If you look around the web you will come across many good places dishing out advice on how to find time to exercise. Most of them will start with the following assertion: we all live busy life and most of us now struggle to find any time for exercise. There is no denying this and this explains now why so many companies around, provided they are large enough to be able to offer that, have built gyms for their employees and have arrangements of some kind to make sure they keep fit.
In general, these blogs and fitness websites will offer many good advises along the following lines: make sure you got fitness sessions penciled in your diary, turn it into some sort of social events with friends etc.
But there may also be another way to think about your regular workout session and look at it not as something you need to fit around your business but as an integral part of the way you approach your business.
Workout as a brainstorming session
When asked why they do not exercise more regularly most people mention they do not know how to fit that into their busy schedule. If you’re starting into a new job or aiming for a promotion, then chances are you do not want to be seen too far away from your desk. In terms of priorities, it often means that working out will come second.
Yet many high-flying employees often discover a basic truth after working hard for a long time: if you do not make time for physical exercises, your hard work may end up being counterproductive. Spend too much time at your desk and there is a good chance that it will have a detrimental effect on your work and your health.
There is actually a simple solution to this problem: take time to run or exercise and turn it into a personal brainstorming session; take whatever task you’re working on right now for a run with you.
Say you go for 30 minutes and by the end of your run you set yourself the goal of finding a solution to a problem you’re working on. Try it and soon enough you should find yourself able to focus more narrowly on the task at hand while on the treadmill. Once your session is over, you will have come up with a solution and prepared your brain for whatever tasks you got left that day.
Turn working out into a test
Roman poet Ovid said, “a horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace”. That is true for people too, and this is why you can turn your regular workouts into a competitive game with colleagues to create a healthy emulation between teams within a company.
If this does not seem to fit your company’s culture, then you can always look at it as a team-building exercise. Seen from that angle working out becomes an integral part of your business ethos. You can also choose to adopt a reward system of some kind; very much in the same way you would do with bonus and work rewards, except with a fitness twist in this case.
For example, you could choose after a certain number of sessions to reward yourself with new fitness gear that will provide exactly the sort of support you need and make sure that your fitness routine does not turn into a problem for your business afterwards.
Compression clothing from Tommie Copper is a good example of the type of fitness gear that will make your workout session more rewarding; Tommie Copper is on YouTube to highlight the benefits this apparel offers.
Commute your way to fitness
Finally think of your whole approach to work as a form of fitness exercise. Maybe you live close enough to make an extra effort once a week, shun the car and decide to walk instead. Or park further away than where you normally do and walk up the stairs more frequently instead of going for the elevator like you would normally do.
And if you need a reward here again go for one of these fitness trackers or pedometers. Whatever way you choose to approach it, be sure that working out will benefit both you and your business. Before you know it working out will become an integral part of your weekly or daily routine.