{"id":12102,"date":"2021-01-19T09:40:52","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T09:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inclusiveemployers.co.uk\/?p=12102"},"modified":"2025-01-17T15:42:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T15:42:53","slug":"lockdown-in-january-encouraging-employees-to-stay-active","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inclusiveemployers.co.uk\/blog\/lockdown-in-january-encouraging-employees-to-stay-active\/","title":{"rendered":"Lockdown in January: Encouraging employees to stay active"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019d like to start by sharing the Inclusive Employers Top Tips for staying active and being kind to ourselves in January 2021. <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is recommended that adults exercise 5 x 30mins per week.&nbsp; For any type of activity to benefit your health, you need to be moving quick enough to raise your heart rate, breathe faster and feel warmer.<\/li>\n<li>Do what you enjoy!!&nbsp; We aren\u2019t all elite athletes who can run a marathon before breakfast so do more of what you enjoy.&nbsp; Brisk walks, cycling and even cleaning or gardening can all contribute to your 150mins of exercise per week.<\/li>\n<li>Factor in a \u201ccommute to work\u201d \u2013 if you are working from home then that down time while you travel may be gone.&nbsp; Spend the time you would normally be travelling to do something for yourself \u2013 maybe a quick walk before you sit at your desk and start your working day.<\/li>\n<li>Be kind to yourself \u2013 sometimes our days are too busy or we just can\u2019t muster the motivation to go out in the cold.&nbsp; And that\u2019s ok, just make a commitment to yourself for the next day.<\/li>\n<li>Set a target \u2013 this can be as simple as to get out of the house for a walk at least 5 days a week or you may want to push yourselves harder.&nbsp; Did you know the recommended step count for an adult is 10,000 steps per day?!!!<\/li>\n<li>Find a plan that will motivate you.&nbsp; There are plenty of free online resources that can help you to begin to be more active:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/live-well\/exercise\/couch-to-5k-week-by-week\/\">\u201cCouch to 5km\u201d<\/a> app is a great tool for those who want to start or restart running<\/li>\n<li>The Joe Wickes \u201cPE with Joe\u201d is free daily on his \u201cBody Coach\u201d YouTube Channel and is great for the whole family<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/live-well\/exercise\/get-fit-with-strength-and-flex\/\">The NHS Strength and Flex podcast<\/a> provides a free 5-week exercise programme, involves no running and helps you to build on your strength and flexibility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>We know that exercising with friends can help with motivation and lockdown can really hinder this, so why not set up a group with friends, family or colleagues and share your progress and successes.&nbsp; Include extra challenges like taking pictures of random objects or wildlife while exercising outdoors.<\/li>\n<li>Take breaks from your desk. Regular breaks will improve our wellbeing and our productivity, more doesn\u2019t always equal more so take a lunch break and step away from your work to recharge your batteries.<\/li>\n<li>And finally stay hydrated.&nbsp; Lots of water will help you recover from exercise, increase energy, relieve fatigue, flush out toxins and aid weight loss.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Starting 2021 in a full lockdown was not the dream start to the New Year we had hoped for. This time round we have shorter days, limited (if any) sunshine and often less motivation to step outside of our front doors.<\/p>\n<p>If you are anything like me, January usually starts with a long list of New Year\u2019s Resolutions which I have usually failed on most of by the middle of the month.&nbsp; This year I\u2019ve decided to take a different approach, one that is more mindful of the things I am proud of from 2020, resolutions that are more reinforcements of positive behaviours and actions, and a promise to myself to do more of those.<\/p>\n<p>For many of us, working from home significantly impacts on our physical activity levels.&nbsp; Our step counts are lower, we may have limited reasons to legitimately leave the house and certainly in our house there is a surplus of naughty and tempting food calling out to us on a daily basis.<\/p>\n<p>It is proven that physical activity has multiple benefits including:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Physical and mental health benefits<\/li>\n<li>Improvements in sleep patterns<\/li>\n<li>Increased productivity in work and home life<\/li>\n<li>Reductions in frequency and severity of seasonal illness<\/li>\n<li>Boosting self-esteem and mood<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The NHS have described inactivity as the silent killer which highlights the importance of staying healthy and active in these challenging times.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s to a happier and healthier 2021!<\/p>\n<p>Michelle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019d like to start by sharing the Inclusive Employers Top Tips for staying active and being kind to ourselves in January 2021. Starting 2021 in a full lockdown was not the dream start to the New Year we had hoped for. This time round we have shorter days, limited (if any) sunshine and often less&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":12114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everyday-inclusion","category-mental-health"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to encourage employees to stay active during lockdown<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.inclusiveemployers.co.uk\/blog\/lockdown-in-january-encouraging-employees-to-stay-active\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to encourage employees to stay active during lockdown\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019d like to start by sharing the Inclusive Employers Top Tips for staying active and being kind to ourselves in January 2021. 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