App aims to get Australian workers up and moving

The Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne has released an app that encourages regular movement in a bid to get office workers up and moving.

The team behind the Rise & Recharge app hopes the app will highlight the dangers of sitting for long periods of time, suggesting regular movement can help to reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer.

Read more: Malcolm Turnball works from a standing desk, should you do the same?

After downloading the free app, SMEs and workers will have their sitting time tracked and will be reminded to get up every 30 minutes.

App users get rewarded with credits each time they get up and move more than 15 steps, with credits culminating in the award of “chair boss”.

The Rise & Recharge app is available from Apple’s App Store or Google Play.

According to the institute, the average adult sits for nine hours a day and office workers sit for two thirds of their working hours.

Here are seven tips to reduce the time you spend sitting:

1. Stand up when the phone rings
2. Eat lunch away from your desk
3. Walk over to your colleague’s desk instead of emailing them
4. Move your bin away from your desk
5. Have a standing or walking meeting
6. Take the stairs instead
7. Stand at the back of the room during presentations