As we reach the end of the Autumn term, I’m sure many of students and colleagues have finished our days feeling drained, even though what we’re doing may not seem physically intensive. However, there is actually a good and perhaps surprising reason for this: teaching and learning is an extremely metabolically demanding endeavour!
For those of you who don’t know, I’m a sport, exercise and health psychologist and my current research is focused round smartwatch use. Part of this research is examining whether smartwatches actually increase motivation to exercise and help self-regulation. However, I also use these smartwatches to measure stress and activity, and how this might affect wellbeing and behaviour.
As a fairly active person, I have used a smartwatch myself for the last four years and found it an invaluable tool for manging my health. One of the ways I use it is to track how many calories I expend on a daily basis. This can be useful for two reasons. Firstly, if you are trying to lose a bit of weight, it can give you an accurate measure of how many calories you actually burn. You can therefore adjust your intake to compensate. Secondly, it’s also important to make sure you consume enough calories to meet the metabolic demands of the day ahead.
Okay, back the question at hand: Just how demanding is my average day as a lecturer? This Tuesday’s teaching took place in a large lecture theatre – Biological Psychology. After getting to work at 07:45 to secure a parking space, I popped to the gym for 45 mins (which burned precisely 275 calories) and then did some admin in my office before the lecture at 10am, which lasted for two hours. I then made my way home for lunch and spent another few hours working. Finally, I took my dogs out for a brisk walk to help me de-stress, and aside from another 5 min walk around the block with the dogs at 8pm, I spent the rest of the day relaxing.
In total, I burned 3,864 calories – no wonder I was shattered!
So how does this compare to Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain? This summer I made my way up to Scotland for a walking holiday. Having never climbed Ben Nevis before, it was definitely one I wanted to tick off. I’m fairly fit and have climbed a lot of mountains, but after 8 hours, 20km and 1,500 meters up and down I was pretty tired at the end.
In total, I burned 4,383 calories for the whole day.
Therefore, at least for me, a fairly standard day at work incorporating a two-hour lecture burned only 500 calories less than climbing the highest mountain in the UK. This wasn’t such a surprise to me, but I expect it will be to many people.
Why does this matter? Well, with any demanding job or activity, you need to make sure you take care of yourself. Don’t give yourself a hard time if, after 2-3 hours teaching, you feel tired. And if you’re a student, you’ll know how intensive learning and studying can be too. For example, research has demonstrated that students are particularly likely to engage in poor dietary and other health choices during demanding or stressful periods, such as exams (Oaten & Cheng, 2006). During a demanding day, your body will naturally crave instant gratification via sugary and salty snacks. Therefore, if you don’t have something relatively healthy available, you risk succumbing to your desires and overeating on poor quality food choices, which can have negative consequences for our health.
Therefore, try to anticipate when you have a particularly demanding day or week ahead and make sure you plan your energy intake accordingly. For example, have a good breakfast containing plenty of fibre, as this will sustain your energy for longer. Have a banana or other healthy snack available to eat during your lectures, and make sure you eat a substantial lunch. By planning our meals in advance, we are more likely to maintain our energy levels, and less likely to succumb to more tempting food choices.
In summary, my average day of lecturing can be demanding, and now you have an idea just how much! But whether you are a lecturer, a student, or work in any potentially demanding role, you can hopefully better plan your food choices and rest periods to help you manage the day ahead.
And after you have done all this, go and do it all again tomorrow!
Reference
Oaten, M., & Cheng, K. (2005). Academic examination stress impairs self–control. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24(2), p.254-279.
About the author
Dr Richard Steel is a psychophysiologist at NTU whose main interests are sport, exercise, health, and well-being. His research has investigated motivational and self-regulatory processes that underpin healthy behaviors; our ability to cope with stress; and the associations between smartwatch use and healthy behaviour.
Psychology at Nottingham Trent University 