A comprehensive report highlights the impact of various professions on exercise habits.
- Hair and beauty professionals report the highest barriers to exercising due to long hours.
- Sedentary roles in accounting and IT surprisingly show high exercise engagement.
- Retail employees often skip exercise due to physical job demands and fatigue.
- Regular exercise is crucial for overall mental and physical well-being, experts say.
A new report sheds light on how different professions impact individuals’ ability to exercise, with over 50% of workers across all sectors acknowledging that work adversely affects their fitness routines. Particularly, hair and beauty professionals highlight extreme challenges, with 90% indicating their job significantly hinders attempts to maintain physical fitness. Long hours spent on their feet contribute largely to this sentiment.
In contrast, sectors such as accounting, IT, and sales demonstrate a noteworthy engagement in fitness activities outside work. Over half of the workforce within these sedentary professions manage to exercise regularly. Steve, a 40-year-old Head of PR at a Brighton-based agency, emphasises the importance of consciously scheduling exercise to counteract the effects of spending extensive hours at a desk, stating, “Making sure I take the time to get my heart rate up, stretch out my muscles and get my eyes away from a screen is incredibly important to me.”
Within the ranking, accounting and IT lead with 63% of their workforce engaging in weekly exercise, while media and PR follow at 61%. Meanwhile, retail and hospitality workers represent a contrasting scenario, with a staggering 47% and 42%, respectively, reporting no engagement in exercise outside of work. The physical demands of these roles contribute to high levels of fatigue, often leaving employees too tired to pursue additional fitness activities.
Recommendations from fitness experts suggest that even minimal and regular exercise routines comprising cardio, strength, and flexibility sessions can significantly enhance well-being and workplace performance. Adopting strategies such as standing desks and exercise balls in place of traditional seating can further promote movement during working hours.
PureGym CMO Stephen Rowe highlights the importance of integrating exercise into daily routines, advocating for a work-life balance that accommodates physical activity. He stresses that fostering a workplace culture that permits employees to exercise during working hours can be transformative, enhancing well-being and productivity.
The report underscores the profound impact professional life has on exercise habits, stressing the need for balancing work and fitness.
