Exercise

Why We Pay Our Employees to Exercise at Work. This article discusses the value of providing an on-site gym or “move space” for employees and mentions the millions of dollars lost by employers due to time and costs of absences caused by diseases linked to obesity (sick days, less medical appointments, and overall reduced absenteeism), as well as increased productivity of people who exercise. (2019, Forbes Magazine)

How Fitness Boosts Productivity. This article approaches the topic from the employer’s perspective and does a good job of explaining how exercise positively affects the brain, resulting in increased productivity, mental acuity and workplace satisfaction.  (The Enterprise, 2020)

Value of Meditation (For Entire Firms). This article is very comprehensive. It extols the benefits of meditation relating to increased focus, better decision-making, increased creativity, reduction of stress, better relationships with coworkers and overall happiness. It mentions that absenteeism is reduced by 50% with group meditation. The article would be good for bosses and for employees. It reviews the changes to the brain that occur with meditation and suggests ways to get started. (Zapier, 2019)

Regular Exercise is Part of Your Job. This article does a very good job of explaining how exercise is a necessity, rather than a luxury, and does a good job of explaining how to work exercise into our routines.  (Harvard Business Review, 2014)

How to Boost Your Productivity by 21% with Excercise. This article explains that even 10 minutes of exercise will have benefits, and that low-impact exercise is just as good as high-impact exercise, if not better. (Productivityist, 2017)

Exercise Increases Productivity. This article includes a paragraph on how exercise stimulates neurogenesis, which slows down as people get older but will give the exerciser an advantage over their peers as they age. (The Brookings Institution, 2012)

How Exercise Improves Productivity & Your Brain Function. This article contains a few typographical errors but does a good job of describing what types of exercise, and how much exercise, is needed to achieve the desired benefits. (2018, Burke Britton Financial Partners, India)

Boost Your Productivity & Efficiency at Work Through Yoga. This article does a good job of explaining how to do various yoga poses and tells the reader why yoga at or before work is beneficial for the employee. (Yourstory.com, 2017)

14 Fantastic Benefits of Yoga in the Workplace. This article is geared toward convincing employers of incorporating yoga into an employee wellness program. It does a good job of listing the benefits (14 of them) to the employer, while not delving into the science.

The Benefits of Yoga in the Workplace. This article, while not taking a deep dive into the scientific reasons, does a reasonably good job of explaining the benefits of yoga to an employer, and encouraging creating a space for group yoga sessions or subsidizing it for employees. (The Locomotive Co.)

6 Ways Yoga Can Help Improve Your Productivity at Work. This article lists six specific benefits yoga has on the workers, and separately mentions that yoga sessions at the workplace boosts productivity and reduces attrition. (Monster India.com)

Why Mindfulness Makes You More Productive & How to Make it Work for You. This article a very comprehensive. It extols the benefits of meditation relating to increased focus, better decision-making, increased creativity, reduction of stress, better relationships with coworkers and overall happiness. It would be good for bosses and for employees. It goes over the changes to the brain that occur with meditation and suggests ways to get started. (Zapier, 2019)

If You’re Too Busy to Meditate, Read This. This article makes the point that meditation allows us to resist urges and distractions, making us more productive at work by allowing us to focus on the task at hand. (Harvard Business Review, 2012)

Here’s Why Meditation Makes You More Productive. This article is very well-written, and forcefully makes the point that meditation improves one’s working memory capacity, allowing them to hold more information in their brain, allowing us to take on more complex tasks, and process our work more deeply. (Thrive Global, 2018)

Meditation for Productivity. The point of this article is that meditation deepens our concentration and lessens the mental effort needed to stay focused. It also recommends ways to get started with meditation. (Headspace)

4 Ways Meditation Increases Your Productivity & Wellness. This article extols the virtues of meditation to make a person happier (a small boost in happiness increases productivity by 12%), to enable them to concentrate better and for longer periods of time, and to reduce stress (which also increases productivity). (Art of Living)

How to ‘Micro-Dose’ Meditation for Maximum Productivity. This article makes the point that even meditating for 5 or 10 minutes per day provides the benefits of increased productivity and concentration levels. (Inc.com)

How Meditation Can Help to Improve Your Productivity. This article emphasizes the benefits of meditation as a stress remover, which clears the mind and allows it to focus. It also tells the reader how to meditate. (Lifehack.org)

Why Meditation Works Wonders for Better Workplace Productivity. This article is not particularly well-written, but it does state the benefits of meditation in the workplace and offers three ideas for how to do it at the workplace. (Entrepreneur.com, 2019)

Running and Walking Training Plans. Running or walking are great ways to exercise on your own schedule and at your own pace. Here are some examples of the many types of training plans that are tailored to people who are new to running, looking to improve or maintain their running, or experienced runners trying to achieve a time goal. It is important to always consult with your doctor before beginning a new exercise program if you are in a risk category that includes cardiovascular, structural, muscular, or other problems.

Couch to 5k is a 9-week training program for beginner runners or walkers looking to complete their first 5k. There are many types of training plans available including treadmill running, or Pooch to 5k.

U.S. Olympian Jeff Galloway designed the Run/Walk/Run method in 1973 to help beginners start running by incorporating walk breaks into their run. He has 5k, 10k, and longer distances training plans available on his website.

Hal Higdon offers a 5k program at the Novice level, as well as training plans for Intermediate, Advanced and Walkers. He also offers programs for longer distances and a training app that has a subscription option which will provide a customized training plan.

For more experienced runners looking for an extra challenge, the Hanson marathon method includes a mix of structured workouts to improve speed and easier run days that allow for active recovery.

Are you ready to sign up for a race? Once you sign up for a race, you can plan your training around a specific time or distance goal.  Running in the USA has a directory of races that you can search by date or location to find a race near you, or anywhere in the country.