Fit for Office
26 Federal Parliamentarians from all parties or who are independent, and over 130 of their staff are supporting Fit for Office that is the four -week, friendly competition running from 25th September to 22nd October 2023.
Politicians and their staff have been provided with a Myzone heart rate monitor to log their physical activity and are able to follow a live leaderboard to monitor their progress against each other.
Purpose of the challenge
The aim of the challenge is for politicians to act as role models, and encourage Australians to be move more often and to tackle our inactivity and health crisis.
We are grateful that these politicians are clearly invested in the benefits of physical activity, saying that exercise is good for preventative, physical and mental health, and that it is important get more people moving.
Two Weeks in!
Two weeks in, politicians and their staff have done 2,133 workouts over 5823 hrs and they have burned over 1,114,927 calories!
More importantly, nearly half of the politicians and their staff are reaching the World Health Organisation Guidelines for Physical Activity of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity each week, (or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity) per week, and where possible, 2 or more days a week of muscle-strengthening activities.
We are also really heartened to hear that this challenge has been a fun way for people to start exercising or to get their heart rate up more while engaging in physical activity.
Community Involvement
We are also pleased that AUSactive members have been involving the community in the challenge by using their Myzone (or alternative) tracking device to show that they have reached World Health Organisation Guidelines for Physical Activity every week and are tagging their local Federal Politician on social media in their workouts.
