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Home / Lifestyle

Lee Suckling: Working out should be part of work

Lee Suckling
By Lee Suckling
Lee Suckling is a Lifestyle columnist for the NZ Herald.·Herald online·
16 Sep, 2015 01:54 AM4 mins to read

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When employees have access to an exercise facility during work hours, overall job satisfaction goes up. Photo / iStock

When employees have access to an exercise facility during work hours, overall job satisfaction goes up. Photo / iStock

Lee Suckling
Opinion by Lee Suckling
Lee Suckling is a Lifestyle columnist for the NZ Herald.
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Vladimir Putin can't be held in high regard by the West for doing many admirable things. But recently he has been shown doing one thing right. Working out in the gym with his colleagues.

In photos released last week, Putin was captured sweating it out in the gym alongside Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. While President Putin looked a little more skilled in the weight-training department than his prime minister, the benefits of working out on work time are apparent for both parties.

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin likes to keep in shape. Photo / Getty
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin likes to keep in shape. Photo / Getty

Interpersonal bonding with colleagues? Check. Physical activity to increase blood flow and help the brain function? Check? Mid-afternoon productivity slump avoided? Check.

Perhaps the only lesson Russian politicians can teach us right now, there's significant value making physical workouts a necessary part of everybody's workday.

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According to the University of Texas, 60 per cent of adults don't exercise, and 40 per cent of that group give "I don't have enough time" as the reason for their inactivity.

Those that do exercise every weekday, however, experience improved concentration at work and have sharper memories, and they learn faster, have prolonged mental stamina and enhanced creativity, and lower stress, according to the Harvard Business Review.

When employees have access to an exercise facility during work hours, overall job satisfaction goes up too, according to Leeds Metropolitan University. People are able to manage their time more effectively, have smoother interactions with their colleagues, and therefore go home feeling more satisfied at the end of every day.

While employers may believe allowing their staff to have "time off" to exercise while they're being paid isn't their responsibility (and it'll loose their business money), several studies have proven the opposite. The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine reports that employees who spend 2.5 hours per week exercising on company time were able to maintain the same or higher productivity than before they were permitted exercise time.

Both this study and another by the Journal of Applied Psychology found employees that got physical during work hours took less sick leave than inactive employees, and were less likely to experience job burnouts that led to depression.

From a Human Resources perspective, as Putin and Medvedev have clearly realised, working out at work with colleagues also buffers the negative effects of managerial stress in relation to interaction with subordinates. The Journal of Business Psychology reports that this empowers employers to create a more productive supervisor-subordinate dynamic, and significantly weakens the link between stress and psychologically-abusive behaviour towards subordinates.

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What's more, if US models are anything to go by, the exercise arena can also be a valuable place for networking. The gym L.A. Fitness, for example, offers classes that cater to business crowds and allow clients to be brought in by members for free.

Similarly, business magazine Inc. believes any outdoor exercise spot can become a conference room: you can hold your next meeting on a surfboard, or facilitate simple "jogging meetings" or even just "walking meetings".

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The arguments are clearly there for working out on company time. And while there's the issue of office gym etiquette to consider, no studies exist to say working out at work a bad idea, or will have any kind of negative effect on a company - either on its day-to-day running or its bottom line.

So, now what? How do you enforce activity in the workplace? Unlike in the military, where physical training is mandatory, nobody can be forced to go to the gym when it's not part of their job description.

Instead, however, companies should commit to workplace exercise promotion by writing policy statements to allow for it, and funding or taking advantage of subsidies to make exercise as easy as possible. Most gyms located in corporate buildings, for example, offer significant discounts for group memberships. Access to adequate showering facilities is also a must.

Employees shouldn't be stuck with one kind of exercise, however. A lot of people hate the gym, so should be encouraged to walk, run, cycle, or partake in group outdoor exercise. As long as it can be done within an allocated exercise timeframe, letting employees choose their mode of sweating it out is the only way to keep them doing it.

Don't discount working out as something for the sporty, vain, weight-loss determined, or unoccupied among us. Instead of thinking of exercise as an indulgence that takes us away from our work, it's time to start thinking about it as a part of work.

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