In a post last August, Let the Golden Hour Set the Direction of Your Day, I mentioned that I invariably start my work day early with a run or hike because “being vigorous first thing gives me a tremendous boost when I sit down to work.” I’m convinced that exercise not only makes me more productive, but happier as I go about my tasks.

Of course, as bikers and runners and other active types reading this doubtless know, exercise offers many other benefits to the worker and the workplace. Exercise can help people focus, manage stress, and increase creativity. By helping an individual maintain an even keel, exercise improves the overall office atmosphere.

So I was interested to read an article in yesterday’s New York Times entitled Why Exercise Makes You Less Anxious (and less anxiety, let’s face it, would really improve a lot of office situations). Researchers at Princeton University recently presented results of a study involving two groups of rats. One group was allowed to exercise; another was not. Then both sets were required to swim in cold water. Researchers found that:

“the stress of the swimming activated neurons in all of the brains. (The researchers could tell which neurons were activated because the cells expressed specific genes in response to the stress.) But the youngest brain cells in the running rats, the cells that the scientists assumed were created by running, were less likely to express the genes. They generally remained quiet. The ‘cells born from running,’ the researchers concluded, appeared to have been ‘specifically buffered from exposure to a stressful experience.’ The rats had created, through running, a brain that seemed biochemically, molecularly, calm.”

What does this mean? As one researcher at Dartmouth put it, “It looks more and more like the positive stress of exercise prepares cells and structures and pathways within the brain so that they’re more equipped to handle stress in other forms.”

Reading that article set me off on a hunt for other studies about work and exercise. Among those most frequently quoted are these two:

• A 2005 study of 210 workers in England, headed by Jim McKenna, Ph. D., found that employees’ quality of work, mental performance and time management were better on days when they exercised. After exercising, study participants returned to work more tolerant of themselves and more forgiving of their colleagues. Their work performance was consistently and significantly higher, as measured by: Ability to manage time demands; Ability to manage output demands; and Mental and interpersonal performance. The gains were widespread, with a minimum of 65 percent of workers improving in all three areas on exercise days. Focus groups confirmed the surprisingly strong effects of workplace exercise. “We expected to hear more about the downside, such as afternoon fatigue,” said McKenna. “But out of 18 themes raised by study participants, 14 were positive. It was almost overwhelming.”

• A 2003 study done by Charles Hillman, Ph. D., at the University of Illinois indicates that aerobic exercise improves a person’s ability to process information and concentrate. The same study also found that exercise changes the brain’s structure and function in a way that improves the ability to make decisions.

Perhaps even more convincing than studies, though, is the profusion of anecdotal evidence. Ask any regular exerciser if workouts affect their productivity and you’re bound to get an enthusiastic and perhaps proselytizing reply. I know. I’m one of those exercisers, and that’s what you’d get from me.

Of course, exercising isn’t for everyone. And not exercising certainly doesn’t stand in the way of success. No less a titan than Henry Ford once announced: “Exercise is bunk. If you are healthy you don’t need it. If you are sick you shouldn’t take it.”

I prefer to stay on the side of Plato, who didn’t need studies to know that “the lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.”

Bottom line: Don’t stop exercising. And if you’ve never started, what are you waiting for? The significant health benefits aside, you’ll be  happier and more productive on the job.

© Suzanne Rodriguez

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