Our daily lives involve many hours of sitting. And our jobs contribute significantly to this lifestyle. The experts call this sedentary behaviour. All of us are probably all too familiar with the consequences of this lifestyle, including feeling “overzoomed”, back pain, weight gain, or mental health issues. But let’s not give in – there are many simple things to fight this trend that can be implemented in our daily lives. For example, why do we “sit together” during one-on-one meetings? Combining walks and discussions has already been recommended early on in scientific history: In Ancient Greece, Aristotle founded the Peripatetic school – a school of philosophy highlighting the benefits of walking while lecturing and thinking. The 19th-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche concluded that “all great ideas come up during walking”, – so taking a walk may even help develop scientific ideas, think through difficult questions, and make important decisions.
However, establishing new routines is easier when done with like-minded people. In the past, iDivers have teamed up to engage in sporty activities. For example, many of us joined the annual Stadtradeln event on our bicycles to collect kilometres for the iBike4iDiv team. Soccer enthusiasts have teamed up as iKick and participated in soccer tournaments. Others have joined the iRun4iDiv team and participated in events like the Leipzig Marathon, Leipzig Run, and Leipzig Wintermarathon. Others meet regularly for ping-pong. Despite these existing options to find colleagues with similar interests and get active, there is plenty of room for additional activities and initiatives at iDiv and its partner institutions. Sometimes, it just takes a small group to get active!
The iRun4iDiv team at Leipzig’s Wintermarathon
Feeling inspired? Here are some upcoming team challenges to join:
- Leipzig Marathon (10 km, 21 km, 42 km), 13 April 2025
- Jenaer Teamlauf (Staffellauf, 3x 2.5km), 25 April 2025
- 7-Seen-Wanderung, 02 – 04 May 2025
- Firmenlauf Jena, 21 May 2025
- Firmenlauf Halle, 04 June 2025
- Firmenlauf Leipzig, 25 June 2025
- Stadtradeln Leipzig, 29 August – 18 September 2025
- Saale Horizontale Hike in Jena, 04 October 2025
- Mitteldeutscher Marathon (Leipzig to Halle, also as a relay of four runners), 12 October 2025
Let’s get active together!