Keeping fit to increase efficiency in workplace

Keeping fit has been identified as a way of boosting efficiency at the workplace.

You can do desk exercises at work without even leaving your chair or the privacy of your office. An office job is no longer an excuse for skipping your workout.

In the fast-paced world that we live in today, people have challenges creating time for many important things. One of them, which experts say has had a negative impact on the finances of many people worldwide, is exercise. Numerous research results have linked a lack of exercise to several health problems, which people are spending billions to treat every day. Despite this, many workers today say they have no time to hit the gym or the road for a workout.

According to experts, a busy schedule is, however, no excuse for neglecting your body or your health. They argue that it makes little sense to spend all your time creating wealth and then spending all that wealth to treat illnesses, which could have been prevented by 20 minutes of daily exercise.

“We spend millions and billions of naira on health care; we spend a lot of money on therapeutic services in the hospitals. I have seen budgets from some Health Management Organisations. People pay millions to HMOs when they fall sick, and if they don’t fall sick, the money is gone,” says fitness consultant, Mr. Bidemi Awolaja.

He says there are other ways of boosting productivity, reducing absenteeism, improving overall company health and saving finance through preventive health care.

A note of warning

While fitness experts agree that there are several types of exercises that can be done in the offices, which can boost productivity, they warn that these exercises are in no way substitutes for a proper exercise programme as they cannot offer you full fitness.

Awolaja says, “Because of my training and my profession, I try to educate people more. Yes, there are exercises you can do in the office, but people need to understand why they have to exercise – why they have to stay fit. These exercises in themselves are not enough.” Nevertheless, he and other fitness experts admit that by doing the following, you can stay alert and productive while at work.

Warming up

The three bodies of an exercise programme include the warm up, the main programme and the cool down. And no matter how short an exercise programme is, fitness experts say it has to encompass these three things.

According to Awolaja, a warm up is necessary to get your body prepared and your blood to flow properly to all the organs and get you psychologically ready for the exercise.

“When you are in the office, to do a simple warm up, you can stand up and walk on the same spot for about 30 seconds as fast as you can. You can stretch out your hands, and you can stretch back.”

He stresses that it is always vital, even when you are in the office, to make sure you are properly dressed for the exercise. For ladies, it is important that they remove their high-heeled shoes. Men are also advised to remove their shoes, especially if they are wearing strong shoes. It is also important to remove your jacket so that you can enhance your flexibility.

When you warm up, you may sweat, so it is best to be away from an air-conditioned room so that the body can get warm.

“Once you have done a little bit of warm up, not much, just walking for 30 seconds to a minute, then you do a little bit of stretching to make sure that the muscles are ready so as to prevent injury,” the fitness expert adds.

Target major muscles

While it is true that you can do various types of stretches, fitness experts say it is important that whatever type of stretching you do, make sure that the major muscles are targeted.

The major muscles, according to Awolaja, are the hamstrings – which are the muscles at the back of the upper leg, the back muscles, the abdominal muscles and the muscles of the hand.

The main programme

If you do not have much time to exercise, experts say you can base your main programme on upper body or lower body workouts. Awolaja, who says there are different upper body workouts you can do in the office, explains that a common upper body workout is the push up, “although that can get your clothes dirty if you are not in an office that has a carpet or rug.” For ladies, he says push ups may not be suitable for the office.

“What they can do for instance, is to get two bottles of water, sit upright in the chair and lift the bottles up above the head and down. You do that repeatedly 15 to 20 times, take a rest and do it for about three more times. That works the hands very well. It may seem light, but when you start you will realise it can be tasking.”

Still holding the bottles of water in your hands or dumb bells – if you have them in the office – he says you can twist from side to side, as that works the upper body without you getting dirty.

Also in the office, you can sit on your chair and raise your legs as high as you can and bring them down (repeatedly). This, according to him, works the bones of the feet and the hamstring muscles.

The fitness expert, who insists that the exercise, which strengthens the muscles that hold up the abs and improve blood flow, is very important for people that spend a lot of time behind the desk. He explains that this is because people that spend so much time behind the desk can suffer from problems such as slip discs.

If you are in an office where you have a lot of activities, experts say you can do more dynamic exercises like jumping. You can also do the squats.

To do this, Awolaja says you can hold bottles of water with your hands stretched in front of you and squat and stand up and repeat that motion for 10 to 15 times, take some rest and do that again.

“These are quick exercises that people can do; we call them the 20 minutes exercises. And this workout is necessary because you work the hands and the upper and lower legs – your whole body,” he notes.

Cooling down

According to experts, the process is not complete if you don’t cool down. This, they say, involves getting your body temperature back to its normal state and stretching the muscles a bit to help them relax. The fitness consultant says that most of the exercises above can also be done in a plane, especially on a long flight.