Exercise Will Boost Productivity

exercise productivity We all want to be more productive. We want to get more done and achieve higher levels of living for ourselves and our families. But in an honest world, do you honestly want to do what it will take to reach those levels? The science of productivity has been studied for centuries with the same whirlwind storming around the same verbiage regarding time management, prioritization, and goal setting. However, is there more than meets the eye? Is it possible that they key to our ultimate productivity goals are kept in how we keep our bodies? Recently, there has been a surge of studies relating to how our physical state relates to the state in which we are most productive. In a sense, it’s as if we have forgone our intrinsic mind-body connection. With traditional methods, we attempted to diagnose productivity issues as mental issues that needed to be changed by way of new techniques and practices. But we will shortly discover that we have been missing the mark in terms of how we approach our personal productivity.

Richard Branson, born in Blackheath, London, is the 4th richest person in the United Kingdom with over $4.6 billion to his name. Starting out as a adventurous businessman at age 16, Branson started his first company Student, a magazine. As he gained experience and knowledge, Branson went on to create, what is not considered the model brand, the Virgin Group. Winning numerous awards for outstanding customer services, philanthropic, and humanitarian projects, Sir Branson also finds himself voicing his opinions on ecological issues like global warming. In a video issued on Youtube in 2011, Branson answers a simple question, “What do you do to become most productive? You’ve mentioned working out and staying fit?” with which he answered, “It should go without saying”. He also goes on to mention three main components that play into high productivity achievers. His direct comments were:

“Keeps the endorphins going…”

“The brain functioning well…”

“I can achieve twice as much in a day by keeping fit.”

These statements should be blasted from the mountaintops to the working class of today’s workforce. Whether Richard Branson is aware of it or not, he has hit upon the major aspects of what the scientists have deemed the main needs of fitness(or simple physical activity)in the workplace.

Dr. John Ratey stated that by exercising you rise your level of focus, neuroplasticity, and can be looked at as “miracle-gro” for the brain when regular exercise is implemented

In a study conducted by Jim McKenna at the University of Bristol, subjects were fond to have higher levels of mental sharpness after a medium-intensity workout.

Duke University published findings that proved that adults that exercise on a regular basis exhibited coming out of depression as if taking the pharmaceutical Zoloft.(cure for depression?)

At the University of Georgia, low-intensity workouts proved a group of volunteers less fatigued and more focused during their workday.

In all of the above studies, researchers studied the rate at which the release of endorphins occurred . All exercising or physical activity triggers the release of endorphins, but how does this apply to our productivity levels? Endorphins, endo- and -orphin a short form meaning a morphine-like substance originating from within the body, is endogenous opioid peptide that functions as neurotransmitters from the pituitary glad and hypothalamus. Endorphins are released during activities that excited us, exercise, love, and pain. This release resembles a opiate-like feeling, or well-being. In this sense, we can imagine that during/after exercise we gain this sense of a euphoric “drug-like” state. Therefore, when we come back from a workout, we are able to focus better, organizing our thoughts into formatting sequences.

If you need not take advice from a fitness trainer or health coach, take it from one of the wealthiest people on the planet. Sir Richard Branson understands what is needed from a standpoint of mass productivity. He seems to get things done where most people struggle to comprehend. Could this very characteristic of Branson be contributed to his dedicated habit of physical fitness? Even if you are still a skeptic, Branson is not.
By: Thomas McGregor, Zazenlife Contributor 

 

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