September Work Place Challenge Results

Stratford have now overtaken Docklands as the most active campus 6,374 to 4,856. For the 5th consecutive month IT Services retain the top spot for the most active department closely followed by HSB in 2nd and UELSports in 3rd.
Most Active Campus	Stratford
Most Active Department	IT Services
This Month’s Most Active Stratford Staff Member	Julia Freeman
This Month’s Most Active Docklands Staff Member	Mark Champion
Most Staff Registered	UELSports
UEL London Ranking	11th
UEL National Ranking	87th

Don’t forget to invite colleagues within your department to join the challenge by forwarding the link below.

https://www.workplacechallenge.org.uk/london/signup

Keep up the good work and let’s get even more active throughout September!

UEL take on the Spartan Sprint

UEL take on the Spartan Sprint

After weeks of training at SportsDock, Team UEL made up of staff, students and public members competed in the 5km Spartan obstacle course. This year’s course was made up of a combination of mud running, hills, swimming, crawling through trenches, rope climbs, monkey bars and much more. It was a challenging course but a great day out for all!

UEL’s Healthy Campus offer staff a range of sports and physical activity events taking place throughout the year. Upcoming events include:

October 14^th - Netball Tournament

October 28^th - Football Tournament

November 11^th - Badminton Tournament

December 6^th - 5k Charity Run

December 16^th - Volleyball Tournament

January 13^th - Football Tournament

For updates on new events see uel.ac.uk/healthycampus or for more information and to register your interest contact healthycampus@uel.ac.uk

Healthy Eating!

What is healthy Eating?

Healthy Eating isn't about cutting out foods, it's about eating a wide variety of foods in the right amounts to give your body what it needs.

There really are no single foods that you must eat in order to be healthy, all foods can be included in a healthy diet, you just need to make sure that you get the right balance. Think of all food in 5 groups.

• Fruit and Vegetables
• Carbohydrates - Bread, Rice Pasta
• Protein – Meat, Fish, Eggs, Beans
• Dairy – Milk, Cheese, yogurt
• Fat & Sugar – Chocolate, Cakes, Fizzy Drinks

 The eat well plate illustrates how much of what you eat should come from each food group.

Fruit and Vegetables.

Evidence shows that people who eat more than 5 portions of fruit and veg per day have a lower risk of developing heart disease. These foods also contain a variety of vitamins and minerals which your body needs to keep healthy. Fruit and veg are a good source of fibre so they will keep you feeling fuller for longer as well as keeping your digestive system healthy.

In order to be eat healthy, you don’t need to get this right in every meal, but try to get it right over a day or week.

Carbohydrates

These foods often get a bad reputation as being “fattening” although they have virtually no fat in them. The trick is not to add lots of fat when cooking them, so bake, boil or steam rather than frying to reduce fat once cooked.

This food group is the body’s main source of energy to do not neglect your carbs. Choose a variety of foods from within this food group and wholegrain options as much as possible. Wholegrain will keep you give you energy that is released slowly making you feel fuller and less likely to eat unhealthy snacks between meals.

Dairy

This food group includes milk and milk products such as cheese, yogurt and fromage frais. It doesn’t include butter, margarines or cream, which are part of the high fat group. Aim for 2-3 portions of milk and dairy foods per day and choose low fat versions where possible. This food group provides us with calcium and protein which are essential for healthy bones, but also vitamins A and B12.

Unsweetened soy milk with added calcium can be a good alternative for those who don’t drink milk or eat dairy foods.

Protein

Protein is important for bodily function and repair, these foods give you vitamins, minerals and a good source of iron and B12. Some sources of protein however can be high in fat which can increase blood cholesterol. Therefore making healthy choices such as choosing lean cuts and removing visible skin and fat. Also the way in which you cook can help you eat meat as part of a balanced diet.

 Protein can come from the following food sources.

-          Meat

-          Poultry

-          Fish

-          Shell Fish

-          Eggs

-          Pulses

-          Nuts

-          Seeds

-          Soya Products

You should aim a eat a variety of these foods 2-3 times per day. Watch out for protein and convenience foods containing meat, for example – sausages, burgers, pies and breaded foods such as fish fingers as they often contain hidden fats and salt.

Fat and Sugar

In order to have a healthy diet you should only have a very small amount of food and drinks high in fat and/or sugar. Swap these foods for healthier versions or keep them for special occasions.

Foods such as cakes, crisps, sweets, chocolate, sugary and fizzy drinks tend to be the foods which we need to cut down on. Whilst they can be included in a balanced diet, they are not essential every day foods.

A well balanced diet is the secret to successful healthy eating!

Workplace Challenge Update

Workplace Challenge Summary – August 2014
Docklands Campus still leads as the most active campus 15889 to Stratford 14354. For the 4th consecutive month IT Services retain the top spot for the most active department, closely followed by HSB in 2nd and Library and Learning in 3rd.
Most Active Campus	Docklands
Most Active Department	IT Services
This Month’s Most Active Stratford Staff Member	Jennifer Randall
This Month’s Most Active Docklands Staff Member	Mark Champion
Most Staff Registered	UELSports
UEL London Ranking	11th
UEL National Ranking	87th

Don’t forget to invite colleagues within your department to join the challenge by forwarding the link below.

https://www.workplacechallenge.org.uk/london/signup

Keep up the good work and let’s get more active throughout September!

Exercise at Home!

Our Fitness Instructors show you how to exercise at home.

PUSH UP - Place yourself in a horizontal position balancing on the hands and toes while facing down, then pushing through your arms to raise and lower your whole body.

The Push Up primarily targets the chest (Pectoralis Major) along with the shoulders (Deltoids), Arms (Triceps Brachii) and the Abdominals.

Benefits - Push ups help you develop stability that will help you avoid lower back pains or injuries to this area.

Progressions-

1.     Knuckle push up, performing push ups on the knuckles of the fist, rather than with palms of the hands on the floor.

2.     One Arm push up, carry out the push up with one arm instead of two

3.     Additional weight push up, have someone place a weight on your back or wear a weighted vest to the push up position.

                                                    Fitness Instructor Kyran demonstrates a Push Up.

PLANK – Laying on the floor, raise the body so that your weight is supported by your forearms and toes. Keeping a flat back, engage the abdominals and glute muscles and hold the position for as long as possible. Maintain an equal weight distribution on each forearm and foot, whilst keeping the straight alignment in your posture.

The Primary muscles used during the plank are the : Rectus Abdominis (Abs), Transverse Abdominis and the Erector Spinae (Group of Back Muscles). It’s a great exercise for all round core stability but also for a flatter tighter stomach.

                               

                                 Fitness Instructor Anthony demonstrates the plank. 

SQUATS – To perform the squat keep the legs hip to shoulder width apart and simultaneously bend the knees and hip. Keep the chest up and a flat back (natural curvature of the spine). Brace the abdominals, keep the heels flat on the floor and lower the hips as if you were sitting back in a chair. Lower the squat until you lose form or to a point of range that is pain free. Push up through the heels and return to your standing position.

Squats are a great exercise for strengthen and toning the whole lower body. They can be performed anywhere with no equipment or you can progress your squat in the gym using a barbell, dumbbells and much more.

                                                      Fitness Instructor Julian demonstrates the squat.

LUNGES - Lunges are an exercise which predominantly work on the lower body and also the core muscles. They’re popular and highly effective for an array of fitness goals from gentle toning to building muscular size and strength. As they use multiple muscles and joints at once, they are known as a compound exercise. This uses more energy which as a result burns more calories, leading to greater fat loss when incorporated with a well-balanced diet.

Lunges work the thighs (Quadriceps and Hamstrings) also the calf and gluteals. Because of the balance required for lunges they are a great exercise to improve core stability.  

Benefits: Lunges help build strength and muscular endurance in the thighs and posterior. They are easy to perform and require little or no equipment or space. They can be adapted for most ability levels from static lunges to dynamic and weighted lunges. 

                                                            Fitness Instructor Sarina demonstrates a lunge.

Tricep Dip

This exercise does not require special equipment: if you don’t have a bench, you can always use the ground or a chair.

Steps

1. Position your hands shoulder-width apart on a secured bench, stable chair or bed.
2. Slide your forward off the front of the bench with your legs extended out in front of you.
3. Straighten your arms, keeping a slightly bend at the elbows to keep tension on your triceps and off your elbow joints.
4. Slowly bend your elbows to lower your body toward the floor until your elbows are at about a 90-degree angle. Be sure to keep your back close to the bench.
5. Once you reach the 90-degree angle, press down into the bench to straighten your elbows, returning to the starting position. This completes one rep.

Progression

1. Because this exercise uses your body weight, by bending your knees you will have less weight to carry therefore making it easier.
2.  You can either elevate your legs using another bench or chair to rest your feet on, or add extra weight by balancing extra weight around your waste (eg. Weighted vest, dumbbell, barbell)

                                            Fitness Instructor Pedro demonstrates the Tricep Dip.

Meet the Healthy Campus team!

Meet the Healthy Campus Team

Julian Dominique

Julian Dominique is our Personal Trainer, with over 10 years experience working in the health and fitness industry. Julian has extensive experience working with various groups and individuals with a range of physical and mental health conditions. Based at SportsDock, Julian is here to assist you in achieving your health and fitness goals.

John McCarthy

John McCarthy worked for 14 years within Community Mental Health Teams in the NHS working with clients with severe and enduring mental illness. His specialist interests are in cognitive behaviour therapy, early interventions with psychosis and relapse prevention. John has worked within the Higher Education sector since 2004 and has spent seven of those years at University of East London. He is the Head of Student Health and Wellbeing at UEL, where the team provide counselling/psychological therapies for students as well as general and physical healthcare.

Fay Kalapoda

Fay Kalapoda has been working at UEL since 2008 and is an ex UEL student. She is a Health & Wellbeing Practitioner that specialises in Cognitive Behaviour therapy (CBT). She helps students through offering initial assessments and referring them to appropriate routes of support. Fay also offers 1-1 short-term therapy sessions to support students with a variety of emotional difficulties.

Jess Young

Jess Young is the HR Project Manager, Jess’ role focuses on how we can make UEL a good place to work.  See is always keen to hear others suggestions and ideas, so please get in touch.

Justin Lewis

Justin is the Occupational Health Adviser for UEL and works as part of the Health and Safety Unit. He is a registered nurse and has worked in Occupational Health in a variety of environments for nearly 20 years. Before that, he worked within the NHS in medical, coronary care and intensive care settings.

His role at UEL and is predominately involved in staff consultation, either through self-referrals or via managers, health promotion, health surveillance and lifestyle screening through the staff health MOTs.

Corrie Marney

Corrie Marney has worked as a Nurse for many years in varied settings. Her main specialisms are Health Promotion and Smoking Cessation for which she has National accreditation. Corrie has worked at UEL since January 2009 and although she is responsible for students physical care she also participates in Mental/Emotional health assessments.

What is Healthy Campus?

What is Healthy Campus?

Healthy Campus is the University wide approach to health and wellbeing at UEL. The project involves a collaborative drive from UELSport, Student Health and Wellbeing and HR services as well as a number of academic schools.

Healthy Campus Project Overview

The primary aim of the Healthy Campus project is to raise awareness of the Health and Wellbeing support services at UEL, whilst educating students on the benefits of healthy living. Healthy Campus will provide specialist professional services, advice and opportunities for all staff and students at UEL to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Healthy Campus will create a clear and concise brand for Health and Wellbeing at UEL through the following project objectives:

• Improved networking between UEL Services and Schools, External Professionals and Organisations who provide health, sport and fitness services

• Raising awareness of the importance of an improved and sustained healthy lifestyle

• Creating one clear and concise brand for health, wellbeing and physical activity throughout UEL and in our immediate local communities

• Challenging the stigma associated with mental and emotional ill health and creating a positive environment in these areas at UEL

• Increasing opportunities for students, staff and public members to improve their health and general wellbeing

• Developing referral procedures across UEL services and in partnership with Active Newham, Newham clinical commissioning groups and other possible referral options

• Becoming a member of the Healthy Universities Network