Can Exercise Improve Work Performance?
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Absolutely, yes. Exercise can help people perform better at work! That’s why programs and activities designed to encourage employees to become more active are an integral part of many wellness programs. From providing on-site workout rooms to bringing in personal trainers during lunch breaks to holding walking meetings, employers are encouraging employees to exercise in a variety of ways. Why? Because there is a direct relationship between exercise and work performance.

3 Ways Exercise Impacts Job Performance

Exercise can help boost job performance in many ways, and failing to exercise can have a negative impact on your ability to perform effectively.

1. Overall Well-Being

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) indicates that exercise can help you be at the “top of your game, career-wise.” How? Exercise contributes to physical and mental well-being. ACE indicates that exercise can boost energy and motivation while helping you feel calmer and more relaxed. When you’re energetic and motivated without being stressed out, you can perform at your best. Additionally, according to ACE, regular exercise also “improves mood, relieves anxiety and depression, enhances energy, and promotes self-efficacy,” all key factors that can impact job performance.

2. Improved Brain Function

Not only does exercise have a positive impact on your overall physical and mental well-being, it can also help your brain function better. ACE indicates that exercise can also “sharpen your brain and enhance your ability to concentrate, learn, and think creatively,” something that can definitely have a positive impact on how effectively you are able to perform at work. This assertion is based at least in part on the work of John J. Ratey, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

The website for Sparking Life, a nonprofit founded by Dr. Ratey, who is also the author of SPARK: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, and GO WILD: Free Your Body and Mind From the Afflictions of Civilization states, “Exercise is the single most powerful tool you have to optimize your brain function.” It goes on to explain that, while exercise can definitely help release stress and tension, the real reason that exercise helps people feel better is that getting the blood pumping through physical activity “makes the brain function at its best.”

3. Sickness and Injury Reduction

Exercise can also help counter the ill-effects of sedentary jobs (and overall lifestyles), which, according to an article published in Physiotherapy Canada, is “increasingly recognized as a serious contributor to poor health outcomes.”

According to the Thomas-Fenner-Woods Agency, employees who are physically fit are less likely to get sick than others. This means they tend to be absent less often and are less likely to need to need to have surgery, take extended health-related leaves or quit because of health-related reasons.

Employees who are fit are also less likely to get hurt on the job that those who are not. According to TotalFood.com, “A fit and healthy employee is less likely to have an overexertion injury” than one who is not fit. Additionally, the fit worker likely “will recover faster.”

Wellness Matters

It’s easy to see why so many companies are focusing on encouraging employee fitness. If you don’t currently have any wellness initiatives focused on helping employees become more active, it’s something you may definitely want to consider!