5 ways Working Out Impacts Your Career
Has this excuse ever exited your mouth when asked about the frequency of your workouts? "It's so hard with work to find the time." As a working professional, consider this blog post the push for you to make time in your day. It's not easy to add working out into a busy life, but your health is a priority. Staying active can even make you a better professional, and who doesn't want that? The impact that staying active can have on your work life is something you can't afford to miss out on.
Improves Mood
Have you ever sat in a meeting that could've easily been an email? Happiness isn't a mood usually associated with these endless conference room occurrences, but you might have a better chance of putting a smile on your face if you got a workout in earlier that day. Exercise gives you a boost in mood-regulating hormones, leading you to lean more towards the happy side of the emotions spectrum. Plus, we all know what Elle Woods said about the benefit of endorphins.
Helps Memory
Have you ever forgotten about that last thing on a list of about 15 your boss rattled off to you right at the end of a meeting? Exercise won't necessarily have you repeating all 15 things backward and forwards flawlessly, but it can't hurt. According to Harvard Medical School, exercise boosts memory and thinking skills. It does so directly by stimulating physiological changes in chemicals that affect the growth of blood vessels in the brain and the overall health of new brain cells. In layman's terms, your brain gets its energy boost. And speaking of energy…
Increases Energy
Have you ever hit that 3 pm wall during the workday? Think of a workout as your 5-Hour Energy, your cup of coffee, your insert caffeine fix here. When you're physically active, the blood flow to your body kicks up a notch and gives your energy level a boost. Sometimes it's just a matter of mustering up enough energy on the front end to reap the exercise-inducing energy benefits on the back end. Imagine the impact even a little more energy would provide to your workday.
Promotes Sleep Health
Have you ever done the head bobbing backward jolt while sitting down or even standing up at work? Fighting sleep in your desk chair or as you lean up against the water cooler isn't a good look. Avoid this by giving your activity level a boost. According to John Hopkins Medicine, moderate aerobic exercise increases the amount of deep sleep you get. Deep sleep is when your brain and body have a chance to rejuvenate. So whether you wake up feeling rejuvenated or not can be dependent on if you got out of bed for a workout earlier in the day or mustered up the energy to make the trip to the gym after a long workday.
Decreases Stress
If you are a working professional who isn't stressed, can you pass some of that Zen this way? Whether it's fair or not, work can create stress in all of our lives and sometimes doesn't lead to the best outcomes for our jobs. According to the Mayo Clinic, physical activity increases the brain's feel-good neurotransmitters and in turn, can ease stress levels. The stress decrease gives you a sense of command over your body and life. Less stress in the craziness that is life in 2019, yes, please.
All five of these exercise benefits are easily interchangeable with providing benefits for you in the workplace. A better mood, an increase in energy, an improved memory, a quality night's sleep, or a decrease in stress, could all make the workday much better, even if you have to work up a little sweat to get there.