Ever wonder why you feel tired while working? Well, you’re not alone. Many people feel the same way due to a lack of physical wellness.
This often leads to a need for more productivity. And it’s nothing to be surprised about. If your employees sit all day in their chairs and work like robots, what more can you expect from them?
But the good news is there are many ways to tackle workplace tiredness. As a leader, you need to ensure your workplace is fun, positive, and energetic.
This article will focus on ways to stay healthy and productive by focusing on workplace physical wellness. We will also discuss how leaders can create a wellness culture in their company.
Importance of Physical Wellness at Work
As per Forbes, the work culture is constantly changing with new challenges and difficulties. This shift has created a poor lifestyle, affecting employee health.
It is essential to address certain changes before they harm your employees’ health and business growth. Moreover, a business should adapt to these changes in the best way possible.
Thus, the lifestyle is becoming extremely unhealthy for employees. Many employees are affected by this work culture. This increases the chances of developing mental illness, stress, and musculoskeletal problems.
But we've got you covered. According to Healthline, if employees exercise regularly, they reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Besides, being physically active can easily improve workplace morale, teamwork, and concentration.
But that’s not all. Including a 10-minute exercise or doing strength training 2-3 times per week can significantly reduce stress and improve overall health.
Leaders can also encourage regular and frequent movement among employees. However, leaders must create an environment of physical wellness at work.
How does it benefit the employees?
Now that you know the importance of physical wellness at work, let’s see if it really benefits the employees.
Being healthy and fit at work is essential for your team and company to work perfectly.
When employees exercise regularly, they are less stressed, are in a good mood, and have enough energy.
Therefore, small changes at the workplace can help employees become more productive and active while promoting mental well-being.
Besides, leaders can also promote physical health with gym memberships, lunchtime walks, or office yoga to strengthen teamwork and unity.
Improved Concentration and Mental Clarity
When employees exercise, their brains get more oxygen. This helps them concentrate better, have a healthier mind, and feel less stressed.
Additionally, exercising regularly can improve brain function by increasing blood flow. When employees work out, they make smarter and sharper choices and can concentrate more.
Read: 6 Effective Tips to Increase Exercise While Working From Home
Reduced Stress Levels
Exercising is a great way to reduce stress. Moving around makes you feel calm and happy by releasing good hormones.
When your employees are under pressure, ask them to take a quick walk or stretch to feel less stressed. If employees work out, it can also help lower their cortisol levels, the hormone linked to stress.
Enhanced Overall Well-Being
Being physically fit is not just about looking fit but feeling better about ourselves.
When employees exercise more and experience less stress, they look and sleep better, which helps them feel more energized and positive about themselves.
When your employees’ bodies and minds are positive, they can easily get along with their colleagues while enjoying work more.
Higher Employee Productivity
If leaders want their employees to work better and be more productive, they must incorporate a healthy lifestyle.
When employees feel better physically, they’re focused, happier, and more involved in their work.
Exercising daily increases our concentration level, which is very important for making employees more efficient.
It’s also a fact that employees are more attentive and engaged in their work if they are feeling physically active and fit.
Reduced Absenteeism
If leaders invest in physical wellness programs, employees are less likely to fall sick and take leave. Employees who care for themselves by being physically active and fit do not fall ill often.
Therefore, physical wellness makes it easier for work to go regularly and smoothly as employees are more productive. This culture also helps companies perform financially better as there are low medical costs due to illness.
Read: 8 Tips to Reduce Absenteeism in the Workplace
Wellics' Top Tips for Enhancing Physical Wellness
After discussing the importance of staying healthy at work, let’s focus on the next part. We have the best advice for leaders and their teams so that they can stay productive, energized, and motivated throughout the day.
Regular Physical Activity
Working out daily will help employees maintain a healthy and physically fit lifestyle. Fortunately, they don’t have to work out for hours.
To improve their physical wellness, encourage them to go for a run, do small workouts, or go for a brisk walk daily.
People who exercise regularly are more productive, motivated and efficient at work and home. Exercising 2-3 times per week can help reduce many health problems.
Incorporating Short Exercise Breaks
Extreme workouts are not the only way to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Taking small exercise breaks can also help. Employees can do a quick stretch or take a short walk around their workplace to feel better.
This is where the apps come in handy. Many apps and reminders are available to remind employees to move after every 1 hour. These little breaks can help reduce the negative effects of sitting too much, such as back pain or a poor heart condition.
Prioritize Ergonomic Workstations
An ergonomic workstation is essential as it reduces discomfort while sitting. Leaders can promote good posture by providing a desk and chair arranged in an ergonomic order. This way, employees can prevent any physical harm.
This also helps prevent pain, especially in the legs. To encourage comfortable sitting, ask the employees to keep their feet flat on the floor. Leaders should also invest in ergonomic chairs for better comfort.
Desk Exercises and Stretches
Due to long sitting at our desks, our bodies get stiff and it can have negative effects on our bodies.
Leaders can encourage ways to exercise and stretch, letting employees do them even while sitting. Small stretches like neck rolls, leg raises, or calf raises can help increase their blood flow.
These small exercises can help regulate and strengthen employees’ bodies without leaving their desks.
Tips for Staying Active Throughout the Day
Staying active all day can be tough, but introducing some tricks can be super easy. These simple tricks will help employees stay active. Making small changes like trying different workouts or simple exercises.
Frequent Movement Breaks
This is a type of break where small movements are encouraged to increase alertness among people. These breaks are also important to maintain healthy physical and emotional well-being in the workplace.
Employees who sit for a long time need to move around to work their muscles better. It’s a great way to avoid fatigue and help improve and boost focus, energy, and memory.
There are many forms of movement breaks, like walking, communicating with coworkers, or going outside. However, leaders should avoid pushing their employees too hard.
Focusing on Fitness Attributes
There are different types of components to fitness and exercise. These attributes help improve strength and muscle mass.
Fitness attributes include strength, cardiovascular ability, flexibility, mobility, and balance. Together, these help improve health.
The most important component is flexibility because it helps the muscles to move more freely and avoid injury. This is why creating a balanced workplace fitness program that addresses all fitness attributes is important.
Different Exercise Routine
It is essential to include different types of exercise routines for balanced health. So, if leaders want their employees to be physically fit, they should include multiple routines.
Doing two weekly strength and balance training sessions is a great balanced routine. We recommend doing 150 minutes of cardio per week.
Reducing long-term sitting is crucial to staying healthy and active throughout the day. Moving occasionally can also reduce fatigue.
5 A-Day Movement Flows
This is a series of five exercises that can be easily done in 5 minutes. Exercising daily for 5 minutes can also effectively improve employees’ health.
These 5-minute flows consist of different types of exercises, focusing on cardio. When employees follow them properly, they can reduce the chances of heart disease and maintain weight.
Multiple types of practices, such as cardio, mobility, balance, foundational, core, yoga, desk stretching, QI Gong, and strength, are also important to consider.
Being physically healthy does not mean spending hours in the gym. To start your employees’ fitness journey, follow our 5-minute movement exercises.
Creating a Wellness Culture at Work
Now that you have gathered all the tips for being active, let’s see what else leaders can do to create a happy environment.
One of the best ways to maintain a healthy and stable lifestyle is to create a wellness culture at work.
Make sure your employees feel healthy and physically well. This is one of the most important things leaders need to remember.
Introduce a wellness culture in different ways. This will benefit your employees greatly.
Encouraging Active Participation
Encouraging coworkers to participate in activities will help grow the participation level at work. Making sure every employee is equally working and enjoying work will help increase participation.
Leaders can also encourage employees by giving them rewards or small shout-outs. This will help boost confidence. Active participation can also be increased when new activities are introduced regularly, making them more fun.
Group Activities and Team Building Exercises
There are different types of group and team activities which will help your employees work as a team.
These activities can include group workout sessions or team yoga with fun poses. This is a great way to encourage physical wellness, as everybody is equally involved.
Besides, group activities can boost employees' confidence and companionship, which can also help them become more productive.
Doing Educational Workshops
Educational workshops can help employees learn about mental health and being physically fit. These educational classes will provide them with ways to fight different workplace problems.
Additionally, leaders can bring experts who will answer employees’ questions and provide the best solutions. Educational workshops are also a great way for everyone to understand the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
Creating Relaxation Spaces
Many companies offer a space for relaxation at the workplace. These places help employees feel better.
Leaders can create rooms with soft music, a meditation center, and a cozy sofa to make the place peaceful. The motive of these spaces is to ensure employees feel calm and relaxed when given the option.
So, to take care of employees’ mental health, creating safe spaces is a good idea.
Offering Healthy Food Options
Providing healthy food is the best way to a physically healthy lifestyle. Leaders can also provide foods like fruits, nuts, or other snacks.
Offering employees nutritious food options is important to promote wellness. Employees can easily replace all sugary snacks with good food options to make themselves eat better.
Providing a healthy lifestyle at the office through food is a great option to increase workplace physical wellness.
So, are you ready to use these tips?
Encouraging productivity and energy in the workplace with the help of physical wellness is a win-win for everybody.
Promoting a wellness culture and including good eating habits can easily make the work environment healthier and more efficient.
Start with little steps, keep doing them, and see how these changes make the work surroundings more lively, efficient, and joyful.
