Shape up for summer in the office with Plantronics
Walk and talk to burn five times more calories
London, May 24, 2008 – 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
