Happy National Walking Day
Posted on April 3, 2013 in UncategorizedElle Metz
Young Alumni Programs Manager
Today is the American Heart Association’s National Walking Day. This is incredibly convenient because today also marks the start of the Alumni Association’s Spring Step Challenge. As a self-confessed exercise addict, I, along with NDAA social media maven, Josh, are heading up this challenge.
With the arrival of spring (weather update: it has been sunny in the Bend for the last three days. Unheard of), the Alumni Association figured it would be a great time to get in shape. And what is more motivating than a little friendly competition? Maybe a hot fudge sundae, but that is beside the point. The office has been split into 5 teams, elected team captains, chosen team names, and every employee has received a pedometer. For the next six weeks, everyone will keep track of their daily step totals (10,000 steps is thought to be a healthy goal).
If I don’t count my daily run (let’s just assume I didn’t exercise today), my pedometer would only be at about 1,000 steps. It’s 2:50 PM. That’s a little scary. Americans’ increasingly sedentary lifestyle is also pretty scary. I don’t know about you but one of the biggest adjustments I had to make to the working world was sitting at a desk all day. What is the deal?
In high school, we had physical education, we played sports, we at least walked from class to class. In college, we had much more free time. Not only did we walk from building to building across campus, but we had two free gyms within walking distance, intramurals galore and a 5k race on campus nearly every weekend. Suddenly, we graduate, and we’re expected to sit at a computer for 8+ hours a day. Seems a little unhealthy. Why does becoming a grown-up mean sacrificing our activity level? I maintain that we can find a happy medium. Bloomberg Businessweek offers some tips on how to stay healthier at the office.
So join us here at the NDAA in our fitness challenge, get out there in the nice weather at lunch and walk around, take advantage of the longer days and do a run after work, ride your bike instead of driving or make the effort to walk across the office rather than sending an email to your coworker. You could even try and implement healthier policies at your own office. Here are some companies that inspire with their healthy practices.
To thine own health be true