Are you struggling to stay active while you’re cooped up and wondering how you can stay healthy and fit while in quarantine? You are definitely not alone. In the current circumstances of lockdown, working out may sound like a farfetched idea.
But there are exercises you can do at home without the need for fancy equipment. Before we get started, let’s address the “Achille’s heel” in your fitness agenda and how
to overcome them.
Can You Really Maintain a Work-Life Balance While Working From Home?
You might think that you just received a gift from the stars by getting the opportunity to work from home. You can work in your PJ’s all day long with your dog/cat curled up at your feet with flexible hours (you work when you want as long as the work gets done). Your partner and/or child(ren) is in the next room over. And there’s no commute! It looks like your job and life finally integrated…
But wait. You start sleeping later and later. Eventually, you lose track of the day, the time, and the hour.
Your face has become glued to the screen and you think, “OMG. I haven’t left my computer other than to sleep in 11 days.”
The lack of a routine is a silent killer of the work-life balance for people who work from home, which also includes exercise.
Ironically, the lack of activity also kills motivation and productivity.
This lack of motivation can also translate to more hours sitting behind the screen because you didn’t use your time efficiently — maybe due to those bouts of “brain fog” because you haven’t been active.
A sedentary lifestyle can lead to all sorts of health problems from excessive fatigue to weight gain to muscle and joint problems; which will inevitably cause you miss out on life going on right in your house.
The bottom line is that you need an exercise routine for your health, your family, and your friends.
How working in an exercise routine can improve your job performance
You might think that some people are more naturally “on” than others. But chances are, this appearance of productivity, wit, and enthusiasm might have more to do with a healthy lifestyle than innate talent.
Regular exercise can help you:
• Improve your mood and mental health: When you exercise, your body releases chemicals like endorphins, dopamine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, serotonin, and more. These help you regulate your mood, energy, focus, stress levels, and motivation to keep you going strong. You can even get the coveted “runner’s high” from a chemical called anandamide, which also happens to be a chemical linked to your endocannabinoid system.
• Keep your brain structure and function strong: Exercise has been shown to stimulate the body’s release of chemicals that support learning and thinking.
• Improve your sleep: If you’re not sleeping, you’re definitely not going to think as sharply. A little exercise in your life can certainly help with this.
• Strengthen your bones and muscles: You may not immediately see the relevance of bone density and muscle mass to work focus, but it’s there. If you’ve ever experienced a “bad back” and had to sit at a computer all day, you know the importance of this. If you’re bones and muscles are strong, you’ll decrease the chance of aches and pain in your muscles and joints that can hamper your work efforts.
Best practices for working in an exercise routine while working from home
It’s never too late to start some healthy habits. Here are some tips to help you work exercise into your routine:
• Set a time (and stick to it) for exercise: Procrastination is your worst enemy when it comes to exercise. Just because we can’t go to the yoga studio at a set-time, does not mean we can’t schedule it. Set your calendar with a day, time, and hour for exercise with a link to your favorite exercise video.
• Include exercise as part of your day: If you have a choice between the elevator and the stairs, take the stairs. Alternate between running and walking while taking your dog out. Or hang laundry by hand during one of those “I must take a break to do chores” procrastination moments. You name it, you can find a way to make it “exercise.”
• Make your workstation an exercise station: You don’t have to set up a fancy standing desk or bicycle desk to stay active, but you can make it more active. You can stack books on a table, desk, or other raised surface to make a standing desk that you can step back and forth from in order to keep your body engaged as you work. If you can set up two screens with a splitter cable, that’s an added bonus– as you’ll be forced to regularly turn your head and twist your body slightly as you work.
• Make yourself accountable: Got a workout buddy? Schedule a zoom workout session together or create an exercise diary together. When someone is part of your routine, it is easier to make yourself do the work.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog post where we will give you:
5 exercises you can do at home that will get your blood
flowing and joints moving.