Improved fitness after a workbased physical exercise program

Functional training improves the effectiveness of stretching programs for university cleaning staff

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine whether combining a structured stretching program with functional movement/body position training would yield additive effects on flexibility, ergonomic practices, and subjective pain levels for employees at high risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Design/methodology/approach

Nine control and 13 experimental university cleaning staff participated in a 10-week full-body stretching intervention led by undergraduate students. Experimental participants also engaged in functional movement/body position training once per week. Joint range of motion, task ergonomic form, pain level, and stretching motivation results were compared pre- and post-intervention.

Findings

Overall flexibility (+25.75 ± 3.33%) and task ergonomic form (+26.3 ± 10.5%) significantly improved and were negatively correlated with pain levels (r = −0.541 and r = −0.317, respectively). Experimental participants experienced greater improvements in shoulder (control: +16.8 ± 9.0%; experimental: +64.2 ± 11.5%) and hip (control: +31.4 ± 9.9%; experimental: +91.2 ± 19.9%) flexibility as well as in task-specific ergonomic form for vertical (control: +0.0 ± 5.3%; experimental: +35.2 ± 10.1%) and horizontal wiping (control: −4.7 ± 4.7%; experimental: +29.0 ± 7.8%). Intrinsic motivation was increased for both groups (+26.2 ± 15.4%).

Originality/value

Supplementing a workplace stretching program with functional movement/body position training has the potential to improve flexibility and decrease pain while simultaneously increasing the likelihood that cleaning staff will participate in self-directed stretching in the future. The intervention serves as a model for workplace health management and wellness-focused community building on university campuses who insource cleaning staff.

Effects of Workplace-Based Physical Activity Interventions on Cardiorespiratory Fitness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Trials

BACKGROUND

Cardiorespiratory fitness is a strong predictor of all-cause mortality. Physical activity of at least moderate intensity can improve cardiorespiratory fitness. Workplaces may provide a relatively controlled setting in which to improve cardiorespiratory fitness through physical activity. Limited work has been conducted to quantify the impact of delivering physical activity in the workplace on cardiorespiratory fitness.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this systematic review was to quantify the effects of workplace physical activity interventions on peak oxygen consumption (VO_2peak) and explore study and participant characteristics as putative moderators.

METHODS

Seven databases were searched up to September 2018. Search terms included "workplace", "physical activity" and "intervention". Inclusion criteria were controlled trials where physical activity of at least moderate intensity was delivered in the workplace and compared to controls or non-active comparators; and cardiorespiratory fitness measured by actual or predicted VO_2peak. Risk of bias was assessed using the PEDro scale. A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted with between-study variation quantified and then explored for putative predictors with a meta-regression. Pooled estimate uncertainty was expressed as 90% confidence intervals (CIs) and assessed against our threshold value for clinical relevance of 1 mL·kg^-1·min^-1.

RESULTS

The final dataset consisted of 25 estimates of VO_2peak from 12 trials. The pooled mean differences between intervention and control arms was a beneficial improvement of 2.7 mL·kg^-1·min^-1 (90% CI 1.6-3.8). The 95% prediction interval ranged from a reduction in VO_2peak of - 1.1 to an improvement of 6.5 mL·kg^-1·min^-1. Between-study heterogeneity (τau) was ± 1.6 mL·kg^-1·min^-1. The meta-regression showed longer interventions (3.2 mL·kg^-1·min^-1; 90% CI 1.6-3.8) to have an additive effect and studies with a low risk of bias (- 2.5 mL·kg^-1·min^-1; 90% CI - 4.0 to - 1.0), and participants of greater baseline VO_2peak (- 1.6 mL·kg^-1·min^-1; 90% CI - 3.6 to 0.4), and age (- 1.4 mL·kg^-1·min^-1; 90% CI - 3.2 to 0.3) having a lesser effect. Participant sex (percentage female) had an additive effect on VO_2peak (0.4 mL·kg^-1·min^-1; 90% CI - 1.6 to 2.4).

CONCLUSIONS

Workplace-based physical activity interventions consisting of at least moderate-intensity activity improve cardiorespiratory fitness. At the present time, we surmise that no single group of employees (e.g. older employees or less fit individuals) can be definitively identified as standing to benefit more from workplace physical activity interventions than others. This demonstrates the potential utility of workplace physical activity interventions for improving cardiorespiratory fitness in a broad range of healthy employees. Protocol registration: PROSPERO (registration number: 42017057498).

The effectiveness of workplace nutrition and physical activity interventions in improving productivity, work performance and workability: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Healthy lifestyles play an important role in the prevention of premature death, chronic diseases, productivity loss and other social and economic concerns. However, workplace interventions to address issues of fitness and nutrition which include work-related outcomes are complex and thus challenging to implement and appropriately measure the effectiveness of. This systematic review investigated the impact of workplace nutrition and physical activity interventions, which include components aimed at workplace's physical environment and organizational structure, on employees' productivity, work performance and workability.

METHODS

A systematic review that included randomized controlled trials and or non-randomized controlled studies was conducted. Medline, EMBASE.com, Cochrane Library and Scopus were searched until September 2016. Productivity, absenteeism, presenteeism, work performance and workability were the primary outcomes of our interest, while sedentary behavior and changes in other health-related behaviors were considered as secondary outcomes. Two reviewers independently screened abstracts and full-texts for study eligibility, extracted the data and performed a quality assessment using the Cochrane Collaboration Risk-of-Bias Tool for randomized trials and the Risk-of-Bias in non-randomized studies of interventions. Findings were narratively synthesized.

RESULTS

Thirty-nine randomized control trials and non-randomized controlled studies were included. Nearly 28% of the included studies were of high quality, while 56% were of medium quality. The studies covered a broad range of multi-level and environmental-level interventions. Fourteen workplace nutrition and physical activity intervention studies yielded statistically significant changes on absenteeism (n = 7), work performance (n = 2), workability (n = 3), productivity (n = 1) and on both workability and productivity (n = 1). Two studies showed effects on absenteeism only between subgroups.

CONCLUSIONS

The scientific evidence shows that it is possible to influence work-related outcomes, especially absenteeism, positively through health promotion efforts that include components aimed at the workplace's physical work environment and organizational structure. In order to draw further conclusions regarding work-related outcomes in controlled high-quality studies, long-term follow-up using objective outcomes and/or quality assured questionnaires are required.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Registration number: PROSPERO CRD42017081837.