Walk and talk to burn five times more calories
Plantronics are urging office workers to free themselves from the
shackles of their desks and walk whilst on the telephone, and burn five
times the amount of calories in the process.
Office workers spend on average up to three hours talking on the
telephone per day [1]. As the summer kicks in so does the temptation to
get fit and by switching to a wireless headset, and strolling whilst
talking, office workers can drastically increase the amount of calories
burned as well as increase productivity.
Simple changes to office life can have big effects:
-
Burn 1080 calories, the equivalent of over three Mars bars [2] by
using a wireless headset and walking whilst on the telephone rather
than the average 204 calories burned by talking at your desk (based on
three hours of telephone conversations in a day)
-
Walk nearly half the number of government recommended steps in a day
(10,000) by pacing whilst talking for a combined total of one hour [3]
-
Reduce email traffic. Plantronics found that workers spend over 2
hours on email every day [4], using a mere 150 calories per hour
Vicky Warr Personal trainer and Nutritionist advises, “Sitting in a
chair, at a desk all day, emailing/typing poses a challenge resulting in
aches and pains in the muscles, tightening of the chest and rounded
shoulders, leading to a poor posture. By using a wireless office
headset, health and fitness is improved and tension and stress reduced
plus a re-focussing of the mind and improved productivity with easy
multi-tasking.”
Plantronics wireless headsets are comfortable and stylish and benefit
from a 100 metre range. They offer excellent sound quality and are
compatible with most office telephones. “By making the small changes, we
can make a big difference to our physical and mental fitness”, comments
Philip Vanhoutte, Plantronics EMEA Managing Director, “most people never
consider using a wireless headset, but once they try it, their
conversations become more natural and energetic, this positivity is
transferred to their voice and conversations become more pleasurable.”
FIVE TOP TIPS ON IMPROVING OFFICE FITNESS
1. Stretch to ease upper body tension. When you are sat down for the
majority of the day, the muscles ‘seize’ up, lose their flexibility and
this means reducing your range of motion around the joints. Stretches
are easy to do at the desk – shoulder rolls, neck stretches and lifting
the leg up in front of you and stretching the back of the legs.
Stretching will also revitalise you, improve concentration and have you
less likely to reach for a sugary, fatty snack as a pick me up instead.
Use a wireless headset and walk whilst talking; pacing burns about one
calorie for every 15-20 steps you take
2. Incorporate five minute ‘refresh breaks’ every hour, get out of your
chair and move your body and focus on breathing from the diaphragm,
rather than the chest. This relieves stress and energises you. Even
better go outside, you will release ‘endorphins’, lifting your mood
making you more upbeat, easier to handle tricky tasks, conversations
with clients and colleagues
3. Keep herbal teas stocked in your office drawer instead of the
caffeine. Research has shown that peppermint tea increases activity in
the brain responsible for alertness
4. Keep a pair of trainers and jogging gear at work to start jogging at
lunch-time. Ask people to join you and form a jogging/running/stretching
club, with a challenge to run a 5km/10km for charity at the end of a
number of weeks
5. Have brainstorms or meetings where you go outside and walk for five
minutes before the meeting will help improve focus, encourage ideas and
reduce stress ready for a positive meeting
Calories Used on Office Tasks
-
Sitting and talking for an hour – 68
-
Walking and talking for an hour – 360 (depending on pace)
-
Typing for an hour – 150
-
Sitting in a meeting - 102
[1] Henley research 12/5/07
[2] One Mars bar contains 294 calories, www.weightlossresources.co.uk
[2] For basic fitness, the government recommends that we walk 10,000
steps per day; we can pace about 70 steps per minute whilst talking on
the telephone. An hour long “walking” telephone conversation equates to
around 4,200 steps, almost half of the recommended daily steps.
[3] Henley research 12/5/07
Genevieve Haldeman
Vice President, Global Communications
Work genevieve.haldeman@plantronics.com
Lerin O'Neill
Mobile and Gaming
Work lerin.oneill@plantronics.com
Office 831-458-7595