78 per cent of employees globally think that working out and taking part in sports are both crucial when it comes to having a lifestyle that's healthy; ever more interestingly, 70 per cent say their performance at work actually improves when they do these activities on a regular basis. The stats come from Randstad's own most recent Workmonitor survey - research that takes place at an international scale, with 33 countries involved.

Sports and workouts are performance boosters, statistics suggest. The benefits of exercise are well known - and though some might complain about issues around finding the time to work out, most know that this is one habit that can really help them in a variety of ways.  

So where did workers from different countries stand when it came to their impression of whether regular sports and workouts are linked to improved performance?

Among the places where a particularly high proportion felt these things were connected with better performance were Latin America and Asia. Slightly lower on the list were Belgium, as well as The Netherlands and the UK, where a lower than average percentage of workers felt performance was boosted when they broke a sweat regularly. But the proportions were still significant at 53-56 per cent.

In all, there was majority agreement that performance improves with regular workouts or sporting activity.  

One of the things that can seem to get in the way of exercise for employees is the fact that so many hours in the day are taken up with work.

Especially in desk-based jobs, this can lead to relatively lengthy spans of time without much in the way of physical activity.

However, it seems that most employees, globally - 87 per cent - think it's not an employer's job to make sure they stay fit, and that it's down to the worker themselves to do this.

On the other hand, it was found that 28 per cent of employers let staff workout during office hours. Turkey is somewhere this is particularly common, as 40 per cent of employers allow for this.

Some 35 per cent of employers internationally have facilities for sports on their premises or give workers a special deal for a gym.

Overall, 56 per cent of employers have actively launched healthy lifestyle schemes and 45 per cent promote healthy foods, with 40 per cent providing mentors or job coaches.

"A healthy lifestyle is something we all aspire to. It is a given that healthy employees, physically as well as mentally, make for better performers. And thus contribute more to the overall business goals. I am happy to see that active health-at-work policies at companies are a widespread phenomenon across the globe. I can only encourage this trend!" said a Mariëlle de Macker, Randstad's managing director of group HR.

Meanwhile, it seems workers are undertaking personal action to keep themselves fit.

For example, 68 per cent of employees use their stairs at work as a fitness technique (this rises to a massive 86 per cent among Indian employees).

In the UK it could well be a game of 'footy' or soccer, but whatever the sport, playing with the people you work with can have fitness and morale benefits.

Seeing colleagues out-of-work is always useful for bonding, and it could even be argued that working together on the sports field could help boost co-operation during work.

Overall, around 50 per cent of workers internationally enjoy taking part in sports with co-workers. This is most common in Latin America, where 67 per cent said they enjoyed this, and in Asia, where that number was 63 per cent.

Western Europe saw a lower proportion of workers who liked to play with the people they work with, at 37 per cent.

It was found that male employees were a little more likely to work out with co-workers (55 per cent), as were younger workers (59 per cent) and, interestingly, people whose educational level was higher (52 per cent).

Both governments and health organizations internationally often advise people about exercise, in an effort to improve their health.

The government in the UK, for example, advises that, generally speaking, 19 to 64 year olds ought to be active every day and that they should do 150 minutes worth of moderate-intensity exercise during any given week, made up of sessions lasting ten minutes or over.

It advises they could alternately do 75 minutes of activity at vigorous intensity across the week, or a mix of both activity types.

The same guidelines also advise minimizing long periods of being sedentary and doing exercise that boosts muscle strength on two days or more weekly.

To read the Randstad Workmonitor, click here.  

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