Increased occupational physical activity does not improve physical fitness
- Correspondence to: Dr L Ruzic Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb, Horvacanski zavoj 15, Zagreb 1000, Croatia; lruzicffk.hr
- Accepted 14 February 2003
Abstract
Aim: To determine the possible influence of high physical load in the workplace on the physical fitness of employees.
Methods: The subjects (494 men) were tested by means of Baecke’s questionnaire for evaluation of the Work Index, measuring occupational physical load. The EUROFIT battery of tests was used for testing the functional and motor abilities of the subjects.
Results: Subjects with a higher Work Index (n = 274) performed worse than the subjects with a lower Work Index (n = 220), indicating that high physical load in the workplace does not necessarily mean improvement in functional and motor abilities. The “heavy” workers were only found to have a stronger handgrip. This could be attributed to the fact that physical activity performed at the workplace did not have adequate intensity, volume, and duration to effect positive changes in other motor and functional capacities.
Footnotes
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This study is a part of a larger project, EUROFIT Croatia, sponsored by the Croatian Ministry of Health and Science and the Council of Europe
