Gym in the Office: What Psychological and Healthy Advantages Does it Entail?

Physical activity not only helps bring a greater flow of blood and oxygen to the brain which is crucial for its optimal functioning.

But, in addition, there is research that shows that sport is associated with a greater number of NK cells; lymphocytes that are part of the immune system and that defend the body not only from the invasion of viruses and bacteria, but also attack and prevent the proliferation of cancer cells when a tumor appears.

Also, there is more and more evidence that shows that going for a run significantly helps combat depression.

The advantages of having a gym in the office

Sustained aerobic effort for more than 15 or 20 minutes a day blocks the appearance of negative thoughts, and allows us to increase our ability to enjoy the little things.

The opposite is a condition known as anhedonia, whose sufferers have pathological difficulty experiencing pleasure. This symptom, along with hopelessness and sadness, are the most frequent signs of depression.

At this point it is necessary to dismantle an old myth widespread among people that says that we only use 10% of our brain potential. That is false, we use 100%. What is true is that we do not use everything at the same time.

Most of the tasks that the average administrative employee performs in the office have to do with organizing, planning, negotiating with other people, solving problems, and making decisions. To do this we use the prefrontal areas of the brain, which are located above the eyes and behind the forehead. These areas are the ones that have the highest energy consumption in the entire brain, so when we work a lot, It is normal to arrive exhausted at the end of the day, and I am not talking about physical fatigue, but rather mental exhaustion: the sensation of having a “burnt” head.

Focusing attention for a long time on highly cognitively demanding tasks consumes most of our resources in terms of fuel or energy.

Activating our neurons

Importantly, while we use the prefrontal cortex, neurons in the rest of the brain remain comparatively inactive. Let’s remember what we said before: we never use the whole brain at the same time.

On the other hand, when we do physical activity we need to move large groups of muscles, which involves the recruitment of thousands of neurons in the premotor and motor areas of the brain, and the inhibition of the prefrontal areas, in what could be defined as a true dynamic. of mental economy.

There is research that shows that a break during work hours to do some physical activity, such as walking on the treadmill, helps the thinking part of the brain to be revitalized.

It is a phenomenon similar to what occurs during sleep, where the brain restarts and makes a tune-up so that we can continue with our lives the next day. Of course, not all companies have or can incorporate a gym in their facilities, but fortunately it is not necessary either. It is enough to introduce a period of aerobic exercise towards the middle of the day, such as brisk walking for 30 minutes.

As the brain is busy moving muscles, it allows the prefrontal areas to recover; “the batteries are charged” which then results in greater mental efficiency for the rest of the day.

Benefits also for productivity

There are still people within the organizational world who see this as a real waste of time, but it is quite the opposite: It is estimated that the benefit translates into around 30% more productive and quality time per workday

There are also experiments that have highlighted that aerobic activity performed several hours after mental activity significantly improves memory and cognitive function in general, up to 48 hours after the end of the exercise.

Aerobic activity helps us not only improve our mood and balance our mood, but it also appears to have the potential to improve cognitive function: It literally makes us smarter. All compelling reasons to seriously consider taking a tablespoon of cardiovascular exercise during the morning, during office hours.

It serves as prophylaxis and makes it easier for us to cope much better with the problems and complications that arise during the day.