Power Up Your Work Performance with Regular, Enjoyable Exercise!
Thirty minutes ago I was dragging myself along—hey, it’s early morning! —but I am currently rejuvenated, alert, and energized. Why the stark contrast? [I promise it’s not caffeine!] I powered through Pilates, as I do every weekday morning. Pilates is a full-body exercise similar to yoga which develops strength, flexibility, balance, and stability without requiring a gym membership or equipment. The best part: It’s an exercise I thoroughly enjoy and am motivated to fit in my daily routine. How about you—have you found an exercise program or sport you actually like? Do you participate in it regularly? Did you know there are career benefits to doing so? Let’s take a look at the researched benefits of regular exercise, professional advice for pursuing regular exercise, and how to make exercise accessible as a person who is blind or low vision.
In addition to physical benefits, regular exercise improves concentration, sharpens memory, speeds up learning, prolongs mental stamina, enhances creativity, lowers stress, and elevates moods. Now that we can get behind!
Look again at the mental benefits of exercise—prolonged mental stamina, enhanced creativity, lower stress, etc.—these benefits must affect our job performance for the better, right?
Sure enough, a Leeds Metropolitan University study suggests exercising during the workday can boost your work performance. I believe it wholeheartedly. As I shared today, I notice a significant improvement in my ability to focus and think after Pilates or a leisurely neighborhood walk.
So why are so many not jumping at the opportunity to exercise? In addition to our time being limited, traditional exercise can feel like such drudgery. Harvard Business Review recommends finding an exercise outlet you actually enjoy, and work on mastering the skills involved instead of focusing on, “alright, it’s time to fit in exercise.”
The latter is my favorite tip. Pursue what motivates you–whether you enjoy dancing, swimming, jumping on a trampoline, participating in goalball, bicycling, ice skating, running, lifting weights, kayaking, or, hey, Pilates—because exercise shouldn’t be a bore or a solely depleting endeavor, ideally it is a pursuit of movement goals which boosts your mental and physical well-being.
So, regular exercise has benefits to our work performance, and to make it happen we have to find an exercise or sport we actually enjoy. Dually noted.
But, how does one pursue exercise when blind or low vision?
Read Sports and Exercise with Visual Impairment to learn how to gather information about making a sport accessible and Exercise for People Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision to learn accessibility options for specific sports and exercise endeavors.
Because adaptive equipment, one-on-one training and movement tips, or even modifying the game can make all the difference.
Lastly, if you’re wanting to get started with accessible exercise videos at home, you may try Eyes-Free Fitness on YouTube for free! Perhaps you’ll love the quick routines, or perhaps you can cross it off the list and try a different form of exercise or group sport.
Whichever the case, keep trying various activities until you find the one you’re motivated to accomplish regularly.
Regularly powering through exercise can power up your job performance.