"We are people of movement. Static sitting at a desk is actually not good for us," says Elke Bruns, occupational health manager at the Hamburg site. Especially when working from home, where distances are even shorter, movement often falls flat and we sit more than on normal office days. Poison for the body!
Fortunately, there are numerous exercises that can be easily integrated into everyday life and get the body moving. To motivate colleagues to move more, Elke invites employees at the Hamburg site to her virtual exercise break once a week. Afterwards, all other colleagues can also access the videos on the intranet.
It is important to her to go through the whole body as much as possible in each session and not to focus on certain parts of the body, such as the feet or hands. "My aim is that every time you click on one of my videos, you have a good complete movement break," says Elke. So you don't have to search long for a suitable video. To keep things varied, she occasionally uses tools that everyone has at home. These can be two water bottles or a towel, which can be used to perform new exercises.
Mobilization instead of fatigue
The sports scientist came up with the idea for her "Fit in the home office" campaign in the fall of 2020, when numerous colleagues returned to the home office during the second coronavirus lockdown. While the time at their desks at home was still unfamiliar and exciting at first, frustration and tiredness set in for many of them. Elke started with an online presentation with lots of practical tips for an active workplace at home. This was so well received by the employees that the health manager invited them to her first virtual exercise break in January 2021. This was followed by a lot of positive feedback and requests to continue.
Since then, numerous employees have taken part live every week, but many also do the exercises on other days. "Everyone should exercise when they need to or when they feel the need," says Elke. The main purpose of the campaign is to encourage people to get moving, whether it's with Elke's videos or a long walk after lunch. "For me, it's especially a success if I can motivate colleagues to take part who are otherwise not very active in their free time," says Elke.
From the classroom to the screen
Thanks to her many years of experience as a course trainer in health sports, the sports scientist has a large repertoire of helpful exercises, which she uses to fill the 10 to 15-minute sessions. Nevertheless, Elke found it difficult to get used to the virtual world at first. "I actually thrive on the interaction and energy of the group," she says. Now speaking into the camera in an empty room is a new challenge. Elke usually records her videos in the activity room at the Hamburg site, which was originally intended for group exercise breaks on site. In summer, she has also filmed her videos in her own garden. This sometimes results in funny scenes: "I have to be careful that the neighbors don't run through the frame with the lawnmower."
Simple exercises for everyday life
Elke has two favorite exercises: the best "corona exercise" for her is a shoulder stretch where you hug yourself. This involves stretching your arms backwards and then reaching around yourself crosswise at the front, like a hug. Then cross the other arm overhead. This mobilizes the shoulders and stretches the chest muscles. "And it has been scientifically proven that happiness hormones are also released when you hug yourself," says Elke. This is all the more important in times of contact restrictions and social distancing. One exercise for anyone who has little time is the one-legged stand. It even works while talking on the phone or brushing your teeth. The exercise strengthens the feet, legs and torso and gets the whole body moving to maintain balance. With simple but effective exercises like these, Elke hopes to get even couch potatoes up from their desk chair in future.
