Want to be happier, more productive, and successful at work? The answer is to work out – not at a gym, but at work! You’ll be amazed at how exercise improves work with just a few simple additions of easy activity.
We all know how being sedentary is detrimental to our health, but let’s take a positive approach and find out how exercise can be good for our job or career. Even simple activity like getting up from your desk and walking around for just 5 minutes can make a lot of difference.
How Exercise Improves Work
See what adding a little more activity in between bouts of sitting at a desk can do for you:
Improved Work Performance
Workers who had access to exercise at work were found to have improved mood and performance, regardless of how intense their workouts were or how much work they had to get done (Coulson, 2008).
More Energy
If you’re feeling exhausted by the end of the day, a little exercise can give you an energy boost. An experiment was done with some sedentary adults. They were told to do some not-so–intensive exercises three times a week for 6 weeks. At the end of the study, the participants reported a 20 percent energy-level increase and 65 percent decrease in feelings of fatigue (Puetz, 2008).
A Mental Boost
After sitting endless hours in front of your PC, you may find your brain on hold. Exercise is just the remedy for that. Another experiment (Hogan, 2013) showed that people who did moderate-intensity exercises before doing their tasks showed significantly improved mental ability.
Improved Creativity
Exercise will also make you more creative. A test done on people solving the Guilford’s alternate uses (GAU) test of creative divergent thinking while walking outdoors or on a treadmill showed them to have had a 60 percent increase in creative output (Oppezzo, 2014).
Bigger Pay
A lot of people will appreciate this next benefit: a fatter paycheck! A study done at the Cleveland State University revealed that people who exercised regularly earn 6 to 10 percent more than those who didn’t (Kosteas, 2012 ).
Ways To Exercise At Work
The surprising thing about the studies mentioned above is that they all involved just low- to medium-intensity exercises. This is good news for people who feel guilty about not being able to follow a more demanding exercise regimen. As you see, a little movement can go a long way for your career.
- So, how about going for a stroll instead of taking a seated coffee break?
- Get up from your desk and do some stretches for 15 seconds every half hour.
- Stand up and pace around while you’re on the phone.
- Try standing meetings – lots of companies are doing this, look it up.
- Instead of sitting down for lunch, take a walk while you eat your sandwich or salad. Yes you can.
- Organize an after-work or lunchtime walking group at work. It will be good to enjoy some social chit-chat time with co-workers, and you’ll get a chance to talk about something besides work.
If you’d like some personal help with exercise and nutrition, contact Basics and Beyond fitness & nutrition to schedule a time to talk about what kind of help would work best for you. We work with clients in-person and online!