These jobs can be great, as you get to move your body rather than sit all day. However, you may not be doing the proper balance of activities. And you may be increasing the likelihood of injuring yourself because of the imbalance.

If you have an active job, take time to read this article. There are a few things you should keep in mind to help maintain a strong and healthy body.

This article tells you:

• What the components of fitness are and why you need to balance them
• How to prevent injuries
• The benefits of physical activity that go beyond fitness

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Balancing your Fitness
When it comes to being active, we need to do activities that give us a balance of all the components of fitness:

• Endurance. Helps your heart and lungs so you’re not huffing and puffing after climbing a flight of stairs.
• Flexibility. Helps your muscles and joints move easily. An example of this kind of activity is bending down to pluck a weed out of your garden.
• Strength. Keeps your muscles and bones strong so you’re able to carry a heavy bag of groceries.

Your active job may help you do some of the physical activity that you need to be healthy, but there’s a good chance your job is not addressing all your fitness needs.

You may have a job that’s great for your endurance (bike courier, server, or a sales floor job with continuous walking), but you may not be doing enough activities that help your flexibility and strength.

You may have a job that builds your strength, such as lifting and carrying on a construction site, but the job’s activities may not help with your endurance or flexibility.

While many active jobs offer endurance and strength activities, most jobs do not offer much in the way of flexibility activities.

So, to ensure that your fitness is balanced, you probably need to seek additional physical activities outside of work.

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Preventing Injuries
If your fitness is balanced, you’re less likely to injure yourself. Here are some questions you can ask yourself that will help prevent job-related injuries.

Am I Doing Too Much of One Activity and Not Enough of Others?
With some jobs, we’re working some of our muscles and not others. This can lead to muscle imbalances that make us more prone to injuries. Examples of such jobs are bicycle couriers, construction workers, individuals in the trades and folks who work on assembly lines.

To prevent muscle imbalances, try to do other activities that work different muscle groups.

Am I at the Fitness Level I Need to Do My Job Safely?
Some jobs have periods of activity and then periods of no activity (such as warehouse work or oil patch shift work with long breaks away from the job).

Periods of no activity may last weeks or months, and loss of fitness can occur quickly. Often you need a certain level of fitness to do your job safely. So if you have a job where you may not be active for more than two weeks, it’s a good idea to be active outside your normal workday to help maintain your fitness.

Another situation may be that you’re new to a job, or you have new duties. You may find you get tired easily or find some of the activities difficult. Pushing yourself when you’re tired can also lead to injuries. It’s much safer to take your time and let your strength and endurance improve over a few weeks.

You may also want to prepare your body for the new work by mimicking what you’ll be doing. For example, if you work in a job where you’re lifting and carrying weight regularly, practice lifting and carrying similar weight at home. Grab an old milk container and add weight to it. Bags of flour also work well. This will help to prepare your body for your job, and you can also practice good lifting and carrying technique.

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Am I Pushing Myself Too Hard?
The last point about injury prevention and safety is learning to pace your activities at work.

You’re more likely to injure yourself when you’re tired. So even when it’s busy at work, it’s okay to go slow or take a short break. It’s natural for our bodies to get tired during a busy day, and taking breaks allows our muscles, heart and energy systems to recover. Resting is just as important as our strength, endurance and flexibility when it comes to preventing injuries.

Being Active is About More Than Just Fitness
We all know that being active is great for our health. But there are also other important reasons to be active outside of work:

• It’s a great opportunity to spend quality time with friends and family. Or it may be a great way to make new friends.
• Work and life can be stressful. Physical activity allows you to take a mental break, and this is a great way to deal with stress. You’ll get a mental break from going for a walk or a swim, playing sports or taking a yoga class, for example.
• Being active can get you more involved in your community. See the parks and trails in your neighbourhood, get to know your neighbours, or find out what’s happening at your local recreation centre.
• You’ll set a good example for friends and family.
• Finally, it can be fun. What’s the point of work if we can’t have some play?

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With all the jobs out there that involve mostly sitting, you’re very fortunate if you get to be active at work. Balance your fitness by doing endurance, flexibility and strength activities outside your job that your job may not include. This will help you prevent injuries and stay safe. And remember, after work is a great time for you and your family and friends to have some fun and play.

Learn More

Activity Tracker
This tool from the Alberta Centre for Active Living’s Physical Activity @ Work website helps you set goals and keep track of how much physical activity you’re doing.

How Can My Family and I Be More Active in Our Leisure Time?
Some ideas from the Alberta Centre for Active Living’s FAQ section for how you and your family can add more activity into your life after work hours.

Canada’s Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living
The Government of Canada’s official guide on how to build the right amount and balance of physical activity into your life.

Active Living at Work
Advice from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety on how to practise a more active lifestyle at work.

Physical Demand Characteristics at Work
Do you lift lots at work? This chart from EpicRehab, an occupational rehabilitation centre, shows the physical demand level of your job based on how much and how often you’re lifting at work. Units are in METs (metabolic units).

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