5 Ways To Prioritize Your Work Week Exercise Routine

Exercise plays an important role in regulating your waking and sleeping cycle, overall health, and stress levels. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the American Heart Association recommend that adults aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and two sessions of muscle-strengthening activity every week. Here are five ways to make exercising a priority during your work week.

Schedule Your Workouts Like You Schedule Your Meetings

The best way to make sure that you exercise is to schedule workouts. Divide the 150 minutes or any other amount of time across open slots in your schedule to make sure you meet at least the minimum recommended level of physical activity.

Your working environment may determine the best ways to work out. A commuter can stop by the gym, while a remote worker can use a Microsoft Teams virtual background to look professional during video calls and then break out the home exercise equipment, exercise outside, or head to the gym.

Early To Bed, Early To Rise

Waking up early can make it easier to get more done in a day. Working out immediately after you wake up or soon after is a good way to prioritize workouts and benefit from exercise all day long. 

A regular sleep schedule also goes a long way towards increasing energy levels. Wearing blue-light-blocking glasses can also be helpful for regulating your circadian rhythm, which affects sleep and waking.

Take Advantage of Opportunities for Casual Activity

Keep an eye out for opportunities to add casual activity into your day. Even brief sessions of physical activity are an easy way to prioritize exercise throughout your workweek. 

Park further away from buildings when you go out and look for opportunities to walk or bike rather than driving or taking transport. One of the benefits of Zoom Immersive View backgrounds is that you appear in the same virtual meeting space as other meeting participants regardless of location.

Use Habit and Fitness Trackers

Habit trackers make it easy to keep track of the completion status of daily tasks, such as exercise. Counting each workout provides positive reinforcement, and many apps enable you to see how much you have exercised over a week, month or year.

Many people are not aware of the extent of their sedentary lifestyle until they start wearing fitness trackers. While you can get an iOS smartwatch or an advanced camera-ready wearable to use with a Google Meet virtual background extension, a basic step counter and heart rate monitor can help you make exercise a top priority.

Recognize the Stress-Management Benefits of Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins, which lead to a phenomenon referred to as “runner’s high.” In short, exercise puts your body under a level of increased stress to build up your ability to cope with stress in other areas of your life.

These methods for prioritizing exercise can be useful for office and remote workers. The benefits of regular workouts can be immediately apparent in the form of reduced stress levels.