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The University of Southampton
Health Technologies

One person's walk upstairs is another person's gym workout

Published: 29 January 2014
stairs

While much could be done in the university workplace to foster better working environments, we're also doing ourselves and our career an unintended disservice when we prioritise work ahead of wellbeing.

As the University of Southampton's mc shraefel, Professor of Computer Science and Human Performance, points out - we are physical beings, even though we tend to behave as though we are brains with the disadvantage of having bodies. In a Guardian article just out, Professor Schraefel explains the thinking behind  GoFIT ;  a 12-week challenge inspired by GetFIT at MIT and currently being trialled at Southampton, Imperial and City Universities. The idea is to build up movement minutes. You work in teams (social support is important), but whatever each individual wants to call a movement minute counts. Some people may cycle to work as a matter of course so will only count an effortful workout in the gym. Others who have just started thinking in terms of movement will count the time they've taken the stairs rather than the lift. It's up to each individual.

GoFit aims to raise awareness of how vital movement is to our wellbeing , and, through the technology of the GoFIT website, to create a space of support. Read the full article to find out more about how this ongoing research at Southampton's human performance design lab is defining a model to understand physical wellbeing and discovering more about the interaction between the body's 5 core processes: movement, eating, social engagement, cognitive engagement, and sleep. Go to article...

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