Balancing priorities is a daily challenge that most of us face, particularly while we are working long hours, raising a family and maintaining a social life. With this reality, the first thing that seems to take a back seat is our health and fitness. However, even if you have a sedentary job or a hectic home life, there are still ways to include fitness and nutrition into your daily routine.
• First, schedule time to exercise into your calendar and treat it as you would any other important appointment. You have to prioritize and understand that incorporating fitness into your daily routine will increase your productivity at work, reduce the amount of stress in your life, and positively impact your overall health and wellness.
• Wake up early and exercise before heading off to work. Afternoon exercise is often easily replaced with late work meetings, sports games for the kids or dinner with friends.
• If the workplace isn’t too far, try walking or biking to work. If you take the bus, get off a few blocks early and walk the rest of the way to work or home.
• Use the stairs instead of elevators; stand while talking on the telephone; walk down the hall to speak with someone rather than using the telephone or email.
• Try using half of your lunch break to go for a walk or workout. This break in the day will provide you with energy to keep your productivity and focus on a high.
• Take the time during the day to stretch and move around. This will allow you to stretch out your back and leg muscles and joints that can become stiff from sitting.
• Use a stability ball instead of a regular desk chair. This engages your abdominal and lower back muscles, helping improve your posture.
• Make healthy eating choices. Bringing healthy snacks like fruit to work instead of eating from a vending machine or cafeteria will keep your energy levels stable throughout the day. In addition to that, drink water or sugar-free drinks instead of regular soft drinks to reduce the amount of empty calories that you consume in a day.
• Team up with co-workers to see if you can get a discount at a local fitness club; start a recreation league at your company; form a sports team to raise money for charity events; find people with similar goals, so that you can train together. These will all provide you with a little bit more accountability than you will have flying marco solo.
• Lastly, if you are travelling for work, stay at hotels with fitness centers or swimming pools. This will provide you with the convenience and accessibility to stay active while you are away from your regular routine.
At the end of the day we have two options: a) we can get caught up with the long hours and stress that our job can bring at times, b) we can be proactive and keep fitness in the back of our minds so that we live a healthier life in the workplace.
Since 2003, Curtis Christopherson has been a professional training coach. He is a graduate from Simon Fraser University, a former member of the Canadian national water polo team and is now the general manager of Innovative Fitness in White Rock, BC. You can reach Curtis at 604-536-1355 or curtis@innovativefitness.com or visit innovativefitness.com.
