15% increase in productivity with exercise at work

Are you drowning in work? Maybe you should take a break and get moving. New research finds that busy employees who exercise at work are more productive. They are also less likely to berate colleagues and more service-minded towards customers.

How can exercise help with everyday life?

British researchers studied around 200 employees at three workplaces: a university, an IT company and an insurance company. Employees were asked to fill in questionnaires about their work performance and mood on days when they exercised and on days when they did not. Participants were free to choose the type of exercise they did. Most spent between 30 and 60 minutes doing everything from yoga to strength training and ball games. Six out of ten employees said their leadership skills, mental strength and ability to meet deadlines improved on the days they exercised.

Exercise improves mood and satisfaction

The magnitude of the overall performance was about 15 percent, according to the results, which have been presented in the journal American College of Sports Medicine."The people who exercised at work went home feeling more satisfied with their workday," says study author Jim McKenna, professor of physical activity and health at Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK. "We were surprised," he says. "We didn't expect this very large effect." All the study participants were regular exercisers and they already felt they were doing a good job at work. But many still saw a big improvement with exercise. Apparently, it didn't matter what kind of exercise the employees did. All forms of exercise had an equal effect, and the duration of the exercise did not matter much either.
Participants were also asked to rate their mood in the morning and afternoon. As expected, exercise significantly improved employees' mood. A result that has been confirmed in numerous other studies, says Jim McKenna. "There is a very strong effect of exercise on mood and concentration".

Exercise makes employees do their jobs better

Dr. I-Min Lee, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston who studies the effects of exercise, agrees that much other research supports the view that exercise can help employees do their jobs better. The reason, again, is better concentration, less stress, higher productivity and less conflict.

Jim McKenna concludes that his findings should give companies an extra incentive to offer exercise in the workplace. "There are no costs, only gains".