Men are exercising more than women, impacting workplace wellness

Data from WorkScore shows that regular fitness can make a real difference to one’s productivity at work, but troublingly, women are exercising less than men, impacting them in the workplace.

Men are exercising more than women, impacting workplace wellness

Jerome Doraisamy

Last Updated: 07 June 2019 Published: 07 June 2019

The 2019 Wellbeing Report, compiled by employee wellbeing and business productivity organisation WorkScore, surveyed nearly 9,000 working professionals across Australia and found that while only 16 per cent of men say they don’t exercise at all, nearly one-quarter (23 per cent) of women said the same.

When it came to exercising six or more days each week, 12 per cent of men said they do this, while only 5 per cent of women exercise almost daily.

This may be concerning for women across the board, WorkScore noted in its report, saying that “people who don’t exercise rate themselves as having low concentration at work and as highly stressed”.

Fitness makes a difference at work for people who exercise three or more days a week in that they will have higher rates of concentration, lower levels of stress, be more likely to take regular breaks at work and will find it easier to switch off from work, the report said.

“This demonstrates a clear link between exercising and performance at work, reinforcing the need for employers to provide more opportunities to exercise.”

On the gender question, there is a “notable difference”, WorkScore surmised, between men and women when it comes to commitment to exercise, and employers need to find ways to address this imbalance.

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Jerome Doraisamy

Jerome Doraisamy is a senior writer for Lawyers Weekly and Wellness Daily at Momentum Media.

Before joining the team in early 2018, Jerome is admitted as a solicitor in New South Wales and, prior to joining the team in early 2018, he worked in both commercial and governmental legal roles and has worked as a public speaker and consultant to law firms, universities and high schools across the country and internationally. He is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines self-help book series and is an adjunct lecturer at The University of Western Australia.

Jerome graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Social Inquiry).

You can email Jerome at: [email protected]