For many companies, the health and fitness of their employees is an afterthought, at best. As long as workers show up on time for their shift and engage with their work tasks, many employers, human resource managers, and small business owners don’t really care about the physical condition of their workforce.
However, studies have shown that a physically fit worker is not only a happier employee, but also a more productive one. Encouraging your employees to purchase a gym membership or sign up for a running club might actually be a way to increase your company's output and profitability.
Beyond simple encouragement, many progressive-thinking companies are implementing innovative strategies focused on encouraging their employees to exercise in the office. From office gyms and company fitness centers to sponsored spinning classes after lunch break, thousands of businesses around the countries are finding that improved fitness levels of employees offers a pioneering strategy to improve company culture and increase productivity.
Below, we’ll look at how encouraging your employees to exercise can increase productivity levels and simultaneously decrease the risk of workplace injury (and worker's compensation payments). Specifically, we look at the benefits of 30 minutes of cardio a day for your workforce.
30-Minute Cardio Workout Benefits
The vast majority of people in the United States live sedentary lives. After sitting in an office for 8 to 10 hours a day, most of us return home to sit on our couches. According to the Cleveland Clinic, 80 percent of American adults and children are not getting enough exercise for optimum health. This is part of the reason why chronic diseases such as heart disease are rapidly rising to epidemic levels. The CDC finds that coronary heart disease killed 365,914 people in 2017, and about 18.2 million adults aged 20 and older have coronary artery disease (CAD), which is almost 7 percent of the population.
Obviously, your employees are not going to be very productive if they are stuck in a hospital recovering from triple bypass heart surgery. Encouraging and making it possible for your employees to do 30 minutes of cardio each day can also help with weight loss goals and better cholesterol levels. One of the most obvious benefits of 30 minutes of cardio, then, is that companies can lower their workers compensation premiums through encouraging better heart health.
Workers who get in 30 minutes of cardio each day will also receive several other benefits that can help improve their productivity levels at work. Studies have found that getting your daily amount of cardio can reduce stress via increasing the amount of norepinephrine in your body. Norepinephrine is a naturally occurring chemical that helps to moderate our brain’s response to stress and stressful situations. If your workers have an important deadline coming up, encouraging them to take a jog after lunch might actually be a better solution than forcing them to stay stuck in the office.
Getting 30 minutes of cardio each day can also give your workers a quick energy burst by delivering oxygen and nutrients to muscle tissues. Of course, cardio exercise also helps your cardiovascular system to work more efficiently, which also improves energy and mood levels. Regular, daily cardio also has been shown to improve memory by increasing the production of cells in the hippocampus responsible for memory and learning.
All of these benefits can play a role in helping to boost the productivity levels of your workforce. In fact, one recent study showed that workday exercise not only improves the physical wellbeing of workers, but also led to a 72 percent improvement in time management and workload completed on days when they exercised.
Keep Your Team Fit With Work-Fit
Because low-intensity aerobic exercise is more effective than high-intensity exercise for improving productivity levels, many companies might be able to come up with innovative strategies to encourage their workers to get in 30 minutes of cardio exercise while at work.
Work-Fit is a leading company that offers onsite injury prevention and management for your workforce. As the nationwide leader in applying sports medicine techniques in the workplace to prevent injuries and increase your company's bottom line, Work-Fit is a great resource to help employers design strategies to implement that needed 30 minutes of cardio exercise.
Our wellness management program incorporates a team of exercise physiologists, athletic trainers and health and fitness professionals who have comprehensive experience in many fields of health and wellness.
If you are interested in helping your workers enjoy the benefits of 30 minutes of cardio, contact Work-Fit today to learn about how we can help your team.
