Making the case for movement.

It’s just gone 9 a.m. You’ve got your screens on, you’re prepping for the first meeting, you’ve checked your emails. You take a couple of steps over to the coffee machine, then back again, sinking down into your precisely ergonomically-adjusted chair. Ergonomics today is about far more than just finding the right seat height. It’s about movement and exercise, mindfulness instead of overstimulation, and the question of how we keep people healthy, focused and working effectively long-term.

Few people can look at this development from such different perspectives as Andreas Mitterfellner. As a former top athlete, multi-time Austrian champion and internationally successful judoka, he’s learned how inextricably linked performance and health are. Today he works as a physiotherapist and coach, helping people to better understand their bodies – not just on the judo mat, but throughout their daily lives. Including at work. In this interview, Mitterfellner explains why exercise shouldn’t just be something you do after work, why ergonomic equipment alone isn’t enough, and why the workspaces of the future will need to be more human.

You come from the world of top-level sport, but you now work with people who are sitting down for eight hours a day. Which of these is the bigger challenge for the body?

Sitting. Without a doubt. In recent years, we’ve all heard people say that sitting is the new smoking. I don’t think it’s quite that bad, but I’m an advocate of regular movement breaks – we’re dynamic beings, we’re not designed to sit there for hours in the same position. Being sedentary can increase your risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. It can lead you to become less sensitive to insulin, which is in turn associated with an increased risk of type-2 diabetes. Sitting too much reduces your level of physical activity, and this can lead to obesity and other health problems. Plus, a sedentary lifestyle can also cause back pain and issues with your posture. The assumption that intensive exercise and competitive sport causes excessive wear on the body isn’t looking at the full picture. It’s not the intensity of the exercise, it’s how it’s done. A body that exercises regularly in a personalised way is far more resilient than one that’s fully sheltered from physical strain. Exercise is one of the most important forms of preventative healthcare and is crucial to keeping your body healthy and efficient long-term.

In judo, you’re constantly moving and adjusting. Thinking about offices in comparison, have we created a working world that conflicts with people’s natural need to move?

Yes, we’ve definitely backed ourselves into a corner to some extent. The office, as we know it, is generally an inflexible place. One fixed position, maximum control. Just because we’re now doing more mental work instead of the physical tasks we used to do. The human nervous system hasn’t really caught up with that. The brain needs movement to work well. Cognition and motor function are evolutionarily inseparable. When the body is still, your thinking stays on the same straight tracks. Judo translates to the gentle way. Randori (free sparring) is about dynamic movement and flexibility. You’re never really still. You stop, you lose.

Why do we find it so hard to move regularly during the workday, even when we know we should?

I think that some of the main obstacles are time pressures and heavy workloads. A strict schedule full of things to do often leads to exercise dropping down your list of priorities. I think that at the vast majority of companies, a sedentary lifestyle is seen as normal. Plus, there’s often simply not enough opportunity to move.

What can we do to combat this?

There are a lot of different strategies we can take to minimise the negative impacts of sitting during the office workday. The easiest one is taking short movement breaks. I’m a big fan of ‘exercise snacks’. Exercise gives you a 35x increase in insulin action and a 100x increase in glucose consumption – regardless of how active you are otherwise throughout the day. To put it simply, even short bursts of movement can have a huge impact. You’re activating your metabolism and, over the long term, helping to reduce excess visceral fat – which is found in the abdomen and surrounds the organs – and the amount of subcutaneous fat that sits just under the skin.

Can a workplace be perfectly ergonomic but still make you ill?

Stress, loud environments and poor lighting can still make us ill, even if our actual workspaces are perfectly ergonomic. One of the most important parts of a healthy lifestyle – and not just at work – is social interaction with colleagues and friends. A well-knit team overcomes challenges more effectively and boosts its members’ sense of wellbeing. Exercise and sport also have a bonding quality. Some companies also don’t think enough about the quality of their furniture. This has long-term negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of their employees.

You work with top athletes like Lindsey Vonn alongside people in a wide range of other occupations. Are there patterns that crop up again and again, regardless of someone’s age, industry or role?

A top athlete can only stay at the top with regular training. Without continuity and focus, it’s hard to achieve your goals – whether that’s a medal or just generally being healthy. You have to keep at it. It’s often the little things that have a big impact. Regular movement that suits your body – not just at work – can be very effective.

Where does a company’s responsibility end and the individual’s begin?

From my point of view, it’s up to all of us to take responsibility for our own health. Creating awareness through training and health promotion programs, like company fitness or stress management workshops, are a great support and make sure every single employee knows what they can or should do. A healthy mind in a healthy body.

Fast-forward to ten years from now – what will we think of how we work today?

We’ll hopefully have learnt that health involves both the body and the mind. I hope that we’ll soon start to pay closer attention to our health, perhaps with the help of artificial intelligence. In the best-case scenario, we’ll have learnt from the past that we need healthy people more than ever to get the most out of each other.