Staying active is vital for your well-being as it affects your body and mind in multiple ways. Not only will regular workouts make you feel good, but it will also affect your work performance. It will also help you stay more focused. Just riding a bike to work, for example, can significantly improve your fitness and benefit your cardiovascular health. If you’re working full time, constantly making excuses for not being active, we bring you reasons why working out is good for you. Furthermore, you’ll learn how you can incorporate exercise into your mundane activities.
Physical exercise improves productivity
Endorphins and adrenaline are starting to course through your body more intensely the minute you start working out. That will, in return, put you in a better mood and make you more productive. On the one hand, you can expect a short-term boost of energy from endorphins and adrenaline. On the other hand, you’ll feel a long-term physiological improvement because a chemical change will occur in the brain. You’ll be more motivated to do the work because you’ll feel as if you can conquer the world.
Use every opportunity to walk
One of the ways to incorporate exercise into your everyday routine is to walk everywhere. Forget about driving to the grocery store, to and from the office and everywhere else. Instead, walk it off and improve your cardio. Are you using the elevator or escalators at the office? Switch to climbing the stairs instead. When you need to go to a coworker’s office, use the longest route possible. That will help you make more steps than you’d usually make. Are you having a meeting in the city? Forget about taking a taxi or driving there, and simply walk there. The fresh air will help you gather your thoughts, and the extra activity will make your blood pumping. What’s more, it’ll prepare you mentally for the potentially stressful meeting.
Exercise elevates mood
Working long hours can make you feel strained and lower your mood. However, if you mix in training into your daily routine, you’ll never feel a decrease in your mood again. Remember the endorphins we mentioned earlier? Well, they’re responsible for elevating the mood, minimizing discomfort and promoting feelings of reward and well-being. Just a few minutes into the workout, you’ll feel happier, and that mood will stick for a while. That’s why you should think about exercising early in the morning. That type of mood elevator will help you start a working day well.
It benefits physical health
Physical activity is the number one solution to obesity. The more active you are the more calories you’ll burn during the day. Entrepreneurs can easily gain weight because they sit around at the office and drive everywhere. That makes them very susceptible to a range of diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. That’s why you should look for activities you can do daily. Look for activities that will help you burn calories, expel toxins from your body through sweating and prevent an array of health problems.
Ride a bike
One of the activities to consider introducing to your everyday life is riding a bike. Instead of sitting at the gym or at home and riding a stationary bike, invest in a city bike. Forget about driving or using public transportation especially during the pandemic. Look up city bikes online and pick the one that will be the best fit for you. Why ride a bike only to and from work? Consider going grocery shopping, running errands and doing everything you used to do by car. Cycling is very beneficial for your cardiovascular health and it will also help you burn calories and build muscle. Additionally, you’ll save the planet some awfully polluting carbon, and save the money on gas while you’re at it. It’s practically a win-win-win combination that you should embrace and start noticing how your health improves day in day out.
Introduce workout breaks
You won’t be working without a stop for the entirety of eight hours, which is why you should consider having workout breaks. Instead of having three coffee breaks, make at least one of them an exercise break. Use the time to stretch and walk around the office, or better yet, outside the office. If your lunch break is sometimes too long, use the time to have lunch and squeeze in some training. If you can stretch, you can certainly do a bit of yoga too. How about you try out jumping jacks as you step away from the desk for a few minutes?
Exercise makes you vigorous
Are you afraid that working out would further deplete your energy reserves? You can relax because a 20-minute low-to-moderate intensity exercise can only boost your energy levels. Whether you decide to walk, jog, or ride a bike, as long as you do it three times a week and for 20-30 minutes, your body will feel reborn. You can expect to feel a 20% increase in energy levels, and prevent fatigue up to 65%, according to a study. Keeping in mind that regular exercise will increase your circulation and strengthen your heart muscle, you can expect to increase stamina levels too. Powering through a busy day will never be easier after you start making exercise an unmissable part of your day.
Affects mental health
If you’ve noticed that you’ve been under a lot of stress lately, or that anxiety is taking the best of you, it’s time you started working out more regularly. Workouts have been known to help people battling mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Furthermore, you’ll also sleep much better after you’ve spent some time pumping iron. In return, you’ll become more productive, have a clearer mind and thrive in the business world more than ever.
Break down exercise time
If you’re making excuses about being swamped with duties and not having enough time to work out, we have another solution for your busy schedule. You won’t have to spend 30 minutes to work out all at once. As long as you’re physically active for at least half an hour a day in total, it will count. Therefore, switch a full 30-minute workout session with 3 10-minute workouts. By breaking the exercise time into three equal intervals, you’ll be able to find ten minutes in the morning to stretch. Later during the day, you can use ten minutes to do jumping jacks. Finally, in the evening use the remaining ten minutes to do light runs.
Social opportunities matter
No matter how challenging working out may seem it will still reap many benefits. One of the biggest ones includes making new contacts. You never know who you can run into as you do your morning jogs. You may come across the next business partner at the gym or as you ride a bike. Pay closer attention to people riding next to you if you use the same route every day. Furthermore, you may go beyond work opportunities and even find the love of your life precisely at the gym. So, don’t put away the training sessions any longer and expand your network significantly by meeting people as you work out.
Get a dog
Have you always wanted a pet but wasn’t sure you’d be able to take good care of it? Well, there’s really only one way to find out whether you’re capable of such responsibility or not. Getting a dog will offer you constant companionship and unconditional love. Aside from that, you’ll have a guaranteed workout session daily. Why, you wonder? Because you’ll need to walk the dog a few times a day. Use at least one of those times to train. While walking will do you good, you should also think about playing fetch and working on your dog’s skills too. Not only will this help you teach the dog new skills, and increase your calorie burn, but also it will make you bond with the dog. You’ll create an unbreakable bond with your pooch.
Work out in pair
Working out on your own can feel rather tedious. That’s why many people prefer going to the gym or signing up for group training such as aerobics or Zumba. Alternatively, if you don’t like gyms, you can consider getting a workout buddy. To make the exercises more thrilling, you should turn it into a competition or a tournament. This will motivate you, even more, to succeed and work your heart out. How about setting goals that you need to achieve in order to get a reward? You can also deprive yourself of something unless you achieve the goal you’ve previously set.
Do work around the house
Since everything is so accessible to us, we’d sometimes rather hire help than have to take care of housework on our own. To make sure you’re more active, do all the work on your own. Wash your car at home instead of taking it to the carwash. Have you had a gardener for a few years and never used a second of your time to look after the plants? Start mowing the lawn on your own and work around the garden during the weekend. You’ll increase your heart rate and boost calorie burning.
Final thoughts
Physical activity is imperative if you want to stay vigorous and prevent numerous diseases. Furthermore, the more active you are the less likely you’ll be to suffer from diabetes or cardiovascular disease. You’ll also sleep much better and feel refreshed after every workout. Don’t risk becoming obese but start running, swimming or get yourself a dog to both get a companion for a lifetime and stay active every day. Instead of driving to work, think about riding a bike there or walk. You’ll notice that you’re in a much better mood every day and that your motivation has never been on such a high level. Staying physically active brings an array of benefits and does not have any side effects. So, stop making excuses and start making time for exercise because you can find at least 30 minutes every day to do jumping jacks, cycle or stretch.
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