We may turn to exercise when we want to lose weight, but moving your body has many great benefits that go further than just weight loss. A good workout routine has been linked to improved productivity, as well as mental health benefits. It doesn’t have to be 30 minutes of unbearable cardio either. There are many ways to improve your working day and mindful movement is a great start.
Here are 4 of the best exercises for productivity:
Yoga
Just 10-30 minutes of yoga in the morning or during your lunch break will set you up for a productive day. Yoga is a low impact exercise that improves flexibility and strength and helps you to de-stress and reset. Yoga helps to improve sleep, focus, immunity, energy and mood while reducing stress, pain, depression and anxiety. That sounds like the perfect recipe, right?
If you’re healthy, well-rested, full of natural energy, focused and happy, do you think you’ll manage to get more work done? Most likely! Incorporating yoga into your routine is a great way to have a more productive working day.
HIIT or VIIT
High-intensity interval training or variable intensity interval training combines bursts of intense exercise with periods of rest or lower intensity exercise. In the late 1980s, Francesco Cirillo developed the Pomodoro Technique, named after his tomato-shaped kitchen timer, separating 25 minutes of work with a 5-minute break.
In the modern-day workplace, distractions are always prevalent and multi-tasking is expected. Introducing a method of working out in high-intensity intervals helps to use your limited time and your body’s finite energy for you instead of against you. HIIT workouts give your nervous system a break and time to rest and digest.
Pilates
Regular Pilates practise helps improve stress levels, circulation and lymphatic system function while energising and strengthening. Pilates will give you better core strength and balance while having a multitude of benefits on the inside. By working on your body, you’ll notice an improvement in your stress and anxiety levels as well as a morale boost. Workplaces such as Virgin Limited offer free access to activities such as yoga and pilates because of the research proving the benefits of these movements.
Meditation
While it’s not technically a workout, meditation is an exercise for your mind. It helps you gain clarity and reduce stress levels while energising and uplifting your mood. While it is known to improve productivity, it also helps improve workplace relationships, self-awareness and creativity because employees will be more present and overall much happier.
It’s simple to incorporate meditation into your everyday routine. You can take a mindfulness walk on your lunch break, count breaths at your desk or listen to music collectively as an office. When meditation is performed together, it offers a collective calmness that reverberates across the workplace throughout the day.
At POW Food, we offer
Empower, a healthy meal and workout package tailored for employees who are working from home to help support their mental health, energy and performance levels. Our packages include yoga, HIIT, Pilates and meditation practices your employees can do in their homes. To learn more,
get in touch.
