Continuing the theme of being more productive in your work life from yesterday’s episode I’d like to give you four opportunities for exercise breaks during your day. As you’ll see it’s best to take advantage of all four. They each have their own rationale for where they’re to be used.

And just so you know these exercise snacks, as they’ve been called, are supplementary to your dedicated exercise workout. You’ll still have your “main meal” of exercise to look forward to, as well. Don’t worry, these are just snacks. They fit in your day easily. And they’re well worth it.

Hey there. It’s me, Kore. And you’re listening to Exercising Self-Control: From Fitness To Flourishing.

The Evolutionary Case

Think of primitive man. He had to be physically active in order to survive: moving to find or catch food or to avoid predators. His brain evolved to expect movement. Today, we sit. We’ve broken the pattern our bodies were built for and we wonder why we’re fatigued and unfocused.

The cost is real: sedentary work reduces blood flow to the brain, suppresses BDNF (the chemical that builds new neural connections), and leaves us mentally foggy by mid-morning. Movement fixes this.

The Four Opportunities For Exercise

* Move to start your day. Get your heart pumping before email, before meetings, before tackling work. This increases blood flow to the brain, aligns your circadian rhythm, and gives you more mental clarity than coffee. Even 10 minutes works.

* Move before each meal. Earn the meal, so to speak. Movement before eating improves digestion, stabilizes blood sugar, and prevents the energy crash that kills productivity.

* My episode Mimic Your Ancestors Before Eating goes into more detail on this.

* Move consistently throughout the day. Every 60-120 minutes, take a 5-15 minute movement break. This aligns with your natural ultradian rhythms (i.e. your attention span naturally dips at these intervals). A quick walk, stretching, or bodyweight exercises resets your focus.

* My episode Use The Science Of Ultradian Rhythms For Peak Performance has more details.

* Move before you retire for the evening. Calming, relaxing movement (e.g. relaxed stretching or yoga poses) winds down your nervous system and improves sleep quality. Better sleep means better thinking tomorrow.

Common Objections

“I don’t have time.” You don’t have time not to move. As cliche as that sounds it’s still true. Five minutes of movement can return over 50 minutes in clear and focused thinking. It’s an investment, not a cost.

“I’ll get sweaty.” You don’t need to break a sweat. Save that for your proper workout session. Walking, stretching, and light movement count. A quick set of desk push ups or squats don’t need to be taken to full workout levels. That said, comfort is secondary to the boost in cognitive performance.

“I’m too tired.” Movement creates energy. The fatigue you feel is often from stillness, not exertion. This one’s important so I want to expand on this further.

* When you take a quick movement break, your body gets an energy boost. Your heart pumps faster and sends more blood throughout your body. This blood carries oxygen and nutrients to your cells, which they use to make energy.

* At the same time, your brain releases energizing chemicals like endorphins, dopamine, and adrenaline. These chemicals make you feel more alert, help you focus better, and put you in a better mood.

* It’s like your body flips a switch that wakes everything up. You feel invigorated and energized even though only minutes before you felt like taking a nap.

Photo by Olivier Collet on Unsplash

The Experiment

Track this for a week or two: your energy levels, focus quality and duration, and work output. Most people notice how much sharper they are immediately.

Your business doesn’t need you to push harder through your fatigue, it needs you to think better. To think better, you must move better.

Maybe it’s not “a sound mind in a sound body,” but “a sound mind through a sound body.”

That’s it for today. Catch you next time.

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