Exercise is a profound life hack and powerful tool for productivity and career advancement. Training helps you feel strong, powerful, and increases confidence. This blog is about how fitness can set you up for success in your professional career and personal life.
Exercise & Productivity: Why Physical Activity is the Ultimate Productivity Hack
Regular exercise increases energy levels by improving blood flow and oxygen supply to your muscles and brain. Higher energy levels translate into greater productivity, allowing work tasks to be tackled with focus and more endurance.
The Physical Productivity Benefits of Exercise
Regular exercise increases cardiovascular health, strength, mobility, and endurance. Regular exercise also increases bone density. And there are other physical benefits that can increase productivity and success in your job.
Here’s a quick list of benefits exercise can have on your success:
- Increased energy
- Improved sleep
- Boosted immune system: fewer sick days
- Lower risk of injury
- Improved body composition: leads to an increase in confidence
- Improvement in motor skills: more skilled movement and overall function
The Mental Benefits of Physical Activity
Physical activity has been shown to increase brain function by enhancing memory, problem-solving abilities, and focus by stimulating the production of neurochemicals that support brain health. Many professionals use exercise during their breaks as a way to think more clearly, process information faster, and make better decisions on the job. Exercise can be useful in settings that require brainstorming and strategic thinking, allowing individuals to come to fresh insights with more information.
Here are other mental health benefits of physical activity:
- Increased blood flow and oxygen to the brain: This supports plasticity and brain metabolism. The outcome is quicker thinking and enhanced clarity. It also grows the hippocampus, which improves memory and recall.
- Enhanced self-confidence and self-discipline: consistent training creates discipline, which translates to advancing a career.
- Accomplishing a hard thing every day: An accomplished workout, builds confidence. Getting through a hard workout can translate to getting through a hard presentation/meeting or stressful situations at work.
- Emotional resilience & stress relief: Working out helps people handle work setbacks with a more positive attitude.
- Improved confidence: In a university study, individuals put through an 8-week resistance training program that were taught “strength as a skill,” reported increased productivity, energy, more confidence, and even more confidence to ask for a raise during their next review.
- Skill building: Strength training as a skill specifically can have a huge impact on your confidence and self-worth. One study showed that resistance training specifically (not necessarily cardio or stretching) has a positive effect on self-efficacy, perceived physical strength, physical self-worth, and global self-worth.
How to Incorporate Exercise Into Your Busy Day
A great way to fit exercise into a busy day is to do shorter, more frequent workouts. For example, try doing 30-minute strength training sessions with 4-5 movements 6 days a week. This not only effortlessly builds the habit of working out, but it also makes working out manageable for any schedule. Try to get up and move 60 minutes every day through stretching, walking, various activities, etc. To incorporate more movement, park far away from the door, take the stairs when possible, or go for a walk after a meal.
If you need more advice on how to incorporate exercise into your busy day, listen to our podcast episode on fitness for busy professionals.
Why a Healthy Body Equals a Healthy Career Trajectory
Understanding the link between physical activity and success can help you to make staying active a top priority—not only for your health and body composition but also for your financial health and your career path. Some of the most successful people are regular exercisers.
Maximizing Exercise & Productivity for Long-Term Career Success
If your career is a priority, utilize exercise to enhance it. Create habits around strength training and eating well to make your body healthy and strong. Physical activity creates motivation!
Want to learn more about how to utilize strength training for career success? Listen to episode 211 of the Stronger Than Your Boyfriend Podcast: Exercise & Productivity: The Impact of Fitness on Your Career and Success.
