For many of us who hold a full time sit down job, our physical activity
levels have nearly disappeared from our lives. A recent study looked at
an interesting way to put some activity back into a group of sedentary
adults lives. The idea was simple: Find out whether wearing casual
comfortable clothing affected how much people moved around during the
workday.
Most business clothing and shoes are not conducive to movement and
actually feel constrictive. For example, if you were a woman wearing
high heels you would be less likely to take the stairs versus the
elevator. This results in less overall activity and less calories
burned.
Everyone in the study was allowed to wear casual shoes and clothes
to work. On days they wore casual clothing they burned an average of
10% more calories during the workday and walked more steps and miles.
Other studies have used the same protocol and found similar
results. Some corporate offices are encouraging dressing down as part
of their wellness programs. The facts and figures don't lie. If you
wear casual clothes for 50 weeks you would burn up about 125 more
calories per week and 6250 per year. Since 3500 calories are needed to
burn one pound of fat, wearing casual clothing to work could prevent an
average of 1.8 lbs of fat gain per year.
About the Author
Dr. Lanny Schaffer is an Exercise Physiologist and the President of The
International Fitness Academy. For more savvy weight loss and calorie
burning techniques go to http://www.aerobic-exercise-coach.com
