Ideas: Find Creative Ways to Exercise at Work

This idea is excerpted from Barbara’s book “Balancing Acts: More Than 250 Guilt Free, Creative Ideas to Blend Your Work and Your Life” (Dearborn Trade Publishing, 2003) 

Everything we read these days stresses the importance of exercise in our lives. Since we must spend at least eight hours of our day at work, why not find ways to get physical exercise during those hours in order to free up hours we can spend with our families in the evenings.

  • Work out during the lunch hour. You might even choose one colleague to exercise with at least three times a week. This blends work, health AND friends!
  • Depending upon your work situation, walk with a friend, a child, or a co-worker for part of each lunch hour. Walking during half your lunch hour with a friend or colleague is an easy way to maintain fitness as well as catch up on their lives. If you are like my friends and me, your mouth will get as much exercise as your legs!
  • Walk or run on a treadmill or exercise bike while reading work-related materials. This will also work if you have work-related videos to watch. Any time you can accomplish some work while you are also improving your health, you deserve accolades!
  • Bring your bike to work with you. When Bonnie Michaels, the founder of Managing Work and Family, couldn1t find a place to exercise when she was working at Keebler, she discovered she could take her bike in the car and she could ride at lunch!
  • Work out at your desk. Many companies are offering classes in Yoga, and some of these exercises to relieve stress can be done at your desk. Other people use large, stretchy rubber bands to quietly exercise in their workspaces when they can1t get away.
  • Start a walking club. Susan Donnett of QVC in Port St. Lucie, FL, started a walking club where employees can log their miles. After they have walked 120 miles, the equivalent of walking to Disneyworld, they receive an award. She also started onsite Yoga classes. They are sponsored by QVC and are free to employees.

Barbara Glanz Biography

A member of the prestigious Speaker Hall of Fame and one of fewer than 700 Certified Speaking Professionals worldwide, Barbara Glanz, CSP, CPAE, works with organizations to improve morale, retention and service and with people who want to rediscover the joy in their work and in their lives. She is the first speaker on record to have spoken on all 7 continents and in all 50 states. Known as "the business speaker who speaks to your heart as well as to your head," Barbara is the author of twelve books including The Simple Truths of Service Inspired by Johnny the Bagger®, CARE Packages for the Workplace, and 180 Ways to Spread Contagious Enthusiasm™. Voted "best keynote presenter you have heard or used" by Meetings & Conventions Magazine, Barbara uses her Master’s degree in Adult Learning to design programs that cause behavior change. She lives and breathes her personal motto: “Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm™” and can be reached at bglanz@barbaraglanz.com and www.barbaraglanz.com.