports and fitness session for all their staff! Well done Wrigleys! Now lets hope other employers follow suit and either give their employees time to exercise or look into corporate gym / sports membership packages for their employees.

When I used to work for social services we were encouraged to exercise on arrival for our morning shift, this would increase our motivation levels and get us working more productively. At the time I hated the idea of having to exercise first thing in the morning, the idea of getting into work and spending the first half an hour drinking cups of tea seemed much more appealing, however, I always felt better after exercising and I drank less caffeine so all was good.

I am not suggesting that all employers are responsible for keeping their employees fit and healthy or that you have to exercise at work but that all of us have some responsibility and if we work together then we achieve a better result. Many health centres do great corproate deals and some gyms, such as mine, offer team-buliding packages which help to keep your staff fit whilst promoting a good working environment. I found a
company based in plymouth who organise a huge range of team build options with an emphasis on working the body as well as the mind.

Also employers should be wary, there are a group in America who are taking their employers to court for lack of exercise due to long working hours sat in front of a desk with little opportunity to move, with personal claims at a peak I am sure that they may win their case and that would then set an interesting precident for employers in general!

Well time moves on and I have to teach in about 10minutes so I will sign off for now, Stay energetic,

Sam x



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