Running out of time? Time and space management for physical activity

Abstract

Background and Research Questions: A few years ago I was standing outside an office building in London Docklands around noon watching a group of people cooling down after a running session. I interpreted the situation as follows: this was a group of people in the middle of their careers, working hard, commuting, having children to take care of after work and as a consequence trying to find a time slot for physical activity in the lunch hour. These thoughts ended up in one pilot study, one article (Book, 2009) and one extended project based on the following questions: 1. How, when and where do employed people (qualified work, mainly academics) in the age between 30 and 50 find time and space for physical activities? The selected group is likely to work a lot and have children living at home. By physical activity is meant everything from walking to the bus stop to heavy, conscious training (see for instance Caspersen, Powell & Christenson, 1985). 2. How does the design of the work place and its surroundings affect the opportunities for activities in connection to the working day?