On the way to and from work

• Walk or ride part of the way to work
• Park further away from work and enjoy the walk
• Get on/off public transport one stop earlier and walk the rest of the way
• Stand on public transport
• Walk a different route to/from work

At your desk

• Move your feet by doing ankle circles or flexing them up and down to improve circulation
• Try using a standing desk
• While waiting for the photocopier, microwave or kettle, do some small exercises such as heel raises where you stand on your toes, shoulder rolls, stretching arms over your head
• Vary your work tasks so you change posture and use different muscles, e.g. filing after a period of typing
• Stand during phone calls
• Instead of calling or emailing an office colleague, walk over to speak with them
• Do stretch and breathe exercises over the course of your workday to stop the slump at your desk – you can incorporate mindfulness into this too

In meetings

• Get out of your chair and walk to reception to meet visitors, instead of just ‘sending them in’ or having the assistant collect them
• Alternate between sitting and standing off to the side of the room during meetings, presentations or at conferences
• Use headsets or a speakerphone during teleconferences so you can stand or move around
• Try swapping a seated meeting with a standing or walking meeting

At your desk

• Volunteer to do the coffee run for your colleagues
• Take the stairs over the elevator, you could combine this and use another floor’s restroom
• Stand and take a mini break from your computer every 30-45 minutes – set an alarm to remind you to get up and move regularly
• Go for a walk or do some stretches to clear your head when you feel a bit stressed at work
• Get moving at lunch time to switch your brain off from work

Set yourself up for success

• Leave comfortable clothes and shoes at work so you are ready for impromptu exercise
• Buy a fitness tracker and set some goals – you can even get competitive with yourself/friends/family/colleagues
• Commit to doing something active every day, even for 15 or 20 minutes
• Learn and practice some muscle relaxation techniques
• Make time to attend an activity club, sport or class to attend before, during or after work

While working

• Encourage staff to walk or take public transport to external meetings rather than drive
• Encourage staff to use their lunch breaks to move more
• Send reminders or calendar invites to your team to take a break and move
• Have standing or walking meetings
• Take regular short breaks during long meetings or training sessions so that participants can stand up and stretch
• Vary tasks for your team, and time spent on them, so they are regularly moving their bodies in different ways over the day

In breaks

• Organise an outdoor physical activity everyone can take part in or enrol in a local or national activity-based fundraising challenge
• Go for a long walk at lunch as a team
• Explore new lunch options further away from work for team lunches e.g. picnic at a park
• Commit to doing something active as a team every week
• Create mini breaks during the workday to stop and do something fun

Set up the physical space

• Provide standing desks
• Put signs near elevators encouraging staff to take the stairs instead
• Centralise printers and rubbish bins to encourage people to move more
• Put up posters of stretches and exercises to promote movement throughout the day
• Provide access to bike facilities or changing rooms

Create opportunities for movement

• Establish practices such as standing and walking meetings
• Support flexible work arrangements
• Offer or subsidise activities like lunchtime sports, yoga or gym memberships
• Establish a walking group at work and go for walks each week

Engage your staff

• Collect information about your workers’ commute by asking them via a survey, e.g. Worker Travel Survey
• Identify barriers and solutions for active travel options, such as the availability of showers and change rooms and accessibility by public transport
• Make your office a fun place to move and play with challenges for staff, like Steptember
• Educate staff on the benefits of incidental activity and moving more often

• Active Workplaces – Heart Foundation
• Energised, Happy and Healthy Employees Move More – Australasian Sustainable Wellness Academy
• Fitness for Free – Queensland Department of Health
• Ideas and Advice to Move More – Health Promotion Agency
• Move More Every Day to Combat a Sedentary Lifestyle – Harvard Medical School
• Sedentary Work – Sit Less and Move More In Your Work Day – Workplace Health And Safety Queensland
• The New Exercise Trend That Is Made For Everyone – The University of Sydney  
• 10 Things to Know If You’re Planning to Start Exercising – Queensland Health
• 30 Fun Ways to Get 30 Minutes of Physical Activity Today – Queensland Health

• Australia’s Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines – Australian Government, Department of Health
• Blueprint for an Active Australia: Action Area 2 – Workplaces – Heart Foundation
• Can Physical Activity Offset the Health Risks of Too Much Sitting? – The University of Sydney
• How Simply Moving Benefits Your Mental Health – Harvard Medical School 
• How to Look After Your Mental Health Using Exercise – Mental Health Foundation UK
• Physical Activity – It’s Important – BetterHealth Victoria
• Sitting Less For Adults – Heart Foundation 
• 5 Reasons You Should Get Active That Have Nothing To Do With Your “Bikini Body” – Queensland Health

• BeUpstanding – a Free Toolkit for Workplaces – The University of Queensland, School of Public Health
• Get Healthy At Work  – NSW Government
• Sit Less: Guide, PowerPoint and Key Messages – Health Promotion Agency
• Workplace Wellness: Resources for Workplaces – Heart Foundation

• Parkour — Change Exercise as a Play – Caitlin Pontrella
• It’s Time to Re-Wild Your Body – Damien Norris
• Your Genes Are Not Your Fate – Dean Ornish
• Why Some People Find Exercise Harder Than Others – Emily Balcetis
• Mindful Exercise – Jambo Truong
• Snack on Exercise – Boost Your Mind, Body and Mood – Lauren Parsons
• The 5 ‘Musts’ to Sustainable Exercise – Michael Haddin 
• The Benefits of Good Posture – Murat Dalkilinç
• Why Sitting is Bad For You – Murat Dalkilinç
• Niels Diffrient – Re-thinking the Way We Sit Down
• Got a Meeting? Take a Walk – Nilofer Merchant
• High-Intensity Physical Exercise Will Boost Your Health – Øivind Rognmo
• How to Make Hard Things Easy, and Lose Weight Too – Sameer Murali
• Why We Quit Our Exercise Plans and What We Can Do About It – Simon Long
• Exercise and the Brain – Wendy Suzuki 
• The Brain-Changing Benefits of Exercise – Wendy Suzuki

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