Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is something everyone should strive for, but many of us don’t have the time to balance our personal exercise habits with our demanding workloads. However, recent studies show that exercising and staying fit can actually benefit your career by improving both mental and physical performance in the workplace.
Whether you’re an employee or an employer, keep reading to learn some valuable tips on how fitness can positively impact work life!
Benefits Of Exercise In The Workplace
Improved Focus And Productivity
One of the most noticeable benefits of exercise in the workplace is improved focus and productivity. After physical activity, our brains are better able to concentrate and process tasks more efficiently. As a result, workers will be able to stay on task for longer periods of time and deliver higher quality work. This can be especially useful for those who have difficulty focusing due to stress or other environmental factors.
Better Manage Stress
In addition to improving focus, exercise also helps manage stress levels at work by releasing endorphins which make us feel good. Regular physical activity increases resilience and helps employees stay energized throughout their day. While stress in unavoidable in every job, being fit can help you deal with that stress and allow employees to manage it in a way that does not hurt productivity or even worse, create an inefficient working environment for entire departments.
Reduce Burnout
Exercise can even reduce burnout by providing a much-needed break from work-related activities – allowing people to come back feeling refreshed and recharged. As the workplace continues to evolve, more employees are feeling the impact of burnout, as the lines between work and life are blurring. Exercise and physical activity can not only energize employees, but also provide an escape when it feels like you can't get away from your job. For 30 minutes, one hour or even two hours, exercise and physical activity can create a balance that reduces the burnout many employees feel from the overstress of work.
How To Promote Physical Activity In The Workplace
Flexible Working Hours
A good first step to promoting physical activity is to create a flexible work schedule that allows employees to build in time for movement. This flexibility can come in many forms. It can mean allowing employees to come in later, take a longer lunch or leaving work early. While it may seem that this will hurt productivity, the truth is that most employees will be more productive even with a few less hours spent at their desks. As noted above, with regular physical activity and exercise, employees will be more productive, so creating some flexibility that will give them the time to go to a local Freehold NJ gym or just get outside will be a huge benefit for the business and the employee.
Dedicated Time For Movement
Creating flexible working hours is not going to be a solution for every business. However, just about every business can set aside a few minutes during the day to promote movement. Whether that is a time for employees to go outside or even a time to just get up from their desks, this will help get them moving and will promote health. This time could also be a great time to put on a motivational or fitness-based podcast from a NJ personal trainer to further promote the importance of fitness and provide information some employees may not be aware of.
Active Planning
Most companies have regular team-building activities, like networking events, happy hours, etc. To really promote physical activity, it can be beneficial to integrate some kind of fitness-based activities into these team-building events. To promote inclusivity, it is important to remember not to make them overly difficult, but they can be small things like:
Weekly step competitions
Community volunteering
Networking events at bowling alleys, skating rinks, etc.
All in all, exercising in the workplace has countless benefits and can be easily implemented with some effort and planning. Whether you’re looking to boost focus, manage stress levels, or just want to be healthier overall – fitness in the workplace is a great way to do it. So why not give it a try and see what kind of positive change it can bring!