Gym in the office: what are the psychological and health benefits?

Sport, the more accessible it is, the more beneficial it is for everyone.

Physical activity not only helps to bring more Blood and oxygen to the brain, which is crucial for its optimal functioning.which is crucial for its optimal functioning.

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

Also, there is increasing evidence showing that going for a run helps significantly to fight depression.

The advantages of having a gym in the office

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

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

Having reached this point, it is necessary to dismantle an old myth that is very widespread among people, which 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 it all at the same time.

Most of the tasks that the average administrative employee performs in the office have to do with organization, 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 have the highest energy consumption of the whole brain, so when we work a lot, it is normal to arrive exhausted at the end of the day, it is normal to arrive exhausted at the end of the day, and I am not talking about a physical fatigue, but of a mental exhaustionThe feeling of having your head "burned out".

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

Activating our neurons

It is important to note that while we use the prefrontal cortex, neurons in the rest of the brain remain comparatively inactive. Remember what we said earlier: we never use the whole brain at the same time.

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

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

It's a similar phenomenon to what happens during sleep, where the brain reboots and does a tune-up so we can get on 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 such as walking briskly for 30 minutes in the middle of the day.

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

Productivity benefits as well

There are still people in the organizational world who see this as a real waste of time, but the opposite is true: it is estimated that the benefit translates into around 30% more productive and quality time per working day..

Experiments have also shown 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 to improve mood and balance our moods, but it also seems to have the potential to improve cognitive function.It also seems to have the potential to improve cognitive function: It literally makes us smarter. All compelling reasons to seriously consider taking a scoop of cardiovascular exercise during the morning, during office hours.

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