Employees Exercise on Work Time
Deven Singh
John F. Kennedy High School
English
Mr. Martinez
January 10, 2015
Employees Exercise on Work Time
Why should employees be able to exercise during work hours? How would allowing employees to work out during business hours benefit the company? Why is it great for the psychological mind to get a break from the stress at work to exercise and relieve that stress? All these questions are up for debate, but the main question is should employees be allowed to exercise during work hours? Research says that there are a lot more positive effects of working out during work hours than there are negative effects. People who exercise on work days are more productive, happier and suffer less stress than on non-gym days. Working out of course is amazing for the health of the person them self, but by being in a great mood from the exercise it uplifts the day for the people around them. Employees should be able to exercise during work hours because of the excellent benefits it has to the employees, such as: the healthcare benefits, stress relief, and it makes a person happier.
Personal Health of the Employee
Every person needs exercise it’s part of life to exercise and stay healthy. Dr. Edward R. Laskowski states that for a healthy adult it is recommended that an individual “get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity. You also can do a combination of moderate and vigorous activity” also to “do strength training exercises at least twice a week” (Laskowski, 2014, para. 1). As we exercise your brain is put through a lot stress, this increases the heart rate dramatically. As your heart rate continues to increase, your brain starts to determine whether you are fighting the enemy or fleeing from it. To protect yourself and your brain from stress, your brain releases a protein called BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor. The protein BDNF is known to be a protectective and reparative element in a person’s memory. This can also act as a reset switch meaning that it will make you go from being in a really upset state of mind, back to a normal, calm state of mind. This is why people feel so much better after exercising, their head becomes clear and they’re able to be happy (Widrich, 2014, p. 1). This is why it is said that the people that exercise daily are found to be happier than a person who doesn’t exercise. It’s also said that working out boosts a person’s self-esteem. As a person exercises their body changes to a sexier, fit look. This is the main motivator for most people’s fitness life. Typically when an individual looks good people are attracted to them. This can also be a perk for businesses because with good looking employees they will attract more business ("hiring employees," n.d., p. 1). Overall fitness to a person’s health is very important.
The Human Mind
Exercise is more of a mental game than it is physical. It’s just like getting up in the morning, you can physically get up and go to work, school, or whatever the occasion is, but it’s whether you’re willing to get up and do the activity. Your mind determines if you’re mentally tough enough to get up and actually peruse the action. When working out it is scientifically proven that your self-esteem improves. Exercising regularly is psychologically proven to boost a person’s self-esteem. When a person exercises, their bodies release chemicals called endorphins. These chemicals cooperate with a person’s brain and it reduces the feeling of pain. This pain is not a physical pain but a mental one. “Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine. For example, the feeling that follows a run or workout is often described as "euphoric." That feeling, known as a "runner's high," can be accompanied by a positive and energizing outlook on life” ("Exercise and Depression," n.d., p. 1). Work is seen as a stressful region. Stress is a common symptom that most people deal with daily. People can get stressed out at work, school, anywhere. Some people are more vulnerable to stress than other people, but everyone experiences stress in their life. “When you sense danger—whether it’s real or imagined—the body's defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight-or-freeze” reaction, or the stress response” (Smith, Segal, & Segal, 2014, p. 1). Stress is known to lead to other health problems. One thing that stress can lead to is a tantrum. This is not something that a business wants for an employee. One way to prevent this from occurring is exercise. Exercise is one of the best ways to relieve stress (Melnick, 2013, p. 1)
How Exercise Will Benefit the Workplace
Exercise is found to be soothing and refreshing. With the chemicals in your body that are released during exercise it benefits the person’s entire demeanor. This will definitely help the work atmosphere. “Exercise re-energized staff, improved their concentration and problem solving and made them feel calmer. Experts said the findings should encourage more businesses to provide facilities for staff to exercise” ("Lift mood and stress," n.d., para. 1). With the employees feeling more relaxed and calm this will help the satisfaction of customers because no one wants to deal with an employee that’s in a bad mood. Not only does it make the customers dealing with the employee happy, but the employee them self. Recent studies show that “employees who spent 2.5 hours a week being physically active were more satisfied with the quantity and quality of their work, reported increased work ability and took less sick time than employees who did not engage in physical activity” (Peterson, 2012, para. 1). Less sick time for a company means better production. Exercising at work will also help employees improve their work-life balance because their workout time isn’t squeezed into already busy personal/family time. (Peterson, 2012, p. 1). Another way exercise can help boost production is because it brings alertness and attention to detail. As a person exercises, you are increasing the amount of amount of blood flow to the brain. With the extra blood flow this helps sharpen your awareness level and this is very important in the workforce. “When you exercise, you are also increasing blood flow to the brain, which can help sharpen your awareness and make you more ready to tackle your next big project. Exercise can also give you more energy. Having more energy means you will feel more awake at work. “Being on top of your game will assure that you perform your work correctly and to the best of your ability” (Boehlke, 2014, p. 1). Exercise such as power walking, running, weight lifting, swimming or jogging can help reduce your risk of developing certain types of illness and disease. This will be very beneficial to businesses because this means fewer sick days at work. With an improved immunity, you minimize your chances for getting influenza and the common cold. “Exercise reduces your risk for developing type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension and heart disease – all of which can interfere with work productivity” (Boehlke, 2014, p. 1).
Police officers in Fremont, CA have an hour in the middle of their shift to exercise. It’s called their “flex” hour. It’s a paid hour by the agency for police officers to go exercise. Whether it would be strength training or a cardio based workout. This is crucial because police officers may spend hours sitting in a patrol car and they get mentally drained from constantly scanning and patrolling the streets. Some days a police officer may not even be dispatched to a single call, therefore; they may become frustrated and become slowly unaware of things that occurred during their time patrolling. The police agency realizes the importance of exercising and the benefits it has to it their employees. Also with exercising the police officers stay in shape because the job that police officers do requires a lot of physical training. Police officers go through various occurrences every day so they must stay in shape to be able to accommodate anything that may happen. This leads to lower medical expenses by the agency because with more physically fit people, there is no reason to visit the hospital (Boehlke, 2014, p. 1).
Conclusion
It’s clearly noticeable that working out has many positive effects for the employees and businesses. Exercising is not only beneficial to the employee them self but the company or organization that they work for. It increases the production, atmosphere, and health of the employee and business. Work is a stressful environment and people get tired fast. Life is unpredictable, you never know what can happen, you may wake up on the wrong side of the bed or a family member passes away. It’s all part of life and you can’t control it. But there are ways to help cope with stressful situations such as with exercise. Companies should allow employees to exercise during work hours because it only brings positive effects to everyone’s moral and business side. With happy employees comes happy customers; with happy customers comes a successful business. The benefits of employees exercising during work hours is definitely a positive aspect because of the healthcare benefits, stress relief, and it makes a person happier.
References
Boehlke, J. (2014). How Does Exercise Improve Work Productivity? Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/422836-how-does-exercise-improve-work-productivity/
Exercise and Depression. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/exercise-depression
Laskowski, E. R. (2014). How much should the average adult exercise every day? Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/fitness/expert-answers/exercise/faq-20057916
Melnick, M. (2013). How Does Exercise Reduce Stress? Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/21/exercise-reduces-stress-levels-anxiety-cortisol_n_3307325.html
People who exercise on work days are happier, suffer less stress and are more productive. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1095783/People-exercise-work-days-happier-suffer-stress-productive.html
Peterson, J. M. (2012). Exercising at Work Boosts Productivity. Retrieved from http://www.apaexcellence.org/resources/goodcompany/blog/2012/03/exercising-at-work-boosts-prod.php
Smith, M., Segal, R., & Segal, J. (2014). Stress Symptoms, Signs, and Causes. Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-symptoms-causes-and-effects.htm
Widrich, L. (2014). WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR BRAINS WHEN WE EXERCISE AND HOW IT MAKES US HAPPIER. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/3025957/work-smart/what-happens-to-our-brains-when-we-exercise-and-how-it-makes-us-happier
Work Gyms ’Lift Mood and Stress’ – Employees Who Can Exercise at Work Are More Productive, Happy, Efficient and Calm, a Study Shows. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.longwoods.com/content/20386
How to hire the right employees. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.xero.com/us/small-business-guides/business-management/hire-employees/