Lunchtime Walk Helps You Feel better at Work.

We’ve been championing the benefits of not sitting for too long at home or at work for a while now. It has been shown that sitting for too long will increase the chance of back pain as well as other conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

So we know we should already be getting up and moving, however research is now showing us that our mood is affected by sitting and by taking a lunchtime walk we can alleviate the effects of sitting.

The study was carried out at a large University in the UK where two groups were randomly assigned from the volunteers. Both groups were assessed with regard to mental and physical health to give some baseline readings.

The first group began group led walking of 30 minutes 3 times a week for 10 weeks, whilst the second group was a control and did nothing. The walking group could walk at any pace the only restriction was that it had to be for 30 minutes, the reasoning for 30 minutes was that it would still leave time for eating lunch.

After 10 weeks the second group began walking and the original group were given the choice to either stop or continue walking. At the end of the second group of 10 weeks the results were analysed. During the trial they were asked to fill in a questionnaire in the morning and afternoon to assess their mood. All the data was collected using phone apps to make it easy to collect the data.

The results showed that lunchtime walks improved enthusiasm, relaxation, and nervousness at work, in addition to this when all the participants were reassessed, all showed an improvement in their aerobic fitness and other measures of health. This last result I’m sure would have had an impact in musculoskeletal health and possibly back pain.

So there you have it, something I’m sure we all knew already but good to be reminded of it and hopefully able to implement it into our daily routine.

Reference:

Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2015 Dec;25(6):778-87. doi: 10.1111/sms.12398. Epub 2015 Jan 6.

Changes in work affect in response to lunchtime walking in previously physically inactive employees: A randomized trial.