Wellbeing Wednesday: 'Deskercise' with Dave

With many more people working from home, the day-to-day exercise involved in commuting, walking to meetings and visiting sites has reduced considerably.

Dave Tilmouth, Unipart Rail Head of Marketing, has made a short film about how he's using 'deskercise' to stay healthy and relaxed now he's working at home a lot more. Here's the transcript:

"Hi, if you’re like me and working from home you’re probably finding your routine is very different to how it was when you used to go into the office.

"When you’re in the office you’ll be walking around, getting up, going to meetings, being pretty active.

"Working at home means I’m just sitting in my chair for long periods of time. Going to meetings means clicking a button and that’s not nearly as good exercise as actually walking around so I’ve started to think I need to do a bit more exercise, particularly as I’ve been feeling myself carrying a bit of stress across my shoulders.

"So I went online and I searched for ‘deskercise’. Go ahead and search for it. Look for images. I found quite a few workouts there I could use.

"Because I’ve been having stress in my shoulders I’ve been doing neck exercises going from left to right, forward and back. Rolling my shoulders, making sure I’m getting some exercise, some movement into my back and neck.

"It’s really good and I feel a lot better from doing it. By the end of the day I’m not feeling as tight as I used to. 

"But also I find times when I don’t have anyone to vent to, you might be having a bit of a bad day, you might need to get rid of some stress so I also do some breathing exercises. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth just letting the stress go.

"So whatever works for you, do it. There might be some exercises where you have to get up, because let’s face it touching your toes when you’re sitting down isn’t as good for you when you’re standing up, you don’t get a stretch. Get up, move around, do some other exercises as well. It might just give you a break from your day.

"Remember, search for ‘deskercise’ and I hope you feel better after doing it.

"Have fun!"

Wellbeing support from LifeWorks

Our Employee Assistance Provider called LifeWorks, has a wide range of resources that can help to support you, and up to five members of your family, at this time.

If you are struggling, you can get free, confidential support from independent caring counsellors 24/7, via the phone number on 0800 169 1920 or through unipart.lifeworks.com or the LifeWorks mobile app. 

If you don't already have a log in, find out more about how to sign up here.