6 Insights to How Exercise Increases your Productivity at Work

It’s a known fact that working out helps you feel and look great, with the additional extras of healthy lungs, heart, other bodily systems, and increased mental health.

But did you know that exercise can also improve your work productivity? If you’ve ever sat at work struggling to keep your eyes open? Or struggled to efficiently work through your list of ‘things to do’ and multi-task?

Well, one way to unlock your potential is morning or afternoon exercise – there are myriad benefits to your working life, and make us happier, more energetic, and smarter.

Studies and research help give us reasons how exercise can help you become more productive at work:

1. It increases your energy

Increasing your heart rate with a daily exercise routine gives you more get-up-and-go. When your body is physically active, your energy capacity increases. Each time you push yourself harder, your body recovers, and your energy and fitness capacity are increased.

• Increases our ability to cope with stressful situations

Timing and the type of exercise are important, as exercise is a stress on the body and can release cortisol which is a stress hormone. However, our natural levels of cortisol are higher in the morning, so harder workouts are better done earlier in the day to fit with our body's natural cycle. In the evening, sticking to a gentler exercise such as yin or flow yoga will help calm your body and help you sleep.

• Helps us sleep better and reduce Fatigue

Exercise helps us fall asleep quicker and sleep more soundly, and with quality deep sleep. This allows the brain and body to better rejuvenate and thus reduces fatigue.

• Improves Concentration and Focus

When we exercise, we are not only feeding our muscles, but we are feeding the brain. Exercise keeps blood, glucose, and oxygen levels high which are all needed to best feed your brain allowing for better concentration and focus on tasks. Additionally, exercise has shown to increase the size of the area of your brain involved in memory and learning. As well as short-term benefits, the increased flow of oxygenated blood to your brain helps to improve memory and coordination as you age, meaning your long-term productivity benefits as well.

• Exercise lowers the effects of Stress.

When you are stressed, your body feels it. Whether with tense muscles, painful headaches, or sore neck, stress takes a toll on the body. Research has shown that when your body has discomfort, a person loses up to 5.5 hours of productivity each week (in a 40-hour workweek). With physical activity, a person’s muscles relax, and tension is relieved throughout the body.

• Exercise Improves your Mental Well-Being

When you exercise, your body releases Serotonin which is a neurotransmitter in the brain, and it’s also found in the gut which helps stimulate mood and reduce depression and anxiety. Serotonin has another benefit which is that its feel-good factor makes you want to go back and create that feeling again, it's great for maintaining motivation. All of these help a person feel calm and enhance their mood. Productivity increases the better a person feels.

As always, stay fit, happy, and healthy!