Being active has countless benefits for our physical health. It not only keeps our body fit, it also helps to prevent the onset of non-communicable diseases that threaten our longevity. In short, active bodies are healthy ones that live longer.

But what about our brain? 

It is, of course, connected to our body – but it perhaps hasn’t received as much attention as our heart, muscles or other parts of our body when we talk about exercise. Luckily, this is an oversight that the world is catching up on, particularly as the Covid-19 pandemic exposed the growing prevalence and consequences of poor mental health and wellbeing that can also threaten our longevity. On the flipside, there is growing evidence that when exercise invigorates our bodies and makes them feel better, it also has a positive effect on our brains. Just add positive social experiences to exercise and you have the perfect recipe for a complete body BOOST.

Then we work – and sit – for much of the week.

Ah, that notorious ‘exercise – work – sedentary activity’ imbalance. It catches us out every time. The WHO’s first ‘Guidelines on mental health at work’ points out that 60% of the global population is in work, and the latest Eurobarometer notes that white collar (office) workers are more than three times as likely as manual workers to sit for up to 8-and-a-half hours every day. 

The good news is that many workplaces are waking up to this great modern paradox and are squeezing more active breaks into the average work day! But many more are not.

We can move more at work – we just need to start the trend!

It’s time to fire up our offices with active breaks that make our colleagues laugh and feel better. You can start the trend at your office of pausing at least once a day for a refreshing break. Need some ideas? Check out our new guide to get started.

We hope you’ll have as much fun using it as we did putting it together!

Discover more practical physical activity and wellbeing guides at ISCA Health.

Photo top (Kristine Onarheim, ISCA): ISCA's #BeActive office activation event at UN City